120 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
120 lines
5.4 KiB
Plaintext
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The View From The Hogan
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Notes from Big Mountain
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Ya'a'tee
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1999 has been a busy year so far.
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On January 25th, 90-day eviction notices were given to the 5 last
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resisting homesites. Though many people signed the so-called Accomodation
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Agreement, many were coerced, and others had a member of their family sign
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for them, so there are many more people resisting than these five. However,
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these 5 are under immediate threat of physical removal.
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In the eviction notice it was stated that after the 90 day period their
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names will be passed on to the the Hopi Tribe, the Arizona Attorny General,
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and the U.S Justice department "for further action".
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An ex chairman of the Hopi Tribe has publicly stated that evictions will
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take place.
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The new Navajo President has said no evictions will take place.
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The U.S. Governement isn't saying anything.
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The 90 days have passed.
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The U.S. Government is funding the Navajo-Hopi Relocation Commission till
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February 1st, 2000, and has stated that the "final solution" will take place
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before then.
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In the meantime the Hopi-B.I.A. have spent the last couple of months
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running around "counting" the peoples livestock. The people were asked to
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have their animals in the corrals on specific days to be counted. Sometimes
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the BIA turned up, sometimes they didn't. Sometimes they turned up without
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notice. In the letters that were sent out the people were told that if they
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had any animals over their permitted number ( a ridiculously low number that
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bears no relationship to the carrying capacity of the land, but is gauged to
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be well below the number people need to survive) they would be impounded on
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the spot. A few animals have been taken and then returned. The whole effect
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of the operation is to keep the people worried and stressed that their
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animals may be taken at any time. The cost of this whole operation is
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enormous, especially considering the number of cops they bring with them. One
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supporter was arrested for politely asking why they needed to be doing this.
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The whole thing is absurd in the first place as the BIA always know how many
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animals the people have as their "monitors" are constantly photographing the
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flocks.
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Pauline Whitesinger has just received an official livestock impoundment
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notice for her cattle and horses.
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In the past, whenever the authorities are "cracking down" on the people
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here there is a marked increase in low-altitude military aircraft flyovers.
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This spring is no exception. Early in the year a U.S. Army spotter plane (it
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was dark green with ARMY in huge white letters on its sides.) flew just above
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the tree tops and took a zig-zag course directly over the homesites. "out
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there" you may be more used to this kind of invasion of your space, but here
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its effect is to frighten these people. More threatening, later in the
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spring, 2 huge U.S.A.F C140's ( the type they push tanks and paratroopers out
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the back of) flew a low altitude pass in view of most of the resisters
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homesites.
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The Navajo Nation has started erecting houses for the families that
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signed the Accomodation Agreement. For some reason the Relocation Commission
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tried to block it, but were ruled against. The Commissions raison-d'etre is
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to get ALL the people of this land obviously.
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A few months ago the Hopi Tribal Chairman made a big splash in the local
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papers, invoking Tribal sovereignty to demand that the 2 power plants that
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are fed by Black Mesa coal be allowed to stay operating even though they are
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breaking Federal EPA laws (they are polluting Big Time). His logic was that
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basically his wages were being paid by the sale of the coal.
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Last month the owners of the power plants gave a huge "Bonus royalty" to
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the tribe.
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Could these two facts be connected?
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The last possibility of legal redress for these people, the "Manybeads
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suit" will soon come to a conclusion. For years it has bounced back and forth
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in the legal system. Some believe that the physical evictions won't happen
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till the case is concluded.
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At this moment a delegation of resisters is in Geneva, Switzerland
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testifying before a variety of International and Global organisations. The
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number of International statutes and conventions (as well as U.S. Federal
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laws) that are being broken here is staggering. It seems that International
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Law only means something to America when it complies with its own aims,
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Back in the real world, it was an unusually warm and dry winter and
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spring. Very pleasant weather to herd sheep in, but worrisome as the spring
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dries up, no grass was growing for the flock, and without snowmelt there
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would be nothing to grow the corn in. However we recently had a couple of
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snowstorms, and though its still way below normal, the spring has recharged,
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grass has grown.
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The Mesa is bursting with life,.... flowers are appearing, .... theres
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lots of birds around.
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The sheep are being sheared.
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The cornfields are being prepared.
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Rugs are being woven.
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Ceremonies are being held.
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The largest Coal strip mine in the U.S. continues to expand.
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The coal slurry line continues to suck 3 million gallons of pristine,
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ancient aquifer water per day.
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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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email the author at:
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UNCLEJAKE74@aol.com
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