Secakuku: Hopi are stewards of the land, despite the coup

by Alph H. Secakuku,
Sipaulovi Council Representative, Village of Sipaulovi, Second Mesa, AZ, Hopiland

Comments by Alph H. Secakuku, Sipaulovi Council Representative, Village of Sipaulovi, Second Mesa, AZ, Hopiland

It is a sad day for Hopi/Tewa people, and I am disappointed in the illegal Hopi council’s action telling the “Environmental Groups to Stay off Their Land”. The Hopi/Tewa people have always considered themselves to be the best environmentalists in the world. Our Hopi Religion teaches that we made a sacred covenant with Maasaw, our Supreme Being, to be good stewards of the Fourth World we live in today.
We, as people, all have the responsibility of being Caretakers of Mother Earth. “You care for it and take from it only what you need, and it will provide for you”.
I never thought I would see the day when being “Hopi” meant being anti-environment, pro-big corporate energy, and actually promoting pollution and global warming in favor of dollars/money.
This is the new world image of Hopi, thanks to Scott Canty, Nada Talayumptewa, Phillip Quotshytewa, Mary Felter, Ivan Sidney, Sr., and the rest of the illegally constituted Hopi Tribal Council…in essence, a coup.
We, the Hopi/Tewa people, have worked closely for many years with our allies from the environmental community to protect sacred lands from development and to stop uranium mining from poisoning our water. Water is life, therefore, it is sacred.
We will continue to work together—tribal communities and other clean energy jobs advocates—to bring green economic development to our lands that respects our air and water.
Together with our partners in the environmental community, we are working to secure long term solution to energy, health and water issues in northern Arizona by cleaning up dirty coal plants and promoting solar and wind projects on the reservations. The time to transition from dirty old coal plants to clean energy from the wind and the sun is now.
We see a positive future ahead with results like the Navajo Nation’s recent unanimous green jobs resolution and will continue to support clean energy projects with Navajo and Hopi communities. We all know that climate change is predicted to bring hotter and drier conditions to the Colorado Plateau, an area which may see even greater temperature increases than the rest of the country. This threatens our water supplies and livelihoods.
Working together to stop global warming pollution from coal-fired power plants is vital to future generations. Now is the time to look forward and plan to transition existing coal plants to cleaner power.
What is H.O.P.I.? Hopi Organizational Political Initiative (H.O.P.I.) is a united, strong, clear, organized and non-partisan voice made up of members of the Hopi/Tewa community both on and off the reservation. It is there to serve as conduit for the Hopi/Tewa people to effectively raise concerns and resolve issues that affect the Hopi/Tewa people. It promotes issues and emerging concerns primarily within the Hopi tribal government, but also with the local state and federal governments. As such, we support all political candidates who seek public office who will address the concerns of the communities. H.O.P.I.’s mission is to insure that we impact policy regarding the issue of concern and quality of life to our community and future generations. It is a “grassroots” organization composed of concerned Hopi/Tewa people.
Why do we regard the “interim Hopi government” as an illegal council? The Resolution H-007-09, enacted on December 28, 2008, established an illegal interim Hopi Tribal Government. It is an illegal council because it is not Hopi Constitutionally authorized. In effect, the illegal council enactment amended the Hopi Constitution without holding a referendum vote of the Hopi/Tewa people. Only the majority vote of the qualified voters of the Hopi Tribe can amend the Constitution of the Hopi Tribe. They must cast their ballots in accordance with Section 16 of the Indian Reorganization Act of June13, 1934, as amended. The Superintendent, Hopi Agency, BIA, has the responsibility to call the election, and must serve as a Chairman of the Election Board. After the approval of the amendments, all officers and employees of the Interior Department are ordered to abide by the provisions of the said Constitution and By-laws. The Hopi Tribal Council, even when they are legally constituted, has no authority to amend the tribal constitution. The constitution cannot be amended by a tribal resolution or an ordinance.
Therefore, based on the foregoing, all of the enactments of the illegal council are of no force and effect. As of January 1, 2009, there was no legitimate tribal council in existence. At the close-of-business on December 31, 2008, the council became defunct and could no longer operate or conduct legitimate tribal council meetings or tribal business. In reality, the council and the council appointed officers of Tribal Secretary, Sergeant-At-Arms, and Tribal Treasurer became nonfunctional.
Chairman Benjamin H. Nuvamsa and Vice-Chairman Todd Honyaoma, Sr., both resigned on December 31, 2008. Hopi Tribal Constitution, ARTICLE IV, Section 1—mandates the “Hopi Tribal Council shall consist of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Representatives from various villages.” Without a chairman and vice-chairman, there can be no constitutionally authorized council to conduct meetings.
The Hopi Bylaws, Article 1—states “The Chairman shall preside over all meetings of the Tribal Council…” Clearly the delegated authorities do not include designating a member of the council to be the “Presiding Officer”. In fact, it expressly forbids it. This was a form of check and balance to prevent council from taking complete control of the government as is happening now. However, the illegal council selected Phillip Quotshytewa, Sr., as a “pro tem” presiding officer to chair the illegal meetings. He is only a council representative, like me, and not an elected tribal chairman.
Furthermore, it does not take a legal expert to interpret what Article IV, Section 1 means. It simply means that no legislative sessions can be conducted in the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman under the current Hopi Constitution and By-laws. The council cannot legally conduct business, appoint people to run the so-called “interim government,” expend tribal and federal funds, or accept federal grants and contracts.
ARTICLE V, Section 2—mandates that filling vacancies in the office of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman that may occur for any reason “shall be filled for the rest of the term in the same manner as those officers are ordinarily chosen.” This mandate does not allow for any discretion on the part of the council. Council has no authority to decide that it simply is not convenient to hold an election to fill the vacancies. Yet, this is precisely what they have done.
Had the illegal “interim council” not interfered in the activities of the Election Board by refusing to allow them to conduct a special election, the objective of this Article would have been fulfilled and the current vacancies of our top officials would have been filled and the people would have had new duly elected leadership in office by the first week of April 2009. This would have met the Constitutional requirement and we would already have a legitimate fully functional government. The illegal council violated the provisions of the Election Ordinance #34 by refusing to allow the Election Board to hold an election, thereby, purposely destroying the independence of the Hopi Election Board.
We have appealed to the Superintendent, Hopi Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) numerous times to intervene on behalf of the grassroots people. Mr. Wendell Honanie declined to do so by citing a BIA policy not to intervene in internal tribal affairs. We believe the Bureau officials are hiding behind the veil of “sovereignty” and “self-determination.” Yet the BIA is deeply involved in the current controversy by ignoring the illegal actions of the council and has taken a position on the side of council who are orchestrating the illegal activities.
By siding with the conspirators who have illegally taken the reigns of Hopi government, the BIA has become complicit in the overthrow of our government. By recognizing the “interim government” and the illegally appointed heads of state, the BIA, in essence, intervened in an internal tribal dispute and has, therefore, become part of the problem instead of part of the solution. This defies the federal government’s trust responsibility to the Tribe.
The rhetoric of the Resolution H-007-09 was carefully crafted to create the illusion of a legitimate justification for illegal acts. The resolution also identified Tribal Secretary, an appointed position held by Mary A. Felter, and Tribal Treasurer, an appointed position held by Russell Mockta, to jointly hold the authorities of the Chief Executive Officer of the Tribe. The illegal council used the resolution as a deliberate and illegal way of reviving outdated practices which has been formally amended or eliminated. The official organization chart of the Hopi Tribe identifies the Chairman as the Chief Executive Officer.
Not only has our government been taken away from the Hopi/Tewa people, but our court system has been corrupted. Paving the way for the overthrow of our government and occupation of the Tribal Council by those who do not respect our Constitution and laws, our own Hopi Appellate Court was systematically dismembered by the same conspirators responsible for the current broken condition of our tribal government.
These are extreme circumstances that only can be mended and fixed by the Hopi/Tewa people themselves. Let us hope and pray that the upcoming election will have positive results.

Earthcycles Live: 7th Indigenous Uranium Forum

Join us LIVE: 7th Indigenous Uranium Forum
Govinda, producer at Earthcycles, http://www.earthcycles.net/, and Brenda Norrell, publisher of Censored News, http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/will team up once again to bring you live on the web, the 7th Indigenous Uranium Forum. Winona LaDuke will join Indigenous fighting uranium mining and nuclear dumping on their lands at the gathering at Acoma Pueblo's Sky City.
Indigie Femme performs on Oct. 22, Thursday, and "The Return of Navajo Boy," will be screened on Oct. 23, Friday.
For workshop and speakers see: http://www.siuf.net/index.html
If you would like to be an Earthcycles' sponsor, and help provide for travel expenses for Earthcycles, please contact Govinda at govinda@earthcycles.net or visit his PayPal at: http://www.earthcycles.net/
Earthcycles and Censored News provided five-month live coverage of the Longest Walk northern route, Indigenous Border Summits of the Americas, Havasupai Gathering to Halt Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon, AIM-West Reunion and more. Listen at http://www.earthcycles.net/
Radio stations around the world are urged to rebroadcast, or simultaneously broadcast, at no charge.
Indigenous Uranium Forum speakers include Lenny Foster, Dine; Honorable Chandler Sanchez, Governor, Acoma Pueblo; Honorable Ron Charlie, 2nd Lieutenant Governor, Acoma Pueblo; 30 Years of Resistance by John Redhouse and Manny Pino; 'Honoring Diana Ortiz' Woman of Acoma: Great Role Model; Charmaine White Face, Defenders of the Black Hills; Margene Bullcreek, Shoshone Paiute; Solidarity Statement: Katsumi Furitsu, Japan; Black Mesa Water Coalition; Navajos Phil Harrison and Gilbert Bedonie; Chris Peters: International Connections; Nuclear Regulatory Commission-GEIS Panelist Eric Jantz; Shonto Preparatory School 'Uranium Research,' Norman Brown; John Fogarty; Louise Bennally, Food Sovereignty; James Zion, Esq.; Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity; Laura Watchempino, Acoma Multi-Cultural Alliance for a Safe Environment; Nadine Padilla; Larry King; Petuuche Gilbert; Teddy Nez; Carletta Garcia; Al Waconda; Elsie Peshlakai; Robert Tohe; Winona LaDuke, Anishanabe, White Earth Homelands and more ...

Reporter's Notebook: In the beginning

Reporter's Notebook

Brenda Norrell, Censored News, http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

In the beginning, there was Michoacan. We arrived by buses from the border, with the Yaqui and Mayo from Sonora and Sinoloa. There was a heavy fog in the mountains of Michoacan, as the National Indigenous Congress gathered. A man in his twenties from Guerrero with one leg came aboard our bus. He was very thin and said there was little to eat in his home state of Guerrero, where logging companies and oppression were intense. He hopped everywhere he went. He served on security on the Zapatistas caravan across Mexico. He was one of the bravest men I've ever known. The Zapatistas caravan across Mexico was one of the best things I've ever know.

Photo two: Riley, Choctaw AIM member from Oklahoma, and Demetria Martinez, award winning author of 'Mother Tongue,' among those protesting NAFTA in Tucson in the beginning. In her book Mother Tongue, Martinez, once arrested as she documented the Sanctuary Movement at the border, tells of the real struggle of Indigenous fleeing torture in Central America.

Photo three: In memory of Willie Lonewolf, on the Longest Walk 2008, at the Ute Indian Museum in southern Colorado. Keep singing.

Photos by Brenda Norrell

Super heroes: Natives protecting the land

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
Congratulations today goes out to all the Native Americans and their colleagues protecting the land from coal mines, power plants and other destructive forces.
The sudden increase in attacks in the media, phone taps and fear tactics, shows the efforts for good are producing results. The corporations, and their puppets within tribal councils, have increased their attacks.
Today's attacks bring back the memory of an interview with Hopi Dan Evehema at the age of 104 at his home on Hopiland. Dan Evehema was protesting destruction to the land by a backhoe in the rain, when he paused on his couch. He told me of the traditional Hopi Sinom. He said they never authorized or recognized the Hopi Tribal Council. The traditional Hopi stood firm against coal mining and power plants. The traditional Hopi elders stood in solidarity with Navajos at Big Mountain and throughout Black Mesa.
Now, from the northern border to the southern border, American Indians struggling to protect their lands and true sovereignty are under attack, losing their jobs and everything they have in their struggles.
Today, the media has been coopted. Most news reporters know when they are giving voice to lies. They do it to keep getting a paycheck.
However, those who promote the destruction of the land, air and water, with the knowledge that they are promoting lies, are responsible. Those who promote the lies of politicians to continue the death and destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan are also responsible.
These news reporters, publishers and producers are responsible for the diseases and deaths when they act against the dictates of their own true self, in violation of their own knowledge of truth.
Censored News celebrates all of you who are struggling for justice and dignity, against the oppression of colonizers and colonized thought.
We celebrate all of you out there, fighting the good fight. You know who you are.

--Brenda Norrell

Chiapas: Indigenous achieve mining closure

Indigenous Peoples achieve closure of mining operations in Chiapas
http://www.noalamina.org/mineria-latinoamerica/mineria-mexico/indigenas-logran-el-cierre-de-mina-en-chiapas
Chiapas, Mexico
September 28, 2009
The Canadian mining company Linear Gold Corp. bowed to pressure from the Indigenous Peoples who opposed the exploitation of gold and silver deposits and announced the closure of its offices in the state on September 30th. Along with the company Blackfire Exploration Corporation, Linear Gold Corp., is holding most of the concessions granted by the federal government to foreign mining in the state of Chiapas.Source: Apro and Proceso.com