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A New Trail of Tears? Secrets, lies and dirty scandals tend to erupt around election time. This spring's primaries have been relatively uneventful in that manner, and they are nearing the end. But before the last votes are cast, there is one story that presidential hopeful John McCain has attempted to keep from leaking out of his home state. The indigenous peoples of Black Mesa, Arizona are calling it genocide. Since 1974, approximately
12,000 Dineh Navaho people have been forcibly relocated from their land
in the Black Mesa region of northern Arizona -in what has been the largest
removal of Indians in the United States since the 1880s. Black Mesa is the site of a decades long struggle between the Hopi and Dineh Navaho peoples and the United States government. Though the history of the conflict in Black Mesa has been labeled as intertribal, members of the Hopi and the Dineh-Navaho agree that the problems really started after coal deposits were discovered in the 1950s. Over thousands of years, the conditions in this region have produced what is believed to be the largest coal deposit in the United States - 20 billion tons. Both tribes lived on what was called "joint-use" land until the Navaho-Hopi Land Settlement Act was passed by Congress in 1974. The Settlement Act resulted in Hopi control over much of the former "joint-use" land, which many Dineh say was allocated for the sole purpose of opening up land rights and leasing the land to the Peabody Coal Company for strip mining. Dineh Navahos who remained on the land were then forced to sign leases, requiring rent for the use of land they considered to be their ancestor's. The bill also mandated a substantial reduction in livestock herds and restricted construction and even minor repairs to existing property. Faced with the prospect of continuous harassment and starvation as a result of the forced livestock reductions, approximately 11,000 Dineh chose to relocate. Many of the Dineh families were moved to the "New Lands," lands which in 1979 was the site of one of the largest radioactive spills in the nation. Approximately 94 million gallons of uranium-contaminated water flooded the river valley, which is now listed as a federal Superfund site. The spill has allegedly contributed to an accelerated death rate among the relocated Dineh. In the more than 15 years that Senator McCain has been involved in the politics of Arizona, he has become deeply entrenched in Indian matters. While serving as the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator McCain authored the Accommodation Agreement in 1996. The agreement set a February 2000 deadline for the eviction of all Dineh Navahos who had not signed the leases recognizing the Hopi and Bureau of Indian Affairs jurisdiction. Calling it "a major step forward," Senator McCain's office claims the Accommodation Agreement is helping to "bring peaceful resolution to a decades-long dispute." Senator McCain's involvement in the relocation efforts did not end with the passage of the 1996 legislation. Just last April, McCain sent a letter to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Attorney General Janet Reno urging them "to settle the relocation of the remaining Navaho families in a timely and orderly process." Recently, the treatment of the indigenous peoples of Black Mesa has received international condemnation from the United Nations, which sent representatives to investigate reported human rights abuses. The Dineh have called upon Senator McCain for accountability and support. They have not yet received a response. For now, the evictions have been postponed pending the outcome of an appeals case in the federal courts. There are seven families left who have continued to resist signing the lease agreement. One thousand Dineh who have signed the agreement remain on the Hopi Partitioned Land. Of those that remain, many are unhappy with the arrangement. "But," they say, "this is our land. We aren't going anywhere." For More Information:
Photo Credits: videodocument.org, shundahai.org |
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