118 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
118 lines
7.0 KiB
Plaintext
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The View From The Hogan 2 June 1999
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Notes from Big Mountain.
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Ya'a'tee
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First off I need to correct something I stated in my last missive. I said
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that there were 5 resisting homesites. It seems that further Eviction Notices
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are being sent out. When one considers that at each homesite there are many
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relatives, the number of people that are going to be forcibly removed becomes
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quite large. The Government and Hopi Tribal Council have consistently
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understated how many people are involved here. For instance, when Congress
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was first considering the Relocation Act (PL935-51) they were told that a
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"few" thousand Navajos will have to be moved. a "few thousand" ended up being
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ten thousand. Again, when the Accommodation Agreement was being discussed
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Congress made it clear that if 85% of the people did not agree with the
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agreement then another solution would have to be found. Magically the Hopi
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Tribal Council and the Relocation Commission juggled the figures (and lied)
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so that 85% signed. In an extended family that may include up to 20-30
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people, all it took was for one person to sign for the government to count
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ALL the people as signing. Imagine if a distant relative of yours committed a
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crime, but you, your parents, siblings, and children all had to do the jail
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time! This is the reality of the situation here. So if you hear statements
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that "just a few troublemakers" are holding out, don't believe it.
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During the time I have spent here on the land it has been my great
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privilege and extreme good fortune to meet many fine human beings who support
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here. By and large these people quietly and anonymously do the things that
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need doing. There are a couple of dangerous notions that seem fairly
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prevalent "out there", one being that human beings have a natural proclivity
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for greed, selfishness, and fear. The other notion is that as mere
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individuals we are powerless to change the horrific abuses that are being
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perpatrated against human beings and life itself. The supporters here, and
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the elders, expose these notions for what they are, not universal truths,
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but social constructions. So I would like to extend my heartfelt and sincere
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thanks to those people, whether I have met you, or just know you through the
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results of your work here. The world is enriched by your existence. ( 2
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questions come to my mind concerning the aforementioned notions. Who benefits
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by us believeing these notions?, and why would anyone choose to have such a
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low opinion of themselves?)
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The supporters who were arrested during the recent spate of livestock
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counts and impoundments have had all charges against them dropped. This is
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par for the course. In the time I've been here whenever supporters are
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arrested the charges have always been dropped. The reasons are obvious, the
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charges would not stand up in court, and the authorities do not want the
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public scrutiny of their actions that a trial would bring. In my experience
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abusers prefer privacy to publicity. That arrest has become a commonplace and
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acceptable form of political repression must be a source of shame to all
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American citizens who profess a belief in Democracy.
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A Education/Witness camp has been set up on the land. Young people and
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students are invited to come and spend a week or two on the land between June
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1st. and July 15th. Classes and demonstrations will be offered in traditional
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skills such as weaving, dyeing, gardening, silversmithing, plant medicines,
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Navajo Language, etc. Also participants will have the opportunity to assist
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the Elders with such chores as herding the sheep, planting corn, hauling
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water etc. Sounds like a really good deal for all concerned. As I understand
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it there is no charge, but there are obvious conditions, No drugs, No
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Alcohol, No weapons, and come self sufficient. More info can be had from
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tencendur@hotmail.com or thru this address.
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I recently came across the letter that has been circulated on the Net
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from Senator McCain to Janet Reno and Bruce Babbit. At the same time I also
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happen to be re-reading the Senate Indian Affairs Committee oversight
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hearings on the Land Dispute, and as Senator McCain was the Chairman of these
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hearings I thought a couple of qoutes from him may help to clarify what his
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position is. On March 25th 1996 in his opening address he had this to say: "
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I understand that there may be other families who decide not to enter into an
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accommadation agreement and who reject the relocation benefits, I'm sorry to
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have to tell you that Im afraid that these families will do so at their own
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risk." Later, during questions about how many families this might be, he
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states: "If we can't even get an estimate from you as to the number of
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families that we'd have to deal with in a very unpleasant fashion that would
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cause significant problems.....". Its hard not to read these remarks as a
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threat. Later he states "my colleagues in the senate will rely on me for some
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judgement as to the prospects of leading this issue to a successful
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conclusion.". For sure McCain is "very interested",... very interested in
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getting these people off the land. All things considered I would say that
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Senator McCain is someone that should be written to with your opinions and
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feelings on this issue.
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Low level military overflights continue. On Sunday, June 6th, 2 military
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helicopters flew low directly over the witness camp. On the next day a
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formation of three large helicopters flew directly over the homestead, low
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enough to cause the flock to panic. A little over an hour later the same
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thing happened again, and I was able to ascertain that none of the three
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helicopters carried any markings whatsoever. I have photos, so if anyone
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could help identify the aircraft and their agency I would appreciate hearing
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from you. Also if anyone knows the procedure for making official complaints
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about this kind of thing. With millions of square miles of space to fly
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around in, it goes way beyond the bounds of coincidence that they keep
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passing over the heads of the resisters. More taxpayers money being wasted.
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More harassment.
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Back in the real world, the weather has turned hot. Summer is here. It
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seems like every few days I come across a new type of flower, now the Cactii
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have joined the chorus. Most of the birds have left (after having gorged on
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many of my gardens seedlings), the sheep are happy to be shorn of their wool.
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The corn is in the ground waiting for the summer monsoons. From visitors we
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are hearing that there is a lot of media focus and concern "out there" about
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events surrounding the ethnic-cleansing in Kosovo (something you can do very
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little about), in the mean time ethnic cleansing in a corner of Arizona goes
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ahead (something you can do something about).
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But then, what the hell do I know,........ I'm just a sheepherder.
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"those who resist find peace"
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Your prayers, support, and correspondence are invited.
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For all my relations
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Bo Peep
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reachable via unclejake74@hotmail.com
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