On the Fourth of July, John Redhouse Pinpoints Coal-Fired Racism in Farmington

 

John Redhouse (right) Coalition for Navajo Liberation, Farmington 1974. Photo by Bob Fitch.

On the Fourth of July, John Redhouse Pinpoints Coal-Fired Racism in Farmington

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, July 7, 2025

Part III in our series

FARMINGTON, New Mexico -- John Redhouse, Dine' and Ute, described the Long Hot Summer of 1974, during the launch of his new book, describing the resistance to the torture murders of Navajos in the bordertown of Farmington by white teenagers.

John describes how the coal mining, and oil and gas industry, drew racists to this bordertown, as he launched his new memoir, Bordertown Clashes, Resource Wars, Contested Territories: The Four Corners in the Turbulent 1970s.

John said there are times when there is no choice but to "strike back with the decisiveness of a rattlesnake."

"There are situations, like in the coal fields of Burnham -- where the Navajo people have lived for centuries -- you have a coal company out there destroying graves, destroying ancestral sites that go back four to six hundred years. They are being destroyed physically, your grandmother is buried in a family cemetery and it is slated for forced removal -- when they are doing things like that, that are physical and final, when they're doing things like that you do what is appropriate."

"They struck back in Burnham, and they struck in the Aneth oil fields, the fracking is very destructive."

"You might have a Standing Rock situation developing here. People can only take so much-- when you're cornered, your back is against the wall, and you have no other options."

"You have to do that to protect the sacred."

"When you are faced with that, it is the right thing to do. That is what Manuelito did, that is what Larry Casuse did, our heroes."

The Long Hot Summer of 1974

"The long hot summer of 1974," John said, describing the protests over the racially-motivated hate crimes in Farmington. The five marches, with thousands in the streets, sent a message to the hate crime criminals in Farmington, Aztec, Bloomfield and Kirkland, and had the effect of bringing the escalation down.

Still, the hate crimes continued.

It was in 1876, when San Juan County was opened up to the public domain and resulted in the eviction of Navajos from their homeland. Describing it as apartheid, he said the resource extraction and forced relocation, became the racial climate of the region.

"It was a Sundown Town," John said of the fact that Natives had to leave Farmington before the sun went down. For those who lived in Shiprock, they had to obtain a pass from the Indian agent to trade in Farmington. It was institutionalized racism. Then, in 1924, American Indians were considered citizens.

"You grow up fighting back," John said of the fact of survival in Farmington while he was growing up.

"There was no real place you could congregate, except down by the railroad tracks."

For John, the National Indian Youth Council, and workshops at the University of Colorado at Boulder, were the beginning of his life's work in Indian rights and Indian advocacy.

"It was very fulfilling," John said, about the insights provided, and how to make a difference in one's life.

The Boom

"There were trailer parks all over the place," John said of the boom in Farmington when he was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s.

"Many people came in from the outside, and seemed to have no roots," he said, adding that many came from Texas and Oklahoma where racism and discrimination were an epidemic. There was lynching in Texas, and because of this, Blacks in Texas would get on a bus and flee for their lives.

John was born in Farmington in 1951, and graduated from Farmington High School in 1969. From 2012 to 2019, John wrote five books, three about Farmington, at Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Nation in Nevada, home to his wife Carole Wright, Western Shoshone.

Relatives in Struggle

Chili Yazzie (in white shirt) drums during a protest of the Coalition of Navajo Liberation in Farmington in 1974. Photo by Bob Fitch.

During the presentation, Chili Yazzie, Dine' farmer and longtime leader from Shiprock, welcomed John home to Farmington.

Chili said John's work "documents a critical point in our lives."

Speaking of the powerful moment in time, 1974, Chili said it "showcased the strength, the resilience, the power of our people -- that we would stand up as our ancestors did."

Chili said the people stood up for their rights and dignity.

Chili said many generations will look at this human rights struggle, the Red Power Movement, which encompasses so many critical issues, because John has documented it. Until now, the struggles were not documented the way they could have been, and should have been. Now, young people will have this reference book, he said.

Praising John as a historian and writer, Chili said, "John's writing captivates you."

Chili said he was glad to be there, and stand behind John, during the protests. 

"I'll back you up always brother."

Adella Begaye, Dine', said as a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother she is worried about what is happening today.

"A lot of times we don't talk about what is going on." 

Adella says she hears people saying, "How do we fight back?"

"It seems like our enemy is our complacency."

"I would not be surprised if this government puts us back in concentration camps, and makes us slaves or something."

"I am worried about what is going on today."

Adella said it is important to let the Dine' people understand what is going on and what the federal government is doing right now.

"We are brown people and we are in trouble."

Adella encouraged people to ban together and remember their culture.

"We need to come up with something, so we can continue to survive." 

Adella is co-founder of Dine' CARE, Dine' Citizens Against Ruining our Environment. Adella's husband, Leroy Jackson, co-founder of Dine' CARE, was found dead in 1993, after receiving death threats, as Leroy battled the clear-cutting of the old growth forests in the Tsaile and Chuska Mountains on the Navajo Nation.

Adella and Leroy's daughter Robyn Jackson, executive director of Dine' CARE, spoke of the need to remember the Dine' relationship with the land and with one another.

"That is what makes us human."

Robyn Jackson joins John Redhouse, Melanie Yazzie and Cloud during the presentation in Farmington.

The Warrior Path

Melanie Yazzie, Dine' professor, said Red Media was created because of the distortion in the media about the Red Power Movement. Melanie said the Red Nation is honored to co-publish John's new book. She said John's research was instrumental in her PhD research at the University of New Mexico. 

"This book is so meticulously researched," Melanie said, praising John's memory of details.

Melanie said the book is not just to inspire, but for people to take action.

Describing the book as a war story, and John as a warrior, she said, "We are the Warrior Class of our generation."

"We must tell our war stories first and correctly."

"We must never back down to who we are," Melanie said.

"All of our moments in resistance are important," said Cloud, a member of Red Nation. Cloud said John's book is a road map of the power structures that exist --  racism and resource extraction.

"It is a road map to navigate those power structures."

Listen to the session by Red Media, 2 hours and 45 minutes. The Fourth of July presentation in Farmington follows the book launches in Pyramid Lake and Albuquerque. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhCJeWIjMMU

Censored News original series

FARMINGTON, NM -- On the Fourth of July, John Redhouse Pinpoints Coal-Fired Racism in Farmington

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/07/on-fourth-of-july-john-redhouse.html

ALBUERQUE -- Dine' John Redhouse: Farmington was the Hate Criminal Capital of the West in 1974

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/07/dine-redhouse-farmington-was-hate-crime.html

PYRAMID LAKE, Nevada -- Sharing 55 years of history of the Red Power Movement, John Redhouse launches new book on bordertown racism

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/07/live-today-john-redhouse-launches-new.html

Purchase book:

Bordertown Clashes, Resource Wars, Contested Territories: the Four Corners in the turbulent 1970s

by John Redhouse
Foreword by Jennifer Denetdale, Introduction by Melanie K. Yazzie
Copublished with Red Media

https://www.commonnotions.org/bordertown-clashes?srsltid=ARcRdnrMb6na6sjZM-Cs7ufBPD7NdtLQjmAobfHKaXLj74Wa4-mWGSCW