Dineh Testimony
Forgery of Signatures: The 1996 Settlement Act offered the
Hopi Government $25 million if it could
obtain the signatures of 95 Dineh people on leases. The US, wanting
to show the world that it had
resolved problems in the region, and the Hopi Government both
had a strong interest in gaining
signatures, and the process of obtaining them was filled with
coercion, (threats), fraud, and forgery.
John Benally: His mother, Alice Benally, was a lifelong Resister
who died a few days after discovering
that her name had been forged on these documents and was not allowed
to be buried on her traditional
land as her religion required.
Katherine Smith: her name was forged on relocation papers.
Hosteen Nez Begay: his name was forged on relocation papers.
Mazziek Begay: her name was forged on relocation papers.
Destruction of Burial Sites: Peabody Coal ignores all laws
protecting sacred and burial sites.
Bah Begay: She had to watch as bulldozers unearthed the graves
of her twin sisters and turned the site
into a disposal area.
Ataid Lake: threatened with arrest and being run over when she
tried to stop bulldozers from destroying a
talking rock sacred to the Dineh people and from unearthing a
site containing the graves of many
Anasazi and Dineh.
Jailing of Protesters: The Hopi and Navajo Governments, which
are both funded by the coal company,
are little more than a security agency for the mine and do not
allow any expression of opposition to the
mine.
Mabel Benally: She and her family were thrown in jail for trying
to stop a bulldozer from expanding a
coal stockpile outside of her front door. They were told they
would remain in jail unless they agreed not
to protest the mine. Her daughter Lucille has epilepsy and an
advanced case of asthma from living near
the mine. When jailed Lucille was denied epilepsy medicine and
had a seizure in the jail. Only then was
she released - to go to a hospital.
A War on the Grandmothers: The targets of the relocation program
are largely elderly people in
remote areas who refuse to abandon the lands which they are required
by their religion to protect from
desecration.
Jenny Paddock: a 100 year old grandmother who maintains she will
defend herself with her antique
shotgun before she allows her land to be destroyed or herself
to be relocated.
Katherine Smith A great-grandmother who was jailed for firing
over the heads of federal officials trying
to fence off an area in violation of the Dineh religion.
Roberta Blackgoat: A great-grandmother & founder of SDN who
has announced that she will be killed
before she is relocated.
Rena Babbitt Lane: A great-grandmother severely beaten by the
Hopi police and BIA.
A Voluntary Program: The US government claims that
people were relocated voluntarily, which
belies the methods used to implement the program.
Trevor Leighton: Katherine Smiths grandson was jailed for
trespassing in his own home, despite his
being able to document his lawful right to remain there. The judge
gave him a choice of either waiting in
jail until they decided to hold a trial, or signing papers ceding
all of his rights to his home, which he
signed.
Kee Zee Begay: a great grandfather who has received eviction notices
requiring him to leave the home he
has occupied his entire life and which his family has occupied
for countless generations before. He had
heart complications after receiving an eviction notice on Nov
19,1998 and had to be taken to the hospital
in an ambulance.
Pauline Whitesinger: A elderly grandmother who was told just
last week (1/17/99) she would go to jail
if she didnt sign the government's papers.
The Bennett Freeze: In order to drive the Resisters off the land,
the US government has for over 30
years forbidden all people in the region from making any repairs
to their homes.
Kee Shay: was cited for illegally for using mud to patch a
hole in his roof in order to keep the rain off his
children.
Huck and Genevieve Greyeyes: Their 100 year old ceremonial hogan
was destroyed. This hogan was
their church and the central focus of their religious practices.
Denial of Civil Rights:
All Dineh are subject to arbitrary arrest without any cause
and with no legal remedy to protest any
actions of the government.
Ida Mae Clinton: of Star Mountain community. One of her relatives
was thrown in jail and his truck
confiscate for illegally possessing firewood, even though he showed
a receipt showing its legal purchase.
Leonard Crowdog: was fined $5000 and charged a felony for cutting
down a single tree used as the
centerpiece in one of the communitys major annual religious
ceremonies.
Mazzie Begay: was cited for having too much wood on her property.
(Wood used to heat her home)
Ruby Biakeddy: Her father died from emotional stress after livestock
impoundment crews threatened
him.
Radiation Effects on People Moved to the New Lands:
Sherry Yazzie: Resident of New Lands. Her son was born with severe
respiratory & immune deficiency
problems. Has to be fed through a tube as a result of a tracheotomy.