[News] Navajo from Big Mountain: US media and politicians orchestrate wars
Anti-Imperialist News
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Mon Mar 31 14:15:38 EDT 2008
Navajo from Big Mountain: US media and politicians orchestrate wars
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/
By
<http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2008/3/28/103424//user/uid:331>Brenda
Norrell,
Posted on Fri Mar 28th, 2008 at 10:34:24 AM EST
PUEBLO, Colo. Bahe Katenay, Navajo from Big
Mountain on the Navajo Nation, said the US media
created the stories of the so-called Navajo Hopi
Land Dispute, which was orchestrated by Peabody
Coal and US politicians, the same way the US
orchestrates the war in Iraq for its resources.
There was never a dispute, Katenay said of the
so-called Navajo Hopi Land Dispute. He said the
lands were long shared by Navajo and Hopi. The
Hopi had their trails through there.
Katenay said the United States media created the
stories of the so-called Navajo Hopi Dispute, the
same way the US media creates and fuels other disputes and wars.
One of the examples of this is the Iraq war
right now. Katenay said the media claims there
is a dispute in Iraq. Those US claims led to the
U.S. occupying and dividing the country and the people.
Over there it is more brutal and more horrific.
But it is the same sort of thing they did in Big
Mountain and Black Mesa. They divided the two tribes.
Katenay said the Navajo and Hopi tribal
governments do not represent their people.
The tribal governments are basically a board of
directors. They are not a sovereign assembly. The
Navajo government does not represent the Navajo
Nation and the Hopi government does not represent
the Hopi Nation, Katenay said in an interview
with Longest Walk Talk Radio, www.earthcycles.net/
Katenay, one of the original Long Walkers in
1978, joined the Longest Walk 2 Northern Route in
Pueblo and described the orchestrated scenario
and the so-called Navajo Hopi Land Dispute,
which grew out of the Indian Land Claims Commission.
Katenay told how a Mormon attorney for Peabody
Coal, John Boyden, came to Hopi country and
attempted to form a Hopi Tribal Council for the
purpose of seizing leases for coal mining.
It failed each time because the traditional Hopi
people were a sovereign people and rejected the
Hopi Tribal Council. They still had power in the
villages. The traditional people supported the traditional chiefs.
Finally in 1964, Peabodys attorney John Boyden
picked Hopi people and formed a Hopi Tribal
Council which was recognized by the US
government. However, the Hopi Tribal Council was
not recognized or given authority by traditional Hopi.
Katenay said federal laws and proceedings
complicated the issues for Navajos and Hopis and
the BIA played a role. The BIA had its hand in
tribal governments and federal laws. Referring to
the so-called range war, Katenay said there was
no range war and there is no proof that it ever
existed. It was a staged scenario which Congressmen fueled.
Among those Arizona Congressmen in the 1970s were
Rep. Sam Steiger who introduced the relocation
legislation, Barry Goldwater and Morris K. Udall.
They spearheaded this legislation back then.
Then, other Southwest Congressmen took notice
because of plans to seize the Colorado River
water and Navajo and Hopi resources. The
concocted scenario that there was bloodshed on
the Navajo Hopi lands was a means to an end.
Last year, Big Mountain celebrated 30 years of resistance.
Katenay, resisting relocation since 1974, began
as a translator. He left community college to
return home to assist the elders. Later, he
returned to college in 1994 and now lectures on
the history and facts of Black Mesa.
I believed in their struggle to resist.
Katenay said this era of the Internet is
deceptive when it comes to communication. With
fast communication, we are losing communication.
Further, in the United States, Americans are
without a culture and focus on the individual and comfort.
Americans do not have a culture. The Navajos and
Hopis worlds have been flipped upside down, but there, they have a culture.
Katenay said Americans believe their culture to
be baseball, hotdogs, fast cars and war. Most
Americans say, Were proud to bomb Iraq and destroy many countries.
With three decades of resistance at Big Mountain,
Katenay points out that many of the elders are gone now.
We only have a handful of old people who are
determined to make a stand if they have to and hold on to their land.
While Navajos continue to resist, Katenay said
the Navajos who were relocated paid a huge price.
There were 14,000 Navajos who received relocation
homes, but at least 150,000 -- including extended
families -- were impacted by relocation.
The United States government relocated Navajos
from Black Mesa to contaminated lands, New Lands
near Sanders, Arizona. The land was cheap because
it was abandoned by white ranchers after the
contamination of the Church Rock, N.M., uranium
tailings spill on July 16, 1979. It was among the
worst spills in US history and flowed down the Rio Puerco.
Navajos who remain in Big Mountain now live with constant surveillance.
The people of Big Mountain are under
surveillance all the time. Katenay said Navajos
are not allowed to gather firewood or traditional
medicines. When people gather, even for a childs
birthday party, they are under surveillance.
They have to live guerilla style, go out and
gather their firewood and herbs at night.
Peabodys coal mining has left deep scars in the land and the water depleted.
Our water has been depleted and sacred springs are gone.
Now, Katenay says the power of humanity would
disappear at Big Mountain without volunteers
support for the elders, who can help with
planting and herding sheep. In May, Katenay said
there will be a project for volunteers to learn
about planting corn and squash, about Mother
Earth and Father Sky. He said all people are welcome.
We dont care who comes, just like this Longest
Walk. We need to all come together, not just Dine and Hopi.
On Big Mountain, people will learn about planting
and Dine culture. A cornfield is a very sacred
place, there is no misconduct, he said,
describing the harvesting and husking of corn.
Reflecting on the resistance, Katenay said a
handful of Navajos resisting relocation and coal
mining disrupted the schemes of the United States government and Peabody Coal.
Were still there. Peabody has not expanded its
mine into Big Mountain area. Katenay said
neither the power plants nor the cities that
Peabody planned for Big Mountain area ever appeared.
The elders stood and disrupted the American process.
Listen to the interview, audio file (bahiemp3) at: www.earthcycles.net/
Photos of the Longest Walk Northern Route:
<http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/>http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
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