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Disinformation & Relocation Figures
Our thanks go to Jake - adminnistrator of the View From The Hogan
e-mail list, who has direct communication wiith Roberta and other Elders and sends out e-mail updates to all those subscribed to his list. If you would like to be included on his list and receive the latest from Black Mesa then you can email him at:- UNCLEJAKE@aol.com
This is the first time we have had a more direct contact with those on the land. It was Jake that passed on Robertas thanks to us as well as more accurate information as to the situation on Big Mountain, which includes the following key points:-
A. Most so called reliable internet sources have misled, us and many others worldwide by stating that there were 3000 awaiting eviction in February. NOT SO
Officially there are 12 homesites involved in the eviction process. Some of those homesites consist of one person, some consist of several people. Many people have slipped through the cracks in various ways and don't get counted. Up to 2000 people are covered by the Accomodation Agreement - which allow the Dineh people that have signed to remain as tenants on Hopi Partitioned Land for at least 75 years and so are not in any IMMEDIATE danger of being evicted. That is not to say their lives are not being made difficult.
B. Most sources also state that there has been up to 10,000 relocated to the contaminated NewLands. NOT SO
In actual fact there was only a few hundred that got moved to the NewLands. The rest were either relocated onto the Navajo Reservation, or into border towns.
C. There have been many ‘deadlines’ and ‘red alerts’. Right now though there is movement, and the atrocities and rights abuses continue. One of the key areas the Dineh continue to need help with is on the land itself, in light of the restrictions and near impossible to afford permits, they are now required to have.
February 1st deadline came and went without evictions on Big Mountain. Good news for our campaign and good news for the Dineh and Hopi. Our vigil outside the US embassy in London also had a good
turn out, much like the first one back in October. Once again there were representativs from BMAG
(Big Mountain Action Group), TNAIS (Thunderbirds North American Indian Society), AIM (American Indian Movement) as well as Leonard Peltier campaigners and Feathers Network supporters. Both Zoi Lightfoot (All Nations Forum) and Dee Boyle (BMAG) volunteered to go into the embassy and get the US Ambassador to comment on the campaign and to check that he had received all the letters in support of the Dineh and against the US government and Peabody Coals actions to evict the Dineh.
It was awhile before they emerged, and they were told that although the Ambassador was not available to comment, his deputy confirmed the receipt of letters, faxes etc. and promised to come out to us later on to provide an official comment.
BROKEN PROMISE
Well we waited from 1.30pm to our alloted time 3pm with banners in hands. By this time it had started to rain and the ink on some of our unprotected banners, began to run, and still no response from the embassy. Most of us present unanimously decided to wait another hour to see if we would receive an official response. It was 4pm and by this time the rain was heavy and the cold was really setting in. Many had gone home or had contemplated doing so as the last hour passed, but there was still no response. It was at this point we all decided to call it a day and all went our separate ways.
Despite all our efforts and despite all the people that said they would come, we were only 5! We had expected at least the same number as before. As it turned out there was only myself and a fellow Feathers Network representative, Thunderbirds representative, AIM and All Nations Forum representative, and a concerned supporter.
I was sitting on my own the Saturday morning following the vigil reflecting and I could feel myself crying inside, my eyes literally welled up. The pain was very real, as I feel very strongly for the Dineh and others like them not just in America but worldwide.
As you can imagine we didn't see much point hanging around the embassy, the silent 5! Especially when we were told that if we brought along any music (cassette and instruments) they would be confiscated as it would be against police regulations.
Undetered we stuck to our itinerary and went on to Downing Street to present ourpetition with covering leter urging the British government to standby its commitment to uphold international human rights laws and recommendations as laid down by the UN.
'I must emphasise though this is human lives we are talking about, a culture, a land, the Earth, our cousins, and our mother. You cannot turn a blind eye or pick and choose when to be interested. This is real and this is happening now and we can all do something. Sure it takes a little time and a little commitment, but what is that in the great scheme of things. This is our world, we are responsible for it, and everything that happens on it, whether good or bad. More importantly we, together can put an end to the atrocities - help us, help the Dineh and Hopi...'
- Graham S. McKean - Feathers Network Chairperson
Although Feathers Network supporters arrived a few hours early, the main crowd slowly began to arrive from 12pm onwards. We were directed across the road from the embassy by the police, on to a very narrow sidewalk with a metal barrier separating us from the road. We put our banners on the barrier for all passers by and embassy staff to see. To begin with there were armed metropolitan police on the steps to the main entrance to the embassy and some were even in unmarked vehicles, probably thought we wouldn't see them!!
Eventually there were approximately 30 protestors all gathered holding banners and silently protesting, including 2 Indigenous American supporters, one resident in London and the other one had been touring Europe to gather support for the Dineh. There were even a group that had brought food to feed those present.
By this time the police realised we posed no threat and left a skeleton crew of police just to oversee everything. We even had some officers asking what it was all about so we gave them leaflets and explained the whole situation in Black Mesa. After all the police are people too, and they are just doing their job. We respected them and they in turn respected us and our purpose on that day.
After a few hours had passed we all marched carrying banners through the centre of London to Downing Street to present our petition, which was a few miles trek initself. The intention was to present the petition and then return to the embassy to light candles, smudge etc. Instead we were told we couldn't present the petition until Monday of the following week. Which was a blow to our self-esteem. So we waited awhile outside Downing Street handing out leaflets some lit candles and we held a small smudging ceremony.
By this time many had decided to call it a day and gradually we all went our separate ways. We were disappointed with the turn out despite our efforts to spread the word and get people to attend. Looking back though it was not the numbers that mattered, it was the act in itself of those that did make the effort that counted.
The following is the minutes of 17/02/2000 - Provisional Edition on Native Americans in the US - Dineh (B5-0152, 0157, 0163, 0171 and 0174/200), - taken from the official European Parliament website which calls upon the US govenrment to act in favour of the Dineh living at Big Mountain (Black Mesa) Arizona:-
- recalling the provisions on rights of indigenous peoples contained in the Vienna Declaration adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights stressing the need to protect the economic, social and cultural well-being of indigenous peoples including their distinct identities and cultures,
- having regard to its resolutions on the rights of indigenous peoples, in particular that of 9 February1994(1) and 19 January 1995(2),
- recalling the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the principles of Agenda 21 and the Convention on Biological Diversity,
- having regard to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 36/55 - Declaration on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief,
- having regard to Resolutions 1989/97 and 1990/34 of the UN Sub-commission on prevention of discrimination and protection of minorities on the "Relocation of Hopi and Navajo families" ,
A. mindful of the Dineh people who reside in the Hopi Partition Lands (HPL) in the United States and are facing eviction through the implementation of the Relocation Act (Public Law 93-531), obliging them to sign the Accommodation Agreement,
B. aware of the fact that the US Government will start the relocation process very soon,
C. concerned that the recent Public Law 104-301 and its Accommodation Agreement will mean the Dineh (Navajo) families in the Black Mesa region being forced to abandon their land, given the denial of sufficient livestock, thereby threatening the Dineh's cultural and socio-economic survival, confiscation of firewood causing families severe hardship, especially in winter, and the withdrawal of rights regarding water, hunting and medicinal gatherings,
D. aware of the fact that Dineh families residing in HPL live near the Peabody Coal Company coal mining lease areas on Black Mesa, which the Bureau of Indian Affairs granted water rights to the Navajo aquifer, the sole water source of the Dineh and Hopi, whose wells are rapidly drying up, thereby threatening their spiritual and religious existence,
E. considering the fact that on Black Mesa there are 10,000 sites of special significance for the cultural heritage of the Dineh people,
F. aware of the fact that 94 million gallons of water contaminated with uranium mining waste broke through a United Nuclear Corporation storage dam on 16 July 1979, pouring into the Puerto river in New Mexico and the Little Colorado river where Dineh families from HPL had been evicted to contaminated radioactive areas along the Little Colorado river's so-called New Lands,
G. concerned about the health of the Dineh families living in the vicinity of existing mining facilities on Black Mesa and those who relocated to the New Lands,
1. Calls on the US Government's law-enforcement officers to halt all harassment of Dineh families resisting relocation;
2. Calls on the US Government to respect the land rights of the Dineh people as well as the provisions for indigenous peoples of the Vienna Declaration;
3. Calls on the US Government not to proceed with the Accommodation Agreement until the US Congress mandates formal congressional hearings to re-assess the impact of mining in the region;
4. Calls on the US authorities to organise integration programmes for the Dineh people who have been relocated;
5. Calls on its delegation for relations with the United States to discuss, at its next meeting, the Dineh (Navajo) and Hopi people's human rights, development, cultural and religious rights and their treatment by the United States;
6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the US Government, the US Congress, the Navajo and Hopi Tribal Councils and the Governor of the State of Arizona.
Points To Include When Making Contact
Whether you have attended one of our vigils, or not this information is so you can contact as many as you can and let them know that you are opposed to the Dineh relocation. The plan is for those unable to attend the demo to telephone, fax / email asmany on the list as you can on the same day expressing your opposition to the plansand what is going on. This includes those that are attending to get people they knowwith a concern for the Navaho situation that are also unable to attend the demo, totelephone, fax and email too. Everyone should at least write to those listed even if it'sby snail mail. When telephoning or faxing don't be put off by an engaged line, keep tryingregardless, even if it takes all day. Whichever method you use to get in touch witheach, the following is a general guide to what to include in your message:-
1. Peabody must cease all operations in Black Mesa and all laws and actions to evict, make their lives difficult or unpleasant and the unnecessary animal confiscations tobe halted immediately and repealed. Alternative renewable energy should be investigated instead as a means of electrical power, both Navaho and Hopi people to be consulted at all stages of this process. Emphasis on people, not tribal governments.
2. All action by the federal government preventing them from carrying on with their
traditional lifestyle and religion also to be halteed immediately. This in itself is a
violation of UN and international human rights laws.
3. Call for the immediate return of confiscated animals, where this is not possible theelders animal losses should be replaced or compensated for.
4. The US government should be held responsible for violating it's own constitution,
international human rights laws and commiting civil rights abuses.
5. Those already evicted to be allowed to return to Black Mesa and the relocation site downstream from the Rio Puerco to be completely abandoned.
It must be stressed that all forms of correspondence, although we all feel very strongly, must remain polite at all times, if we are to be taken seriously and have a positive effect on the outcome of our actions. Following each set of contact details is a brief explanation of their significance please take note of this.
Contacts For British Citizens Action Only
Tony Blair,
10 Downing Street,
London.
SW1A 2AA
FAX NO. 0171 9250918
Any Brits out there certainly should know this one. As part of their UN commitment the following is taken from British governments website -
- We shall urge all countries to meet human rights standards laid down by the UN and other international organisations;
- support international condemnation of regimes which violate human rights;
refuse to supply equipment and weapons which could be used for internal repression;
- support international bodies' criticism of human rights abuses;
- systematically raise human rights issues in dealing with other countries;
- support the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court;
- ensure that military training assistance overseas enhances foreign governments’
understanding and respect for human rights;'
Robin Cook,
Department of Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AL,
Telephone: 0171 270 1500
Facsimile: 0171 829 2417 or 270 2833
This is definitely the person to contact with foreign affairs issues such as this one within the British government if we want them to do something to intervene. It all gets passed over to him anyhow. If enough people wrote to him he would have to act.
Ambassador Philip Lader
American Embassy,
24 Grosvenor Square,
London, W1A 1AE
FAX NO. 0171 4933425
Phone Switchboard: 0171 4999000
American Ambassador to the UK, in charge of the US Embassy HQ in London
Sir Christopher Meyer KCMG
British Ambassador to the US,
British Embassy, Washington DC.,
3100 Massachesettes Avenue,
Washington DC. 2008
USA
OR
British Information Services Office,
845 Third Avenue
New York
NY 10022
Tel: (212) 745-0277
Fax: (212) 745-0359
The person in charge of the British Embassy in the States is the British Ambassador to the US, Sir Christopher Meyer KCMG and although he is based at Washington surprisingly there is no fax, telephone or email details to be found. Instead all press and public affairs contact is dealt with at their New York office for British Information Services for which I have included their contact details including fax and telephone numbers. All faxes etc. should be marked for the attention of the Ambassador or the Political Division. Personally I would opt for the former of the two.
Contacts For All US and International ACTION
President of the USA
The White House,
1600 Pennysylvania Avenue NW,
Washington.
DC 20500
USA
Email: president.whitehouse@gov
Phone: (202) 456-1414
Fax: (202) 456-2461 / (202) 456-2886
No introductions needed, President USA, the man with the power to stop the relocation process
Mary Robinson - High Commissioner on Human Rights,
OHCHR-UNOG,
CH1211 Geneva ID,
Switzerland.
EMAIL: webadmin.hchr@unog.sa
Person who deals with human rights issues at the UN. The US has violated many international UN human rights treaties and the UN should be enforcing these treaties and making the US government adhere to the agreements it so willingly imposes on other countries as an excuse to take action against them - former Yugoslavia to name one.
Jane Dee Hull - Arizona Governor,
1700 West Washington,
Phoenix,
AZ. 85007
USA
FAX NO. 602 542 1381
TEL NO. 602 542 4331
EMAIL: azgov@azgov.state.az.us
WEBSITE: http://www.state.az.us
Governor of Arizona who claims to be commited to helping the people of Arizona. If you get the chance read her website it certainly makes interesting reading
Wayne Taylor, Chairman, The Hopi Tribe
P.O. Box 123,
Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039
Phone: 001 (520) 734-3000.
Remember although it says Hopi Tribe, he only represents the government andprogressive way of thinking and should not be confused with the traditional peoplesthat are trying to live as their ancestors did in harmony with the Earth and everyhting. The traditional people refuse to recognise the false authority of tribal government forced upon them by federal authorities.
Kelsey Begaye, President of the Navajo Nation,
Window Rock, Arizona USA
Fax: (520) 871- 6352
Here too, although it says Navajo Nation, he only represents the government andprogressive way of thinking and should not be confused with the traditional peoplesthat are trying to live as their ancestors did in harmony with the Earth and everyhting. The traditional people refuse to recognise the false authority of tribal government forced upon them by federal authorities
Kevin Gover, ASSISTANT SECRETARY - INDIAN AFFAIRS
Navajo Area Office
(Navajo Res. Only, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico)
Bureau of Indian Affairs
P.O. Box 1060
Gallup, New Mexico 87305
(505) 863-8314 FAX (505) 863-8245
BIA - the federal government office for the Navajo, partly responsible for all the herassment they have had to endure
Mr. Fred Chavez
US Department of the Interior
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Hopi Agency
P.O. Box 158
Keams Canyon, AZ 86034
Phone: (520) 738-2249
BIA - Hopi the main ones responsible for the herassment of Navaho, including beatings, confiscations, eviction notices, threats etc.
Christopher J. Bavasi, Executive Director
US Government Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation
Flagstaff, AZ
Fax: (520) 774-1977
Office dealing with the relocations
The Honorable Janet Keno
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Constitution Avenue & 10th Street, N.W.
Washington. D.C. 20530
The Honorable Bruce Babbitt,
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20240
Downing Street Cover Letter - 12/11/99
It must be noted that the following letter was written and presented when we were unwittingly relying on inaccurate informotion from sources we were originally assured were reliable sources. Therefore the figures were grossly exaggerated at that time. For this we apologise and refer you to the the Disinformation & Relocation Figures mentioned above.
Dear Mr. Blair,
We approach you today in our capacity as concerned citizens and residents of
the United Kingdom to present to you a petition calling for an immediate end to the
atrocities commited against the Dineh (Navajo) American Indian Nation, in an
attempt to forcibly evict them from their ancestral homeland by the US Government
and Peabody Western Coal Company.
Up to 12,000 people have been relocated since the early 1980's to a tract of land in
Arizona, downstream from the US's worst uranium mining incident at Church Rock
Mill, New Mexico in 1979. Within the first six months of the first group being
resettled there in 1980, 25% had died. The remaining survivors suffer from increased rates of birth defects, poisoned land and water supplies which affects both vegetation and livestock.
Others have been moved to cities where they do not possess the skills to be able to
adapt to a completely new way of life and many Dineh are homeless, or have turned
to extreme measures such as alcohol and suicide. In comparison it would be like
taking you and your family and forcing you to move to the desert and leaving you to
fend for yourself. Alternatively you may have been sent to live near a site which has
been described as the equivalent to the site of the Chernobyl disaster.
There are approximately 3000 Navaho people left on Black Mesa most of which are
Elders living a subsistence way of life, relying on their livestock and their animals for their everyday survival needs. They are continually herassed by BIA federal
government officials and paramilitary police that confiscate livestock, firewood,
block wells preventing access to centuries old water sources. BIA officials even
enforce laws such as the 'Bennett Freeze' which effectively prevents all new house
construction or repairs to existing houses. Not to mention their houses being
bulldozed, contents and all forcing many to live in dug outs in the Earth.
Then of course there is also the issue of their burial grounds being disturbed by
bulldozing and sacred sites destroyed. Several residents have been witness to the un-earthing of their relatives that have long since passed away.
In some instances elders have been physically beaten by BIA officials enforcing
partition laws which were part of the 1974 'Relocation Act', which divided an area of land that was originally shared between the Dineh and Hopi people and effectively forced 16000 Dineh from the Hopi side of the divide. In one instance an elderly woman was beaten arrested and later died in prison from heart failure. All this despite the fact that both Dineh and Navaho had lived side by side for centuries and prior to the 1974 law, their traditional people had come to a new agreement without the interference of the US government, on use of the land.
More recently in 1996 the Accomodation Act was passed to forcibly evict the
remaining Dineh from Black Mesa by February 1st year 2000. The partition and
relocation laws were established solely to create divisions among the native
inhabitants of the area and as a direct result serving the interests of corporate mining companies, tribal councils and ultimately the US Government. On the surface the US Government have used partition laws and tribal governments to create the illusion that there is a centuries old land dispute between the respective Nations. It must be stressed that this is not the case, especially in light of the fact that the partition laws and tribal governments were established without consultation of the traditional peoples who reside in the Black Mesa region.
All these issues are condemned by the international community as violations of
human rights in other parts of the world. Kosovo is just one recent example of which
the US Government were quick to condemned and act under the UN's International
Human Rights Treaties. These atrocities would not be tolerated if they were to happen here in the UK, in fact there would be an outcry.
The mining itself is conducted by Peabody Western Coal Company, which operates
the Black Mesa and Kayenta mines in Northern Arizona. They began mining during
the 1960's, which incidentally displaced 200 Dineh families. The Kayenta mine,
transporting coal using a slurry line to the Mojave generating station is an
environmental disaster in itself. Using up vast quantities of Hopi groundwater
throughout the Black Mesa region, it contaminates the groundwater supplies that
provides for 30,000 people. This places the Hopi at the mercy of Peabody also. The
land inhabited by both Hopi and Dineh, receives less than six inches of rainfall a year, this means they are entirely dependent upon the groundwater supplies that used to be of pristine quality and drinkable without treatment. Now though they are forced to travel miles to find drinkable water supplies.
In short the Dineh people are being subjected to ethnic cleansing and genocide - the systematic annihilation of a species of human being, not to mention the human, civil, constitutional and religious rights issues involved. In particular I refer you to the UN's 'COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS - Fifty-fifth session - Item 11 (c) of the
provisional agenda - CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING: FREEDOM
OF EXPRESSION' which covers the issues affecting the Dineh including a visit by
Mr Amor to assess their situation. We call upon the UN and the British Government
to intervene and enforce UN international human rights policies.
As part of the British Governments commitment to being at the forefront of the
world-wide drive for human rights, we call upon the British Government to uphold
its promise and to urge the US Govenment to meet human rights standards laid down by the UN and other international organisations; to support international
condemnation of US Governments regimes which violate Dineh peoples human
rights; support international bodies' criticism of Dineh human rights abuses;
systematically raise human rights issues in dealing with the US; understanding and
respect for Dineh peoples human rights; support media under threat from
authoritarian regimes such as the US Government in an attempt to misinform the
American and international community.
The British Government must set a good example to the US and act to prevent the
relocation of the remaining Dineh people. Furthermore all mining activity must be
stopped and renewable energy sources should be implemented instead, which do not pollute the land, contaminate water supplies and ruin lives. Instead the US
Government must follow the example set by the British Government when it closed
mines in Wales in favour of renewable energy sources such as wind power.
We realise you will have to investigate this matter for yourselves, which is why we
have enclosed additional information as well as reliable internet sources and contacts that are on the frontline of the atrocities. We will continue our campaign to raise awareness as well as sending copies of this petition and future signatuories on to the White House, the UN Human Rights Commission as well as other appropriate bodies. We will also continue to present new petition signatures in the following months leading up to February 1st.
Following your investigation we would like to be informed what action the British
Government proposes to take in favour of the Dineh peoples rights as human beings.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Your Friend, Earth Friend, Indigenous Friend
Feathers Network UK