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Native Americans were master storytellers. The panoply of heroes that starred in their stories ranged from rabbits and bears, to embodiments of the character traits of greed and lust, to personifications of wind and spirit. There connection with the earth they lived on became part of their lore and history. With the advent of the western expansion, the United States likewise began to tie their stories and their histories with their land. Buffalo Bill, Davy Crockett, and Johnny Appleseed are a few American heroes whose connection to the land is significant in each of their stories. But the United States let many stories go untold, especially those featuring the vanquished natives. Hopefully however, these stories can be unearthed. They commemorate a US history not much appreciated, but one which hopefully will live on to present a complete picture of American lore and history.

One story began in 1882 and continues today. In 1882, a Hopi reservation was created in the Arizona/New Mexico region. This land was also occupied by the Dineh (Navajo) people. Despite the lines that were created, the two tribes continued living as they always had upon the land, maintaining a separation. Areas of this land also held heavy deposits of coal and uranium. In 1951, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) appointed John Boyden to be the land claims attorney for the Hopi Indians. Boyden also happened to work for Peabody Coal. That same year land claims attorneys of both the Dineh and Hopi tribes elected to begin to lease land to mining companies. This led to disputes as to who correctly owned the land to be leased. It was resolved with the Healing vs. Jones case in which the lands became a Joint-Use area and the profits of the lease were to be split 50/50 between the tribes. The lease to mine the northern, coal rich lands of the Hopi/Dineh area was then given to Peabody Coal.

In 1974, the US government passed Public Law 93-531 or the Relocation Act. This law required Dineh residents in the Big Mountain (also called Black Mesa) area to relocate so that the coal and uranium deposits could be extracted. It also reinforced the delineation of Hopi/Dineh land, granting much government to the Hopi. Literally thousands of Dinehs were affected by this law. Land was purchased in 1980 by the government as a relocation site. The “New Lands” was in Chambers, Arizona. It is also a site for one of the worst radioactive spills the world has ever known. In 1979, approximately 94 million gallons of radioactive water was released in Church Rock, New Mexico and managed to contaminate the area. In addition, over 1,000 tons of uranium solids were released from a nearby mine pond. Those who resisted the relocation faced severe and continuing harassment from the US government. Livestock was stolen, wood gathering was banned, and running water was cut off. Religious ceremonies were interrupted and violated by road blocks, F-16 fighter jets flew low over these ceremonies, and sacred grounds were bulldozed. In addition, many resisters were kidnapped while others were spied upon and subject to constant governmental surveillance.

In 1996, Congress passed Public Law 104-301, penned and pushed by Senator John McCain. This bill posed as an attempt to stop forced relocation. In actuality it required all Dineh peoples still residing in the area to sign a contract ceding all property and civil rights to the Hopi government. An amendment to the law granted the Hopi government $25 million if they managed to obtain 95 signatures. Those who remained on the land became tenants on what had historically been their own. They would have to purchase permits in order to do simple things such as gathering wood, grazing their animals, and burying the dead. Those who refused to sign “agreed” to submit to forced relocation by the year 2000. A particular character in this story is Rena Babbitt Lane. In 1999 the BIA raided Lane’s home and took 17 sheep, three goats, and six cows. Lane is a Dineh elder who had resided on Big Mountain for years, living simply without electricity or running water. When she went to the BIA to understand what happened, they informed her that everything she owned would be confiscated unless she agreed to sign the “Accomadation Agreement”. Lane was one of many who refused to sign.

The end of the story is yet to be decided. The Dineh are still fighting for their land rights. Petitions abound attempting to overturn both Public Law 93-531 and 104-301. Children born on the “New Lands” have marked birth defects and illnesses.

Here’s another ongoing story. It began with the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) in 1934. The IRA basically comes to the point that Indians have the right to have a separate culture and to form their own governments on their reservations. In addition, large amounts of land surrounding the reservations were place in the governmental control so that they would be available to the tribe if and when needed. Recently, several activists have been trying to see the end of land-in-trust or to at least limit the way in which reservations may access the land.

In 1997, Senator Joseph Lieberman introduced a bill entitled “Indian Trust Lands Reform Act of 1997”. This bill would prohibit some tribes from acquiring land the government had been entrusted with. The stipulations to the bill were that a successful gaming tribe could not annex land if they were going to use it for commercial activity. A tribe desiring to use the land for housing or “reclamation of ancestral burial grounds” would be welcome to the land. In his testimony, he cited the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe in particular. This tribe runs a highly successful gaming reservation and wanted the entrusted land to set up a commercial shopping area or perhaps more gaming. Obviously these lucrative endeavors would be outside governmental taxation. In addition, these lands would be outside of governmental jurisdiction. He stated that “land-in-trust process should remain available to achieve its original goals of helping tribes obtain land on which to live as a community and gain economic self-sufficiency. It should not, however, be used to help any wealthy land owner – Native American or otherwise – to take off-reservation land out of control of the rest of the community simply to serve its own commercial interests.” Lieberman finalized his argument by defending the interests of local communities. Many nearby neighborhoods feared the encroachment of the reservation and the possible lack of future control over their own lands. This bill is still waiting to meet its future.

Here’s a story with a happier ending – the story of the Ward Valley Land Transfer. This story began in 1988. California was in need of a dump site for hazardous wastes. Ward Valley was found fit for such a site by U.S. Ecology, dump operators who had been awarded government of the site. U.S. Ecology had been made dump operators despite their negative reputation of taking care of the land. Ward Valley is federally owned land in southern California, 18 miles away from the Colorado River. This river is a source of water for at least 2 million people and it irrigates many farmlands in the Imperial Valley. The valley has also been designated as a critical habitat for the endangered desert tortoise. The valley is also a sacred site for many neighboring tribes. California’s plan was to bury the wastes 650 feet above the aquifer. Activists were afraid that the wastes would reach the aquifer and then the river, contaminating the land.

In order to use the land, California had to purchase the land from the government. In 1991 however, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Patel blocked the transfer due to the suit of activists who argued based on the Endangered Species Act. California began to argue that the land had already been purchased under recently resigned Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary Lujen. The current DOI secretary Bruce Babbitt brought a halt to activity to investigate. In addition a site managed by U.S. Ecology was found to have a leak. Through investigation it was found that the land may have been illegally transferred. In addition, through proceeding investigations it was found that Ward Valley had been used as a site for nuclear testing in the 1960s, the remnants of which remained.

Through this time activist continued to gather. Five Indian nations came together to protest the use of Ward Valley claiming spiritual ties to the land. The five nations were the Fort Mojave, Colorado River, Chemeheuri, Fort Yuma-Quechan, and Cocopah tribes. They became the Colorado River Native Nations Alliance (CRNNA). In 1994, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services agreed to name a large plot of land, including Ward Valley, protected area for the endangered tortoise. President Clinton agreed not to transfer the land. On February 13, 1998 the CRNNA began a sit-in on the land. For 113 days they remained on the land, performing religious ceremonies and celebrations. In addition, they buried a deceased protestor thereby making the site sacred in federal eyes. All the while, testing had been going on by the government to ascertain whether or not Ward Valley was safe to use as a dump site. On May 30, 1998 all tests were called to a halt due to the argument that if California could not even purchase the land the tests were a waste. Governor Pete Wilson had been hammering for the land transfer, threatening to sue the federal government for possession of the area. In 1999 however, Governor Gray Davis agreed not to pursue a U.S. District Court ruling which negated the transfer. Then in 2002, a press release showed that Davis had signed a bill proposed by Assembly member Fred Keeley which had an amendment once and for all prohibiting the use of Ward Valley as a state waste site.

These are a few of the current stories of the Native American peoples. Many more are yet to be found alive, buried shamefully deep in this country’s history. A country which professes itself to be a savior of nations is here a destroyer of nations. The United States’ treatment of the Native Americans is not a chronicle of the past. They are actively creating new stories, bringing the destruction of Indian races into the present.

information sources: The Vanishing American, by Brian W. Dippie