By Bahe Katenay
Navajo from Big Mountain
Sheep Dog Nation Rocks Published with permission
FLAGSTAFF -- When the Dineh resisters at Big Mountain declared their independence in 1977 they further declared they would submit their conditions beyond and bypass the Navajo Nation or the BIA. They would present their conditions directly to the UN Commission on Human Rights.
What am I talking about? Well, they held this Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission hearing in Flagstaff (in December) and I wonder how can a governmental organization be intent on hearing such conditions?
However, it's kinda kool that a Hopi person eventually reminded everyone about the real situation of human rights violations on Black Mesa. I don't know what this Navajo Nation commission seeks, but at the United Nations level, the Dineh have presented the conditions of violations committed by institutionally-designed policies of racial and genocidal practices.
Excerpt the article, "Human Rights Commission hears testimonies of 'racism,'" by S. J. Wilson in the Navajo-Hopi Observer, December 31, 2008
FLAGSTAFF -- Four of the five members of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission recently visited the communities of Winslow and Flagstaff to hear public testimony regarding race relation issues in areas including housing, education and civil rights ...
Bob Lomadafkie, a longtime citizen of Flagstaff and a member of the Hopi Tribe, spoke about the effects of relocation on members of the Navajo and Hopi tribes, and the allegiance held by many traditional Hopis against the relocation of their Navajo neighbors.
"We were opposed to relocation; we feel it was wrongfully imposed on the Dine'," Lomadafkie said. "We also addressed the pow wow in Flagstaff; there was a lot of negative talk that put Native Americans in a bad light."
Lomadafkie is on several boards for Flagstaff organizations and is involved in issues such as homelessness and the recruitment and retention of Native American students at Northern Arizona University (NAU) - where he finds that one of every four students is Native American - predominantly Dine'."
Read article in Navajo Hopi Observer:
http://navajohopiobserver.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=7454Signed by Sheep Dog Nation Rocks:
That Annoying Sheep Dog
“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducated the person who learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours!”
--Cesar Chavez, (activist & educator)
