Hopi Tribes Order of Proposed Exclusion unfolds
By Wendy R. Young
Navajo Times Correspondent
FLAGSTAFF - In response to the Hopi Tribes Proposed Order
of Exclusion, Kee
Shay has sent a letter to Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor requesting
a 30-day
extension in order for him to obtain the texts of the Hopi tribal
ordinances
that he has been accused of violating.
Kee Shays wife May Shay resides in the unauthorized
dwelling on the HPL,
which the notice alleges is in violation of federal, Hopi tribal,
and Hopi
village laws. May Shay told human rights activist Marsha Monestersky,
I
have lived here since before i was 18 years old when I married
Kee Shay. I
am now 76 years old. My sheep corral, my house, and my ash pile
is here.
This is where i live. We are even told that our hogan which we
need to
rebuild in order to have ceremonies is illegal. How are we to
survive?
How can the Hopi Tribe say we are a danger to the Hopi
Tribe? I am afraid
when I am here alone, the Hopi police come by here and tell me
to leave my
home and that I do not belong here. (Or that) They do this to
me when I am
sheep herding. Who is going to protect me? How can they do this
to me?
Kee Shays son Shay Benally has been trying to attain
copies of the Hopi
tribal ordinances. Benally told Monestersky, I went to
see the people at
the Tuba City Navajo Hopi Land Commission to ask if they could
give me a copy
of the Ordinance 46 and 43 that my father Kee Shay is being cited
in
violation of. they told me they have the information but would
not give it
to me. How are we supposed to respond to the Exclusion Order?
They should
take the word Navajo out of Navajo Hopi Land Commission.
The Tuba City office of the NHLC says that Benally did in fact
come to
request copies of the ordinances, however the staff person who
handles legal
matters and who holds copies of those documents was out of the
office.
Benally was told to come back.
Benally also reported that he approached the Hopi Chairmans
office on May 21
requesting copies of ordinances, I asked him if he would
give me the text of
the Ordinances that my father Kee Shay is being cited in violation
of. He
just told me that he would not give me the information and that
he wanted to
keep this information confidential. Confidential from who? My
father Kee
Shay and my mother are being told they are going to be excluded
from their
home.
When asked to verify Benallys visit to the Hopi Chairmans
office,
Administrative Assistant Jackie Nahee was unable to find anyone
who had
spoken with Benally.
We have no record of that, she told the Navajo
Times. Usually they would
fill out a form and we would make copies...Its public record,
so the
documents should have been provided, Nahee indicated.
The Shay family has never approached the Navajo Times to promote
their case.
The Navajo Times covers this story because it has implications
on all
residents of the Dineh HPL, including dual residents of the HPL
and NPL, as
well as signers and non-signers of the Accommodation Agreement.
As Benally commented, Kee Shay and May Shay are afraid
of what will happen
to them at the hands of the Hopi Tribe and I wonder what will
happen to us
and who they will target next.
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The Navajo Times
May 27, 1999
Hopi exclusion ordered
(EDITORS NOTE: The following press release was issued
on May 20, 1999 by
the Hopi Tribe after the Navajo Times published a story in the
May 13, 1999
issue about a Notice of Proposed Order of Exclusion issued by
the Hopi Tribe
against elder Dineh resident Kee Shay. It is printed in its entirety.)
KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. - According to media reports, Kee Shay, a
resident and
member of the Navajo Nation is opposing Hopi efforts to exclude
him from the
Hopi Reservation. Shay recently received a notice of proposed
order of
exclusion from the Hopi Tribe acting under authority of a Tribal
law which
allows the Hopi to protect their people and lands by excluding
or removing
individuals who are illegally on Hopi land.
Mr. Shay has no right to be on Hopi land, no right to
graze his cattle and
sheep on Hopi land or to construct buildings on Hopi land. In
spite of
repeated Hopi warnings, he has done all of these things openly
and without
permit or other authorization. Such behavior is not acceptable
or tolerated
in off-reservation communities and it will not be accepted or
tolerated here.
Our records indicate that Shay is not a member of the Hopi tribe.
Shay is
also not among the Navajos who are eligible to continue living
on Hopi land
under the process of accommodation negotiated between the Hopi,
Navajo and
the United States. As such, Shay is simply trespassing on Hopi
lands,
stated Eugene Kaye, Spokesman for the Hopi Tribe.
According to the Tribe, Shays actions are considered
harmful to both Navajo
and Hopi families. The Hopi Partitioned Lands hit hard by the
ongoing
drought conditions has reduced the capacity of the land to support
grazing
livestock.
When outside individuals illegally trespass and allow
their animals to graze
on lands that already suffer from diminished capacity, we hurt
both Navajo
and Hopi families living on HPL who depend on t hose same lands
for
authorized grazing. Shays actions in arguing his case through
the media is
clearly an effort to disrupt and use for his own benefit the ongoing
peaceful
process of accommodation taking place between the Hopi Tribe and
Navajo
families to which he is not a party. Shays illegal presence
on the HPL has
nothing to do with the Accommodation process, concluded
Kaye.
Lenora Lewis, Chairperson of the Hopi Tribes Land Team
agrees. The Hopi
government has a responsibility to look out for the general welfare
of its
citizens. In this case, both Navajo and Hopi families lose when
outsiders
encroach on natural resources they depend on. These families
are already
facing livestock reductions due to the conditions of the land.
HPL families
dont need outsiders using up their grass when they are the
ones who suffer
the consequences. They also dont need outsiders creating
issues surrounding
the Accommodation process, especially when it does not concern
them. The
media needs to be more responsible in not agitating situations
that could
hurt the interests of Hopi and Navajo families on the HPL.