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In 1996, Sen. John McCain (R. AZ) sponsored the Navajo-Hopi
Land
Dispute Settlement Act which became Public Law 104-301. This
law requires
traditional Navajo (Dineh) who remain on their land in the Big
Mountain area
to sign 75 year leases which place them under the jurisdiction
of a hostile
tribal government, liable to eviction for such crimes as gathering
firewood
without a permit.
As of Feb. 1, 2000, those who did not sign leases have become
trespassers
in their own homes on their ancestral lands. Many have already
received
eviction notices.
Some questions for John McCain:
1) PL 104-301, which you sponsored in 1996, ratifies a settlement
agreement
under which the Navajo families who sign leases are not allowed
to vote or
participate in the government which rules them. Why do you feel
that Native
Americans are not entitled to vote or have civil rights?
2) PL 104-301, which you sponsored, authorized $25 million
for the Hopi
Tribal Council if it could obtain signatures of 85% of 112 Navajo
families on
leases. Did you anticipate that placing a $260,000 bounty on
each signature
would lead to abuses in the process through which these signatures
were
obtained? Are you familiar with reports from the Navajo families
that
signatures were obtained under threat of jail or immediate eviction?
Do you
feel that signatures obtained under these circumstances constitute
an
endorsement of your policy?
3) PL 104-301, which you sponsored, completes the settlement
of a land title
dispute between the Hopi and Navajo tribal governments. A key
figure in its
history was an attorney named John Boyden who organized the current
Hopi and
Navajo tribal governments. A key figure in its history was an
attorney named
John Boyden who organized the current Hopi government and who
obtained BIA
recognition for it in 1953, and who was the architect of the original
relocation legislation in the 1970's. Boyden was also working
for Peabody
Coal Company at the same time. Do you believe it is appropriate
for Congress
to continue policies that are based on land title established
by a coal
company? Are you willing to consider legislation that revises
the land title
to reflect traditional occupancy and use?
4) Most other nations now recognize the right of indigenous
people to remain
on their traditional land. PL 104-301, which you sponsored (S.
1973 in the
Senate), requires the relocation next year of people whose families
have
occupied the land for hundreds of years. Why do you believe that
the US
should not recognize their right to remain on their land?
For more information: www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/pagea~1.html
www.Blackmesais.or/support.html and
www.solcommunications.com/bigmountain/landoperations.html