Hopi At Crossroads Of Their Traditional Way Of Life

Village Leader Says Sipaulavi Will Not Participate In Tribal Council.
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

WINDOW ROCK – Sipaulavi Village Traditional Leader Gerald Numkena says Hopis are at the crossroads of maintaining or losing their traditional way of life. He has refused to certify any Council representatives and has issued a directive stating that the village no longer will participate on the Hopi Tribal Council.

With the vote on Hopi Constitution Draft 24A little more than a month away, battle lines are being drawn between progressive and traditional Hopis. In a Nov. 18 letter to Council representatives, Numkena admonished them for their “continued gross and deliberate violations of your constitution.”

He said some members of Council have tried to conform with the mandates of the constitution but are overruled by the majority. “Mr. Alph Secakuku, Mr. George Mase and Mr. Cedrick Kuwaninvaya continue to be illegally on Council and must be removed immediately ...,” he said.

According to a press release from the Chairman's Office, however, on Dec. 1, Lorena Charles, clan mother of the Bear Clan, presented and certified the representatives, which were sworn in by Chairman LeRoy Shingotewa.

Dennis Koeyahongva, spokesman for Numkena, said they have had a lot of problems with the Tribal Council. “I think the basic point of the matter, and our whole problem, is the separation of state and religion.” Koeyahongva said that in his opinion, they implemented the constitution prematurely back in 2008 when the Village of Sipaulavi used the election process to place Charles, a woman, in a leadership role.

“We don't have that in our tribe. To me it was a total destruction of our way of life as Hopis. We're from the Bear Clan and we're the village leaders; but a male is the one to hold that position. A woman is not to hold that through Hopi common law. They did that because we would not succumb to what they wanted to do as far as seating representatives on the Council,” he said.

Koeyahongva said that Hopi politics and the revised constitution are destroying the unity and reverence and serenity in religious places such as the kiva. “It's affected everything that we are as Hopi. ... As I understand it, we are supposedly the stewards of this place. Well, how can you be stewards if you're destroying things?

“Even on TV they have the History Channel where they talk about the days of end, and they mention Hopi. Obviously we have our link to 2012 and what's going to happen. In my opinion, we're hurrying this process along by what we're doing as Hopis, which we shouldn't. We should be enhancing life. I thought that's what Hopi was all about. What happened to the friendly and peaceful Hopi? We've deviated from that to this point,” Koeyahongva said.

Numkena said that in 1934, the U.S. government passed a law called the Indian Reorganization Act and soon after wrote constitutions for non-treaty tribes to adopt. “Our history tells us most Hopis resisted this new foreign government.” Some of the traditional authorities were incorporated into the Hopi constitution to influence their acceptance of it, including an acknowledgment that autonomous, self-governing Hopi villages would be allowed to continue under the traditional form of government.

“We were told by our elders that we would be the last tribe to hold on to our traditions,” Numkena said. “If we choose to hold on to our traditions, ceremonies, and Hopi way of life, we will stand for the sovereignty of all Native people. We have much to lose to deviate from our own way of life and village governance.”

Numkena said that ever since he inherited the role of “Village Traditional Leader,” soon after the passing of his late uncle, Perry Honani, he has faced opposition and challenges.

“Most of you know the village leadership has always belonged to the Bear Clan. It has always been our sole responsibility to determine the appointment of this position,” he said, adding that a male member of the Bear Clan has always held that position since it includes sacred ceremonial responsibilities. “I will now again inform you I hold this position and will act according to the authorities vested in my position as the Sipaulavi Village Leader.”

Though Numkena had requested that his letter to village members be read into the record at Council, his secretary, Monica Kahe, said there was objection from the three representatives.
“The second letter contained details about their village no longer participating on Tribal Council because of all this dissension that's been going on in the Tribal Council, so it was Gerald's decision to pull out the representatives until further time when it was his choice to put them back in or just remain out, such as the Village of Shungopav

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Utah Navajos - Mrs. Sleepy, Little Wagon, Tom Mustache and Yellow Hat - Want Land Issues Resolved

They Have Been Waiting 52 Years For Their Rights.
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

WINDOW ROCK – It's been 52 years since the federal government enacted law to designate land use rights for McCracken Mesa. To date, residents are still waiting for the Navajo Nation and the federal government to officially establish rights that were supposed to have been carried out by January 1963.

In 1989, the Navajo Nation identified 27 individuals who were to have been given preference to occupy McCracken Mesa in San Juan County, Utah – residents with names such as Mrs. Sleepy, Little Wagon, Slim of the Mexican Clan, Tom Mustache and Yellow Hat.

The priority-list occupants have since passed on, but dozens of their descendants showed up at a Dec. 14 Resources Committee meeting to request that this unfinished business be made a priority for settlement, and that the issue not get lost in the January transition of administrations.

“I'm one of the offspring of the people that are on priority listing,” Chester Benally said. “My grandpa and my dad are listed on this. ... We have always resided and lived there, centuries, and that is our original lands. The 27 families, we are the offspring of those people and it's very important to us that we be given legally what is due us.”

He said the residents want to be involved all the way through the process in the issues that affect them. “We need the Resources Committee to be a part of that and to direct the BIA and the Navajo Nation to come forth so that we can work with them.”

According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and local Navajo historians, Dine people were the only inhabitants of McCracken Mesa and the surrounding region prior to European settlement. With the influx of settlers, Navajos were thrust into a world of a formal organized system of government and land use that was foreign to them.

As early as 1885 and continuing into the 1940s, Navajo hogans and corrals were burned. In the 1930s, Anglo stockmen attempted to move the Navajos off the mesa, an effort supported by federal officials. When the feds began issuing grazing permits on public domain lands in 1934 under the Taylor Grazing Act, Navajos were denied equal rights to use those lands.

Residents say their ancestors have always lived on McCracken Mesa. Traces of hogans, shade houses, sheep corrals, sweat lodges, farming plots and deteriorated eating utensils remain. They used the area year-round for agriculture, grazing and residence and developed natural springs and water wells for daily use.

Their ancestors and leaders – Kayelli, Bah, Asdzann Ki diilidi, Hosteen Bagodi and Biighaanii – never surrendered to Kit Carson, nor were they imprisoned at Fort Sumner. In addition, residents say there is significant evidence to indicate they lived in the areas of Bear Ears, LaSalle Mountain, Green River and Blue Mountain, stretching out into Salt Lake Valley.

After passage of the Taylor Grazing Act, they said, Mormon ranchers seized their ancestral lands used and they were forced to relocate to south of the San Juan River, yet their ancestors kept migrating back to the Mesa and beyond.

Horses and burros belonging to Navajo residents were confiscated, impounded and destroyed, including a tame family horse that was mutilated with a machete and shot. An estimated 116 horses and 38 burros were rounded up and destroyed, their remains taken to a meat-packing plant outside Provo, Utah, where they were processed into fish food. In 1952, families of the destroyed animals filed a federal lawsuit known as Hatahley v. United States and in 1956 were awarded a lump sum of $100,000.

Physical altercations occurred between Navajo families, state and county law enforcement and Mormon ranchers. Thirty individuals from eight families were “scuffled down, handcuffed and incarcerated” at San Juan County Jail, including the elderlies, young women and men.

Since 1958, when McCracken Mesa was added to the Navajo Reservation, current residents and their ancestors have waited for their lands to be restored. “I think this time is probably right to say that all the people that are involved, that are impacted by the issues of McCracken Mesa, are probably finally in the position to want to resolve and to take care of the issues that we're talking about here,” Benally said.

Though the action is looked at by regulators as a “resettlement,” Benally said, “We have always lived where we live and we have always used that land – so there's no resettlement. We all know our place up there and where we stand as far as the land base is concerned. I think when you say resettlement, there's a lot of people that come in and want to be part of the action, and that shouldn't be the case. Let's not call it resettlement. We know where we're at already.”

He said they have outlived the policies, regulations and laws that were proposed in the early stages regarding use of the land. Each time a different administration has come in to address the issue, he said, “It has never taken place simply because it was just all one-sided from the standpoint of the Navajo Nation. The people were never, ever really informed.

“I think that is the problem. I think these people here (residents) are with one mind. Hear us out. Work with us and we should be able to work with you to take care of the issues at hand,” he said.

Chester Johnson said although residents were forced off the land by the Mormon ranchers, “Our ancestors didn't give up. They continued to be on the land.” He said a tribal resolution was passed in 1959 to create the land order. “A mandate was written into that law to get it done by January 1963. But to this day it hasn't been done for some reason. I don't know why.

“The situation has changed from 1958 up till now. The population growth has increased over 100 percent. So how do we fit this 1958 land order? It really doesn't fit. It's more irrelevant to how we're living on that mesa. We want to modify it in such a way that it fits our present living,” he said.

Sanford Jones, whose father, S.B. Jones is on the priority list, told the committee, “My dad got a letter from Washington, D.C. How many of these people that live up there have that? We come talk to people. People don't want to listen. It's a hot issue. There's a lot of frustration.”

Resources Chairman George Arthur reassured residents. “We don't want it to stop here. We don't want it to be put on the back burner. We will figure a way how to keep this discussion going.”

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ChrIstmas Cheer From The Midwest

MAY THE CREATOR LIGHT YOUR WAY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON AND THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
-YOUR FRIENDS AT NAPT

SMSC Donates $229,600 To Brighten Holidays
by Tessa Lehto
Communications Specialist
tessa.lehto@shakopeedakota.org

Prior Lake, MN – To share in the holiday spirit and make the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays a little brighter for those who are less fortunate, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community awarded $229,600 in charitable donations for the 2010 holiday season. The donations, which went to 43 social service organizations mostly in the Twin Cities, are providing toys, clothing, food, activities, and other gifts for families this holiday season.

“The holiday season can be hard for those who are less fortunate so we like to help out where we can. We've been blessed, and we're grateful for the opportunity to help others,” said SMSC Chairman Stanley Crooks.

The largest amount given to one organization was $20,000 to the CAP Agency in Shakopee, Minnesota, serving Scott, Dakota, and Carver Counties for their annual Christmas programs for families needing assistance. The CAP Agency is a non-profit organization serving children, families, and senior citizens. The SMSC grant supports the CAP Agency Hope for the Holidays annual “adopt-a-family” holiday gift sponsorship project.

Parents are invited to create a wish list for each member of the family so that each child receives their special gift and the parents have the joy of giving it to them. In 2009 the program was able to provide gifts for 3,517 individuals from 998 families.

The project also makes gifts available for families that are not able to register. In addition, the CAP Agency provides a wide variety of services to help meet other needs that families have during the holidays, including food.

“The generous contributions of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community have been critical to the success of this program,” wrote CAP Executive Director Carolina Bradpiece.

The Salvation Army in Minneapolis received $12,000 for their Thanksgiving and Christmas meals and gifts. The Little Earth Residents Association in Minneapolis received $12,500 for their holiday program.

A $10,000 donation was also made to Union Gospel Mission, the Minneapolis American Indian Center, and the American Indian Family Center for the holidays.

The Department of Indian Works (St. Paul) and the Dorothy Day Center each received a donation of $9,000 for their holiday programs. The Division of Indian Work in Minneapolis received $8,000 for their program.

Women of Nations received $7,000, and Kateri Residence received $6,500, both of the Twin Cities area. St. Joseph’s Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota, received $6,000 as did People Serving People of Minneapolis.

On the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, the Yankton Sioux Tribe received $7,000 for turkeys and $5,000 for the Housing Authority.

Other organizations in the Twin Cities receiving SMSC holiday donations are: 360 Communities, Ain Dah Yung, Akina Community Church, All Nations Indian Church, American Indian Services, the Carver Scott Educational Coop, Elders Lodge, First Nations Recovery Center, Intertribal Elders Services, Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, Minnesota Compassion, St. Joseph's Home for Children, the Prior Lake Lion's Club, and Upper Midwest American Indian Center.

In areas outside the Twin Cities, the SMSC made holiday donations to: Ain Day Ing, Bad River Head Start, Boys & Girls Club of the Three Districts, Boys & Girls Club of Lower Brule, Brown’s Valley Family Service Center, the Cass Lake Family Center, the Cheyenne Children Services, the Cheyenne River Youth Projects, Fond du Lac College Human Services Club, the Haskell Off-Campus Club, He Sapa New Life Ministries, Indian Youth of America, Sisseton Toys for Tots Committee, and Tiwahe Wakan.

The SMSC will also donate grocery gift cards to low-income Native American families living in Scott County. In addition to the financial contributions, SMSC members and staff participate in a Giving Tree Program, which gives presents anonymously to children in Native American families in need that live in the county.

About the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community The SMSC utilizes its financial resources from gaming and non-gaming enterprises to pay for the internal infrastructure of the Tribe, including but not limited to roads, water and sewer systems, emergency services, and essential services to its Tribal members in education, health, and welfare.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has a charitable giving program which comes from a cultural and social tradition to assist those in need. Over the past 13 years, the SMSC has donated more than $192.7 million to charitable organizations and Indian Tribes and Native American organizations.

The SMSC has also made more than $389 million in loans to other tribes for economic development projects. Since 1996 the SMSC paid more than $6.6 million for shared local road construction projects and an additional $5 million for road projects on the reservation.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a federally recognized Indian Tribe in Minnesota, is the owner and operator of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino, Playworks, Dakotah! Sport and Fitness, The Meadows at Mystic Lake, and other enterprises on a reservation south of the Twin Cities.

This press release and other information may be downloaded from the SMSC website at www.shakopeedakota.org.

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Oneida Indian Nation and HELP USA Feed New York's Homeless At Thanksgiving

November 23rd Event A Huge Success
Submitted by Melanie Klausner
melanie@conundrummarketing.com

Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation CEO and HELP USA Chair, Maria Cuomo Cole were on hand on Tuesday, November 23rd for the Oneida Indian Nation and HELP USA's "Our Heritage of HELPing" Meal Service event In New York City feeding hundreds of homeless men. women and children from 4 to 8 pm.

Other New Yorkers assisiting at the event were celebrities: Ukrainian Olympic Figure Skating Champion, Oksana Baiul; Comedian, Mario Cantone; Actors - Margaret Colin, Jill Flint, Lauren Glassberg, Cheyenne Jackson, Michael B. Jordan, Joey Pantoliano, Chris Riggi, and Brittany Underwood.

TV Journalists Chrisptopher Cuomo, Deborah Roberts, and Cheryl Willis also participated in the event.

Guests enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal prepared by New York City chefs Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez, Cesare Casella, Michael Lomonaco, Dave Martin, Missy Robbins, and Bradford Thompson while listening to a sneak preview of “Our Country” performed by country sensation Crystal Shawanda, First Nation's Member of the Ojibwe Band.

Shawanda's single made its national debut on the Oneida Indian Nation’s “True Spirit of Thanksgiving” float in the 84th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City on Thursday, November 25, 2010.

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1,200 Year Old Tibetan Prophecy Shared With Hopi People

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-- Your Friends at NAPT

War Chief Requests Prayers For Preservation of Hopi Traditional Ways
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

CHINO VALLEY, Ariz. – About 1,200 years ago a great Tibetan master called Guru Rinpoche made a prophecy. He wrote an inscription and hid it in the rocks. It was found just recently. The prophecy said, “Later, when the iron bird flies, then the red-robed ones will go to the red rocks and meet with the tradition there and unite again.”

Surrounded by prayer flags which send out blessings for all beings every time the wind blows, this prophecy was shared with Hopi Snake Priest and War Chief Radford Quamahongnewa at Garchen Buddhist Institute following a meeting with His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche, founder and spiritual director.

Some say Hopi and Tibet are connected, and that if you stick a pin through a globe where Hopi is located, on the other side you will find Tibet. Because of their connection, Quamahongnewa traveled to the monastery on behalf of the Village of Shungopovi Kikmongwi Lee Wayne Lomayestewa to request prayers and support for the Hopi people from Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Quamahongnewa, spokesman for the Kikmongwi, said the Hopi traditional way of life is threatened by a revised constitution which separates church and state. The Hopi people will vote on the constitution Jan. 27 in an election set up by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Rinpoche, a Drikung Kagyu lama, at the age of 22 was imprisoned for 20 years during the political turmoil of China's Cultural Revolution. Since his release from prison in 1979, he has made great effort to rebuild the Drikung Kagyu monasteries, reestablish the Buddhist teachings, and build two boarding schools for local children in eastern Tibet. He is known for his vast realization, as well as for his great kindness.

During the hour-long meeting, Quamahongnewa presented Rinpoche with a prayer feather. “This is a new breath for him to continue leading the good, well life,” Quamahongnewa said. Through his translator, Ina Bieler of Austria, Rinpoche said that in the Tibetan tradition, the prayer feather is considered very precious.

Quamahongnewa then delivered his message from Kikmongwi Lomayestewa. “We have come here because of a situation that the Hopi is having currently. It is similar to what the Tibetans have gone through – turmoil, greed, disrespect, not respecting the elders and their religious people on Hopi.

“We have a covenant. I'm pretty sure Rinpoche has a similar covenant that we have made with our Great Spirit. That's what we are living by. We have a religion, we have a belief, and we have a balance in our lives as close to nature as possible. That is now diminishing as well. We are losing our grounds. Along with that, our religious activities are diminishing, too,” he said, due to greed and those hungry for power.

Quamahongnewa explained that the Hopi have two systems of governance, the tribal government which is duplicative of the U.S. government, and then the Hopi's own traditional government and the traditional way of life. “The tribal government is dominant. We have a constitution that was developed back in 1934. There was a lot of work put into it and it was almost following our traditional way of government, but now that is going to be changed.”

If the new constitution is approved, he said, “Our highest priests would have no authority whatsoever among its people, among its village, among its land. It's going to desecrate the whole religious function of the Hopi because everything is tied to our government. The Hopi way of life is intertwined with common living. We don't have such a thing as separate religion and government. It's all put together and it's been like that since time immemorial.”

On behalf of the Kikmongwi he asked Rinpoche for his support through prayers and a message to the Hopi people, or even the world. “We don't want this change to happen because it's going to destroy our way of life,” Quamahongnewa said.

Rinpoche said there are many relations between Hopi and Tibetan traditions, but in this world there are mainly two traditions: the mundane worldly systems and the religious systems. “We are witnessing some changes in many of the religious systems and also the worldly systems as the science develops and so on. But from our perspective, what we consider most important is not the external development but the internal development of the mind.”

Like Hopi, he said, in Tibet they have experienced a similar fate. “The Tibetan religion has been expelled from Tibet so we had to experience a lot of change. ... Everything has been taken from us. Our monasteries have been destroyed. But, still, our tradition, our belief system has not disappeared.

“You cannot hold on to outer circumstances. This is what we have learned in Tibet,” Rinpoche said. “We had to let go of our place. We could not hold on to it. Even though we tried to keep our freedom, we could not keep the external freedom of the country. But we did not lose the inner freedom of the mind.”

What it boils down to is trust in the dependent relation of karma cause and effect. “If the cause in the mind and the heart is love, then everything will become peaceful in this world,” Rinpoche said, explaining that the mind is connected to five elements. When the mind gives rise to negative emotions, then this disturbs the external elements. If the mind gives rise to love, then this will bring about peace and balance of the external elements.

“We must make some effort to go hand in hand with external traditions, but then we cannot really hold on because everything takes its natural course. Due to the afflictive emotions, the negative emotions of many beings, the external elements have been disturbed and we have witnessed many disasters in this world,” he said.

“There's nothing that we can voluntarily do about that but cultivate the opposite of that to influence the elements in a positive way, or to cultivate love. ... Wherever there is aversion, wherever there is anger, it will disturb the environment, the elements and everyone around, and there will be great ruin from that.”

At Rinpoche's request, Bieler read a passage from a 20-page booklet, “The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas.”

“Everything we believe in is in there, especially this one verse,” he said. “It says, 'If outer foes are destroyed while not subduing the enemy of one's own hatred, enemies will only increase. Therefore, subduing one's own mind with the army of love and compassion is the bodhisattvas' practice.'

“Therefore, we say it is not so much important what we experience externally, but what we cultivate internally that will determine the external in the future, in the long run. Therefore, all that we hold on to is a mind of love and compassion.”

Rinpoche said there are many people in this world who hold corrupt views and engage in negative activity. While they can take some temporary advantage, even take away one's physical freedom, what they cannot eliminate, even if they try, is love.

“As long as we have love in our heart, even if we experience some temporary difficulty, ultimately we cannot be destroyed,” he told Quamahongnewa. “I will make many prayers for you. I believe a lot in prayers. I think prayers are very powerful. When you make prayers, it is powerful because it is made with love, and all happiness comes from love. This is where the power comes from.”

Rinpoche gave Quamahongnewa “blessing pills” made from a very precious substance thousands of years old, which can be burned in a smoke offering. He also used the blessing pills and juniper to make a smoke offering for Hopi.

“We make this offering every day. We think that if we make this offering to others in this way, then all of our aspirations and work will be accomplished,” he said.

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'GRAB' - A 2nd Award For Director, Billy Luther, At Sundance?

Native American Director Documents His Community
Submitted by Rudy Garcia –Tolson

Film director, Billy Luther, Is looking at the Sundance Film Festival – January 20-30, 2011- for a second chance for a documentary film award. His first award came with “Miss Navajo” (2005-2006, Crystal Frazier) which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Festival. His mother , the role model for the winning independent documentary, Sarah Ann Johnson Luther was Miss Navajo, 1966-67.

In his second time at Sundance, with “GRAB”, Luther gives audiences an intimate look inside one of his own Native American tribes, where cameras have never been allowed before. He is Navajo, Hopi and Laguna Pueblo.

Each year residents of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico honor individual family members by throwing food and gifts from the rooftops of their homes to the community that gathers below.

Photographing with great visual flair, Luther sculpts an emotional tribute to his community, a community that’s filled with abundant generosity and rooted in tradition. As the seconds tick away leading up to the moment of the "grab," the arms of children reach to the sky to prepare for being showered with water, gifts, and blessings.

GRAB is an intimate portrait of the little-documented Grab Day in the villages of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, who annually throw water and food items from the rooftop of a home to people standing below.

A community-wide prayer of abundance, thanks, and renewal, Grab Day exists at the intersection of traditional Native and contemporary Western cultures. Luther’s film, which is narrated by Parker Posey, follows three families as they prepare for the annual event, chronicling their lives for the year leading up to this day.

With GRAB, Luther confirms his place as one of today’s most exciting filmmakers portraying the beauty of the modern Native American experience

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'Cowgirl Days, Frybread Nights' A Fun Read

Book Review
By Gaye Brown de Alvarez
Staff Writer
The Independent, Gallup N.M.
Saturday, Dec. 11th, 2010, page 25

WINDOW ROCK – When newspaper reporter Kathy Helms decided to write a book about her experiences in Navajoland, she knew her efforts would include uranium, water and some of the social ills prevalent in one of the only places left in the U.S. that still can be considered a third-world country.

You can't leave it out.

But you can make it humorous and fun to read, and that is what Helms did in her book “Cowgirl Days, Frybread Nights,” Kathy L. Helms, 2010, Blurb Inc.

“You always hear about 'freedom of the press,'” Helms writes in her preface. “What they don't tell you is that the freedom usually ends when you step on the all-powerful toes of politicians, Big Business, Big Brother or advertisers.”

Helms studied journalism at East Tennessee State University, against her mother's wishes. Her mother called journalism “witchcraft.”

She combines witchcraft with her extensive knowledge of uranium mining in the book, where she tells the reader about the subjects she has covered for the Independent. She has been a reporter, based in Tuba City and Fort Defiance for longer than a decade and is well-known for her stories on uranium, water, and Navajo issues. These issues have changed over the years and she keeps on top of the change and throws into her book many of her flashes of insight, her dreams and her connection with Keanu Reeves.

Keanu Reeves?

Keanu Reeves helps pull the book together in some kind of weird parallel analogy and brings in the humor full-front. Somehow, Helms connects uranium mining and “The Matrix” together.

Helms discusses tribal connections, Navajo politicians, Council sessions and horseback rides through some of the more desolate parts of the reservation. She writes about the legacy of uranium and what it has done to the Navajo people.

Although uranium mining has been banned on the Navajo reservation, it is still a big part of Dine' life, with piles of mining waste still close to communities and a huge clean-up process going on north of Churchrock. She tells the story of Phil Harrison of the Blue Gap Chapter, and his attempt to lead the fight to get compensation for Navajo radiation victims.

“Phil, who is a member of the Navajo Nation Council, grew up in Red Valley in uranium mining camps, watching children playing on waste piles and drinking water from the mines. The water also was used to mix infant formula,” she writes in her chapter titled, “Winning the Battle, Losing the War.”

“We are not anti-uranium,” Helms quotes Linda Evers of Milan, a Post-'71 uranium miller who formerly worked for Kerr-McGee and United Nuclear Homestake. “We are anti-killing people to get uranium. There's a big difference.”

Helms writes about her experiences with medicine men, who help her recover from sickness; aliens, who seem to have an effect on the local population; and of course, Keanu Reeves, who figures into almost every scenario.

Helms finds odd medicine bundles stuffed in her overheating vehicle and under her residence and believes people are trying to “witch” her for some of the stories she wrote and her activities on the reservation. The medicine men help her recover from the witching and she knows now not to touch the bundles. “That's the 'black witchcraft' mother warned me about,” she writes.

The book is fun to read, especially if you're familiar with this area, or have lived here for some time.

“Cowgirl Days, Frybread Nights” is $12.95 (shipping is extra) and available for order at www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1774508.

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Obama Signs Cobell, Water Settlements Into Law

Elouise Cobell Attended Signing Ceremony
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

WINDOW ROCK – President Barack Obama signed into law Wednesday the Claims Resolution Act of 2010 which provides funding for settlement of the Cobell lawsuit brought by Native Americans; the Pigford II lawsuit brought by African American farmers; and four Indian water rights suits.

“While I am pleased that this Act reflects important progress, much work remains to be done to address other claims of past discrimination made by women and Hispanic farmers against the Department of Agriculture as well as to address needs of tribal communities,” Obama said in remarks released by the White House.

Elouise Cobell, who was present for the signing ceremony, charged the Interior Department with failing to account for tens of billions of dollars that they were supposed to collect on behalf of more than 300,000 of her fellow Native Americans, Obama said.

“Elouise’s argument was simple: The government, as a trustee of Indian funds, should be able to account for how it handles that money. And now, after 14 years of litigation, it’s finally time to address the way that Native Americans were treated by their government. It’s finally time to make things right,” he said.

The bipartisan agreement will result in payments to those affected by the case and the establishment of a scholarship fund for Native Americans. It also will help put more land in the hands of tribes to manage for their members.

“After years of delay, this bill will provide a small measure of justice to Native Americans whose funds were held in trust by a government charged with looking out for them. And it represents a major step forward in my administration’s efforts to fulfill our responsibilities and strengthen our government-to-government relationship with the tribal nations,” the president said.

In addition, the act includes money to settle lawsuits over water rights, giving seven tribes in Arizona, Montana and New Mexico permanent access to secure water supplies year-round, he said.

The legislation resolves the Nambe-Pojoaque-Tesuque Valley litigation known as the Aamodt case, which has been unsettled for more than 40 years. It also resolves and provides funding for the Taos Pueblo water-rights claims, known as the Abeyta case, and provides direct funding of $180 million for a Navajo-Gallup pipeline, which is part of the Navajo Water Rights Settlement in New Mexico.

“The support of our New Mexico's U.S. congressional delegation helped make this funding a reality,” said New Mexico State Engineer John D'Antonio. “This is a huge achievement for the state of New Mexico as these settlements provide certainty of water rights for Indians as well as non-Indians. It also provides future economic benefits by creating jobs to build water infrastructure for critical drinking water needs.”

Obama said signing of the Claims Act wasn't simply about making amends, but about restoring a sense of trust between the American people and the government.

“Here in America, we believe that all of us are equal and that each of us deserves the chance to pursue our own version of happiness. It’s what led us to become a nation. It’s at the heart of who we are as a people. And our history is defined by the struggle to fulfill this ideal – to build a more perfect union, to ensure that all of us, regardless of our race or religion, our color or our creed, are afforded the same rights as Americans, and the fair and equal treatment under the law.

“I think all of us understand that we haven’t always lived up to those ideals. When we’ve fallen short, it’s been up to ordinary citizens to stand up to inequality and unfairness wherever they find it. That’s how we’ve made progress. That’s how we’ve moved forward. And that’s why we are here today – to sign a bill into law that closes a long and unfortunate chapter in our history,” he said.

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Hopi To Vote On Revised Constitution To Establish A 4th Branch Of Government

BIA Resorting To 'Religious Genocide'
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

WINDOW ROCK – The Hopi people will go to the polls Jan. 27 to vote on a revised Hopi Constitution which would establish a fourth branch of government and impact villages that are governed by traditional spiritual leaders, or Kikmongwis.

The Secretarial Election, approved by the Hopi Tribal Council in August, is sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A key federal requirement for the election is that all enrolled Hopi tribal members who will be 18 years of age or older by Jan. 27 must register to vote, however, traditional Hopis shun the voting process.

“The Hopi Appellate Court and the BIA's own commissioner acknowledged traditional Hopis do not register or vote,” said Ronald Wadsworth, spokesman for the Hopi Nation Sovereign and Traditional Office at Shungopavi Village. “To register and vote is to force us to accept the dominant culture's methods and system of government.

“BIA has not once consulted with the leaders of our sovereign and independent village. Our village does not participate in the Council form of government. BIA has agreed to an election that infringes on our right to practice our religion and violates our recognized inherent aboriginal sovereignty. BIA is resorting to religious genocide,” he said.

The BIA system requires 30 percent of the people to vote in order to validate an election, according to Wadsworth. “Refusing to vote tells the BIA and Council, ‘No, you do not own the villages or the Hopi people.' For years BIA has attempted to force Hopi traditional people to enroll,” but it has not worked, he said. “So now BIA is saying you must register and vote. This is another method BIA will use to track every Hopi and what they do. It is an invasion of our privacy.”

Former Hopi Tribal Chairman Ben Nuvamsa, who previously worked for BIA, disagreed. “People need to register and vote against it. Staying away and not voting is the worst thing people would do,” he said. “Remember, in 1936, people that objected to the new Constitution stayed away and did not vote. The proposed constitution passed anyway because of the number of people voting.”

Wadsworth said Draft 24A of the Hopi Constitution is nothing more than a “power grab” by the Hopi Tribal Council. “The Hopi Appellate Court recently issued an opinion acknowledging Hopi’s 12 villages are independent entities and that each holds aboriginal sovereign governmental powers. The proposed changes to the Hopi Constitution strip the religious protections in the current Constitution and strip all villages of their aboriginal sovereign powers,” he said.

For decades Council has chipped away at village powers, he said. “The Council has long held that they hold the power – not the villages. The Hopi Appellate Court said the Council has limited powers and affirmed aboriginal sovereign powers are held by each village; and the Kikmongwi holds the power in the traditional villages.”

The Kikmongwi role is deleted in the revised Constitution, Nuvamsa said, leaving the village chief out of politics in a “separation of church and state.”

In 1936 the Indian Reorganization Act allowed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to establish a tribal council form of government at Hopi, intended to force the Hopi people to assimilate to the outside cultures, Wadsworth said. In contrast, the Hopi system starts at the grassroots level and is based on consultation, negotiation and consensus.

“The BIA experiment has not worked. BIA assimilation has not worked. The BIA council form of government does not work. Maybe it is time for all Hopi villages to once again join hands and work together as we did before the BIA arrived at Hopi. None of the villages attempted to tell the others what they could or could not do on their land. We consulted with each other; and on issues impacting all of us, we came together. We Hopi have used this system since time immemorial and it works,” he said.

Nuvamsa said the most serious flaw in Draft 24A concerns the proposal to make the Hopi and Tewa villages the fourth branch of government. “Nowhere in the United States do you see a fourth branch of government. The United States Constitution does not bring the 50 states in as a fourth branch of government,” he said, adding that it would relegate the villages to be on par with the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

“The power is supposed to be from the villages and the people. It kind of lowers them down. The villages may even lose those powers. Then the Council would be regulating them.” He said it also brings into question who would lead the 12 villages in the “Village Branch” of government.

The draft also gives the chairman – to be called “president” – broad authority and leaves out citizen participation in their government, Nuvamsa said. “He's going to be like a czar.”

It's been years since the final draft of the Constitution was done, and while information sessions have been held in the villages, “They have not allowed anybody to have input into some recommended changes,” he said. “People are being forced into making uninformed decisions. It's a complete rewrite of the Constitution and I don't think that's what the people want.”

Hopi Tribal Chairman LeRoy N. Shingoitewa said changes to the current Constitution are the wishes of the Hopi and Tewa people. “For the past 10 years, presentations on the proposed draft Constitution have been made to the Hopi and Tewa people at various times and locations.

“Nowhere in the proposed Constitution does it mention infringing on or stripping the religious rights and practices of the Hopi tradition, religion or culture. The new Constitution gives more power to villages. In both the current and new Constitution, it states, 'Each village shall decide for itself how it shall be organized,' including the selection of its Council representatives,” he said.

Certain villages, including Shungopavi, have chosen not to have representation on the Tribal Council, Shingoitewa said. “The Hopi Tribe respects the wishes of those villages that choose to practice the traditional form of governance and not have anything to do with the tribal government. It is up to the village as a whole, how they wish to operate. This is the time for the Hopi and Tewa people to express their wishes through their vote. It is now up to the people,” he said.

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SMSC Honored With Prestigious National Award

Jefferson Award For Philanthropy
by Tessa Lehto
Communucations Specialist
E-Mail: tessa.lehto@shakopeedakota.org
Thursday, December 02, 2010

Prior Lake, MN – The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community was honored with a Jefferson Award for philanthropy at the Celebrate Twin Cities awards reception on December 1, 2010, at the St. Paul Hotel. SMSC Vice-Chairman Glynn A. Crooks accepted the award on behalf of the Community. From the 12 regional winners selected over the past year, the SMSC was chosen as the overall national winner for 2010 from this region.

Over the past 13 years, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has donated more than $192.7 million to charitable organizations, Indian Tribes, and Native American organizations. The SMSC has also made more than $389 million in loans to other tribes for economic development projects.

According to a statement provided by the Business Journal, “In 1972 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr., and Sam Beard founded the Jefferson Awards for Public Service to establish a ‘Nobel Prize’ for public community service. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal has teamed up with the Jefferson Awards for the third year in a row to highlight companies and organizations in the Twin Cities that are giving back.

One Twin Cities company was featured each month. From that group of honorees, the Jefferson Awards Board chose one as the national winner. The 2010 National winner is the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. They will be honored at the national awards ceremony in Washington D.C. this June.”

The mission of the Jefferson Awards is to “recognize, inspire, and activate volunteerism and public service in communities, workplaces, and schools across America.”

As one of the national winners, the SMSC will receive the Jefferson Award at a special ceremony in Washington D.C. in June 2011 along with a handful of other winners from across the country. Representatives of the SMSC will be featured guests during the national ceremony.

“We are honored to have been selected for the Jefferson Award,” said SMSC Vice-Chairman Glynn A. Crooks. “Part of who we are as Dakota people is to help others.”

According to the website for the Jefferson Awards, “The Carnegie Endowment and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, among many others, are concerned that America's tradition of civic engagement is eroding.

They see a startling decline in the number of citizens joining hands to address community needs. From the beginning, the Jefferson Awards has been based on a simple idea. One of the most powerful ideas in the world. One person can make a difference. That is the heart of democracy at work.”

About the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community The SMSC utilizes its financial resources from gaming and non-gaming enterprises to pay for the internal infrastructure of the Tribe, including but not limited to roads, water and sewer systems, emergency services, and essential services to its Tribal members in education, health, and welfare.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has a charitable giving program which comes from a cultural and social tradition to assist those in need. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, a federally recognized Indian Tribe in Minnesota, is the owner and operator of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Little Six Casino, Playworks, Dakotah! Sport and Fitness, The Meadows at Mystic Lake, and other enterprises on a reservation south of the Twin Cities.

This press release and other information may be downloaded from the SMSC website at www.shakopeedakota.org.

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Navajo Nation Could Get Millions To Resolve Environmental Liabilities

Minimum Of $14.5 Million To Cleanup Abandoned Uranium Mines
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

WINDOW ROCK – Tronox Inc., created through a spin-off from Kerr-McGee Corp., has agreed to resolve its environmental liabilities for $270 million cash and 88 percent of Tronox’s interest in a pending litigation. If approved, the Navajo Nation stands to get a minimum of $14.5 million for cleanup of abandoned uranium mines.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the bankruptcy settlement Nov. 23. Under terms of the settlement, EPA will be reimbursed for past cleanup costs and future cleanups at contaminated sites across the country. Claimants include 22 states and a number of municipalities.

“It's a very good deal for the Navajo Nation. I'm excited about it,” said David Taylor of Navajo Department of Justice.

Under terms of the agreement U.S. EPA would receive $1,263,956 for cleanup at Quivira Churchrock Mine, and $12,039,562 for uranium mine sites in or near Navajo Nation territory. The Navajo Nation would receive $1,231,978 for the Shirprock Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action site, where contaminated groundwater is an ongoing problem.

The majority of the former Kerr-McGee mines are in the Cove area, with the remainder in the vicinity of Ambrosia Lake.

Tronox and 14 of its affiliates filed for Chapter 11 on Jan. 12, 2009, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Several months after the Tronox spin-off was completed, Anardarko Petroleum Corp. purchased Kerr-McGee for $18 billion.

Tronox is currently involved in litigation against Anadarko and Kerr-McGee over allegations that those companies imposed years worth of legacy liabilities, including environmental obligations on Tronox, leaving the company insolvent and under-capitalized. The trial is expected to begin in late 2011 or early 2012. Eighty-eight percent of any settlement awarded to Tronox as a result of that litigation will be used to fund additional cleanup efforts.

The settlement calls for a 30-day comment period. “Assuming that there are no huge problems in the public comment period, then approximately $14.5 million should be available in a matter of months,” Taylor said. But the most important part of the settlement, as far as he's concerned, is the assignment of an interest in the litigation that Tronox has against Kerr-McGee and Anadarko.

“It's all speculative as to how much that would be, but we're potentially talking about a lot of money in addition to the $14.5 million. We get 23 percent of whatever that settlement is. It's a good day for Navajo,” Taylor said.

Stephen B. Etsitty, executive director of Navajo EPA, said the Navajo Nation is following the lead of the federal government and will be issuing a 30-day public notice for comment on its particular part of the settlement. Kerr-McGee is the potentially responsible party in multiple sites on the Navajo Nation, notably in the Northern Agency and the Eastern Agency, he said.

“U.S. EPA will receive most of the settlement dollars for numerous sites on the Navajo Nation where Kerr-McGee was a responsible party, but that amount will be specifically designated to assist with the cleanup of those sites on the Navajo Nation,” he said.

“There were about 40 sites initially, and then we found that about a handful of them actually were not on the Navajo Nation but just outside the Navajo Nation boundaries in New Mexico. We're still concerned about those as well,” he said.

Etsitty applauded Taylor for his work on behalf of Navajo. “Dave Taylor's not even a bankruptcy lawyer, but at least he got our foot in the door.”

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