Home > Latest Information >Water & Coal
 |
Black
Mesa Indigenous Support
P.O.
Box 23501, Flagstaff, Arizona 86002 Message Voice Mail: 928.773.8086 Email: blackmesais@riseup.net Newsletter:blackmesais@lists.riseup.net |
December 17, 2004 by Brenda Norrell
Indian Country Today
TUBA CITY, Ariz. - Former Navajo Chairman Peter MacDonald urged the Navajo
Nation Council to reject a San Juan River water rights settlement with the
state of New Mexico and instead take the battle for Navajo water rights to
court, under the Winters Doctrine, which gives precedence to Indian water claims.
''Once a tribe makes a settlement with the state, the tribe waives its
claims under the Winters Doctrine. That is the reason behind this settlement
initiated on the part of Congress,'' MacDonald, 76, told Indian Country Today.
MacDonald said Congress began urging Indian tribes in 1989 to agree to water
settlements with states in order to bypass the Winters Doctrine.
''It was done to quiet all the water rights questions in the West,''
MacDonald said.
''The carrot'' being held out to Indian tribes, he said, is the promise of
federal money to develop water on Indian lands.
''That is the carrot. The big catch is the law also states that tribes will
for ever waive their claims under the Winters Doctrine.'' The Winters
Doctrine, the U.S. Supreme Court decision of 1908, decided how Indian water rights
were to be settled.
''That is still the law of the land. Obviously it is not favoring states at
all. The Winters Doctrine says Indians have senior and prior rights regarding
water. Indians have the right to as much water as they can put to beneficial
use.
''The reason the federal government and states do not want Indian tribes to
take advantage of the Winters Doctrine is because it gives tribes first cut
of the water they need for tribal purposes. Whatever is left is to be given to
the settlers and latecomers. According to the Winters Doctrine, the states
are the latecomers.''
MacDonald said the Navajo Nation's attorneys are not listening to the people
and instead are attempting to persuade them to give up their Aboriginal
water rights and enter into the quick fix of a settlement.
MacDonald proposed to the Navajo Nation that an independent study be
conducted to determine how much water is available. Then, a determination should be
made of Navajo water needs for the next 200 years, including agricultural,
industrial and domestic needs.
He said even if it takes 25 million dollars and 25 years, it is better than
settling for broken promises, a spoonful of water and a settlement designed
to bring water to the thirsty border town of Gallup, N.M.
''We've been waiting for 100 years, so if we wait another 25 years to get
the full share of what we are entitled, it is worth it.
''We need a serious study and research done to determine where water will be
used in our Aboriginal homelands. If we have water transportation, we can
easily put 1 million to 2 million acres of land under irrigation.''
With all factors of water use considered, and a projection made for the next
200 years, the Navajo Nation can make a claim against the federal
government, instead of the states, he said.
MacDonald urged Navajos and other Indian tribes to be wary of the U.S.
government's promise of money in exchange for giving up Aboriginal rights. He
questioned how many Arizona Indian tribes who have already agreed to water
settlements have actually received the funds promised.
''We have been promised money from the federal government before in return
for giving up our resources. The record is clear. They take our resources and
we are always left waiting for the money.''
The Navajo Nation gave up some of its water to New Mexico in the 1950s. In
return the federal government promised the tribe 110,000 acres of farmland
and 500,000 acre-feet of water to irrigate Navajo Agricultural Products
Industries in New Mexico.
''It's been over 40 years since that promise and we are still waiting. The
farm is only half completed and the government wants to quit on us and just
leave us with 200,000 acre-feet of water to irrigate 50,000 acres.''
In the meantime, MacDonald said New Mexico has been drinking the Navajo
Nation's water for 25 years while Navajos wait for full payment and fulfillment
of the promise made 40 years ago.
Further, MacDonald said the Navajo Nation was asked to give up some of it
water to power and energy companies and in return, the tribe was promised jobs
and electricity.
''Today, many of our people are on the doorsteps of those energy companies
still trying to get a job. We have over 50 percent unemployment and over 40
percent of our people are still without electricity. Yet, millions outside our
reservation are enjoying the benefits and opportunities generated by our
water and our resources.
MacDonald said from the 1920s until the present day, Navajos, Hopis and
other tribes in northern Arizona have not been entitled to the waters of the
Colorado River because the Colorado River Compact gave the water rights to seven
Western states: Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, California, Nevada and
Wyoming.
MacDonald urged Navajos to honor their Aboriginal water rights and not bend
to the will of states.
MacDonald said the Navajo Nation should never settle their water rights
using a piece-meal approach nor should the Navajo Nation settle its water rights
based on recent laws enacted by the states, including the Upper and Lower
Colorado River Compact and New Mexico water rights laws. These laws were enacted
without the consent of the entire Navajo people.
''Let's remember, waters within the Navajo Nation, regardless of state
lines, belong to all the people of the Navajo Nation. Our forefathers fought
fearlessly and courageously to protect the land, natural resources, and waters
within these sacred mountains because it was their duty and their obligation to
the future generation. Many gave their lives or served time as prisoners of
war to preserve what rightly belongs to us. They sacrificed much to regain
what is rightfully ours.''
MacDonald said the proposed San Juan Water Rights settlement is an attempt
to pre-empt the Navajo Nation from claiming its rightful share of water within
the basin of the four sacred mountains.
''We must not give our water rights away on empty promises.''
© Indian Country Today December 17, 2004. All Rights Reserved
_http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096410027_
(http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?feature=yes&id=1096410027)
(http://www.indiancountry.com/author.cfm?id=448) /
Hi,
This article, an interview with Peter MacDonald, was just posted.
Hopefully it will serve as a warning to the tribes who haven't yet
given away their water rights.
For the past 15 years, after covering Mr. MacDonald's trials in tribal
and federal court for AP, I've wondered what the real reason was that
the federal government wanted to put Mr. MacDonald in prison for life.
I believe now that Mr. MacDonald's understanding of aboriginal water
rights, and his willingness to fight for those water rights, was the
primary reason.
The future development of the West depended on Indian tribes giving up
their water rights. The manipulations began in 1989 -- with water
settlements and Mr. MacDonald's removal and prosecution -- driven by
senators, including Sen. Domenici, and corporate greed.
Most of the Navajo Nation's attorneys that helped prosecute Mr.
MacDonald went on to work on water rights settlements with southern
Arizona tribes or to work for the US Interior water rights section.
Here's Mr. MacDonald's comments on aboriginal water rights:
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410027
Best, Brenda Norrell