And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: BIGMTLIST <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sat, 03 Jul 1999 11:57:54 -0800 >From BIGMTLIST Here is the text of the Denver Post article mentioned in the previous post. Reply-To: "Omar Jabara" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "Omar Jabara" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Article Date: Fri, 2 Jul 1999 17:36:44 -0600 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Priority: 3 Bombing Arizona (Omar Jabara <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] is a Denver-area public affairs specialist living in Westminster--06-30-99) Now that we have succeeded in halting most of the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, we need to fly NATO's warplanes stateside to bomb the S.N.O.T (Systematic Native Oppression & Torment) out of Arizona. The reason? Ethnic cleansing by your old Uncle Sam. By February 1, 2000, all remaining Navajo Indians (about 3000 elders) on what are called Hopi Partition Lands in the four corners region of Arizona are to be "relocated" from their tribal homes to a desolate tract of land on the Rio Puerco, just downstream from the worst uranium mine disaster in U.S. history (Church Rock Mill). To date, 10,000 Navajos--known as Dineh in their language--have been exiled to this site, with 25% of the first group resettled in 1980 dying within the first six months of arriving at the "New Lands." The remaining survivors suffer from increased rates of birth defects and poisoned livestock. In order to force the remaining Navajo elders from Big Mountain, the government forbids them from repairing their homes, denies them access to fresh water, and confiscates their livestock and firewood. In fact, Alice Begay, a great grandmother whose family has lived at Big Mountain for generations, had to buy back her cow from a livestock auction earlier this month after the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) seized it from her. You see, it all starts in 1863 when Colonel Kit Carson and the U.S. Army went on a rampage to exterminate the Navajo who had been residing in the Big Mountain region for the last 600 years. After Carson spent weeks killing thousands of Indians, the survivors were forced to march 400 miles on the infamous "Long Walk" to Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico. Those who escaped Carson's grip hid in the canyons of the Big Mountain region currently inhabited by the Navajo and the Hopi peoples. The Hopi, an agrarian people, occupy permanent settlements in the lowlands of the area relying largely on farming. The Navajo rely on sheep-herding and dry-crop farming. In 1974, President Ford signed a bill partitioning the Big Mountain area and ordered the Navajo to leave. This was done in spite of a 1962 U.S. District Court ruling that the lands in question were a Joint Use Area (JUA) cooperatively developed by both Hopi and Navajo peoples (with the exception of the small portion occupied by the Hopi settlements). So why would the government care if the Navajo lived there or not, especially since many Hopi elders believe that the Navajo have just as much right as they do? Just follow the money: It turns out that during the 1940s and 1950s, massive deposits of low-sulfur coal, oil, and uranium were discovered in the mountains and canyons occupied by the Navajo. The Peabody Western Coal Company began operating a 103-square mile coal strip in the area in the mid-1960s (after first displacing 200 Navajo families). The Navajo and Hopi tribal councils--created by the feds--get royalties from Peabody's mining operations but those Navajo living in the mining permit area get nothing (estimates show they live on top of 18 billion tons of coal just six feet beneath the surface). In 1964, with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) acting as an "agent" for the Navajo, Peabody paid less than 2% in royalties to the Navajo under its original lease with the tribe. In 1984, the tribe sought to adjust the royalty rate to 20 percent to reflect market standards. The Department of Interior, which includes the BIA, approved the increased royalty rate but Peabody (the world's largest private coal producer) pressured then-Interior Secretary Donald Hodel into overturning the decision. Last week, the Navajo announced they were fighting back with a $600 million lawsuit against Peabody for shortchanging the tribe since 1984. Nevertheless, the lawsuit won't prevent the expulsions of the Navajo elders from Big Mountain. If you want to help, please call 1-888-41-PRAYER, or, e-mail <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information on this issue, visit the Navaho web site at <http://www.solcommunications.com/dineh.html>www.solcommunications.com/dineh .html. Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
