http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/49801.html
By FELICIA FONSECA | Associated Press
September 25, 2006
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - When it rains on the far western side of the
Navajo Nation and the roofs begin to leak, there is little that one
community can do to make repairs.
The one gas station that had serviced Bodaway-Gap, Ariz., closed a
couple of months ago, the trading post and the chapter house date to
the early 1960s and most residents live without running water or
telephone service.
"A lot of times we feel like we're forgotten," said Dorothy Lee,
community services coordinator for the chapter. "Our people are
content with what they have, but it's sad to see them never seeing
improvements in their lifetime, especially the elders."
Bodaway-Gap sits on a piece of land totaling about 700,000 acres that
is entangled in a decades-long land dispute between the Navajo and
Hopi tribes. The acreage is on Navajo land, but the Hopis claim it is
their aboriginal homeland.
In 1966, then U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Bennett
imposed a ban on construction _ even minor things such as broken
windows or roof repairs _ on the disputed acreage, including
extension of water and electrical lines, unless approved by the Hopis.
Now the Navajo Nation is about to act on an agreement that could take
the tribes one step closer to resolving the dispute.
An intergovernmental compact that both tribes have been working on
for the past four years would lift the so-called Bennett Freeze. At
the same time, it would end litigation the Hopi filed against the
Navajo in 1974 that also is part of the broader land dispute.
Navajo delegates are to consider the agreement at a special session
Tuesday.
The agreement requires a two-thirds vote of the 88 council members
and then would be subject to approval by the Hopi Tribe and the
secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. District
Court in Phoenix.
Under the agreement, members of either tribe would be allowed to
venture onto the other tribe's land for religious purposes without a
permit.
The Hopis say the land in dispute contains sacred springs, eagle
nesting sites and shrines vital to their religion.
The agreement would prohibit the Navajo Nation from building near
certain eagle nests that the Hopis have had access to.
The number of eaglets taken by the Hopi for use in religious
ceremonies would be monitored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
so that the overall number of eaglets isn't threatened.
The 1974 lawsuit filed by the Hopis, known as the 1934 Reservation
Litigation after the year Congress expanded the Navajo Nation, sought
half of a 7 million-acre tract that the tribe claimed was its
homeland for thousands of years before the Navajo arrived in the
mid-1880s.
In 1992, the U.S. District Court in Phoenix ruled the Hopi were
entitled to only 62,000 acres, which was part of the original 1.5
million acres affected by the Bennett Freeze. The tribe appealed the
decision, arguing that they are entitled to more of the Navajo land
on which their religious shrines and sacred sites are located. The
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld the earlier decision
regarding the land claim but noted that some religious issues
remained unresolved.
The case was then sent back to the U.S. District Court in Phoenix.
The Navajo and Hopi tribes grew weary of waiting on the courts and
thought they could better resolve the dispute, said Navajo Nation
Attorney General Louis Denetsosie.
Under the new agreement, the Hopi would not receive any Navajo land
other than that already awarded by the courts.
Lee said she looks forward to a time when restrictions on
construction and other development are lifted.
A young family visited her office recently asking about the red tape
involved in building a home. She said they were discouraged to learn
they would need to fill out a homesite lease application and get
approval from the Hopi tribe.
"That needs to be done away with," she said. "A lot of our young
people are wanting to come home, but that's one of the hindrances
they run into."