Surviving at Big Mountain

Surviving at Big Mountain

By Brenda Norrell. Indian Country Today

November 15th

BIG MOUNTAIN, Ariz. -

Faced with another winter of little fuel and food, impassable roads and constant surveillance, Navajo at Cactus Valley, Red Willow and Big Mountain who refuse to sign 75-year lease agreements have appealed to the international community to uphold their human rights.

Diné elders, growing old in a struggle more than two decades old, said in a joint statement they are faced with eviction by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix, but have no plans to leave.

"We are very old now, and there isn't much we can do to change these offset minds. We, as elders, can only uphold the laws of the earth and the universe for the sake of all humanity. That is why we have decided to resist relocation.

"Some of us were tricked into signing a lease agreement, and some of us who didn't sign are, now, facing forcible eviction, but we all still feel the same towards our mother here, the Woman Mountain."

Living on land awarded to the Hopi Tribe by the U.S. government - Hopi Partitioned Land - elders receive notices of livestock impoundment issued by the BIA.

"It is like the BIA is trying to break us or tame us," elders said, adding that livestock, herding sheep and weaving is all they have ever known.

Those with livestock on the partitioned land face constant confiscation and fines. Others have cattle grazing on a tract at Winslow, 150 miles away, where the Bureau of Land Management charges $300 to $400 per month to use the land.

Saying that some of their own attorneys have also spelled disappointment, they are turning to the world for support.

"We have relied on many attorneys who have made only promises as we have lost more without those promises being fulfilled. If we turn to our Indigenous people, there are better hopes for getting adequate legal representation for international participation."

Elders said it is vital to maintain a voice within the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the Working Groups for the Indigenous Populations.

Louise Benally, one of the Big Mountain women who joined the struggle as a young girl, remains in her homeland. Benally said the real issue has always been the coal beneath their homes which is mined at Peabody Western's two coal mines adjacent to Big Mountain. A coal slurry depletes water from the aquifer in this dry land.

"Mother Earth is desecrated, and in the name of profits we are punished," Benally said.

Speaking in Navajo, Roberta Blackgoat said the coal is the liver of Mother Earth and to destroy it is to destroy the health and lifeblood of the world.

For Diné who have spent their lives here, to leave is to die. Numerous Diné elders who left the land, lay down and died after accepting relocation homes elsewhere.

Those who remain in Hardrock Chapter said in the joint statement, "We wish to remain on our ancestral lands and will have no thoughts of moving elsewhere. We wish to carry on with our cultural life, as usual, despite the difficulties of old age.

"We will continue to walk our sheep and try our very best to stay warm this winter. We can only think positively about what we can manage around our current home sites and land.

"That will be our plan and strategy, but the rest will be up to the Great Spirits - they will have the ultimate answer, in the end, about the Earth's destiny.

"How long can our society be under oppression? It is certainly not indefinite that the oppressor will be allowed to torture our lives - it will come to an end, eventually.

"Without our ancestral lands, we can no longer be the traditional Diné or have an identity which is authentically Indigenous. Yes, we all have many grandchildren, but when they all speak nothing but the English language, this makes our future as a Diné culture become hopeless"

Without land, there is no future, elders said. "If we wish to continue the revival of our culture and language among the future generations, we need the land!"

Their young people have been influenced by the American school system and many have turned away from the traditional ways, elders said.

"The new, younger generations do come around to visit and stay with us, but they do not want to involve themselves in the chores around our homes. They don't want to help fetch the sheep or try learning how to chop wood. We see them get completely bored and restless. Sometimes they will tell their parents, 'It's boring, here!'"

Television, electronic games and materialism have created the illusion of learning.

"The land, the open fresh air and the animals mean nothing to them, and that is why they are bored when they come to visit us. These new generation don't appreciate our food as well. We like to butcher meat for them so they can eat healthy, but they had rather open a bag of chips and a soda rather than eating some homegrown mutton.

"This just breaks our hearts that our traditional world means nothing to the modern generations."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix reported that evictions of Navajo resisters would be processed through the courts.

The Hopi Tribe declined further comment on the possibility of forced removal.

Support has come from traditional Hopi elders who warn that if Navajos are forcibly removed, great calamities will befall the world.

Benally said the United States has forgotten about the human rights of Navajo at Big Mountain, but the international community has offered caring support.

"As long as we know the truth, we will always be free."