Big Mountain: Stop Bill S.1973 INFOE-K motherearth 12:30 PM Sep 13, 1996 (at LINK-GL.comlink.apc.org) (From News system) Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit _____________________________________________ Institute for Ecology and Action Anthropology INFOE (Cologne branch office) Melchiorstr. 3; _____________________________________________ 50670 Cologne Germany Tel./Fax: ++49-221-739 28 71 ****************************** FAX, LETTER & E-MAIL CAMPAIGN: SUPPORT THE DINEH RESISTERS STOP BILL S. 1973 ****************************** 12th September 1996 Dear friends, we lately received alarming news about the situation on the Dineh people's land right struggle, which call for immediate action. U. S. Senate is scheduled to vote on a new bill called "S.1973 Navajo- Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act of 1996" - probably during the next 2 weeks, maybe even in the next few days. This bill if passed would provide the Hopi tribe additional means to drive the Dineh resisters off their lands and would seal the fate for the Dineh resisters, giving title to their land to the Hopi tribe. **** Bill "S. 1973" has been introduced by Senator Mc. Cain without any participation of the local residents, not even awaiting the results of the court hearing on the Accommodation Agreement, which the Hopi tribe wants the resisters to sign. A reason for this and the ongoing harrassments at Big Mountain must be seen in the court ruling by Judge R. Child, who in March 1996 ordered the cancellation of Peabody Coal's permit to operate the Black Mesa/Kayenta mines, the largest strip mine in America. In this landmark ruling, the judge pinpointed the complete disregard of the human and environmental rights of the local residents. He ruled that the mine must have the consent of the local residents in order to operate: "Only after Peabody is able to accompany an application to mine with written consents from Petitioner Kescoli and all other like situated petitioners may the Office of Surface Mining consider such application in the future. This will remain so long as Petitioner Kescoli and similarly situated petitioners shall remain in the proposed mining area as occupants of their customary use areas." But the local residents believe that the land of Black Mesa is sacred and a coal mine is a rape of the Earth. The supporters of the coal mine know that these redsidents will never consent to the mine, and the only way that the mines can continue is to forcibly relocate these people. ***** A delegation of Dineh elders is in Washington at this moment, lobbying the senators to vote "NO" on bill S.1973. Passage of S. 1973 would reaffirm P. L. 93-531, the original Relocation Act, which numerous Senators and Congresspeople have already called 'a great mistake'. What the people want instead is a thorough Congressional Oversight Investigation of S. 1973 and of P. L. 93-531, which takes into account the Human Rights of the local residents. Therefore we have ageed with the Sovereign Dineh Nation to conduct a letter writing and faxing campaign, telling the Senators that we are outraged at the human rights violations being connected with S. 1973. Please support the elders and all the resisters on HPL by telling the Senators to NO vote on S. 1973. Contact Senator Mc. Cain and as many Senators as you wish from the attached list. The Dineh resisters have already experienced what it will mean to live under Hopi regulation. They have to get permits for collecting firewood, conducting ceremonies, etc. For more than a decade they haven't been allowed to fix their homes. Even before Hopi jurisdiction is final, Hopi rangers are demonstrating their military force. They are blockading religious ceremonies, bulldozing ceremonial hogans, illegally confiscating livestock and abusing them in the impoundment yard, harassing local residents, searching cars, enforcing an Exclusion law which prohibits white people from visiting them without a permit, denying entry and searching food caravans, etc. Such actions clearly demonstrate to the resisters what the Hopi tribe has in mind for them. =========================================================== Please let the senators know that S. 1973 violates the fundamental human, religious and constitutional rights of the Dineh residents of the Hopi Partitioned Land. Some families have lived on the land for 18 generations; their title to the land must be respected as much as with other property-owning citizens. =========================================================== For further information see the Sovereign Dineh Nation Update from August 21st. http://www.primenet.com/~sdn **** *TARGET LIST* Write: The Honorable (full name) U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 USA Capitol switchboard to find out phone numbers for every Senator phone # 202/224-3121 Vice-President Gore is by title also the President of the Senate. phone # 202/224-2424 e-mail # Vice.President@whitehouse.gov President Clinton phone # 202/456-1414 e-mail # President@whitehouse.gov Phil Bakersenk and Steve Healey Aides to Senator John McCain, AZ, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs phone # 202/224-2235 fax # 202/228-2862 e-mail # senator_mccain@mccain.senate.gov Joe Trujillo, Legislative Assistant and Kay Davies, Indian Affairs Aide to Senator Pete V. Domenici, NM phone # 202/224-6621 fax # 202/224- 7371 e-mail # senator_domenici@domenici.senate.gov Tim Glazewski Aide to Senator Jon Kyl, AZ phone # 202/224-4521 fax # 202/228-1239 e-mail # info@kyl.senate.gov Patricia Zell Aide to Senator Daniel K. Inouye, HI phone # 202/224- 3934 fax # 202/228-2589 e-mail # senator@inouye.senate.gov Gary Bohnee Aide to Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, CO phone # 202/224-5852 fax # 202/224-1933 Mia Ellis Aide to Senator Dianne Feinstein, CA phone # 202/224-3841 fax # 202/228-3954 e-mail # senator@feinstein.senate.gov Diane Hill Aide to Senator J. Robert Kerrey, NE phone # 202/224-6551 fax # 202/224-7645 e-mail # bob@kerrey.senate.gov Mike Queenan Aide to Senator John F. Kerry, MA phone # 202/224-2742 fax # 202/224-8525 e-mail # john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov Chris Miller Aide to Senator Carl Levin, MI phone # 202/224-6221 fax # 202/224-1388 e-mail # senator@levin.senate.gov Jen Lockhard Aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy, MA phone # 202/224-4543 fax # 202/224-2417 e-mail # senator@kennedy.senate.gov Senator Barbara Boxer, CA phone # 202/224-3553 fax # 415/956- 6701 e-mail # senator@boxer.senate.gov Senator Daniel K Akaka, HI phone # 202/224-6361 fax # 202/224-2126 -- *infoe eV. Köln* Institut für Ökologie und Aktions-Ethnologie (Geschäftsstelle Köln) Melchiorstr. 3 50670 Köln ======================= public key auf Anfrage - public key available ## CrossPoint v3.11 R ##