Forgotten People goes to the UN to secure
housing and water
rights
Photo credit: Forgotten People
Censored News
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Mary Lane, Glenna
C. Begay, Leta O’Daniel, Leonard Benally, Marlene Benally and Norris Nez of
Forgotten People presented on Land and Resources, Self-Government and the Open
Forum on the Rights of Indigenous People in Tucson.
A
delegation of 14 members of Forgotten People met with the UN to call for
recognition of the human right to housing and water. They urged the U.S. to
pass legislation that abides by the declaration they signed in 2010, which
establishes minimum basic rights for indigenous people globally including the U.S.
Forgotten
People appreciates the significance of this historic mission by the United
Nations to conduct an investigation into the plight of US Native Americans.
Forgotten People believes greater investigation needs to be conducted into the lack
of housing, poisoning of water sources, and neglect by the US government in our
region to identify how the standards of the declaration are reflected in US law
and policy and needed reforms and good practices.
A
43-year US government imposed Bennett Freeze affecting approximately 1,500,000
acres denied Navajo people electricity, running water and adequate sewage
disposal. Even though the freeze was lifted by President Obama in 2009, they cannot
find any funding or plan for rehabilitation for infrastructure, housing, water
and roads. Only
3% of the families have electricity. Over
90% of the homes do not have access to piped water, requiring families to haul
their water from other locations. Only 24 % of homes are habitable today.
Since 1966, the population in the area has increased by
approximately 65 percent, forcing several generations of families to live
together in dwellings that have been declared unfit for human habitation.
A Relocation Act passed in 1974, resulted in the forced eviction
of over 15,000 head of households and their families. Those that resisted
relocation are under siege to this day by the US Department of the Interior
Bureau of Indian Affairs using federal monies to confiscate livestock, bulldoze
and dismantle water wells and deny people their civil and human rights. Due to
a lack of infrastructure, families live in substandard homes, are forced to haul their
own water, suffer negative economic and health impacts, are trapped in a circle
of poverty and are still drinking contaminated water because they have no
choice or have no water at all.
The U.S. Department of
Energy calls Navajo land a “National Sacrifice Area” in a region at the heart
of the global warming issue. Black Mesa, Big Mountain is a microcosm of the
global problem. The energy is produced on our lands using our resources, yet we
receive no benefits from this activity. We suffer the local costs of this
production, such as environmental damage and interference with sovereignty. In
addition, our traditional lifestyle hangs at the edge of survival in an arid
climate, and scientists predict that global warming will cause a permanent
drought and dust bowl in the American Southwest, making this life impossible.
Wars of the future will
be fought over water, as they are over oil today, as water, our Blue Gold, the source of human survival,
enters the global marketplace.
Currently, President Ben Shelly of the Navajo Nation is working with
Senator Kyl and McCain to pass legislation for the Little
CO River Water Rights Settlement that gives away our water rights to
Peabody Coal Company and NGS. Forgotten People believes the Settlement is a
tragedy not only due to the minimizing Navajo rights but is waiving hundreds of
millions of dollars in potential compensation for rights waived.
To
compound the effects, the water rights settlement forever waives without
redress for past present and future contamination of water sources when the U.S.
EPA reports the presence of over 1,300 abandoned mines on reservation land and
up to 25 % of the unregulated sources in the western Navajo Nation exceeds
drinking water standard for kidney toxicants including uranium.
Forgotten People
believes President Obama and Navajo Nation should sign a binding version of the
declaration to ensure access to clean and potable water and housing as
fundamental human rights and participation in decision-making in matters which
would affect their rights under the declaration and international law.
Copies of Forgotten People’s interventions are available. For more information please contact Mary Lane, Vice-President, Forgotten People at (928) 401-1777 or via email: info@forgottennavajopeople.org
P.O. Box 1661
Tuba City, AZ 86045
(928) 401-1777
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