October 4, 2009
ELEVENTH ANNUAL WINNERS ANNOUNCED
By Native American Music Awards
Jan Michael Looking Wolf for Artist of the Year, Joanne Shenandoah & Michael Bucher's Bitter Tears Sacred Ground for Best Compilation, Jana's rendition of A Change Is Gonna Come for Song/Single of the Year, Kevin Locke's Earth Gift for Record of the Year, and American Idol Semi-finalist Charly Lowry for Best Video Among Those Honored
Niagara Falls, NY – On Saturday October 3, 2009 the Eleventh Annual Native American Music Awards (N.A.M.A.) was held at the Seneca Niagara Hotel & Casino in Niagara Falls infront of a packed house that featured consistently outstanding live music performances along with an emotionally charged Hall of Fame induction in honor of the late Ritchie Valenz.
Taking this year's top honors are; Joanne Shenandoah & Michael Bucher's Bitter Tears Sacred Ground for Best Compilation, Jana Mashonee's rendition of Sam Cooke's, A Change Is Gonna Come with Derek Miller for Song/Single of the Year, Jan Michael Looking Wolf for Artist of the Year, Skylar Wolf for Debut Artist of the Year, Will and Lil Jess for Debut Duo/Group of the Year, Kevin Locke's Earth Gift for Record of the Year, and American Idol Semi-finalist Charly Lowry for Best Video for her long form video featuring her song, Movin On.
Hosted with grace, class, style, humor and even professional music talent by actor Gil Birmingham, others on hand at the Awards ceremeony included: Shane Yellowbird who won for Best Country Recording, Atsiaktonkie who won for Best Folk Recording, Flutist of the Year JJ Kent, Wind Spirit Drum whose recording Amazing Grace took Best Gospel Inspirational Recording, Thunder Hawk Singers for Best Historical Recording, Gabriel Ayala for Best Instrumental Recording, Bryan Akipa For Best Male Artist, Eagle & Hawk for Best Rock Recording, Rezhogs for Best Rap Hip Hop Recording, Oshkii Giizhik Singers for Best Traditional Recording, Michael Searching Bear for Best World Music Recording, and Michael Brant DeMaria for the Native Heart Award.
Other nominees in attendance included; Benjamin Grimes, Kelly Montijo Fink, Jackie Tice, Mike Serna, Pappy Johns Band, Jimmy Shendo, Augusta Cecconi Bates, Douglas Blue Feather, Yvonne St Germaine and Donna Kay who all participated in the program.
Capping the evening’s ceremonies were consistently transcendant and flawless performances beginning with drum group Young Gunz, Dallas Washkahat and Fawn Wood, classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala, Eagle & Hawk, soprano opera singer Jennifer M Stevens accompanied by composer Augusta Cecconi-Bates, Joanne Shenandoah and Michael Bucher who performed material from their award-winning recording, Lifetime Achievement Recipient Stevie Salas pumped it up with original Pearl Jam drummer Dave Abbruzesse and bass player TM Stevens of Shocka Zooloo and the late James Brown, and a spectacular rendition of Stevie Ray Vaughn's Pride & Joy by the show's host Gil Birmingham and nominee Jimmy Wolf. Darryl Tonemah gave a rising performance in his trademarked barefeet, Jana's riveting vocals were unmatched, Shane Yellowbird showcased material for his upcoming Grand Ole Opry appearance, and new artist Jace Martin captured the audience with his Ritchie Valens tribute song, We Belong Together.
Tommy Allsup, original guitarist of the Buddy Holly band who flipped a coin with Ritchie Valens for the last seat on their ill-fated plane, bought the audience to tears as Allsup, who became emotional and choked up as he recapped and retold the story of his tour mate Ritchie Valens and his tragic end.
Following the Hall of Fame induction and Ritchie's sister, Irma's acceptance speech, Tommy Allsup, who is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, joined Ritchie's little brother, Mario, and his group, The Backyard Blues Band, who rocked the house and performed a special extended rendition of “La Bamba”.
N.A.M.A. and its Advisory Board contingency would like to congratulate all the winners and nominees and proudly honors these legendary performers and songwriters who have been leading forces in the Native American music community.
The Native American Music Awards & Association, founded in 1998, is the world’s leading membership-based association consisting of music industry professionals directly involved in the recording and distribution of traditional and contemporary Native American Music initiatives. The growing success of the Awards show now features over one hundred and fifty nominees annually, with at least one third of those nominees being new artists. For the past eleven years the Awards has set industry standards for professional Native American musicians who are gaining greater acceptance and exposure from both national and international audiences.
See below for a complete list of winners
ELEVENTH ANNUAL AWARD WINNERS
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Jan Michael Looking Wolf
The Looking Wolf Project
BEST BLUES RECORDING
Dancing In The Rain
Graywolf Blues Band
BEST COMPILATION RECORDING
Bitter Tears Sacred Ground
Joanne Shenandoah & Michael Bucher
BEST COUNTRY RECORDING
Life Is Calling My Name
Shane Yellowbird
DEBUT ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Skylar Wolf
Devil’s Son
DEBUT DUO / GROUP OF THE YEAR
Will & Lil Jess
Reservation Nights
BEST FEMALE ARTIST
Joy Harjo
Winding Through The Milky Way
BEST FOLK RECORDING
Four Wolves Prophecy
Atsiaktonkie
FLUTIST OF THE YEAR
JJ Kent
Ta Te’ Topa Win
BEST GOSPEL/INSPIRATIONAL RECORDING
Amazing Grace
Lenape Spirits
Wind Spirit Drum
GROUP OF THE YEAR
Brule’
Lakota Piano II
BEST HISTORICAL RECORDING
Native Pride
Thunder Hawk Singers
BEST INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING
Tango!
Gabriel Ayala
BEST MALE ARTIST
Bryan Akipa
Songs From The Black Hills
BEST NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH RECORDING
Peyote Ways
Primeaux & Mike
BEST NEW AGE RECORDING
Deep Within
Tony Redhouse
BEST POP RECORDING
Na Unu Nahai (Shape Shifter)
Apryl Allen
BEST POW WOW RECORDING
Band of Brothers
Midnite Express
BEST PRODUCER
Kelly Parker
Out Of The Blue
BEST RAP / HIP HOP RECORDING
All Day All Night
Rezhogs
RECORD OF THE YEAR
Earth Gift
Kevin Locke
BEST ROCK RECORDING
Sirensong
Eagle & Hawk
SONG/SINGLE OF THE YEAR
A Change Is Gonna Come
Jana Mashonee
SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Samantha Crain
The Confiscation: A Musical Novella
BEST SPOKEN WORD RECORDING
The Great Story From The Sacred Book
Rain Song/Terry & Darlene Wildman
BEST TRADITIONAL RECORDING
It Is A New Day
Oshkii Giizhik Singers
BEST VIDEO
Movin On
Charly Lowry & Aaron Locklear
BEST WORLD MUSIC RECORDING
Ceremony
Michael Searching Bear
NATIVE HEART
Michael Brant DeMaria
Siyotanka
LIVING LEGEND
Tommy Allsup
HALL OF FAME
Ritchie Valens
October 4, 2009
Peabody Coal, and media, fall to new dirty lows
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Today, Vernon Masayesva, Hopi, reveals that the Hopi Tribal Council has been taken over by a pro-Peabody Coal faction. Further, Masayesva reveals that the Hopi Tribal Council hired Tina May as its press officer and the Arizona Republic is publishing one-sided, biased press release coverage by Tina May, former senior editor at the Arizona Republic. Already this week, the Associated Press' dark and biased coverage was revealed in "Lazy journalists are the darlings of the corporations."
AP also published press releases of politicians and corporations, without interviewing the Navajo and Hopi environmental organizations and people living on the land.
Peabody Coal's use of a tribal attorney to carry out its dirty work is the same tactic Peabody used originally to seize Black Mesa for coal mining and bring about Navajo relocation for coal mining, by way of attorney John Boyden, who worked for Peabody and the Hopi Tribe.
The media, along with the politicians and corporations, have blamed and disrespected traditional Navajo and Hopi traditional grassroots people defending the land.
Both the Associated Press and Arizona Republic have relied on slick and easy press release coverage, written by politicians and corporations, and disregarded the comments of the people.
Please read the full statements of Hopis and Navajos at Censored News:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Today, Vernon Masayesva, Hopi, reveals that the Hopi Tribal Council has been taken over by a pro-Peabody Coal faction. Further, Masayesva reveals that the Hopi Tribal Council hired Tina May as its press officer and the Arizona Republic is publishing one-sided, biased press release coverage by Tina May, former senior editor at the Arizona Republic. Already this week, the Associated Press' dark and biased coverage was revealed in "Lazy journalists are the darlings of the corporations."
AP also published press releases of politicians and corporations, without interviewing the Navajo and Hopi environmental organizations and people living on the land.
Peabody Coal's use of a tribal attorney to carry out its dirty work is the same tactic Peabody used originally to seize Black Mesa for coal mining and bring about Navajo relocation for coal mining, by way of attorney John Boyden, who worked for Peabody and the Hopi Tribe.
The media, along with the politicians and corporations, have blamed and disrespected traditional Navajo and Hopi traditional grassroots people defending the land.
Both the Associated Press and Arizona Republic have relied on slick and easy press release coverage, written by politicians and corporations, and disregarded the comments of the people.
Please read the full statements of Hopis and Navajos at Censored News:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Masayesva: Pro-Peabody takeover of Hopi Tribal Council
October 2, 2009
To Arizona Republic
From: Vernon Masayesva
Editorial Board:
The Hopi Tribal Council action to ban environmentalists on allegations that they are engaged in shutting down Peabody mining operations on Black Mesa is a manufactured lie. (“Hopi say Conservationists unwelcome on tribal land,” Arizona Republic, September 29, 2009)
To be a Hopi is to be a conservationist, a caretaker and a steward of planet earth. So, by implication, the Council has banned all Hopi people from their land.
Grand Canyon Trust is the only organization coming to Hopi, not to advocate for the shutdown of Peabody, but to install photovoltaic panels on homes that have no electricity. It is likely the project will now be suspended, thanks to our Hopi Tribal Council.
The real story on Hopiland, that is yet to be revealed, is the take-over of the government by pro-Peabody legislators with the support of their legal counsel, Scott Canty, and the ensuing corruption and abuse of power by an illegally constituted Council.
Forty individual Hopis have filed a challenge to the U.S. Office of Surface Mining’s decision to issue a Life-of-Mine permit to Peabody so they can continue the destructive surface mining for an additional 15 years after 2011. They, the Hopi petitioners, are represented by a private lawyer working pro-bono, and not by any of the organizations banned by the Hopi Council.
Of special concern to the Hopi is the continuing drawdown of N-aquifer groundwater and the accidental and deliberate destruction of archaeological sites, burial sites, petroglyphs and other cultural resources.
The Black Mesa area is considered to be archaeologically “site rich." Over 2,500 sites within the 67,000-acre Peabody leasehold have been catalogued by an archaeological field school.’
The Hopi people have no record of how many sites and burial grounds have been deliberately destroyed since the mining started in 1970. This is a tragedy that no media has yet covered.
This is why the vast majority of Hopi people are supporting the petitioners' request that the entire Black Mesa project EIS be redone, this time in full compliance with NEPA and a Presidential Order requiring full citizen participation. Neither OSM nor the Hopi Water and Energy Team have come to villages to explain the mine plan or OSM’s analysis of the impacts of the mine plan since the EIS process started in 1985, contrary to allegations by Scott Canty, General Counsel to the Hopi Council.
The Hopi people are not out to “stop the mining.” This false allegation has been used time and time again to discredit Black Mesa Trust, which has since 1998 been at the forefront of a battle to end the Peabody coal slurry operation, with the support of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club.
Black Mesa Trust is supporting the Hopi petitioners. The opposition includes the Hopi Tribal Council, Peabody, OSM, Salt River Project and the Navajo Nation--all with deep pockets and access to dozens of lawyers.
I hope you will give representatives of Hopi petitioners the opportunity to sit down with you and explain what is really happening concerning the mining and the pro-Peabody Council role in supporting OSM, an agency that is captured by Peabody, and owners of Navajo Generation Station. There are always two sides to a story and so far no one has tried to hear the other side.
Arizona Republic has been carrying news releases by Tina May, public relations officer for the Hopi Tribal Council. She is reporting only one side of the story. We understand she is a former employee of the Arizona Republic.
Thank you,
Vernon Masayesva
P.O. Box 33
Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039
928/255-2356
To Arizona Republic
From: Vernon Masayesva
Editorial Board:
The Hopi Tribal Council action to ban environmentalists on allegations that they are engaged in shutting down Peabody mining operations on Black Mesa is a manufactured lie. (“Hopi say Conservationists unwelcome on tribal land,” Arizona Republic, September 29, 2009)
To be a Hopi is to be a conservationist, a caretaker and a steward of planet earth. So, by implication, the Council has banned all Hopi people from their land.
Grand Canyon Trust is the only organization coming to Hopi, not to advocate for the shutdown of Peabody, but to install photovoltaic panels on homes that have no electricity. It is likely the project will now be suspended, thanks to our Hopi Tribal Council.
The real story on Hopiland, that is yet to be revealed, is the take-over of the government by pro-Peabody legislators with the support of their legal counsel, Scott Canty, and the ensuing corruption and abuse of power by an illegally constituted Council.
Forty individual Hopis have filed a challenge to the U.S. Office of Surface Mining’s decision to issue a Life-of-Mine permit to Peabody so they can continue the destructive surface mining for an additional 15 years after 2011. They, the Hopi petitioners, are represented by a private lawyer working pro-bono, and not by any of the organizations banned by the Hopi Council.
Of special concern to the Hopi is the continuing drawdown of N-aquifer groundwater and the accidental and deliberate destruction of archaeological sites, burial sites, petroglyphs and other cultural resources.
The Black Mesa area is considered to be archaeologically “site rich." Over 2,500 sites within the 67,000-acre Peabody leasehold have been catalogued by an archaeological field school.’
The Hopi people have no record of how many sites and burial grounds have been deliberately destroyed since the mining started in 1970. This is a tragedy that no media has yet covered.
This is why the vast majority of Hopi people are supporting the petitioners' request that the entire Black Mesa project EIS be redone, this time in full compliance with NEPA and a Presidential Order requiring full citizen participation. Neither OSM nor the Hopi Water and Energy Team have come to villages to explain the mine plan or OSM’s analysis of the impacts of the mine plan since the EIS process started in 1985, contrary to allegations by Scott Canty, General Counsel to the Hopi Council.
The Hopi people are not out to “stop the mining.” This false allegation has been used time and time again to discredit Black Mesa Trust, which has since 1998 been at the forefront of a battle to end the Peabody coal slurry operation, with the support of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club.
Black Mesa Trust is supporting the Hopi petitioners. The opposition includes the Hopi Tribal Council, Peabody, OSM, Salt River Project and the Navajo Nation--all with deep pockets and access to dozens of lawyers.
I hope you will give representatives of Hopi petitioners the opportunity to sit down with you and explain what is really happening concerning the mining and the pro-Peabody Council role in supporting OSM, an agency that is captured by Peabody, and owners of Navajo Generation Station. There are always two sides to a story and so far no one has tried to hear the other side.
Arizona Republic has been carrying news releases by Tina May, public relations officer for the Hopi Tribal Council. She is reporting only one side of the story. We understand she is a former employee of the Arizona Republic.
Thank you,
Vernon Masayesva
P.O. Box 33
Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039
928/255-2356
October 3, 2009
Galvanized by attack, Hopi and Navajo respond
Photo: Roberta Blackgoat protesting Peabody's water slurry during
one of her last public protests. Photo Brenda Norrell
When the Hopi Tribal Council banned "environmentalists," and Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., agreed, Navajos and Hopis defending the land were first shocked and appalled. Galvanized by the attack, Navajo and Hopi defenders of the land and cultural ways responded.
Klee Benally, Navajo, points out that the US puppet governments are continuing to appease the United States and corporations.
"I would expect this type of declaration from totalitarian government dictators, not those who are democratically elected leaders of Tribal Nations. Considering the history of colonization and BIA established puppet governments on Native American lands, Shirley's statement is not surprising.
"Attempting to silence the voice and limit the rights of Dine' people to protect their life, land and liberty is not sovereignty, it is in the direction of totalitarianism."
Benally points out that Shirley uses the catch word "sovereignty" to defend his stance against anything Shirley disagrees with. Benally said, "Does sovereignty really mean being dependent on non-renewable energy that destroys Mother Earth, pollutes drinking water and air and compromises our holy covenant with nature? Does it mean being dependent on casinos and outside corporate interests?'
Benally also reminds Shirley of Benally's grandmother, the late Roberta Blackgoat resisting relocation, who defended the land until her end on this earth.
"My grandmother Roberta Blackgoat once said, ‘I know each tree, each plant that grows right there. And they know me. The children, grandchildren, great grandchildren need to be right there. We need them to get back to the land and live on our ancestors' land.' She said that the ‘relocatees' die of ‘worriness,' ‘missing their traditional food and not knowing where to go to pray.' Blackgoat said, ‘As long as I live, I'm not going to sign' and continued to demand ‘(Peabody) stop destroying the Mother Earth's liver and blood; the coal and the water.'"
"Until her passing she resisted relocation, still abandoned by the Navajo Nation government, ‘unwelcome' by the Hopi Tribal government, and as a testimony to the injustices of US law.
"Would she still be unwelcome in her homeland Mr. Shirley --- as an environmentalist, that is a woman who loved her Earth?"
In response to the Hopi Tribal Council ban, Alph Secakuku, Hopi council representative of Sipaulovi (Second Mesa), spoke of the sacred foundation and destiny of the Hopi people.
"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."
Secakuku said the ban was the result of the current political coup in the council.
"It is a sad day for Hopi/Tewa people, and I am disappointed. 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."
Former Hopi Chairman Ben Nuvamsa also points out the illegality, absurdity and indignity of the Hopi Tribal Council's ban.
"For the record, Indian tribes have no jurisdiction over non-Indians on reservation lands (see Oliphant v. Suquamish). On the Hopi Reservation, only the Tribal Chairman has the authority to sign an exclusion order under Tribal Ordinance 46. So without a Tribal Chairman, no one can sign such an order. Without meeting these requirements, the resolution passed by this group is nothing more than a mean-spirited statement.
"Our teachings as Hopi and Tewa people dictate that we should welcome everyone. It is not Hopi to exclude anyone. As Hopi and Tewa people, we are raised to be good stewards of our lands so we are all ‘environmentalists' by our cultural teachings and practices.
"The ‘environmentalists' have stood by the Hopi Tribe when we opposed the making of artificial snow on our sacred Nuvatukyaovi (San Francisco Peaks). They assisted in our opposition to the proposed uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. They assisted in securing protections for the American Bald Eagle. So why the opposition to ‘environmentalists' now? Could it be financial and corporate greed? Absolutely," he said in a statement.
Nuvamsa points out that it the elected tribal leaders compromising sovereignty.
"Some say the ‘environmentalists' are compromising our tribal sovereignty. I disagree. It is our own ‘tribal leaders' that are the worst violators of compromising our sovereignty."
When the Hopi Tribal Council banned "environmentalists," and Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., agreed, Navajos and Hopis defending the land were first shocked and appalled. Galvanized by the attack, Navajo and Hopi defenders of the land and cultural ways responded.
Klee Benally, Navajo, points out that the US puppet governments are continuing to appease the United States and corporations.
"I would expect this type of declaration from totalitarian government dictators, not those who are democratically elected leaders of Tribal Nations. Considering the history of colonization and BIA established puppet governments on Native American lands, Shirley's statement is not surprising.
"Attempting to silence the voice and limit the rights of Dine' people to protect their life, land and liberty is not sovereignty, it is in the direction of totalitarianism."
Benally points out that Shirley uses the catch word "sovereignty" to defend his stance against anything Shirley disagrees with. Benally said, "Does sovereignty really mean being dependent on non-renewable energy that destroys Mother Earth, pollutes drinking water and air and compromises our holy covenant with nature? Does it mean being dependent on casinos and outside corporate interests?'
Benally also reminds Shirley of Benally's grandmother, the late Roberta Blackgoat resisting relocation, who defended the land until her end on this earth.
"My grandmother Roberta Blackgoat once said, ‘I know each tree, each plant that grows right there. And they know me. The children, grandchildren, great grandchildren need to be right there. We need them to get back to the land and live on our ancestors' land.' She said that the ‘relocatees' die of ‘worriness,' ‘missing their traditional food and not knowing where to go to pray.' Blackgoat said, ‘As long as I live, I'm not going to sign' and continued to demand ‘(Peabody) stop destroying the Mother Earth's liver and blood; the coal and the water.'"
"Until her passing she resisted relocation, still abandoned by the Navajo Nation government, ‘unwelcome' by the Hopi Tribal government, and as a testimony to the injustices of US law.
"Would she still be unwelcome in her homeland Mr. Shirley --- as an environmentalist, that is a woman who loved her Earth?"
In response to the Hopi Tribal Council ban, Alph Secakuku, Hopi council representative of Sipaulovi (Second Mesa), spoke of the sacred foundation and destiny of the Hopi people.
"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."
Secakuku said the ban was the result of the current political coup in the council.
"It is a sad day for Hopi/Tewa people, and I am disappointed. 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."
Former Hopi Chairman Ben Nuvamsa also points out the illegality, absurdity and indignity of the Hopi Tribal Council's ban.
"For the record, Indian tribes have no jurisdiction over non-Indians on reservation lands (see Oliphant v. Suquamish). On the Hopi Reservation, only the Tribal Chairman has the authority to sign an exclusion order under Tribal Ordinance 46. So without a Tribal Chairman, no one can sign such an order. Without meeting these requirements, the resolution passed by this group is nothing more than a mean-spirited statement.
"Our teachings as Hopi and Tewa people dictate that we should welcome everyone. It is not Hopi to exclude anyone. As Hopi and Tewa people, we are raised to be good stewards of our lands so we are all ‘environmentalists' by our cultural teachings and practices.
"The ‘environmentalists' have stood by the Hopi Tribe when we opposed the making of artificial snow on our sacred Nuvatukyaovi (San Francisco Peaks). They assisted in our opposition to the proposed uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. They assisted in securing protections for the American Bald Eagle. So why the opposition to ‘environmentalists' now? Could it be financial and corporate greed? Absolutely," he said in a statement.
Nuvamsa points out that it the elected tribal leaders compromising sovereignty.
"Some say the ‘environmentalists' are compromising our tribal sovereignty. I disagree. It is our own ‘tribal leaders' that are the worst violators of compromising our sovereignty."
Vernon Masayesva, executive director of Black Mesa Trust and former Hopi Chairman, points out that Hopi are true stewards. Masayesva, in a letter to Arizona Republic, also points out that the newspaper is printing only one-side of the story at Hopi, press releases written by a former employee of the newspaper.
Referring to the ban, he said, "To be a Hopi is to be a conservationist, a caretaker and a steward of planet earth. So, by implication, the Council has banned all Hopi people from their land."
Masayesva said the Grand Canyon Trust came to Hopiland to install photovoltaic panels on homes that have no electricity. "It is likely the project will now be suspended, thanks to our Hopi Tribal Council."
"The real story on Hopiland, that is yet to be revealed, is the take-over of the government by pro-Peabody legislators with the support of their legal counsel, Scott Canty, and the ensuing corruption and abuse of power by an illegally constituted Council."
Masayesva said forty individual Hopis have filed a challenge to the U.S. Office of Surface Mining’s decision to issue a Life-of-Mine permit to Peabody so they can continue the destructive surface mining for an additional 15 years after 2011.
"Of special concern to the Hopi is the continuing drawdown of N-aquifer groundwater and the accidental and deliberate destruction of archaeological sites, burial sites, petroglyphs and other cultural resources."
Masayesva said the Arizona Republic's coverage is biased."Arizona Republic has been carrying news releases by Tina May, public relations officer for the Hopi Tribal Council. She is reporting only one side of the story. We understand she is a former employee of the Arizona Republic," he said.
Navajos at Black Mesa Water Coalition, creating green jobs on Navajoland, also responded.
"We believe that President Shirley is misinformed as to the benefits of coal mining and coal-fired power plants and out of touch with the kind of economy the Navajo people want," said Wahleah Johns, also a Navajo citizen and Co-Director of Black Mesa Water Coalition.
"Our organization has been working to support the traditional lifeways of weavers, ranchers, artisans and a new clean energy economy. After over 30 years of coal development on the Navajo reservation, most of our people still live below the national poverty line, and now there are increasing health problems due to fossil fuel development pollution and global warming."
Black Mesa Water Coalition said that in July of 2009, the Navajo Nation 21st Council officially adopted the Navajo Green Economy Commission and Fund to begin a process of diversifying the Navajo economy and building thousands of well-paying Navajo jobs that do not pollute.
"The Black Mesa Water Coalition formed the Navajo Green Economy Coalition, consisting of both Native and non-native organizations and individuals. This Coalition's partnership with the Navajo Nation's Speaker of the Council, Lawrence T. Morgan, was a large contributor to the successful establishment of a Navajo Green Economy plan and is a model for how tribal governments and tribal citizen's groups can work together."
Calvin Johnson, Navajo in Leupp, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation, fighting the poisoning of the water, air and land by coal mines and power plants, said he was appalled by Shirley's statement. Johnson told Shirley that blaming and disrespecting traditional grassroots people is not the answer.
Johnson said, "We are suppose to protect our people and mother earth from harmful contaminants that cause numerous health diseases, destroy sacred sites and deplete and contaminate precious water resources."
Johnson said the Navajo Nation has been providing misinformation about the proposed Desert Rock power plant. There is no such thing as a clean coal fired power plant. He said no machine can remove 100 percent of the sulfur, mercury and other pollutants from coal and burn it free of emissions.
The Sierra Club said it is an honor to work with Hopis and Navajos.
"The Sierra Club is honored to work with our tribal partners in transitioning to a clean energy future, including the Black Mesa Water Coalition, Dooda Desert Rock, Hopis Organized for Political Initiatives (H.O.P.I.), the Navajo Green Economy Coalition, To' Nizhoni Ani, C-Aquifer for the Diné, and other community organizations."
While the mainstream media, including Associated Press, continues to distort and censor the voices of the Navajo and Hopi people, the full statements are online at Censored News:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
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