Once again we are asking you to send a letter to someone who can make a difference for the Dine'h currenlt being threatened with eviction from their homes on Black Mesa. This Monday (or Tuesday if you use your e-mail only at work) we are targeting Bruce Babbit, Secretary of the Interior and the person responsible for oversight of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Please copy the letter below (editing this note out), sign it and forward it to Secretary Babbit or craft your own letter (using this as a model if you choose). "CC" a copy back to us at bambam at anthtro.umass.edu so that we can monitor our success. Secretary Babbit's e-mail address is below.
So far our three week old campaign has grown dramatically, with letters coming in from all over the US and Europe. Please forward this e-mail to friends and family and any listerves that you may be on. We need as many people as possible to alert Secretary Babbit of their concern. Each monday we will target another politican or official and remind them of our concern.
Please take a moment and support the Elders on Black Mesa by sending this letter on. On their behalf we thank you for supporting them.
Thomas Taaffe Listserve Manager Friends of Big Mountain bambam at anthro.umass.edu
Secretary Bruce Babbit's e-mail address: bruce_babbitt at ios.doi.gov
Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240
Dear Sir,
I wish to appeal to you on behalf of the Dine'h people of Black Mesa in Arizona, who are the subject of my deepest concern. With a sense of hope and a desire for justice I implore your consideration and action, Secretary Babbit, as I share this desire with thousands of supporters around the world, recently including the European Parliament.
Currently preparations are being made, in part through your office and its branches, to complete the removal of 12,000 traditional Dine'h, commonly known in the Anglo world as Navajo, from their homeland. To these people, the land that they have lived on since at least the late 1500's is linked inextricably to their religious ceremonies, beliefs and practices. They believe that if separated from the land, the spirits - which have, since time immemorable, protected and nurtured them - will no longer recognize them. So it is no surprise that hundreds of these people are struggling to remain. Removing them from this land would be comparable to destroying the churches and mosques of better recognized American religions. The latter would be a crime punishable by imprisonment, and it has been noted even by Mr. Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur to the U.N that the treatment of Native Americans by the United Stated has been less than satisfactory. In particularly he noted that "...the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court is also seen as showing a lack of understanding of Native American values.... In general, it is essential to make society and the whole of the administrative and political apparatus aware of the indigenous peoples' religions and spiritual beliefs in order to prevent any attitude - often involuntary because due to ignorance - of discrimination and intolerance in the field of religion...."
In recent speeches you have admirably mentioned the importance of Native American concerns and values in this country. So you must certainly be aware, as the governor of Arizona during the terrible Rio Puerco nuclear disaster of '79, that the area that the 3,000 remaining Dine'h are being removed to, is this site! This is is not a place for human habitation, especially not for the elderly and children. What immeasurable damage will be done to the international prestige of the U.S. government, if even more indigenous and innocent people should die or become seriously ill because of their relocation to contaminated land? As one elder has pointed out, "Thousands have already died because the U.S. relocated them to radioactive land. "
Thankfully, it is within the power of your office to end the disaster the Dine'h are facing, and in many ways can you also show your fair-judgment and awareness in the determining what will become of them. Ensure and oversee an end to the intimidation, harassment, and cruelty that many frightened Dine'h elders consistently report they have been subject to at the hands of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, including the presence of weapons in "visits" to homes. Demand fair and just legal procedures and advocacy in the process of relocation for every individual involved before it happens and before more fabricated signatures are forged, (many cannot write their name let alone understand English); for those being told they have no choice but to leave, yet continue to resist for their beliefs and livelihood. Please ensure that all communication with the Dine'h is structured so as to clearly inform people of their rights under existing US law, and that these written statements are not verbally misrepresented by the officials who deliver the documents.
Please end confiscation of, and documented cruelty to, the livestock and cattle of those resisting removal,. The current BIA policy - with regards to livestock permits - is not motivated by the needs of range management; (one woman was actually told that the sheep will be confiscated even if they are in the corral.) Permits should humanely be granted for all the existing subsistence herds of the Dineh on HPL. Issuing these permits would have little impact on overall range capacity in the region, and it would avoid the needless loss of human lives. Force Peabody Coal, the mining operation responsible for coal-mining operations that damage their farmlands and sacred gravesites, pollute the air and water, and deplete local aquifers in Black Mesa, to comply with environmental regulations set by the EPA; and show the elders that this relocation has nothing to do with corporate interests in their sacred land. Perhaps get to know and learn about these people and their ways, and speak with them, before finalizing their removal: I am sure that they will welcome your open reception!
Secretary Babbit, the problems in the region were unfortunately caused by US and corporate intervention. So the US has the obligation to justly and swiftly correct these problems in a way that respects the right of the Dine' h to continue their traditional way of life on their ancestral lands. You have the list of names of those who have protested their removal from their land, and you are in the position to decide what will happen to these resistors. The Dine'h people and all of their supporters around the world recognize your difficult position in the face of many conflicting demands in resolution of these matters.
Sir, I beg that it be your primary concern to publicly and privately acknowledge the basic human rights of these people, including freedom of religion, freedom from exile, and from inhuman treatment and punishment, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of human rights; and as I am sure you will agree that they deserve. I want to thank you in advance for your time on this important and urgent matter, and with most respectful sentiments, I await your reply.
Sincerely,