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Box 2574 :: :: Olympia, Wa Fido Net 1:352/333 :: :: 98507-2574 206-786-9629 :: :: USA The Quarto Mundista BBS :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: RESOLUTION OF DINE BIKEYA COMMITTEE OF TEESTO CHAPTER REAFFIRMING ITS PREVIOUS RESOLUTION OF DECEMBER 12, 1992 URGING THE HONORABLE SENATOR DENNIS DECONCINI TO SUPPORT LAND EXCHANGE AS THE ONLY WORKABLE SOLUTION IN RESOLVING THE LONG STANDING NAVAJO HOPI LAND DISPUTE WHEREAS: 1. Dine' Bikeya Committee is a recognized entity both at the Chapter and Tribal Government levels that is established to advocate and provide direction for the people subject to the Relocation Law P.L. 93-531 as amended by P.L. 96-305 and other subsequent amendments; and 2. We maintain that these laws violate our basic human right to freedom of religion, as well as our other human rights; and 3. The Navajo residents of the Hopi Partitioned Lands have endured and persevered through years of suffering and hardship brought about by legal restrictions and constraints that touched and twisted the lives of our families, clans, and homes who otherwise might have enjoyed happiness, peace and prosperity in the last 20 or 80 years; and 4. The suffering of our people is rooted in the loss of control over our lives, homes and livelihood; the desecration of our sacred places; inability to keep our families together as they were meant to be; inability to educate our children to continue living as our religious ways say we should; and the continuous hostility and harassment of agents of the Hopi Tribe and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs; and 5. We are resisting relocation for the sake of our families, our children, grandchildren, and all those to come, and for our religion and way of life; and these are the things that are always in our minds and our hearts; and 6. The mediation effort ordered by the 9th Circuit Court was very welcome and appreciated by the Teesto HPL community, and that mediation has led to an agreement in principle under which our people can live on the land, but only under very restrictive terms; and 7. The Navajo residents of the HPL, because of past experience are very uncomfortable with the concept of living under Hopi jurisdiction. It gives us no protection from the prejudice, oppression and hostility we have experienced in our contacts with Hopi tribal officials and BIA the past 20 years or more; and 8. Dine' men and women from the HPL have always served their country. It was our language, used by the Navajo Code Talkers, that defeated the enemy. We have fought for this land. For the honor of our veterans, and those who did not return from our country's wars, we cannot give up this land; and 9. We are uncomfortable with a lease which will expire during the lifetimes of some of our children, for then what will become of our families; and 10. We have read the Agreement in Principle and have seen that it splits our families into those who can live on the land with us and those who can not. Under this agreement what will become of our families; and 11. We have seen that the Agreement seeks to limit us to three acres to live on, but how can all our houses and the other things we need for our lives fit on three small acres; and 12. The Agreement lets the Navajo Nation divide 2,800 sheep units among us all for our livestock, but we know that there are more than two hundred and fifty families living on the HPL right nov, and we know that this ia not enough to survive; and 13. We have seen that the Agreement in Principle gives the Hopi Tribe over 500,000 acres of lands which they claim by traditional right, just aa we have a traditional right to the lands where we have always lived; and 14. All through the mediation we have made many sacrifices, and have always acted in good faith; and this good faith is a sign of how we will conduct ourselves in carrying out a settlement agreement that addresses our needs and protects our human rights as Dine', and rights of our children and grandchildren to come. THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT: 1. The Dine' Bikeya Committee of Teesto Chapter hereby expresses its intention to continue the mediation process which we have entered in good faith; and 2. The Dine' Bikeya Committee reaffirms to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, to the Navajo Nation Council and the U.S. Congress, and to the President of the Navajo Nation and the President of the United States, that U.S. Public Law 93-531 and relocation are contrary to natural law and a fundamental violation of our human right of freedom of religion; and 3. The Dine' Bikeya Committee hereby expresses its support for the transfer of land to the Hopi Tribe in compensation for the return to us of our traditional lands; and 4. The Dine' Bikeya Committee recognizes the work and challenges that lie ahead for the Honorable Senator DeConcini and his colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives, in securing a just and workable settlement of the so-called Navajo- Hopi land dispute; and 5. The Dine' Bikeya Committee urges the Senator to understand our basic needs, which can only be net by land exchanges, and to work with his colleagues in the Senate and House of Representatives to secure a true and lasting settlement of the Navajo-Hopi "land dispute" which can only be achieved if we, the people who live on the land are in full control of our land, our homes, our livelihoods, and our sacred sites. CERTIFICATION We hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly considered by the Dine' Bikeya Committee at a duly called meeting at Teesto Chapter, Teesto, Navajo Nation, Arizona at which a quorum was present and that same was passed by a vote of 27 in favor; 0 opposed and 0 abstained, on this 3rd day of February, 1993. _____________________________ _____________________________ Alvin Clinton, President James Francis, Vice-President _____________________________ _____________________________ Elmer Clark, Secretary Frances Bahe, Treasurer -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- To have a current Center For World Indigenous Studies Publication Catalogue sent to you via e-mail, send a request to jburrows@halcyon.com FTP ftp.halcyon.com /pub/FWDP/CWIS Center For World Indigenous Studies P.O. Box 2574 Olympia, WA U.S.A. 98507-2574 BBS: 206-786-9629 OCR Provided by Caere Corporation's PageKeeper