And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>From BIGMTLIST
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 14:34:41 EST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: To Big Mountain List-Sign-on to support
To the Big Mountain list: As you know the Dineh are currently under seige and
face massive confiscation of their livestock by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
of the United States Government. The laws and regulations under which these
confiscations have been authorized have been enacted without the input and
participation of the Dineh people and is being done without their consent.
To the traditional Dineh people the confiscation of their livestock is an
attack upon their culture, their religion, and their lives. We call upon the
NGOs and the world community to call for the US government to renounce these
plans, and support the Dineh people’s attempt to defend their community
against these attacks.
Please sign-on to the letter that follows and feel free to modify it and
include your organizational letterhead. Please copy us via e-mail and the US
mail on all letters sent.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Marsha Monestersky,
Consultant to Sovereign Dineh Nation and Co-Chair of the NGO Human Rights
Caucus at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development
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February 19, 1999
URGENT ALERT: LIVESTOCK IMPOUNDMENTS ON BLACK MESA
February 18, 1999
Big Mountain, AZ
The US Bureau of Indian affairs (BIA) has launched a massive campaign of
livestock confiscation targeting the elderly Dineh families who reside
on their traditional homelands which the US government expropriated and
now calls Hopi Partitioned Lands in the state of Arizona. The BIA ended
a self-imposed two-year moratorium on livestock confiscation in January
by mailing notices to owners of livestock without valid permits. Many
people are not eligible for permits, and people who have permits often
have permits for only a few of their livestock. The targets of this
policy are largely elderly people pursuing their traditional lifestyle
in which their livestock is both their means of survival and the center
of their daily lives.
The BIA claims that their sole purpose is to protect deteriorating range
conditions. This statement is questionable, in that the BIA is also
responsible for assisting in the implementation of federal laws
requiring the forcible relocation of many of these same people by
February 1, 2000, and many other government policies have been designed
with the expressed purpose of making it difficult for the people to
remain on the land. The people also claim that the source of the range
problem is BIA range management policies that outlawed their traditional
practice of using separate summer/winter camps that had enabled them to
sustain herd sizes 4-10 times larger prior to BIA intervention.
As a result of government policy, self-sufficient people are being
transformed into a state of total dependency upon the government.
Furthermore, when government policies disturb a traditional culture that
has been self-sustaining for hundreds of years, genocide should not be
considered as an acceptable mechanism to correct the problems resulting
from those policies.
Letters to the BIA expressing the concern of NGOs about the issue can
play a major role in forcing the agency to reconsider its priorities and
to respect the right of these people to pursue their traditional
religion, culture, and means of survival. Organizations wishing more
information or to offer other support should contact:
Sovereign Dineh Nation
P.O.Box 1968
Kaibeto, AZ 86053
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
or contact Marsha Monestersky at 520-673-3461
or contact Bill Sebastian at 508-540-8980
The following letter is a sign-on letter for people concerning this issue.
Organizations are welcome to use this as a model for use in indivdual
letters. If individual letters are sent, please send a hard copy to
Sovereign Dineh Nation as well as forwarding an email note so that the
people can be aware of the support.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Heather Sibbinson
Bureau of Indian Affairs
United States Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240
We understand that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is proceeding to enforce
a range management system under which many Dineh families living on Hopi
Partitioned Land lack permits necessary to keep their current livestock.
Many of the people at risk under this program are elderly people who
depend upon their livestock for their survival and whose culture and
religion is based on their ties to their land and their livestock. The
confiscation of their livestock poses a risk to their health and
violates their right to practice their traditional way of life.
The Dineh families are living on their ancestral lands and many still
practice the subsistence herding practices as they have done for
hundreds of years before the US government acquired jurisdiction over
the region. To the extent that Congress, tribal governments, or agencies
have passed laws or regulations affecting this region, they are
obligated to respect the right of these people to continue their
traditional lifestyle in their customary use areas and to insure that
these policies do not interfere with this right.
We are also concerned about the conflict of interest inherent in the
BIA's dual role of enforcing both range management and the provisions of
the 1974 and 1996 Navajo-Hopi Settlement Acts. The purpose of a range
management program should be confined to exercising a trust
responsibility with respect to the health of the ecosystem. Under the
Settlement Acts, the BIA is asked to assist in the relocation of many
Dineh from their ancestral land, and previous government policies such
as the Bennett Freeze were clearly intended to make it difficult for the
people to remain on their land. To remove the people's means of survival
on their traditional land would make it easier for the BIA to fulfill
its enforcement obligations with respect to the Settlement Acts. The
presence of this conflict of interest undermines the credibility of your
agency with respect to range management.
We are watching the events in this region with great concern and hope
that your office will keep us updated as to policies and events
affecting the region. As we enter the new millenium, we hope that all
governments will uphold principles that protect human dignity and
respect the unique nature of Indigenous societies.
Sincerely,
[]
cc: Mr. Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian
Affairs
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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