For the whole story about my experiences in the Hopi land in 1976-77, why I went there and how those experiences set the course of my life since then, see:
http://global-emergency-alert-response.net/history.html
Hopi Message to the Public, report on October 10, 1977 Meeting
Here is the retyped text of report from Marcia Sims
of the organization "Friends of the Hopi" in Flagstaff, Arizona about the results of the October 10, 1977 meeting in Shungopavi Village, one of the 11 Hopi villages.
This document contains not only important historical
information of legal significance today, but it also gives
insights into how the traditional Hopi culture of peace
and nonviolence operates, ie, an historical precedent
and example from which may be learned something to
help implement the United Nations mandate per its
2001-2010 International Decade of Creating a Culture
of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World.
[Excerpts]
President Truman: "...we have purchased from the tribes
that once owned this continent more than 90 percent of
our public domain, paying them approximately 800 million
dollars in the process. It would be a miracle if in the course
of these dealings -- the largest real estate transaction in history
-- we had not made some mistakes and occasionally failed to
live up to the precise terms of our treaties and agreements
with some 200 tribes. But we stand ready to submit all such
controversies to the judgment of impartial tribunals. We
stand ready to correct any mistakes we have made."
As a result of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, a
"Hopi Constitution" was drawn up by B.I.A. anthropologists
and aides and imposed upon the Hopi people through a
fraudulent election which has never been investigated.
It is important for you to understand that we already
have our own form of government and decision-making,
and that your "democratic" way of majority rule is alien
to us. Also foreign to us is your "separation of church and state".
Our Hopi way is to recognize the Great Spirit as our
supreme leader in all facets of life. We do not divide
God and man, religion and politics. All aspects of our
relationship to land and life are intertwined.
Earl Pela, a Hopi religious leader of Shungopavi village:
"So we see clearly that the Tribal Council, the judge,
and the Government of the U.S. are leading us to total
destruction of our way of life and holding land. It is plain
to us now that they are also destroying the power and
authority of the Kikmongwi and destroying the religious
structure of the Hopi, taking away our power and authority
over our religious clan holdings. We will be left standing
with no right to protest and stripped of everything,
not owning anything.
"Most of us have claimed that we are Hopi people.
But the way the Hopi life structure is set up on a
religious basis, only those that are fully initiated
into the highest societies can truly be considered
Hopis. Because of this way of becoming a Hopi,
it is very necessary that we continue to uphold and
practice our religious initiations. I look only to the
first people who have brought this religious knowledge
and planted these religious shrines and carry on their
own way of life according to their religious instructions...
When one becomes initiated into the three highest
societies, one is given the sacred responsibility to
take care of life in the Hopi way..."
The official interpreter for the Hopi Kikmongwis,
Thomas Banyacya, also spoke, reminding them that
the basis of Hopi life and the religious shrines and
markers imbedded in the ground were all here long
before any U.S. Government came into this area,
and that the increasing oppression and forced
acculturation of the Hopi and other native people
by the U.S. has been appealed to the U.S. Government
again and again.
---end excerpts, begin cover letter, news release page:
For further information, please contact Marcia Sims
c/o "Friends of the Hopi" (602) 774-4957
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Hopi Human Rights Threatened
Oraibi, Arizona 10/12/77. Corrected as of 10/20/77
The Hopi traditional people and religious leaders, people
indigenous to northeastern Arizona, have just become fully
aware of the most serious threat to their human rights and
the very continuance of their religion and peaceful way of
life. As a result of a suit brought by Herbert Hamana,
Sand Clan leader of Oraibi, Arizona, the position of the
Hopi Tribal Council came to light in the defense document
they presented to the court. The suit is in protest to the
building of a civic center by the Tribal Council on land Hamana
claims was originally given to the Sand Clan many centuries
ago by the Kikmongwi (traditional village leader) of Oraibi
and passed on to him by the previous Sand Clan leaders.
The Hopi Tribal Council alleges, through a series of analogies
to other suits not directly related to Hopi religious and clan
land holdings, that they now have jurisdiction over all Hopi
village clan lands. If this allegation is upheld by the courts,
the Tribal Council will have, through legal decisions, completely
wrested from the Kikmongwis and spiritual leaders their last
sovereign, traditional control of their village clan lands,
essential to the continuance of their religious ceremonies.
The trial, which began in the Keams Canyon tribal court on
September 26 and 27, was recessed by Judge Robert Ames
of Fresno, Ca., reconvened on October 17 and 18, 1977, and
was again recessed. No new date for the continuance of the
trial has been scheduled at this time. The plaintiff's lawyer,
Raleigh Johnson of Holbrook believes the trial could last a
month and if, as Judge Ames has stated, he can only hear
the case two days each month, the civic center will be built
before the case if finished. Johnson's motion that the case
be assigned another judge and a mistrial declared was denied.
----------begin full retyped report text:
Report of a meeting held in Shungopavi, Second Mesa,
Arizona, on Oct. 10, 1977 follows. This report contains
important background information and position statements.
As a result of the discoveries make resulting from the
Keams Canyon trial and the Hopi Tribal Council's clarification
of their position through the defense document submitted
to the court, as well as other critical matters, Mr. Earl Pela
of the Blue Bird Clan and a spokesman for the Kikmongwi
of Shungopavi, Mr. Claude Kewanyama, called a meeting
on behalf of the Kikmongwi and other religious leaders of
the sovereign village of Shungopavi to be held on October 10,
1977, at 10:00 a.m. In his urgent request to all the villages,
Mr. Pela said, "I call on all the Hopi people and religious
leaders to come and consider these subjects together
with us. We, the Traditional Religious leaders of Shungopavi
village, sense that we are now approaching perilous
times and we need to take steps to correct these
things before it is too late."
The meeting was attended by over 40 people representing
all of the traditional Hopi villages and most of the other
villages as well, and lasted into the evening. There were
three main topics of discussion. The first was the issue
of the land claims settlement, Docket 196. It was brought
out that by accepting $5,000,000 appropriated by the
U.S. Government, the Hopis will in effect be selling
one and a half million acres of their land, giving up
all aboriginal claim to it. The second topic was a
discussion of the actions of the Hopi Tribal Council
to strip all authority from the traditional religious
leaders and Kikmongwis, as has come to light through
the civic center trial. The third subject was to question
whether the qualifications and past record of the Chairman
and Vice Chairman of the Tribal Council validate their
ability to sit in those positions. This also brought up
the fact that it is through their instigation that
congressional acts and legal decisions have been
brought about through Public Law 93-531, which
will necessitate forceful relocation of Hopis and
thousands of Navajos, disruption of their family life,
fencing in of all Hopi land -- thereby restricting them
from woodland areas as a heating resource, and hindering
the religious leaders from freely visiting religious shrines
beyond the fenced area.
In Mr. Pela's address to the meeting he stressed that
"The Hopi people stand on a religious basis. The
Kikmongwis have the authority to stand on that basis
also and they carry on their sacred duties with the
hope that there will be a good life for all children
to come. During the migrations, as different clan
groups came and brought the different religious
societies, they stayed with the permission of the
Kikmongwi and kept their ceremonies to bring good
rain, an abundance of crops and to keep the land fertile.
These instructions came from the Great Spirit who placed
this land in our hands as a sacred trust to take care of
for Him. He told us how to take care of it. We must
perform our religious ceremonies with prayer feathers,
taking care of the religious shrines planted all around us,
and perform all our rituals we have so that this land and
life will never be destroyed."
Discussing the $5,000,000 land claims settlement,
Mr. Pela went on to say, "If we do not follow our
religious instructions and sell our land, that will
totally destroy all Hopi way of life. Now we know
that all other native people who have separated
from us and gone the four directions are now looking
to Hopi to stand up and hold on to his land. If we
fall for this $5,000,000 and sell our land then we
have made a grave mistake, not only for Hopi but
for all other native people and all children coming
after. I am sure we all are aware of this fact because
our elders have passed this knowledge on to all our
people, warning us never to sell our land. If we
accept this $5,000,000 our way of life will be at an
end, and we may be traveling around with our
bedrolls on our backs."
Referring to the Healing vs. Jones case heard in
Prescott, Arizona, in 1962, by which the Hopi
Tribal Council now claims they were given sole
authority over all Hopi land by the U.S. Government,
Pela said, "We did not know about this until now,
during the Hamana court case in Keams Canyon.
So we see clearly that the Tribal Council, the judge,
and the Government of the U.S. are leading us to
total destruction of our way of life and holding land.
It is plain to us now that they are also destroying
the power and authority of the Kikmongwi and
destroying the religious structure of the Hopi,
taking away our power and authority over our
religious clan holdings. We will be left standing
with no right to protest and stripped of everything,
not owning anything."
Considering Chairman Abbot Sekaquaptewa's and
Vice Chairman Alvin Dashee's actions, characters,
and qualifications, Pela went on to say "Most of
us have claimed that we are Hopi people. But
the way the Hopi life structure is set up on a
religious basis, only those that are fully initiated
into the highest societies can truly be considered
Hopis. Because of this way of becoming a Hopi,
it is very necessary that we continue to uphold
and practice our religious initiations. I look only
to the first people who have brought this religious
knowledge and planted these religious shrines and
carry on their own way of life according to their
religious instructions. We make our livelihood
from the land where we grow our crops. In order
to have good crops, green fields, we perform these
ceremonies and appeal for rain. It is in the heart
of all of our religious leaders to have this good life
for all our children. But now these members are
leading us to a path that is not in line with our
religious life. When one becomes initiated into
the three highest societies, one is given the sacred
responsibility to take care of life in the Hopi way,
to ensure that our land will be fertile, beautifully
resplendent and abundant. So it is up to all of us
to keep our land and take care of it for our Kikmongwi
who is the recognized authority to uphold all this
land and life for all people."
The statement made by Mr. Claude Kewanyama,
Kikmongwi of Shungopavi, then followed:
"I have been given the authority and power through
the religious society that has the responsibility to
initiate me as a Kikmongwi and I have received this
land and life in my hand from them to take care of
for my people. This is my responsibility. Because I
hold this land as Kikmongwi for all people, I never
want to let go of this land and life because of these
instructions and the authority given to me. In order
to protect this land, follow my instructions as caretaker
of all this land, and hold it in trust for the Great Spirit,
I don't want to accept anything which would disturb or
destroy this land. I have received criticism from my
own people for this, but I am bound to carry out the
instructions as the religious leaders gave them to me.
"Now you have come to consider what is happening
at this time, threatening our very land base. You
who are my spokesmen and my clan guardians have
the responsibility to consider all things that tend to
disturb or destroy the land. So you have come to
look at these problems so that something good will
come out of this meeting that will continue to
preserve this land and life. I leave it to you people
to seriously consider these problems we face today."
The official interpreter for the Hopi Kikmongwis,
Thomas Banyacya, also spoke, reminding them
that the basis of Hopi life and the religious shrines
and markers imbedded in the ground were all here
long before any U.S. Government came into this area,
and that the increasing oppression and forced acculturation
of the Hopi and other native people by the U.S. has been
appealed to the U.S. Government again and again. The
Hopis have appealed to the BIA, the Department of the
Interior, the Presidents of most recent administrations,
Congress, Senators, etc., but to no avail. Then Mr. Banyacya
read a promise made by President Harry Truman in 1946
when he signed the Indian Claims Act:
"This bill makes perfectly clear what many men and women,
here and abroad, have failed to recognize, that in our
transactions with the Indian tribes we have at least
since the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set for ourselves
the standard of fair and honorable dealings, pledging
respect for all Indian property rights. Instead of
confiscating Indian lands, we have purchased from
the tribes that once owned this continent more than
90 percent of our public domain, paying them
approximately 800 million dollars in the process.
It would be a miracle if in the course of these dealings
-- the largest real estate transaction in history -- we
had not made some mistakes and occasionally failed
to live up to the precise terms of our treaties and
agreements with some 200 tribes. But we stand
ready to submit all such controversies to the judgment
of impartial tribunals. We stand ready to correct any
mistakes we have made."
-------end retyped 7pp un-numbered double-spaced
letter-sized unsigned release, from a copy provided by Thomas Banyacya, apparently written by Marcia Sims.
https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/Hopi77-2.html
Above is among newspaper articles and other important
global peace mission documents indexed from listing page:
https://www.angelfire.com/on/GEAR2000/list.html
6/12/2006 7:53 PM PDT