On Tuesday, May 20th, key traditional elder resister to the relocation laws, Pauline Whitesinger, was served a notice to halt "new" construction of an earth lodge commonly known as a hogan, and this notice was served by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agency deputized officers, Hopi Tribal Range Technicians. In addition to this warning about "illegal" construction activity, officers attempted to get personal information from a non-Indian volunteer helper and sheepherder. The issued notice also stated that elder Whitesinger is having an "unauthorized" guest and thus, she is violating 'laws' of the Hopi Tribe.
Pauline Whitesinger, a traditional Dineh (Navajo) matriarch and is about 76 years old, has defied federal laws to relocate and to not practice her ancient traditional livelihood anymore. Whitesinger is one of the only few elders left in the Big Mountain area who has stood her ground to not recognize the U.S. Congressional mandate to give up the culture, her history, her peoples' ritual ways, and to ultimately relocate. Big Mountain region is the largest area that was partitioned to a non-Dineh territory status in 1977. Along with other key elder resisters, many who are now deceased, Whitesinger has based her purpose and principles to resist these harsh, federal Indian policies on what can only be translated as aboriginal sovereignty and on the spiritual obligations to Big Mountain area's sacredness. Today, these elders and some of their extended families are also opposed to Peabody's coal mining operations and proposal to expand operations.
The Hopi Tribe is a 'recently' formed local and tribal institution (circa 1964), and it has been and is still funded and backed by the BIA under the U.S. Department of the Interior. The original Hopi sovereignty was once based on village authorities known as Kwimongis or Village Chiefs, and there are documented evidences that show how the U.S. BIA has attempted for over three decades to undermine and ousted the Kwimongi authority. It was not until the late 1950s when coal and utility companies were interested in the Black Mesa coal fields that a part time attorney for Peabody was hired to form a 'federally recognized' tribal council in Hopi country. This is how all modern-day tribal governments were created and they were not formed by "two-thirds of all adult male members of the tribe" as the treaties have specified. Despite evidences and equitable claims that showed how Peabody and utility companies conspired by secretly lobbying the U.S. Congress to pass the Indian Relocation Act (P.L. 93-531), the modern Hopi administrators exert a false authority to repress traditional indigenous practices and to segregate a rightful universal human association.
Pauline Whitesinger, a traditional Dineh (Navajo) matriarch and is about 76 years old, has defied federal laws to relocate and to not practice her ancient traditional livelihood anymore. Whitesinger is one of the only few elders left in the Big Mountain area who has stood her ground to not recognize the U.S. Congressional mandate to give up the culture, her history, her peoples' ritual ways, and to ultimately relocate. Big Mountain region is the largest area that was partitioned to a non-Dineh territory status in 1977. Along with other key elder resisters, many who are now deceased, Whitesinger has based her purpose and principles to resist these harsh, federal Indian policies on what can only be translated as aboriginal sovereignty and on the spiritual obligations to Big Mountain area's sacredness. Today, these elders and some of their extended families are also opposed to Peabody's coal mining operations and proposal to expand operations.
The Hopi Tribe is a 'recently' formed local and tribal institution (circa 1964), and it has been and is still funded and backed by the BIA under the U.S. Department of the Interior. The original Hopi sovereignty was once based on village authorities known as Kwimongis or Village Chiefs, and there are documented evidences that show how the U.S. BIA has attempted for over three decades to undermine and ousted the Kwimongi authority. It was not until the late 1950s when coal and utility companies were interested in the Black Mesa coal fields that a part time attorney for Peabody was hired to form a 'federally recognized' tribal council in Hopi country. This is how all modern-day tribal governments were created and they were not formed by "two-thirds of all adult male members of the tribe" as the treaties have specified. Despite evidences and equitable claims that showed how Peabody and utility companies conspired by secretly lobbying the U.S. Congress to pass the Indian Relocation Act (P.L. 93-531), the modern Hopi administrators exert a false authority to repress traditional indigenous practices and to segregate a rightful universal human association.
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