U.S. imposes "Navajo Treaty" on headmen as condition for release from starvation at F ort Sumner. Small "reservation" established in NW New Mexico.

Department of the Interior establishes a 3.5 million acre Navajo Reservation in northwestern New Mexico.

Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act (PL93-531) becomes law. Several Arizona Congressmen and Lawyers convinced the rest of Congress that the "Land Dispute" had become a bloody "Range War." This came as a shock to Navajo and Hopi on the JUA, but Congress trusted its Western Colleagues and they signed into Law the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act, dividing the JUA into Navajo and Hopi halves and ostensibly, solving the problem.

50/50 partition of lands, boundary to be confirmed by District Court, 90% livestock reduction, establishes Relocation Commission to implement removal of Indians living on the "wrong side of the fence." This also represented the beginning of home repair and home construction freeze.

It is a widely held belief that the Dispute was contrived by Government-sponsored and styled tribal council and influential energy interests whose sole intent was to clear up coal and water rights on the JUA, and open the way for more rapid energy development . . . Vast quantities of oil, uranium and coal were involved.

A team of three dozen investigative journalists and editors went to Arizona to investigate the assassination of Don Bolles, Arizona Republic reporter, whose car was dynamited. what they found was that "the real story was that the State of Arizona made land fraud the state's biggest business. In Arizona the practice of land fraud has reached new levels of sophistication." (The Arizona Project, Andrews and McNeel, inc., 1977)

Three men convicted of Bolles' murder, one reportedly claiming he was killed because he had uncovered evidence of a swindle involving "the Arizona triumvirate of Barry and Bob Goldwaer and Harry Rosenzweig."

Under land exchange provisions of P.L. 93-531, real estate speculators worked for quick profit. companies which have previously sought access to BLM lands now found an angle, purchasing lands sought by the tribe and then exchanging those lands with the BLM, which is obligated by P.L. 93-531 to obtain the lands on behalf of the tribe.

Under P.L. 93-531 some 3500 square miles of land (2.2 million acres) will change hands. Critics of the relocation program have often claimed that the Act was primarily a real estate boondoggle, manufactured by special corporate and Mormon interests.

District Court decrees partition line under P.L. 93-531..

A 300-mile long fence was built to divide the Hopi and Navajo sides of the JUA. 100 Hopi had to leave the "Navajo" side, 10,000 Navajo on the "Hopi" side had to reduce their sheep by 90 percent and were prohibited to build or repair homes and roads. The Navajo have been forced to "Relocate" to nearby border towns.

 United Nuclear Uranium mining contamination along the Rio Puerco river (site of relocation to "New Lands").

The Church Rock uranium mining operation in 1979 was the site of the nation's largest radioactive spill. Both the Little Colorado and the Puerco are carrying radioactive contamination into the Colorado River and Grand Canyon, state and federal officials said. "There was a long history of uranium waste water dumped into the Puerco, prior to the spill," Chris Shuey, Southwest Research and Information Center, Albuquerque, NM said. The United Nuclear and Kerr McGee mines discharged up to 5,000 gallons per minute of waste water, and were already high in radioactive contamination from the waste water. (See Rio Radioactive, the Gallup Independent, 7/19/88.)

Delegation from Big Mountain, Dine' and traditional Hopi went to Geneva, Switzerland 1981 to attend U.N. Human Rights Commission and submitted violations of human rights.

U.N. response (given verbally) to accusations at U.N. Commission about the big Mountain case: "Touched on the matter of property rights." "American Indians can own property." "Speculation about the intention of coal companies is nothing but conjecture." "There is no threat to anyone's religion in the U.S."

 Chairman Watkins testified to the House that "We will move them off the JUA by 1986" and then submitted a report to Congress that showed it would take until 1993 to complete the relocations.

Dine' residents of the JUA testify at relocation hearings that they cannot move, should not have to move, will not move, and refuse to be moved. These hearings are being done in preparation for the long-promised oversight hearings by the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs.

Traditional Hopi, Hotevilla call for Repeal of P.L. 93-531

The traditional and religious leadership of Hotevilla stated that "This genocidal legislation was made into law by congress and signed by the President of the United States without our knowledge, consent or approval, therefore, this Bill is a total violation of our sovereign rights, the Civil Rights Act, The Religious Freedom Act, the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty of 1848, and the Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations."

"There is no need for this bill, as we, the grass-root people of both Hopi and Navajo, all know there was no fighting, quarreling, nor warfare taking place in our homeland." "As Initiated Hopi members of Wuwuchim and Kachina Religious Order, knowing our ancient spiritual instructions, warnings and prophecies, we see this as merely a political conflict between Hopi and Navajo Chairman, that was instigated and promoted by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) after they quickly set up the so-called Hopi Tribal Council and placing them in the hands of the Secretary of the Interior, who in turn used them as a tool to begin mineral resource development with the aid of the Multinational Corporation." "The BIA pressured the so-called Hopi Tribal Council to hire Mormon attorneys to bring about leasing of Hopi and Navajo homelands for minerals resource development." "It is for this reason that P.L. 93-531 was passed in Congress.

House Appropriations Committee submits report to President Regan highly critical of relocation program.

State Senator James Henderson has introduced a bill in the Arizona state legislature which would request the U.S. Congress consider repealing P.L. 93-531. The bill if passed would call for a halt to implementation of P.L. 93-531, call for Congressional oversight and investigation of the relocation program consider repeal of the act, and a freeze on the legal status of the JUA.

The so-called deadline. The government has relocated most of the Navajo. some remain on the JUA and await Relocation. But 1,000 traditionals (who adhere to ancient tribal customs) refuse to leave Big Mountain, their sacred ancestral homeland. 

A House appropriations subcommittee concluded that relocation will take at least until 1995 and cost an estimated $338 million.

The Gallup Independent article "Rio Radioactive" states "Action must be taken now to solve the problem of radioactive contamination of the Rio Puerco. Chris Shuey, coordinator of the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, NM said that the Rio Puerco has so much radioactivity in its sediment that drinking from it would pose a health risk at certain times. The surface water of the Puerco River has at times between 10 and 100 times beyond the maximum allowable level for radioactivity, according to a report released in June by Robert Webb, a hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey."

"It has been documented that the radioactive particles discharged from Church Rock area uranium mines have been attached to dirt particles and have been carried downstream by runoff. The Church Rock uranium mining operation in l979 was the site of the nation's largest radioactive spill. the government is forcing Navajos off their land to an area where there is not adequate safe water available. Chris Shuey said of the relocation of Navajos to the "New Lands" south of Sanders."

The BIA has attempted to stop the Navajo Tribe from repairing HPL residents' homes under the Navajo Tribe's new housing repair program entitled "Project Hope." The BIA filed a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order alleging that the repairs and construction were in violation of the court ordered freeze on new construction. (Most of the construction was piecemeal repairs of substandard housing.

 Big Mountain Sovereign Dine' Nation Declaration of Resistance delivered by hand to the Superintendent, BIA, Keams Canyon.

-- That we the traditional leadership of the Dine' and Hopi were excluded from participating in the so-called mediation process allowed under PL 93-531.

-- That we declare our own sovereignty and resistance in the face of this law.

-- That we make clear our unity with the Hopi traditionals.

-- That we have asked federal work crews implementing partition fencing, livestock confiscation and water diversion projects to leave our lands; and we have evicted them.

-- That we have established a number of resistance camps and ceremonial grounds on the so-called HPL.

-- That forced Indian removal be halted.

-- That harassment, misinformation and recruitment activities aimed at current residents of the HPL halt.

-- That immediate relief be provided for the thousands of refugees created under PL 93-531.

-- That an advisory council or council of reconciliation be made up of Dine' and Hopi representatives of the affected communities..

-- That alternatives be created to current forced Indian removal on Black Mesa.

Meeting at Rock Ridge School, Dine' vote 250-1 against the Agreement-In-Principle. The AIP was considered to not be in the best interest of the people. Permits were required to graze livestock, fix homes, break a green branch from a tree, erect a ceremonial structure, NO burial of dead, and accepting living under Hopi Tribal Council jurisdiction. Also living under the time constraints of 75 years would mean handing down our problems to our children and our children's children.

The lease is a legal way for us to be evicted from our ancestral land, and we can be evicted for having a vehicle that is not in working order, use of profane language, etc.

Also, give the problems of abuse by the Hopi Tribal Council, and with no sign of good faith during the Mediation process, why are we to believe that we will obtain permission to remain when we go, 75 years from now to the Hopi Tribal Council to seek an extension?

Big Mountain withdrew from Mediation after the Hopi Tribal council had left the Mediation table and an aggressive livestock impoundment incident occurred on March 27.

During the Mediation process the Hopi Tribal Council conducted a campaign of aggressive livestock, wood, wood tool confiscation, denying any means for survival. 

Supporters gathered at Black Mesa, while the eyes of the world turned to that area to witness the actions taken by the U.S. government.

The BIA and HTC issued a statement that they would not evict Dine'h on that day, which contradicted earlier statements that the BIA would remove the Dine'h on or before the deadline "by whatever means necessary."

In their statement, the BIA stated that there was a legal process that must be followed in order to forcibly remove Dine'h from Black Mesa, and that the process had not yet begun. This statement indicated that eviction notices and other attempts to forcibly remove Dine'h were all done illegally and were nothing more or less than terrorist tactics being used by the BIA and the BIA owned HTC.

Kee Shay's attorney made it clear, during a phone conference, that he would also not be available to Kee Shay on 20 July 2000.

Kee Shay had gall bladder surgery.