Home > Latest Information

Black Mesa Indigenous Support P.O. Box 23501, Flagstaff, Arizona 86002  Message Voice Mail: 928.773.8086 Email: blackmesais@riseup.net

Navajo and Hopi leaders testify

Bill transferring relocation duties sharply criticized
Brenda Norrell, Indian Country Today 07/29/05

WASHINGTON - Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe leaders opposed aspects of new
amendments to the Navajo-Hopi Relocation Act, which would transfer
responsibilities to a new office in the Interior Department and are designed to
curb the costs of relocation.

The new legislation, Senate Bill 1003 - the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement
Amendments of 2005 - was introduced by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the 109th
Congress in May. The amendments would dissolve the Flagstaff, Ariz.- based
Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation as of Sept. 30, 2008. Its remaining
duties would be transferred to a new division to be created within Interior.

Testifying before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Navajo officials
called for justice and an end to the suffering that has resulted in the
relocation of 12,000 Navajos and 100 Hopi from their homes.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said Navajos have lived with the
''nightmare of relocation''; and before the Navajo Nation can endorse the bill,
it must make sure those affected get ''adequate justice for any sacrifices.''

While the Navajo Nation opposed the forced evictions of the traditional
Navajos who remain on the land and resist forced relocation, Hopi Chairman Wayne
Taylor pressed for the eviction of Navajos resisting relocation.

''The Hopi believe that removal should be mandatory,'' Taylor said in
testimony before the committee regarding Senate Bill 1003, which he said places
evictions at the discretion of the U.S. Attorney.

Shirley said it is unconscionable to forcibly relocate the most traditional
and geographically isolated indigenous people in North America from their
homeland.

Pointing out that the cost was never accurately considered by Congress,
Shirley compared relocating 12,000 Navajo to relocating the residents of Kingman,
Ariz., with a similar population.

''How much would it cost to relocate the entire population of Kingman to the
Phoenix area?'' Shirley asked. ''One billion dollars? Two billion dollars?
How long would it take if the funds were appropriated bit by bit over 30
years?''

While both McCain, chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, supported the new relocation amendments,
officials of both tribes said they want the current relocation benefits
continued as stated in the law.

Taylor said the Hopi Tribe is concerned that the new amendments would open
the doors to lawsuits and reduce the time to apply for certification of
relocation benefits.

Taylor said the Hopi Tribe opposed money being placed into a trust fund for
Navajo heads of households who have refused to sign relocation accommodation
agreements. The new legislation would allow Navajo heirs to be eligible for
those funds.

Responding to the possibility of Interior assuming relocation
responsibilities beginning in 2008, Taylor questioned whether the ''overburdened and
underfunded'' BIA would be able to carry out the duties and responsibilities as
mandated by law.

''The Hopi Tribe is acutely aware of the difficulties that the BIA has in
accomplishing its currently assigned responsibilities,'' Taylor told the
committee.

Christopher Bavasi, director of the Office of Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation,
said relocation has been hindered by continuous court battles.

''In hindsight, maybe we shouldn't have passed the law in the first place,''
McCain said.

McCain mirrored the sentiment expressed by former Interior Secretary Stewart
Udall, who said he regretted his earlier support of the Navajo and Hopi
Relocation Act and the suffering that resulted from the motivations behind the
scenes.

''It should have never happened,'' Udall told ICT in an earlier interview.

More than 12,000 Navajos on Black Mesa were living on one of the largest
coal beds in the United States, and the relocation act resulted in the removal
of all but a few hundred who remain resisting forced relocation.

McCain said, ''Maybe the lesson is you shouldn't try to settle land disputes
through legislation.''

During the committee testimony, Shirley said another concern of the Navajo
Nation is opening to development the 1.5-million-acre Bennett Freeze Area on
the western side of the Navajo Nation, which was instituted by the BIA. All
home and land improvements have been prohibited and development frozen since
1966.

McCain called the Bennett Freeze ''horrendous,'' ''a national shame'' and a
''disgrace.''

During his testimony, Shirley told the committee that many Navajo and Hopi
have intermarried and there are many Navajo/Hopi families.

''Once the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe lived together harmoniously,''
Shirley told the committee. ''I would like to get back to that.''

(http://www.indiancountry.com/author.cfm?id=448)
_http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411335_
(http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411335)