Dear Big Mountain Supporters,

I saw an e-mail from Eagle, Unity of Nations and I would like to respond to you and Big Mountain supporters about what Big Mountain youth are facing.

I am a youth from Big Mountain and am 17 years old. As for me, life is really hard out here on the so-called HPL. Me and other young people are not thought about by the US government and their tribal officials. It is as if we don't exist. We feel homeless and hopeless because we are not allowed to live traditionally like our grandparents. We are being taught by our elders how to survive but we are being forced through another deadline.

I don't like the way our elders are being treated by the Hopi Rangers. I witness everything they do and say and I call what they do elder abuse. I don't see anyone going to these old Hopis doing this. What they do is really disrespectful. If you are traditional you don't do this kind of thing. You use your mind and your conscience to think about compassionn to old people that know more about survival than they do. The elders shouldn't be overridden because they know what young people don't know and they have a lot to teach us. I don't like to see the guns on their hips to intimidate. If I did this to them I would be sent to jail and that is what I know and witness. Also, a lot of other young people have experienced what I have mentioned. I respect my elders and the land. I speak my language and I was taught to respect other people.

As for the tribal officials of Hopi and Navajo tribes, they get paid to harass us. And I never seen them help us in any way so they shouldn't speak on our behalf because they don't help us. They should not say anything about us or make decisions about us because they don't care about us. They are only concerned about the money. That is just the way it is.

I have livestock at my grandmother's Pauline Whitesinger and they are threatened with impoundment because we have newborn lambs and goats that will be over the permit limit. They are innocent animals and they face stringent laws against them. We feel the same way as these innocent animals, we want to live traditionally like our grandparents.

This is my point of view for now and this is what I want to share.

Yours truly,

A Youth from Big Mountain