The following is the text of the speech given by Helena Begay, a daughter
of Glenna Begay, at the UN in Geneva in July. Please post to the

BIGMTLIST:

Working Group on Indigenous Populations

17th Session, 26-30 July 1999

Agenda Item 5

Intervention by Sovereign Dine' Nation

Dear Madam Chairperson and delegates:

Ya'a'teeh, my name is Helena Begay, born to the Red Running Into Water
clan, and born for the Yucca Fruit clan. My maternal grandfather's clan
is Manygoats and my paternal grandfather's clan is Within His Covers, of
Black Mesa, Arizona, from the United States. I am here representing the
Sovereign Dine' Nation. The Dine' people of the southwestern region of
the United States still have strong ties to their original homeland. The
umbilical cord is usually buried inside the sheep corral, which bonds us
with our ancestral lands which cannot be broken. To the Dine' people,
every inch of the land is sacred to us, therefore every day is a holy
day. There is not a day out of the week we set aside for the purpose to
say thank you through our prayers. We, the Dine' nation, still practice
our cultural and traditional ceremonies. With this way of life, natural
medicinal herb are still used today by herbalist and medicine people
during ceremonies.

The so-called Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute between the US Government, the
Dine' people and the Hopi tribal council continues to exist without
resolution. Madam Chair, I seek the good offices of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights and the Chair of the Working Group on Indigenous
Populations to intervene in order for us to obtain justice. It is
essential that you are aware of the urgency of this crisis, as those of
us who remain on our traditional land face a deadline of February 1,
2000, for forced relocation or forced eviction, so that Peabody Coal
Company will be allowed to destroy our livelihood, sacred sites and
ancestral homelands. The government has begun issuing notices to vacate
and Exclusion orders. We are under pressure to sign the Accommodation
Agreement or be forced to be relocated to the Newlands. Twenty years ago,
these newlands were contaminated by the largest radioactive spill from
old uranium sediment ponds, causing a high rate of birth defects in that
vicinity.

We are accused of having overgrazed the land by our livestock. These
animals provide natural fertilizers for the land they graze on. We deal
with livestock confiscation and have to pay for the animals that have
been seized by the Hopi rangers.

The more land that is being stripped mined by Peabody Coal Company, more
natural herb, vegetation, water and people are being destroyed. Burial
sites, the roots of the Dine', are also being ripped out of their
peaceful resting places along with the rich mineral resources the land
contains. We are caretakers of the land and in return the land takes care
of us. Due to the coal mining in our sacred sites, it is almost
impossible to continue this tradition that was carried down to us for
many generations.

The land titles are traditionally transferred down to the daughters of
the family but, under the Accommodation Agreement, this is not possible.
We did not ask to be fenced in or to sign treaties for our people to
abide by. The Dine' people today still practice and respect their
ceremonies, these are the natural laws that we still honor. The
Government broke the Treaty of 1868 by utilizing our young educated men
and our language as war tactic to win the war during World War II. Now,
with only six months from the deadline, we wish to appeal to the United
Nations system to intervene before it is too late. We think of and ask
for our future generation that our traditional land rights and the
traditional ways of passing the land on to the youth be recognized and
respected so that we can continue to exist as Dine'. We will continue to
fight for what rightfully belongs to us. To me, home is where I find
confort and family, to the Dine', this land is our home.

Thank you very much for your attention and I sincerely recommend the
Special Rapporteur will continue with the examination of this important
issue pertaining to Land Rights. On behalf of my family and my people,
Ye'ego 'ahe'he'e'!

For more information regarding this issue, visit these websites:

http://www.solcommunications.com

http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html

-- Carol S. Halberstadt, Migrations (carol@migrations.com)

Native American art and crafts

http://www.migrations.com

"A generation goes, and a generation comes, and the earth abides
forever."

(Ecclesiastes 1:4)

"...then weave for us a garment of brightness,

that we may walk fittingly where birds sing..."

(from a Tewa prayer)

"Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look on the earth beneath,

for the heavens will vanish like smoke and the earth wear away

like a garment..."

(Isaiah 51:6)