Testimony
Louise Begay
P.O. Box 893 Kayenta, AZ 86033
August 24, 1997
To the Hopi Tribal Council, the Navajo Tribal Council, the Navajo Hopi Land Commission, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the Center for Human Rights, Special Rapporteurs for Religious Intolerance, Internally Displaced Persons, Forced Evictions, Violence Against Women, other appropriate Special Rapporteurs, the Commission on the Status of Women, the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, the European Support Network, Supporters, Non Governmental Organizations, US Congress
My name is Louise Begay. I live in Manyfarms because I can't build a house here. I want to be able to live in Owl Spring but this brown house is falling apart. There are five of us and my husband is forced to pay rent to live somewhere else. I want to have my own home where I grew up. I do not want to pay rent and live in someone else's house. I am not working, I take care of my kids at home. I want to be able to live here but you guys won't let us build a house here
I hereby rescind my signature on the 75-year lease (Accommodation Agreement) imposed upon us by the US Department of Justice. I have the right for three years to rescind my signature. The promise you made did not work. It was on March 31, 1997. That night at midnight, the deadline date for signing the Accommodation Agreement, Ray Russell of the Navajo Hopi Land Commission came here with a woman from US Department of Justice and a Hopi tribal official. My mother, my uncle and I were there. My mom said they came around here before and we just let them stand outside. We didn't talk to them.
That night, I was inside and my mom was outside. She talked to Ray Russell and then they all came inside. My mom asked what they are doing here. He said that he was here to get us to sign the Accommodation Agreement. That night was the deadline. My mom said no to them. She said she can't sign. And would only sign if my dad was here and they agreed. But that is not possible since he is at work. So she can't sign anything. They asked her two times. But my mom said to Ray Russell, you would probably do the same thing.
They asked me to sign and I told them I said the only way I will sign this is if you promise that you will not be harassing people, not coming around to this house, not going to bother the livestock and impound them. My parents do not speak English and if you speak English to them they will not understand you. They said yes, we will not bother the people and their livestock. They said is this is a promise. They said yes. I said if I do sign I want a 3 acre and a house.
I told them I do not want them coming around harassing the
people and bothering the livestock and confiscating them. I said
what would you think if I went around to the Hopi Reservation.
What if we said to you, you cannot do this, you cannot do that.
Would you like it? The Hopi said no. I said, how come you guy
s are harassing other people, why are you bothering our livestock.
We are not even allowed to build a house. I am sure you are
getting money from Window Rock, Peabody, you are building houses.
We don't bother you. We can't even fix the house we are living
in. They are just falling apart. Us, we kids can't even build
a house to live in on our land. We are 9 children and 30 grandchildren.
Us, we kids can't even build a house to live in so we have to
go find a house and rent. We want to live here.
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I told them what if I went to the Hopi Reservation if we said to you cannot do this, you cannot do that. Would you like it? The Hopi said no. I said, how come you guys are harassing other people, you are bothering our livestock. We are not allowed to build a house. I said to them, I am sure you are getting money from Window Rock, Peabody, you are building houses. We don't bother you. We can't even fix the house we are living in. It is just falling apart. Us, we kids can't even build a house to live in on our land. We are 9 children and 30 grandchildren. We can't even have a house to live in so we have to go find a house and rent somewhere else.
Ray Russell asked the Hopi can you help me and back me up for a house. The Hopi said we don't have the money. So he asked if DOJ can help, she said I can't make any promises. We don't have the money, we can't do it, and I would have to check it back with other people. So Ray Russell said, you're the one that wants to come out here and now she's asking in return for a house and you are not willing to help her? That's where they started talking about it. So Ray said he would go back to the office and talk to them and talk to President Albert Hale to see if he could pitch in half the cost for a house and his office will pay for the other half, maybe. Yes, he said we will build you a house. But he said he would write to me and tell me what President Hale says. He said, give me your address. I asked is this guaranteed? Ray said, yes, this is a guaranteed thing. I said I want this promise on the paper. So Ray said, I will let you know. To this date I still have not received a letter.
I asked them, is the 3 acres for everyone or just for me? There are 11 people and 30 grandchildren here. They said no, the three acres was just for me. I asked them did you meant this and I repeated everything back. I asked them, is this 3 acres just for me or does it mean that it includes everybody. They said no, it is just for you and everyone else will have to sign individually, my mother, father, brothers, sisters have to sign for themselves. They said that this was a promise. I repeated this again and they said yes this was a promise.
Please investigate these concerns. Please rescind my signature. I hear that you are saying I signed it for everyone in my family. This is not true. It is for these reasons and to protect my family that I hereby rescind any signature I gave you on the Accommodation Agreement.
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Louise Begay