Land
talks take place in private
Delegates question timing of release of details about
Bennett Freeze settlement
Tribal
council goes into executive session to discuss Bennett
Freeze
By
Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau
July 3, 2006
WINDOW
ROCK — Despite objections to keep Friday's special Intergovernmental
Relations Committee meeting open so the Navajo people
might have some idea of what they're giving and getting
in a proposed Bennett Freeze agreement, IGR voted 6-2
for executive session at the request of the attorney
general.
Hopi
tribal elders and religious leaders signed off on the
agreement in August 2004. Navajo Nation Attorney General
Louis Denetsosie said, "You may have read a couple
years ago where the Hopi approved the version of this
settlement agreement. It's called an intergovernmental
compact.
"In
reference to the negotiating, we finished the negotiations
in January. That's the final copy. The Hopi, for whatever
reason, adopted a prior version, so they will have to
go back" to the tribal council to have any changes
approved, if they so choose, he said.
Denetsosie
said he, attorney Terry Fenzel, Navajo-Hopi Land Commission
Chairman Raymond Bitsui, the counsel for the Hopi tribe
and others met in Washington, D.C. "At that time
we gave them the documents and all exhibits."
Rather
than revealing details of the agreement at that time,
he said, "This agreement we did not want to bring
to the council until we had assurance from the federal
government that we would be in a position to concur
with the terms of the agreement.
"Recently,
I've been advised informally that they have no objections
in reference to informal concurrence with the documents,
so that is the reason why we want to move forth with
the legislation adopting the intergovernmental agreement,"
Denetsosie said.
"It
has been a longstanding litigation. It's been since
1974 that it's been ongoing. Mr. Fenzel has been involved
in every stage of the litigation and the negotiation.
We have had two negotiating teams on this."
Denetsosie
said Kelsey Begaye and a prior legislative counsel worked
on it first, then when Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley
Jr. took office, Denetsosie and Chief Legislative Counsel
Raymond Etsitty continued work on the negotiations.
"We've
had the assistance of the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission,
and attorney Britt Clapham has been there," he
said.
"With
that we will go ahead and proceed with the substance
of the report and I would like to request, that because
this is ongoing litigation, that we go into executive
session."
IGR
member Hope MacDonald-LoneTree (Toh Nanees Dizi/Coalmine
Canyon), who represents constituents affected by the
Bennett Freeze, objected. "I would like to request
that this session be on record," she said.
Delegate
Omer Begay Jr. (Cornfields/Greasewood Springs/Klagetoh/Wide
Ruins) opposed keeping the session open.
"I
think the idea of going on record is a good intent,
however, in the long run we would be opening ourselves
to the position that we're going to expose ourselves
to, and I don't want to see that until the settlement
is done. Therefore, I would like to move to go into
executive session."
Navajo
Nation Council Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan asked for
a second on the motion. "As I understand, the report
is an hour and a half," he said. Delegate Curran
Hannon (Oak Springs/St. Michaels) seconded the motion.
Before
going into executive session, in response to a question
from MacDonald-LoneTree, attorney Fenzel told IGR members,
"I have been the lawyer for the Navajo Nation for
almost 32 years, in a very important piece of litigation
that involves 7 million acres of Navajo land. We are
at the point where the negotiating team would like to
present to the council the proposed settlement at this
time.
"The
Intergovernmental Relations Committee can understand
the significance of this only if I discuss the issues
in litigation the strengths and the weaknesses of Navajo
positions, the classical outcomes, the risks ... If
we are not in executive session, I will have a very
short presentation and will not say much. I am perfectly
happy to do it either way," Fenzel said.
"As
Mr. Begaye has said, there is a risk of waiving attorney-client
privilege anytime we bring this out in a public meeting,
particularly if a member of the press is present, and
that is precisely the risks that we would make"by
having the discussion in open session, he said.
Executive
session was approved 6-2 by IGR, with MacDonald-LoneTree
and Leonard Chee offering the dissenting votes.
President
Shirley sent a letter June 27 to Speaker Morgan urging
a special session so that council could give its approval.
"I believe an agreement has been reached and needs
to be presented to the Navajo Nation Council for their
acquiescence," Shirley said. "I believe the
Hopi Tribal Council is doing the same."
Hopi
Tribal Chairman Ivan Sidney said, "The agreement
now scheduled for presentation to the Navajo Council
was delivered to Navajo for their consideration in 2004.
It is not the Hopi who is holding back the Navajo people!"
|