Neues Filmdokument "Vanishing Prayer"

Dieses Filmdokument „Vanishing Prayer“ ist von den Autoren offiziell freigegeben worden, um sie für die Öffentlichkeit verfügbar zu machen. Die beiden Links zum Video sind unten. 

It was released around the deadline for forced relocation in year 2000, when we, together with many people from all over the world, journeyed to Big Mountain, to be with the Dineh and Hopi Elders and their families, to try and prevent relocation.

In this movie you will see People from Black Mesa who have struggled for the right to live their lives according to traditional american indian values,all their lives. They have stood against the US government and powerful multinational coal company Peabody Coal corp, for more than 30 years. Their People have struggled to protect and uphold the wisdoms and ceremonial life of their ancestors for 500 years, against a neverending multitude of assaults on their culture from the dominant society.

Now we have come to a point in time, when new threats rear its ugly head all over again: the authorities are preparing to finish the assault of these Peoples and their land and water: The plans are to open up the coalmine again and expand it, they want to forcibly relocate the last traditional Dineh families and they want to use more high quality drinking water for industrial use, in this high desert plateu area - leaving the people and the land destroyed forever.

Please help us protect these curageous Elders and by doing so, you also help protect the world from speeding up Climate Change !

Vanishing Prayer part 1 - Vanishing prayer del 1

Vanishing prayer: part 2 - Vanishing prayer del 2

Peabody Plans to Increase Coal Production at Black Mesa

URGENT ACTION NEEDED BY OCTOBER 15th!
 

An environmental and cultural tragedy continues on the Hopi and Navajo reservations in northern Arizona.  For over 30 years, Peabody Coal Company has pumped 1.3 billion gallons of pure drinking water from the Navajo Aquifer beneath Black Mesa, to slurry coal to the Mohave Generating Station in Nevada, 273 miles away. More than 40 billion gallons of water - enough to sustain the entire Hopi Tribe for over 350 years - have been pumped from the aquifer, and sacred Hopi springs are drying up.

In spite of mounting opposition and thousands of comments submitted to the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) in 2002, Peabody (the world's largest coal company) continues to seek more coal and more water. In July 2004, Peabody submitted a revised application to OSM to combine the Black Mesa Mine into the nearby Kayenta Mine. With this application, Peabody seeks to:
 

• Increase its coal production by 20%;
• Build a coal washing facility that will use more precious drinking water and fill impoundments used by farmers with toxic materials;
• Lock in mining rights until at least 2025;
• Tap into 6,600 acre feet of the Coconino Aquifer which supplies water to many northern Arizona cities and numerous Grand Canyon springs, and
• Continue pumping from the N-Aquifer through 2008, if not indefinitely.

The Office of Surface Mining is accepting public comments on Peabody's application until October 15, 2004.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Send a postcard or letter to OSM or Gale Norton today! 

(See sample text below.)

Send your comments to:

Jerry D. Gavette, Black Mesa/Kayenta Mine Team Leader
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
P.O. Box 46667
Denver, Colorado 80201-6667

Or email your comments to OSM: BlackMesa-Comments@osmre.gov
                                                          

Honorable Gale Norton, Secretary
U.S. Department of Interior
18th & C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240

SAMPLE POSTCARD TEXT: 

Dear Mr. Gavette (or Secretary Norton),

Please accept these comments on Peabody Coal Company's recent mine application to the Office of Surface Mining. I urge you to treat Peabody's request as a new permit application, instead of a revision because of the adverse impacts it will have on the land, water, and cultures of Black Mesa.

Peabody's application is incomplete and must be subject to a new Environmental Impact Statement and Endangered Species Act review.  Furthermore, Peabody must carry the burden of establishing that their application is in compliance with all federal, state, tribal, and local regulatory programs.

Despite substantial evidence that proves the negative impacts of Peabody's pumping from the N-Aquifer and in the face public demand that pumping from the Navajo Aquifer stop by the end of 2005, Peabody now insists on using the N-Aquifer through 2008, if not indefinitely.  Additionally, Peabody seeks to tap into another fresh water source, the Coconino Aquifer, for transporting and washing coal.  The use of drinking water to move coal is unacceptable.

The federal government has a special trust responsibility to Native American tribes.  I urge you to live up to this responsibility and deny Peabody's request.

Please stop the pumping from the N-Aquifer now!

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME and ADDRESS]
 

***
www.blackmesawatercoalition.org

 history of the struggle at Black Mesa.
 
 

ZERSTÖRUNG DES SONNENTANZAREALS

Am 17. August 2001 um halb sechs Uhr in der Frühe, drang das Hopi Tribe Land's Team mit Hilfe des BIA und des Navajo County Sheriff's Department in das Anna Mae Camp ein, wo der alljährliche Sonnentanz abgehalten wird. Mit 60 Beamten, einem Bulldozer,  Hacken, Kettensägen und anderer Ausrüstung, zerstörten sie den heiligen Baum und die übrige Einrichtung des Sonnentanz Areals. Es wurden zwei Leute festgenommen, welche Zeugen der Zerstörung waren. >>>

Dieser Gewaltakt stellt eine klare Verletzung der Menschenrechte dar, im Speziellen des Rechtes auf freie Ausübung der Religion oder Weltanschauung (Art. 18 der Allgemeinen Erklärung der Menschenrechte, Art. 18 des internationalen Paktes über bürgerliche und politische Rechte und Zusatzartikel 1 der amerikanischen Verfassung).

Indigene aus ganz Amerika, NGO's, sowie auch der Präsident der Navajo Nation haben das Vorgehen des Hopi Tribes stark verurteilt. >>>

Laut einer Pressemitteilung des Hopi Tribes war dieser Akt aber nur der Anfang. Die Aktion wird dadurch gerechtfertigt, dass die Hopi historisch Opfer eines immensen Landraubes sind, welcher zugunsten der Dine stattgefunden hat. Cedric Kuwaninvaya, Vorsitzender des Hopi Land Teams, klagt in seinem Statement jene 10 Familien der Unruhestiftung an, die sich immer noch weigern, das Accommodation Agreement zu unterschreiben und somit den endlich gefundenen Frieden zwischen der Hopi und der Navajo Nation untergraben. Im Zusammenhang dieser Streitigkeiten, sieht er die Sonnentanzzeremonie auf Hopiland mehr als eine politische Hetzkampagne denn eine religiöse Veranstaltung an. Auf dieser Sicht scheint ihm die Räumung und Zerstörung des Sonnentanzareals als gerechtfertigt. >>>

Die traditionellen Hopi distanzieren sich in einem Statement von der Handlung des Hopi Tribes und weisen darauf hin, dass auch sie durch die strengen Auflagen der Stammesregierung in der Ausführung ihrer religiösen Praxen behindert werden. >>>

In einer Presseerklärung betont der Präsident der Navajo Nation seine Unterstützung für die Navajo, die auf der HPL unter dem Accommodation Agreement leben müssen. Er ruft zur Humanität auf. Religiöse Praxen müssen gegenseitig respektiert werden. >>>

Alle Dokumente dieser Seite wurden der Webseite der Unterstützungsorganisation Black Mesa Indigenous Support (BMIS) entnommen. Weitere Berichte, Fotos und Audiointerviews geben Interessierten unter http://www.blackmesais.org einen umfassenden Einblick in die aktuelle Situation. 
 

"Respect" was the keynote of the six-member, all-Indian panel that met at the Little America conference center in Flagstaff, Arizona, Wednesday (8-30-01) evening to discuss the desecration earlier this month of a Sundance site at Big Mountain, Arizona, by the Hopi Tribal Land Team.

Respect for the rights of Indigenous People to live on their ancestral homelands.  Respect for the constitutionally guaranteed rights of all people to worship their Creator as they choose.  Respect for sacred sites such as Big Mountain, as well as all others.  Respect for Mother Earth and all life. 

In a clearly articulated and sometimes emotionally charged manner, Navajo Sundance Overseer Alan Jim told the gathering, "It is a very sad day when we see our own brothers destroy such a sacred site. My heart is concerned for those who asked for this action to happen, and for those who carried it out. They have violated a Sacred Road to the Great Spirit."  Louise Benally, caretaker of the desecrated Sundance site, said "todesecrate such a sacred site and feel good about it is a sign of a sickmind."

Traditional Navajo Medicine Man, Jones Benally, said, "We don't want tobe destroyed. We respect and do not destroy any one else's way.  Even when the white people came to this country and built their churches, we did notdestroy them. We must carry on as brothers and sisters." 

Lakota Chief and Sundance leader Bill Crazy Bull said he was "appalled at the assault on the Sundance way of life and the assault on the Lakota Nation." 

Kee Watchman, a Traditional Navajo and delegate to the United Nations, noted that the U.N. has passed resolutions urging governments to protect sacred sites and still the Hopi Tribal Council, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. government do not respect or protect their sacred sites. 

On Aug. 17 at 5:30 a.m., the Hopi Tribe's Land Team, aided by the BIA and the Navajo County Sheriff's Department, raided the Camp Anna Mae Sundance site with up to 60 officers, a bulldozer, a backhoe, chainsaws and other equipment. Heavily armed for their assault, they brought along  ambulances, apparently expecting bloodshed. 

Without warning or warrant, the ceremonial site was invaded. The Sundance Tree of Life, its eagle feathers and prayer offerings as well as the Arbor, were cut down and shredded, and the entire site was bulldozed, including the sweat lodges. Two people were arrested and taken to jail for trespassing. 

After the site was cleared, a posted notice declared that the area was closed to anyone without permission from the Hopi Tribe. According to the sign, the site is closed "for natural resource development purposes". Exploration has disclosed that the site sits on one of the largestremaining coal deposits in the country. 

Members of the panel pointed out that the Hopi Tribe does not intend to live on the disputed ancestral land, They only want to mine it.  Such an action, to the Navajo and most other Native people, is considered an egregious lack of respect for their Mother Earth as well as a violation of the Creator's laws for harmonious living. 

Sun Dance Tree of Life & Arbor Destruction Press Release
Hate Crime on Indian Land

August 18, 2001

Big Mountain, AZ. Yesterday, 8-17-01, at approximately 5AM, Mountain Standard Time, the Office of Hopi Lands, Hopi Range Management, Resource Enforcement Services, Hopi Tribal Police, Navajo County Sheriff, and US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) impoundment trailers entered Camp Ana Mae, a sacred Sundance site in Big Mountain, AZ.

Awakened by sounds of heavy machinery and chain saws, several witnesses observed the desecration and total destruction of the sacred Sundance ground. Witnesses observed a paramilitary squadron of police surrounding land management employees chain sawing the Sundance tree, the tree of life and bulldozing the ceremonial structures. A huge back hoe destroyed sweat lodges, fire pits, sweat rocks, alters, and the Sundance arbor. Religious paraphernalia, which included tobacco ties, flesh offerings, and eagle feathers were seized or left behind and trampled by machinery.

Eric Crittendon awoke his uncle John Benally to tell him about the destruction of the Sundance site. Eric and John came up to the Sundance entrance which is Eric’s lifelong homesite. There were Hopi police vehicles blocking the entrance. They were told they could not enter the grounds. John left his truck which was stolen by the police. He walked up to the Sundance arbor to find it surrounded by police. 

John Benally says, Eric Crittendon and I separated while I was talking to the BIA police. At that time, Eric who just turned 18 years of age was arrested by the Hopi police and charged with criminal trespassing. The Sundance is a traditional orthodox Native American religion. This Sundance is not political, it is a way to pray. This is how we worship and pray for the healing of our family and all our relations. 

Local residents arrived at Camp Ana Mae around 8:00 AM to take part in a weekly prayer and sweat ceremony. To our shock and disbelief, we who live in the area were blocked by local, state and federal law enforcement, told by Officers that all trespassers would be arrested for criminal trespassing. Residents counted fifteen police vehicles, 2 BIA impoundment trailers and a flat bed piled with arbor logs, the sweat lodge and the Sundance Tree. We believe this hate crime is equivalent to bulldozing Vatican City or Mecca. This land is our spiritual center. 

This is the official press release of the residents of Big Mountain, AZ who observed the destruction of the Sundance ground.

For information please contact cellular phones: 
928-380-5490 or 928-380-6125

STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT BEGAYE ON THE BULLDOZING OF HPL SUNDANCE
CEREMONY SITE BY THE HOPI TRIBE

THE NAVAJO NATION

Office of the President and Vice President (Window Rock, Navajo Nation, Arizona)

For Immediate Release
August 17, 2001

PRESS STATEMENT

Window Rock, Navajo Nation (Arizona)-- The Hopi governmentís decision to bulldoze the Sundance ceremony site at Big Mountain is deplorable.  In the strongest terms, I object to such a violent action against the Navajo families who reside on Big Mountain and who participate, as a part of their spiritual beliefs, in the Sundance ceremony.  The Hopi government appears to be persecuting these families for their religious beliefs, as well as for their heartfelt desire to stay on their ancestral lands and to continue
their traditional ways.

The Sundance ceremony has been performed at Big Mountain for a number of years at the request of the Big Mountain Navajo families.  It has become an important part of their spiritual lives.  Like all peoples, including the Hopis, the Navajo families on Big Mountain should have the freedom to practice their non-violent beliefs without governmental interference.

Native peoples have, all too often, seen their sacred places damaged or destroyed by non-Natives.  It is shocking to see one Native government do the same to another Native community.  The Hopi government's action seemed to have been intended to intimidate, by a show of force, all the Navajo families who continue to reside on Navajo ancestral lands within the Hopi Partitioned Lands.  Let me remind the Hopi government that the Israeli military uses a similar tactic of bulldozing homes in Palestinian villages.
The outcome of that strategy has not brought peace to the Middle-East.

I understand that the Hopi government is frustrated.  The Land Dispute has taken its toll on everybody--just ask those Navajo families who live on the HPL and have sought spiritual strength through the Sundance ceremony.  They feel the Land Dispute's harshness more than anyone else.  I also understand that the Hopi government claims legal jurisdiction over the Sundance.  But I question whether that jurisdiction gives the Hopi government the moral right to act as violently as they have.

I raise my objections directly with the Hopi leadership.  The politics of destruction can start a terrible downward spiral that we must stop now.  At this point, the first step is to secure the release of any Navajos who were detained by the Hopi police.  Then I would ask that the Hopi government apologize.  In return, I will commit to working with the Hopi government to address its reasonable concerns.  We must build bridges of trust, not walls of fear and intimidation.  We must rely on reason and diplomacy, and the law, not acts of force, to resolve our disputes.

The actions of the Hopi government have cast a long shadow over all the Navajos who reside on the HPL, as well as put chilling effect on the relationship of our two nations.  Nonetheless, our two people are here, together, as neighbors --this is the Creator's will.  We should honor that will with good hearts, good intentions and good actions.

Hopi Response to Kelsey 

The Hopi Tribe
P.O. Box 123 For Immediate Release
Kykotsmovi, Arizona 86039 For
more information contact:
Hopi.nsn.us
Claire Heywood

(520) 734-3000

STATEMENT

Cedric Kuwaninvaya Chairman, Hopi Land Team

No single issue has consumed more valuable time and irreplaceable resources than the century old dispute between the Navajo and Hopi over Hopi ancestral land. In spite of the turmoil, the Hopi have been steadfast in their belief that peace between our two people can best be achieved through mutually agreed upon solutions and agreements. Our actions have repeatedly borne this out.

The Hopi Tribe is a small tribe whose history speaks volumes of its patience and dedication to peace and harmony. It was the Hopi who in 1991offered a peaceful solution to the Navajo-Hopi Land dispute through the accommodation of Navajo families desiring to stay on Hopi Partitioned Lands. It was the Hopi, who despite their loss of over 16 million acres of ancestral land to the Navajo, welcomed the Navajo to live on our land under the terms of mutual agreement. As a result, the 1996 Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act and its Accommodation Agreements is nothing less than a peace accord accepted by the Hopi and embraced by the majority of the Navajo families who now legally reside on the Hopi Partitioned Lands. These are the Navajo individuals and families of peace.

The current trouble stems from the refusal of a handful of Navajo to respect the rights of an entire nation, the Hopi people, to security in their own homeland. 10 Navajo families have refused to accept an accommodation agreement and have refused to voluntarily leave Hopi land. These people are trespasses and they will be evicted. The Hopi will never again tolerate a situation where our lands are stolen, our people abused and our laws ignored. We will protect our lands and our rights. To do otherwise would simply invite the same intransigence on the part of the United States and opportunism on the part of individual non-Hopi that created the land dispute in the first place. History will not repeat itself on Hopi land. Some lessons are learned at a high price, but once learned, they are not forgotten.

History and its lessons make it grossly unfair for the Navajo Nation to now attempt to cast the Hopi people as somehow violent, less spiritual, intolerant and destructive people for the sake of 10 Navajo families who have refused to sign an accommodation with the Hopi, who refuse to abide by the law and who continue to agitate the relationship between the Hopi and Navajo for their own gain.

These few Navajo individuals who call themselves resisters, with the help of outside agitators, blatantly refuse to respect and abide by the laws of the Hopi Tribe. The have brought civil unrest to the Hopi people, terrorized our villages with violence and threats, and continue to destabilize the peace and security of the Hopi people. These are actions we will not tolerate. Such actions violate Hopi rights and they go against the very principles of the 1996 peace accord between the Hopi and Navajo.

In the context of history, both tribes can easily cry foul. When a Hopi was arrested for carrying out his religious duty of eagle gathering by the Navajo police a couple of years ago, there was no apology from the Navajo Nation leadership. When a shrine was destroyed by Navajos during a Hopi pilgrimage, there was no apology. When Hopi pilgrims were fired on by the Navajo, there was no apology. There will be no apology from the Hopi now. Apologies are appropriate only when a wrong has occurred and from the Hopi point of view the wrong is on the hands of the Navajo resistors and their non-Hopi supporters. To them we say: leave Hopi land.

It is irresponsible to undermine and risk tearing down the pillars of the 1996 Peace Accord for the sake of political expediency. When so-called religious ceremonies become little more than political rallies, both the Hopi and the Navajo lose. The actions of the resisters do not support peace between the two tribes. They are meant to tear down the positive relationship between both tribes. Unfortunately, they appear to be succeeding. The resistors, at the urging of their Non-Indian supporters, made their choice to reject Hopi offers of accommodation. Now, like all responsible adults they must live with the consequences of that choice.

The Hopi and Navajo people who chose peace offered by the accommodation have the support of the Hopi, they need the support of the Navajo Nation. 

The 1996 Navajo-Hopi land Dispute Settlement Act needs the support of the Navajo Nation administration.

Without this support, the message becomes very clear -- crime and irresponsibility pays.
 

Asquali, In the name of the Traditional Hopi Elders that have gone before 
-Thank you for hearing me: 

Dear friends and relations, 

After reading the following report on the "Sun Dance" and the Hopi Tribal Council I feel again the need to clarify the Hopi Tribal Council is an Government Organization and DOSE NOT represent The Traditional HOPI and Spiritual Leaders of Hopiland. 

Sometimes these restrictions occur due to a (inner) struggle of the Hopi council peoples who honor more modern religions. They have difficulty reconciling our ancient ways with new beliefs and want to change these ways to fit that foreign structure or dismiss them all together. Or they do not want to have witness to what they are doing to the land and their own people. 

This is creating much division at Hopiland and many hardships on all the peoples. Also making us look bad in the eyes of the world and this is not the right way to act. According to all I have learned from the Elders. Our Very Own Hopi Spiritual Leaders and Traditional Peoples are under the same restrictions with Permits that are either impossible to obtain or denied on purpose. Permits for picking herbs for medicine, Gathering wood or rabbit hunting for certain Kachina ceremonies all now require a permit at a price often out of reach for our traditional peoples. 

Our planting and harvest journeys are denied to help our elders. As wisdom keepers we have the understandings not to be charging for what the Mother Earth freely gives for her children's happiness and well being. 

I know if my Grandfathers were still alive they would submit a statement so I will do it for them at this time and my prayer is that you will accept that under NO circumstances are prayers ever discouraged by A Traditional Hopi, they honor all peoples and have a welcoming heart to everyone. The very name Hopi means kindness, gentleness, and truthfulness. The Hopi have been instructed by Massau to Receive everyone kindly and bring them happiness and good thoughts. This is what all our ceremonies are about and soft genteel rain so the peoples of the world will be happy and live fruitfully. It is my understanding that the prayers are similar for the "Sun Dance" so the peoples will live in commitment to "Creator" by whatever name. 

These divisions must stop between us. We must be brothers and sisters all religions say the same thing if you really read what is said in those "Black and Blue Books" and scriptures. The time is late and the idea here is Pray doesn't cause trouble for other seekers. Put away your guns and angry words and pray. 

Our words are not to make a difficult situation worse but many peoples on these lists do not know the difference of what is happening and why, between all the layers. But for the record again it is not the traditional Hopi Spiritual Leaders or Elders doing this to the "Dineh or the Sun Dance". 

In service to the Holy Ancestors, 
Asquali, dep see mana - Hotevilla Traditional Village 
Greasewood, Roadrunner, Spider and Fire Clan 
Daughter to Nelson Mononge, Granddaughter to Dan Evehema and Grandfather 

Martin 

AKA, 
Katherine Cheshire 
Kc4behopi@aol.com 
http://www.timesoft.com/hopi 

Office of the President and Vice President
(Window Rock, Navajo Nation, Arizona)

For Immediate Release 
September
6, 2001

Contact: Merle Pete
(520) 871-6352
merlepete@visto.com
PRESS STATEMENT

STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT BEGAYE AFTER MEETING WITH BIG MOUNTAIN NAVAJO FAMILIES

Window Rock, Navajo Nation (Arizona)--

On Saturday, August 25, 2001, along with Navajo Nation Council Speaker Edward T. Begay and other Navajo officials, I visited the Navajo families at Big Mountain to discuss with them the destruction of the Sundance ceremonial ground by the Hopi government.  As you might expect, they expressed great pain, anger and frustration.  They also showed great courage and strength under enormous pressure.

I assured them that the Navajo Nation would do everything within its power to support their right to exercise their freedom of religion and to continue to seek a way for them to stay on their ancestral land.  I also assured them that the prayers of the Navajo people were with them.

I advised the Big Mountain families that the Navajo Nation would continue to oppose the forced eviction the Hopi government seemingly has been pressuring.  My Administration continues to work to find a way for non-signing families to remain on their ancestral lands on the HPL and to protect Navajo religious rights and traditional way of life.

There have been many set backs in the legal and legislative efforts to protect the rights of these Navajo families.  Although Navajo efforts to overturn the relocation law in the Congress and the Courts have not succeeded thus far, this is not the end.  It is morally wrong to evict these families by force off land that they have occupied for generations and to which they have an unbreakable spiritual attachment.  It is morally wrong to bulldoze their sacred ceremonial ground.  It is morally wrong to claim that they must obey the law, without seeking ways to make that law humane.  Although the Hopi government claims legal jurisdiction over the Sundance ceremonial grounds, the desecration of a sacred area and of the spirit of the Navajo people who live there is terrible.

The Hopi Land Team has declared that my statement on the bulldozing of the Sundance site, which appeared in the August 23, 2001, issues of the Navajo Times, was "grossly unfair."  I am sorry they feel that way, but I am assured that the Navajo Big Mountain families feel even more strongly that they have been treated in a "grossly unfair" and inhumane way.  I am working hard to understand the Hopi position and to accommodate Hopi concerns to the fullest extent possible.  If they have complaints they can, and do, raise them with me.

If the Navajo Nation took a bulldozer and knocked over a Hopi sacred site, the Hopis should complain and we should be responsive.  We must respect each other's rights, culture and spiritual beliefs and work out a way to live together despite our differences.  There will be times when the Hopis must compromise, and times when the Navajos must compromise, and times when we both must compromise.  It takes extraordinary courage to compromise.  It also requires trust in the other party.  The recent Hopi action at Big Mountain did not build trust.

At the end of the day, we are talking about Navajo families whose lives have already been traumatized and upended by the Land Dispute, and who simply want to live where they have always lived.  At that level, it comes down to simple humanity.  The Hopi Land Team may cite an inhumane law all it wants, but it will not prevent the Navajo Nation from continuing to stand up for compassion and generosity for the Navajo people who have suffered so greatly under that same law.

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