Home > Anna Mae Sundance > The Chairman's Report to the Hopi People July 19, 1996

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The Chairman's Report to the Hopi People July 19, 1996
	THIS IS AN EXERPT Hopi Tutuveni P.O. Box 123 Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039 Any communication you wish to have with the chairman or others about this exerpt, should be addressed to the above. This exerpt is offered as his interpretation of events alone, offered initially to the Hopi public VIA their own local newspaper to answer other articles published worldwide about this event. "......The Chairman's office has been very busy protecting Hopi natural resources on HPL at Big Mountain in the face of Sundance activities in the area. You may know that in the Big Mountain area of Hopi Partitioned Land (HPL), some Navajo families have hosted a Lakota religious ceremony called the Sundance.There were two requests for a Sundance, one which was authorized with conditions (camp #2). The other was denied, because the request came from Navajos whowere not residents of HPL (camp#1). For the most part, the Hopi Tribe has done very little in the past to respond to these ceremonies, and to regulate the large groups ofpeople that have come from all over the world. Here is some historical background: In the early 1980s, the Sundance ceremony was originally established as a healing ceremony and as part of the movement by some Navajos to resist forced relocation from Hopi lands. The site identified by the relocation resisters for this Sundance is southwest of Big Mountain and near Rocky Ridge. The Big Mountain Survival Camp, as it is known, was established and declared Sovereign Dine territory, even though it is on Hopi lands. This location served both as a site for the annual religious event, and a base for resistance to relocation. The site also proved to be helpful in gathering sympathy, support and aid from the rest of the world in resisting relocation, because the Sundance attracted a lot of non-Indians and Indians from remote locations who had no understanding of the disputes between Hopi and Navajo. This gave the resistance movement a large audience of easily influenced people, who could be convinced to provide financial and political support for their resistance movement. The Sundance became more than a Native American religious ceremony of healing. It also became a political weapon. By claiming that any efforts to restrict these religious ceremonies was a violation of their right to practice the religion of their choice and a violation of the Native American Religious Freedom Act, (NARFA), the resistance movement further complicated Hopi efforts to take jurisdiction over its land and to protect its natural resources. The argument that the Hopi Tribe's attempt to regulate gatherings of a religious nature on HPL is a violation of NARFA is an interesting one, but it doesn't work. These events have proven to be more than just a threat to Hopi natural resources. They have become a threat to the safety and welfare of the Hopi people and HPL residents, both Hopi and Navajo. On Sunday night, July 7, there was a shooting incident between the two camps. Apparently, some individuals from Camp #1 (Survival Camp) fired at some individuals from Camp #2 (Camp Ana Mae) with a high powered rifle as they fled from the Camp #1 location. The real issue is the Hopi Tribe's sovereign right to protect its resources and to protect the welfare of the Hopi people ! About 5 or 6 years ago, there was a split in the group of people who conducted and hosted the Sundance ceremony at the Survival camp, which is referred to as "Camp #1." One faction moved to the northeast, and established a new site referred to as Camp Ana Mae, or "Camp #2. Restrictions were stepped up this year because of the severe drought and fire hazard conditions that exist on the Hopi Reservation, which the rest of the region has also been experiencing. Discussions with the hosts of the Sundance planned for Camp #2 had been taking place six weeks before the ceremony. Permission, with severe restrictions, was given to this group because they made their request well in advance (not because they protested in Washington, D.C., as they reported to the media). Among those restrictions were plans for protecting the vegetation and wildlife of the area from fire and a limit on the number of guests to 100. The group at Camp #2 has made an effort to cooperate and to comply with the restrictions. However, a second group came forward only a few days before their planned event and informed the Tribe of its plans, also requesting permission. Because of the lateness of this request, the approved event at Camp #2 for the same dates, and the fact that the requesters were not HPL residents, theirrequest/demand was denied. This second group ignored the denial of their permit, entered the area without permission, and initiated ceremonial activities in the Survival Camp (Camp #1). Before the Tribe could respond, a group of approximately 200 people were already gathered in the area led by a medicine man from the Rosebud Sioux Nation, Leonard Crowdog, and set up camp. They the proceeded to cut down a 30 to 40 ft.. tall cottonwood from a nearby wash for use in their ceremony. Upon returning to the Survival Camp with the tree, Leonard Crowdog was issued a citation for cutting a tree on HPL in violation of Hopi Ordinance 47 and ordered to appear in Hopi Tribal Court. Due to the large size of the gathering, and the potential for violence, no evictions from HPL were made. Roadblocks were set up to keep the gathering from getting any larger. No new people were allowed into the area and anyone who left the site was denied re-entry. This event at Camp #1 is now over. The Hopi Tribe will now be looking into "reclaiming" the area. I have made contact with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe regarding the nature of Mr. Crowdog's activities. The representative from Rosebud said that Leonard Crowdog is a legitimate Sioux medicine man authorized to conduct the Sundance ceremony and that it is sometimes offered to other tribes. He added, though, that permission from thehost Tribe must be respectfully sought and obtained in advance whenever the Sundance is to be conducted on another Nation's land. Mr. Leonard Crowdog and his Navajo hosts did not respect this protocol prescribed by the Sioux Nation, and they certainly did not respect Hopi protocol or the sovereigntyof the Hopi Tribe. In closing, the Hopi Tribal Council has been kept informed of these activities and a Council member has been present at most of our visits to Big Mountain. Once the events are over for this year, we will be bringing this before the Council again as part of policy making process in preparation for the Hopi Tribe's official position on future activities of this nature." -=+=+=+=+=+=- Information Provided By: Cynthia M. Dagnal-Myron cdm@azstarnet.com -=+=+=+=+=+=-
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