****************** A SIMPLE REQUEST ****************** Many of our files are unique and/or copyrighted by The Center For World Indigenous Studies and The Fourth World Documentation Project. All FWDP files may be reproduced for electronic transfer or posting on computer networks and bulletin boards provided that: 1. All text remains unaltered. 2. No profit is made from such transfer. 3. Full credit is given to the author(s) and the Fourth World Documentation Project. 4. This file is included in the archive if being used as a file on a BBS, FTP site or other file archive. Thank you for your cooperation. John Burrows Director, Fourth World Documentation Project ()-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=() ||/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\|| ||=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-|| || || || The Fourth World Documentation Project runs entirely on grants || || and private donations. If you find this information service || || useful to you in any way, please consider making a donation to || || help keep it running. CWIS is a non-profit [U.S. 501(c)(3)] || || organization. All donations are completely tax deductible. || || Donations may be made to: || || || || The Center For World Indigenous Studies || || c/o The Fourth World Documentation Project || || P.O. Box 2574 || || Olympia, Washington USA || || 98507-2574 || || Thank You, || || CWIS Staff || || || ||=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-|| ||\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/|| ()=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-() ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: This file has been created under the loving care of :: :: -= THE FOURTH WORLD DOCUMENTATION PROJECT =- :: :: :: :: Questions and comments on FWDP can be addressed to: :: :: :: :: John Burrows jburrows@halcyon.com :: :: P.O. Box 2574 :: :: Olympia, Wa Fido Net 1:352/333 :: :: 98507-2574 206-786-9629 :: :: USA The Quarto Mundista BBS :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT No. 90-15003 JENNY MANYBEADS, et al. Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al. Defendants-Appellees. REPORT TO THE HONORABLE HARRY R. McCUE REGARDING THE DINE' (NAVAJO) FAMILIES' RELIGIOUS CONCERNS AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS December 21, 1993 SUBMITTED BY: Lee Brooke Phillips, Attorney for the MANYBEADS Plaintiffs Big Mountain Legal Office 308 N. Agassiz P.O. Box 1509 Flagstaff, AZ 86002 Katherine W. Hazard, Attorney Member of the United States Mediation Team U.S. Department of Justice P.O. Box 23795 (L'Enfant Station) Washington D.C. 20026 INTRODUCTION AND PREFATORY STATEMENT BY COUNSEL At a negotiation session in Phoenix on September 16, 1993, the Dine' families expressed concern that Dine' religious issues were not adequately addressed by the Hopis' proposed draft lease. Judge McCue asked us, the lawyer for the Dine' families (Lee Phillips) and a member of the federal mediation team (Katherine Hazard), to meet with the families to see if their religious and other concerns with the Hopi proposed lease could be reduced to writing and suggestions made for how those concerns could be accommodated by means not involving a land exchange. During October and the first two weeks of November meetings were held by Mr. Phillips in the Hopi Partitioned Lands (HPL) communities to discuss with the families what had happened in the mediation since the August 5, 1993, meeting at Rocky Ridge and to ask whether they would like to continue participating in mediation and work, as Judge McCue had requested, to identify their religious and other concerns with greater specificity. Meetings were hold at the communities of Teestoh, Mosquito Springs, Coalmine Mesa, Sand Springs, Big Mountain and Cactus Valley. One of the concerns frequently raised at these meetings was that the families had not been more directly involved in the mediation process. The Dine' families live scattered throughout a large area of land accessible only by dirt roads. Travel is time consuming and difficult. To cross the affected area is approximately a five (5) hour drive. Few people have telephones and, except in the Teestoh area to the south east, there is not a governmental or community organization structure in existence for the Dine' residents of various areas on the HPL. Thus, communication to hold meetings and exchange information is difficult under any circumstances. Throughout the mediation there has not been any representational mechanism for the families on the HPL. On November 22, 1993, several residents from each of the communities met in Flagstaff with us to discuss whether representatives night be selected from the different communities so that there could be a mediation team to participate in future meetings and negotiations. It was unanimously determined that the residents would return to their communities and representatives would be chosen from the communities and reconvene in Flagstaff on December 7, 1993. This was a landmark step that will greatly facilitate mediation. Aware of the December 31, 1993, deadline for a showing of progress required by the Ninth Circuit, the representatives planned a 2-day meeting for December 13-14 to identify in writing their religious concerns and begin drafting suggestions for an accommodation of those concerns. A day long drafting session occurred on December 16, 1993, involving a smaller group chosen to complete the report. The following religious concerns and suggested solutions were expressed by the Dine' families in the various meetings which occurred between the families and the Hopi Tribe during the summer of 1993, in community-wide meetings which occurred throughout the fall of 1993, and during three (3) days of meetings with approximately thirty (30) representatives from the various Dine' communities on the HPL. The United States participated, at Judge McCue's request, in order to aid in facilitating the formulation of a report/proposal that articulates the families' concerns with the terms of the Hopi lease proposal -- not to endorse the substance of any concern or proposal. With this introduction to the process requested by the mediator, what follows is a report by Mr. Phillips and the Dine' families' of the families' religious concerns and suggested solutions and recommendations regarding an accommodation. Respectfully submitted, _________________________________ Lee Brooke Phillips _________________________________ Katherine W. Hazard RELIGIOUS CONCERNS AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS OF THE DINE' (NAVAJO) FAMILIES WHO LIVE ON HOPI PARTITIONED LANDS (HPL) The following religious concerns and suggested solutions were expressed by the Dine' families in meetings between the families and the Hopi Tribe during the summer of 1993, in community-wide meetings on the HPL during the fall of 1993 and during three (3) days of meetings with approximately thirty (30) representatives from the various Dine' communities on the HPL. The families feel that these concerns were not adequately addressed or considered in the development of either the Agreement in Principle or the Hopi draft lease proposal. 1. THE DRAFT LEASE PROPOSAL HAS NO EXPRESS GUARANTEE FOR RESPECT OR PROTECTION OF DINE' RELIGION The Hopi draft lease proposal contains no express guarantee that the religious beliefs and practices of the Dine' families will be recognized or protected under the proposed settlement. The mediation was ordered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the MANYBEADS v. UNITED STATES case. The MANYBEADS case was filed by the grassroots people who refuse to relocate for religious reasons. The families wish to emphasize that the purpose for filing the MANYBEADS lawsuit and for the Ninth Circuit's decision to order the mediation and to appoint Judge McCue as mediator was to consider the religious needs and concerns of the Dine' families and to find an alternative to the forced relocation provisions of the 1974 relocation law. This alternative must recognize the legitimate religious beliefs and concerns of the Dine' families and provide them with a fair and reasonable religious accommodation. Throughout the last several years of mediation very little time was spent discussing the religious concerns of the Dine' families facing relocation. When the mediation did focus on religious concerns, the Dine' families felt that it was primarily Hopi and not Dine' religious concerns which were addressed. For example, focus on Hopi religious concerns -- such as eagle gathering by Hopis on the Navajo reservation, giving the Hopis access to Cliff Springs, inclusion of provisions that the Navajo Nation give the Hopi Tribe Navajo land including the sacred area known as 'Sipapu' and land for a corridor to connect the CO Bar Ranch with the Hopi reservation -- left the Dine' families feeling that the federal government and the Mediator gave greater recognition to the Hopi religious concerns than to those of the Dine' families. This perception was greatly increased when the families were asked to dismantle Mae Tso's ceremonial hogan and the hogan at the Big Mountain Survival Camp as part of the Hopi Tribe's 10 Preconditions. Although the Dine' families raised several religious concerns in meetings during the summer, the August 5, 1993, deadline ended the direct talks between the Dine' families and the Hopi Tribe. There may have been different expectations about how to proceed to address the concerns that were expressed by the Dine' families. Regardless, the end result was that these religious concerns have not yet been addressed by the Hopi Tribe and the draft lease proposal has not yet been modified to accommodate these needs. Any agreement must include a guarantee that the religious beliefs and practices of both Hopi and Dine' people will be respected and protected on an equal basis. 2. RELIGIOUS SITES, STRUCTURES AND CEREMONIES The thread running through traditional Dine' culture that defines well-being, indeed life itself, is a religion that has enabled the Dine' to retain their identity in a rapidly changing world. Religion as lived by the traditional Dine' is their well being, it is life, the rain, the weather, the change of seasons, the land, the hogan, their livestock and cornfields, These things are interrelated and can not be separated. The land and home (the hogan), the reproductive powers of nature, and the origins of the Dine' Way are closely tied together in legend and ceremony. For the traditional Dine', their "church" is the world bounded by four sacred mountains, and their traditional home, the hogan, is a model of that world, from the details of its construction to the placement of the first and the orientation of the doorway. Thus, many traditional ceremonies are held in the family's hogan. But many others are held outside, sometimes at a distant location away from the hogan. Religious ceremonies do not always take place and sacred places are not always centered -- as they are for many non-Indians -- only in built religious structures. The sacred can manifest itself many other places: in trees, mountains, springs, or plants. Proper attention and respect for the sacred requires that offerings and prayers be made at many different types of offering sites. Sacred places and practices are part of the definition of the Dine' families' occupancy of their homesites and thus religion; to limit people to three acre homesites without a guarantee of protection for sacred places outside the homesite betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the traditional Dine' religion. a. THE HOGAN -- The hogan is the center of Dine' ceremonial life. The hogan itself is, like a church, a very sacred place. Most traditional ceremonies require a hogan and the religious paraphernalia known as the prayer or earth bundle are kept in the hogan. The prayer bundle is one of the most sacred objects in Dine' religion. It contains sand from the six sacred mountains, a sheep doll fetish made of white stone, a horse doll fetish made of black (jet) stone, buckskin, corn pollen, white shell, abalone, turquoise, jet stone, crystal and Ha dah hon ni yeh (a sacred stone which serves as the centerpiece or spine of the bundle). The prayer bundle symbolizes the balance in life and must always be kept safe and secure. The prayer bundle is kept in a Navajo basket which in turn is kept in the hogan. The relationships of these sacred objects is essential to maintaining the balance and harmony in the beauty way of the Dine' world. One of the most central and fundamental Dine' ceremonies is Blessingway. With the Blessingway, as with all Dine' ceremonies, "marking" or offerings of white corn meal and corn poller. are made before the ceremony begins. The purpose of the ceremony is to establish a state of balance or harmony. Blessingway songs are sung at the end of every ceremony. Blessingway is also the core of the initiation of young girls into womanhood, and new homes are blessed with songs from the ceremony. Its legends tell of the events after the Emergence, the construction of the hogan, and the sacred geography of the Dine'; hence, Blessingway is perhaps the most important religious facet of traditional Dine' identity. These ceremonies can only be performed in the families' hogans and at other sacred places known to the Dine' families. b. SACRED SITES ON THE HPL -- Learning how to live means praying to and giving thanks for what gives life: Mother Earth, the Sun, Fire and Air. Each has gods or Holy People dwelling within. There are prayers and offerings at special places -- like springs, shrines, flat areas, young trees, and at home -- that must be learned and passed on. These prayers are for well-being, protection, and blessings received. The first tie to the land occurs when a child is conceived in the mother's womb. Prayers and ceremonies are performed for the unborn child which introduce the child to the Holy Ones and visa versa. When the child is born the afterbirth is offered to a young tree so as the young tree grows the child grows. The tree stands in a lifelong relationship to the person and prayers and offerings are made there throughout one's lifetime. Sacred places are commonly expressed as a place of offering. A place is sacred because it is possible to communicate there with the Holy People through prayer and offering. The Holy People cannot be seen, but their presence is known through air movements and vibrations, a certain kind of light, pictographs, noises, and through legends. There are several consistent qualitative associations, such as kinds of places, atmospheric conditions, or times, that provide needed access to the Holy People. Mountains, watercourses, springs, hills, flat areas, at young trees, and at home are common places for prayer and offering. There are also traditional natural springs, rock formations, and other phenomena of nature that are shrines. Families' traditional use areas are bounded by sacred places where Holy people dwell. Parents and grandparents teach their children and grandchildren the prayers and offerings that must be made at these places to insure well- being and protection. The land outside of this protective line is potentially dangerous. Also, families have responsibility as caretakers of the land; the prayers and offerings must be continued to maintain the essential order of balance and harmony. Sacred places are used on a regular basis by local families, and some are used regionally. Big Mountain is an example of a site with regional significance. The mountain is a very important Holy Person, mentioned frequently in the literature of Navajo religion. "He is the one that created man,' said one resident. There is a Shrine on Big Mountain that was built by Holy People when the universe was being form d. It was built by the Holy People for the Dine' and they were instructed to preserve and protect it. There are numerous places throughout the HPL which have religious significance to the Dine' families. (1) Neither the Hopi Tribe nor the U.S. Government, and to some degree the Navajo Nation, realized or understand the many religious sites which exist on the HPL. The families believe that the governments involved do not understand the significance or importance of these religious sites to the Dine' families. (1) Some of these places include: natural springs, trees struck by lightning, rocks struck by lightning, prairies/meadows, stream and river beds, trees, wind paths, undisturbed areas, cornfields, highest points of mountains/buttes, plants, rocks, Star Mountain, daily offering places located away from the homesite where offerings are made at dawn and dusk, coyote paths, eagle nesting areas, cliffs or tse (rocks), hilltops, sacred mountains, talking rocks (where nature joins you in your prayers) and caves, mouths of canyons or elsewhere where the wind echoes. There are sites such as Big Mountain and Star Mountain that are significant to all Dine'. There are sites such as springs, rock formations, trees and other special places that have a religious significance to the extended families which make up the Dine' communities and clans. There are also offering sites, burial sites and other places that have a religious significance to the individual family that lives within the Dine' communities. All of these places are important because they are known by the Holy People and by the Dine'. These sacred places must be respected and protected. Some of these places can be identified and discussed with outsiders. Other places cannot be identified or discussed without exposing the site and the people who depend on the site to danger or destruction. Any settlement must include an express agreement that sacred sites will be respected and protected. The families suggest that each community prepare a map of the sacred sites within the community. These maps must be kept confidential and would be used in meetings with the Hopi Tribe to work out the details for land use, development etc. The Manybeads/Tso family and Medicine man Alvin Clinton and the other families from the Star Mountain area are in the process of mapping their areas. They should be prepared by mid-January to discuss the maps of those two areas to the Hopi Tribe and the Mediator. The families believe that in the past the U.S. Government and the Hopi Tribe have not respected or protected religious sites on the HPL. For example, Star Mountain, which is located in the Teestoh area, is a place of great religious significance to the Dine'. When the Hopi Tribe and the U.S. Government began to erect barbwire range fence near Star Mountain, the Teestoh community raised their religious based concerns with both the Hopi Tribe and the U.S. Government. Despite being aware of the religious significance of Star Mountain, the Hopi Tribe and the U.S. Government ignored the Dine' concerns and fenced Star Mountain. A medicine man in the Teestoh community was then arrested and jailed when he attempted to stop the U.S. Government and the Hopi Tribe from desecrating Star Mountain. The U. S. Government and the Hopi Tribe could have built its range fencing around Star Mountain without interfering with this important religious site. Instead, the U.S. Government and the Hopi Tribe chose to put the barbwire fence up over Star Mountain in spite of the Dine's expressed religious concerns about the area. As a result, Star Mountain is fenced to the top from the east and west sides of the mountain and there is also a third fence line that comes to the base of mountain from the south side. The Hopi Tribe wants a two mile radius around its shrine at Cliff Springs that restricts development, grazing and other uses. The Hopi Tribe also seeks similar protection for eagle nesting areas and for the sacred area known as "Sipapu," all of which are located on Navajo land. The Dine' families believe that the Hopi Tribe has in the past refused to agree to equal or similar protection of Dine' sites. The Dine' families therefore would like the same type of protection or respect. There must be equal treatment of Hopi and Dine' religious needs. c. CORNFIELDS/FARMING -- Cornfields are also sacred. There are songs and prayers that involve the corn and cornfields Sand from the cornfields is involved in ceremonies. The sand is taken into the hogan and returned to the field after the ceremony is completed. Sand is also used in sand paintings and as a purification wash. Different kinds of corn and different parts of the corn (the husk, corn cob, corn pollen) are used in ceremonies and as offerings. In the field, the different colored corn are laid out in a sacred way in planting. The corn is used in almost every ceremony. These fields are also important for food. Corn and other crops, such as melon, beans and squash are grown in the corn fields and the seeds from all the crops are saved for replanting. Each individual family's cornfield is sacred and important to them and should be protected and treated as a sacred site. When children are married they need to be able to select cornfield for their family. d. CONSTRUCTION OF RELIGIOUS STRUCTURES -- Most of our ceremonies are performed in hogans or other special structures. Unlike the Hopi, we do not live in villages or perform our ceremonies in Kivas. We Dine' perform our ceremonies at many different locations, normally at secluded or undisturbed areas of nature. These outdoor ceremonies are never performed at the same place twice. (2) (2) An example of some of our ceremonies include: Yei bi che, Ni dah, Firedance, Hozho Ji, 5 night ceremony, Ki nal dah, Nit chi ji, wedding ceremony, Peyote, Herb gathering, Hand trembling, Crystal gazing, Sundance, Daily offerings, Ni ghiz, Healing ceremonies and Sweat lodge. Many of our ceremonies, including the Yei bi che, Enemy Way and Fire Dance ceremonies, last several days and require us to build special structures away from our homes. These ceremonies require the use of open areas and land much larger than three acres. The type of structures usually include hogans, ramadas, sweat lodges, Yei houses and firepits. We need to be able to build these religious structures not only at our homesite but also elsewhere on the HPL. The structures may need to be up for several weeks. For example the Yei bi che, Ni dah and Fire Dance last for nearly two weeks. In certain rare situations a structure may need to be left up for a longer period of time. We could either notify the Hopi Tribe directly or through the Navajo Nation when we have such a ceremony. An example of what we are talking about is the Yei Bi Che ceremony. For this winter ceremony we need a ceremonial hogan, a ramada or cooking shack, a Yei house (four wooden posts covered with green cedar tree branches), an herb rack and a sweat lodge. Normally the Yei house is built about 500 feet to the east of the hogan. The ramada or cooking shack is about 200 feet west of the hogan and the herb rack is located near and to the southeast of the hogan. We use approximately 10 loads of wood during the ceremony. We need camping and parking space for the participants and guests. We also need to gather herbs prior to the ceremony. We may go anywhere from 5-20 miles to collect the herbs. Prior, during and after the ceremonies there will be a lot of people travelling to and from the ceremony. The ceremony lasts for 13 days (9 days followed by 4 days of reflection after the ceremony). Sacred objects are then left in the Yei house which is left standing until the it decays by natural forces. The other structures may be taken down after the days of reflection. The Dine' families will identify the various ceremonies that involve construction of shelters outside the homesite areas, describing the approximate number of days of the ceremony and reflection time and describing which structures (if any) must remain standing after the ceremony and for how long. 4. GATHERING OF HERBS. Herbs are used in all Dine' ceremonies and medicines. (3) The agreement would need to contain a recognition that we have always gathered and used these herbs and that we would have the right to do so in the future. There is a special way in which these sacred herbs are collected. The medicine person knows where the plants are located. They go to that place and offer a prayer. The plant is called by its Dine' name and an offering is made to the Holy Ones. The Holy Ones are told why the plant is being taken and who the plant is for. We take the plants for ceremonies only at the time when they are needed and in the amount that they are needed for a particular ceremony or patient. Herbs are also used for food, dyes and medicine. (3) Some of the herbs we use in religious ceremonies and offerings include: Yucca, Spearmint, Cho'ho Juv Yeh, Snake Weed, Cactus-Prickly Pear, Sage, Foxtail, Cedar, and Chil bi Chi Th. 5. WATER Natural springs are considered sacred to the Dine'. There are several natural springs on the H.P.L. (4) (4) An example of some of those springs include: Red Willow Springs, Big Mountain Springs (East, West, North, South), Gravel Pit (Coalmine area), Mosquito Springs, Dove Springs, Badger Springs, Owl Springs, Sunshine Springs, Tiic Ya Toh, To Ha Tich, Black Horse Spring, Clay Spring, Onion Spring, Horse Spring, Yes Ya Toh, Lizard Spring, Tsi Dzeh (Jeddito area) and other various natural springs. The agreement would need to include a guarantee that these sacred places will be respected and protected. In the past, many of the springs have been disturbed or destroyed by the BIA or Hopi Tribe. For example, Horse Springs, near Star Mountain, and several other natural springs have been sealed off and the sacred water diverted to other areas for Hopi cattle. We would want to be able to identify these springs and be consulted before the Hopi Tribe or the U.S. takes any action which would impact a spring. 6. PROTECTION OF THE BURIAL SITES This is a very sensitive issue. For the Dine', we do not think of one's death and it should not normally be spoken about. To speak about death and burial is understood by the families as if we are planning for their death. When death does occur, we see it as the completion of a natural cycle where we are returned to our Mother. Existing burial sites must be protected and we must also be allowed to bury our loved ones in the future. Our families and our ancestors have been born and raised in our homelands. We hope our future generations will be born here as well. These are the lands where our umbilical cords are buried which help tie us to our Mother, the Earth. There are prayers and songs like the Beauty Way and other traditional Dine' ceremonies which have been performed on the land. These prayers and ceremonies anchor us to our Mother. We believe that the places where we are born and where we are buried, are sacred places. When we pass on, we are returned to the lands we know and love. We are returned to our Mother. For us, it is a moral and religious right to be buried on our homelands. Those who have passed on and who have been returned to the earth on the HPL should be respected. Each community should decide how their burial sites could be identified so that they will not be disturbed. This information should be kept confidential. Each community should also decide how they will settle the issue of future burial sites. Some communities may wish to establish community cemeteries, others may choose to continue burying their loved ones on the Navajo reservation or even off the reservation. Some families may wish to continue burying their loved ones at a traditional site near their homesite. The exact details should be worked out between the Dine' communities and the Hopi Tribe. We are very uncomfortable about the Hopi Tribe regulating this special issue and want to stress that any agreement should be sensitive to this concern and we must be treated equally with the Hopi. 7. HOMESITES The Hopi lease only provides approximately 112 homesites. The agreement should include all Dine' families who live on the HPL on a full time basis. It is not possible for us to separate our children from ourselves. Our relatives who are temporarily away from home for military, school, work or medical reasons should also be included. Families are also concerned that the three acre site is not large enough to accommodate an extended family and the necessary structures for practicing their religion and maintaining their traditional livelihood. Because of the construction freeze, many Dine' families have not been able to construct homesites for children as they have families of their own. One family will serve as an example of why a three acre homesite is not large enough. There are seven heads of household, requiring seven homes. There are also the following additional structures and requirements: outhouse, coal or wood pile, lumber pile, water barrel, ash pile, trash, rabbits/pigs/dog/cat/chicken shelters, shade trees, clothes line, goat and sheep corral, horse corral, ramada or shade house, hay storage place, tool shack, ceremonial hogan, tipi ground (for members of the Native American Church), storage for tipi poles, sweat lodge, bread oven, play area for children. Any agreement should provide for residential, farming, grazing and religious use. We understand that this is a very important issue and we would like to map our homesites to demonstrate where and how we live. Many of the elderly are still fearful of being fenced inside a three acre area with no other grazing area for their animals and of not being allowed outside the three acre site for religious purposes. This issue requires further discussion and some method of visually demonstrating the concept to the people. 8. LIVESTOCK For us, the traditional grassroots people, our livestock are one of the most important things in our lives. These animals have been given to us by the Creator for our ceremonies, food, to be used to teach our children the stories and lessons that they must know to carry on our way of life, and for wool which is used to weave rugs and provide income to the families. The weaving of rugs means much more to us that just income. When a women learns to weave she is taught the stories about the animals and about the loom and the other instruments that are used to turn raw wool into a beautiful rug. The weaving process teaches the woman to use her mind and imagination to plan the design, color and size of the rug. It helps her strengthen her mind, to develop exact thoughts, and to weave a story, using symbols, into the rug. As livestock has been severely reduced over the years, so has this central part of a woman's religious education. All of the animals have sacred songs and prayers. Each has a name which is used in our ceremonies. Livestock is also used as gifts and food in our religious and social functions and for economical survival. Livestock is so important that sheep and horse fetishes are kept inside the Navajo prayer or earth bundle. We understood that the livestock must be raised so that the land is not overgrazed or injured. We also understand that we are being asked to share the land with the Hopi neighbors so that we both can have a good life. We only ask to be treated fairly and equally with the Hopi neighbors. For us, we believe we must be allowed to maintain our animal herds, including sheep, cattle and horses -- not just sheep. If there is not enough land for all of the animals, perhaps other land off the HPL could be made available near us for grazing. The amount of animals that would be allowed should be discussed between each Dine' community and the Hopi Tribe. In addition, the Navajo Nation should not be the ones to decide who gets the grazing allocated to the Dine' families. The allocation should be worked out between the Dine' residents of the HPL and the Hopi Tribe. 9. EVICTION The Hopi lease proposal has many things that are harsh and that hurt us when we hear about them. It seems the Hopi Tribe is really trying more to evict us than to live with us as neighbors. We want these harsh words to be replaced with words of friendship and peace. If a non-Indian or Hopi person breaks the law, they are punished by a fine or a jail sentence. They do not lose their home and their family. We should be treated equally with the non-Indian and the Hopi. If one of our people breaks the law we should be punished the same as the non- Indian or the Hopi, we should not be driven from our homeland and our family. The same basic laws should apply equally to all of us regardless of race, creed or color. In this way we will all be treated the same no matter whose laws or courts are used. There are also several traditional forms of livelihood which should not be considered "commercial activities." These include silversmithing, weaving and selling rugs, raising livestock, gathering herbs, and performing ceremonies (medicine people). Practice of these traditional forms of livelihood should not be considered violations of an agreement. Eviction and violations of the agreement are difficult to discuss because it seems to imply that these bad things will happen. We believe that we can reach an agreement with the Hopi Tribe and that through further meetings and discussion we will demonstrate that the harsh parts of the proposed lease will not be necessary to include in our agreement. The people need to understand that the rules and regulations do not apply only to them and that these are the same laws that Hopi, non-Indian and other Dine' must follow. 10. RENT This issue is very difficult for us because, for us, it is like asking us to pay for the right to practice our religion. We, the people who live on the HPL, should make our agreement with the Hopi Tribe concerning the religious accommodation. The Navajo Nation, the U.S. and the Hopi Tribe should make a separate agreement concerning the lawsuits between the tribal governments and other money issues. We do not want cur religion mixed with the money issues. 11. 75 YEAR LEASE TERM We believe that if we can explain ourselves to the Hopi Tribe and if they can explain their religious concerns and needs to us, it will be possible to reach a more permanent arrangement. We think that if we can both experience a good neighbor relationship that it should be presumed that the neighborship agreement will continue for future generations. Perhaps a test or interim period should be agreed upon so that we can all see and understand how the agreement will work. In this way, the agreement could be reviewed or modified if we discover that there are problems that we did not foresee. The draft lease currently includes a 75 year lease term. At the end of that 75 year period there is no agreement that the Dine' families will be allowed to remain on their ancestral homelands. The right to remain on their ancestral homelands is central to the Dine' peoples' ability to exercise their religion and, thus, is central to any accommodation. There are two categories of reasons why continued occupancy is essential for the exercise of the traditional Dine' religion. The first includes reasons why one must stay on one's traditional use area. The second includes reasons why one could not leave their homeland and live in a "foreign" place. One should stay on one's traditional use area because of the responsibility for taking care of the land, in a spiritual sense. As an HPL resident put it: "The places were handed down from my mother and father. They told me to use it. They told me to live on that land. If we don't pray there, if that prayer is not offered and we relocate and are no longer there, the Holy People might think humans are no longer in existence and that may bring the end of the future at that time. I don't want the end to occur that soon. I want my children to live and my grandchildren to live." In other words, there may be a new, unknown, and potentially dangerous order of things if the families cannot meet their responsibility for taking care of the land. The sacred places in a family's traditional use area define a sacred zone to which they have responsibilities and which is also a safe area for the family. For a family, this is analogous to the sacredness and safeness of the area which exists for the Dine' as a whole within the four sacred mountains. People feel spiritually safe and secure within these spiritual zones of protection. There are also serious problems in moving to unknown "foreign" land, as the following quotation from a resident of the Hopi-Partitioned Lands clearly indicates: "We are not familiar with many places, we are not familiar with many areas. Because we have never been there, there night be a place where people are not supposed to go that is for something else, and we might be living there. Or maybe we might go to a spring where our people were forbidden. And here we thought it was a good place and we would go there and we would conflict with the Holy People that protect those areas. This we could not know because our grandfathers and our mothers and fathers did not tell us, because we never knew that things like this relocation would ever take place." As noted above, the traditional Dine' belief is that "improper contact with inherently dangerous power . . . may lead to illness, the price man pays for disturbance of the normal order, harmony, or balance among elements in the universe." Moving to a "foreign" land could bring persons into contact with dangerous powers that could cause illness now or in 75 years. A related concern for traditional Dine' moving to "foreign" lands is a lack of knowledge of places where one can communicate with the Holy People; in other words, sacred places. People will wonder where, for example, certain ceremonies may or must be held. These issues are even more significant today than they were a generation ago. Much of the specialized religious knowledge is held by elderly medicine people, and by the grandparent-generation. With the passing on of these persons, the likelihood of finding persons who know, or can determine, places to avoid or places where one may communicate with the Holy People is greatly diminished. The families fear for their children and grandchildren who will face this problem in 75 years. For these reasons, the Dine' families have made clear that they can not relocate now or in 75 years. For the families, the 75 year lease period is like saying that the families only have 75 more years to be Dine'; 75 more years to carry out their religious teachings which have been passed down through generations; 75 more years for sacred places which were given to the Dine' by the Creator to remain sacred. At the end of 75 years the families are expected to stop being Dine'. There must be some guarantee that the Dine' children and grandchildren will be allowed to remain near their sacred places in the future in a treaty or neighborship agreement reached and fulfilled by the parties. RECOMMENDATIONS We would like to have the mediation extended beyond the December 31, 1993, deadline to allow for the following: 1. Identification, by January 21, 1994, of the details of other major ceremonies (in addition to the Yei bi che ceremony) that may require use of areas outside the homesites. 2. Completion of the maps of sacred sites in the Dine' communities near Teestoh and Mosquito Springs by January 21, 1994. Completion of the maps in the other communities by February 18, 1994. 3. Development of a more detailed discussion of our concerns and suggested solutions to be provided to the Hopi Tribe prior to the change in Hopi administration. 4. Discussion of our concerns and suggested solutions with the Mediator once the maps for the Teestoh and Mosquito Springs areas are completed. This could occur in late January. Because of the sensitivity of sharing the location of sacred sites, we would like to share the maps for purposes of discussion, but to keep them with the Dine' families -- at least while there are discussions prior to ratification of a preliminary draft agreement as discussed in number 6 below. 5. Meetings between the Dine' representatives and the Hopi Tribe to allow the Dine' to explain their concerns and suggestions and to answer questions the Hopi Tribe may have. These meetings could begin as soon as the Hopi Tribe would be available. We, the Dine', believe that we do not understand the Hopi Tribe's concerns and needs and, for that reason, it is difficult to know on some issues what to offer as a suggested solution. Without understanding the Hopi Tribe's concerns and needs, we, the Dine' families, might propose something that would cause upset and frustration and sound harsh and harmful to the Hopis. We hope that the Hopi Tribe can explain their concerns and needs to us, as well so that we can help each other find a way to live in peace and harmony. 6. The preparation and ratification of a preliminary draft agreement on several key issues including: 1) recognition and respect for both Dine' and Hopi religion; 2) recognition and protection of sacred sites; 3) burial sites; 4) the construction of religious structures outside the homesite; 5) gathering of herbs; 6) right to maintain cornfields and farming areas; and 7) protection of and access to certain natural springs. This could be completed by March 1, 1994. 7. Meetings between the Hopi Tribe and individual Dine' communities to work out the details of the remaining issues including the final form and nature of the agreement, residential use areas, grazing, and a dispute resolution mechanism. CONCLUSION The Dine' families understand that this process cannot go on forever. At the same time, we feel that we now have only just recently been included in the actual negotiation process and have made great progress in the last several months. We want to live as neighbors with the Hopi. We believe that each Dine' community should be allowed to finalize the details of a neighborship agreement with the Hopi that takes into account the unique concerns of the various communities. We do not believe we understand the Hopis and want very much to listen to their concerns and needs so that we can understand their position on these issues. We also believe that this mediation is our best hope to achieve a fair and humane solution to this complex issue. The Dine' families remember the words that you said to Mae Tso at the first mediation meeting in San Diego over three years ago when you introduced yourself to them. You told her that you had been appointed by the Ninth Circuit Court -- to listen to her problems -- to help her forget her pain -- and to help those two great nations settle this dispute so that Mae Tso and the other elderly women would weep no more about this problem. If these things could be done, you will be blessed by the Holy Spirit. We want to assist you in reaching that goal and hope that this report will bring us closer to a resolution acceptable to all. Thank you. Respectfully submitted, on behalf of the Dine' residents of the HPL, _________________________________ Lee Brooke Phillips -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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