Hoopa Valley Tribe Slams San Luis Settlement Agreement

Photo of Trinity River below Lewiston Dam by Dan Bacher.

Hoopa Valley Tribe: San Luis Settlement Agreement Will 'Condemn Tribe to Poverty'  by Dan Bacher Censored News On May 24, the Hoopa Valley Tribe from Northern California filed its objection to two bills proposed in the House of Representatives to implement the controversial San Luis Settlement Agreement, saying the agreement would "forever condemn the Tribe to poverty." The Tribe filed its complaint prior to a hearing on the two bills, H.R. 4366 (Rep. David Valadao) and H.R. 5217 (Rep. Jim Costa, D-CA), held by the U.S. House of Representative Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans. The video is posted now at:http://naturalresources.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=400473 "Our Tribe is an indispensable party to this settlement," said Chairman Ryan Jackson, in a press release. "We notified Congress and the Bush and Obama Administrations on numerous occasions over the past several years of our concerns. Though we have been mostly ignored, rest assured, this legislation will not advance in absence of protection of our interests."

Clemency for Leonard Peltier Petition

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Benjamin Nuvamsa: Grassroots Hopi and Tewa Senom Defense of Water Rights

"The Hopi Tribal Council is not informing the Hopi and Tewa Senom of what it is doing ... Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and others are determined to take our water rights away. Former Sen. Jon Kyl tried hard before he retired." -- Former Hopi Chairman Benjamin Nuvamsa

By Benjamin Nuvamsa

Censored News

To the editor,

June 15, 2012 was a historic day for the Hopi Tribe. On this day, the Hopi and Tewa Senom stood in solidarity as “One Nation: One Voice” to oppose the proposed Senate Bill 2109, the Navajo and Hopi Little Colorado River Water Rights Act of 2012. The Hopi Tribal Council passed Resolution No. H-072-2012 to formally oppose the bill.

Resolution H-072-2012 provides that further and separate negotiations shall not continue without full and open consultation with the Hopi and Tewa Villages, Hopi Senom and the Hopi Tribal Council.

Sadly, however, the Hopi Tribal Council, in a unilateral action, purported to “repeal” the resolution June 21, 2012 by passing Resolution H-073-2012. This resolution provided support for Senate Bill 2109. It was sponsored by George Mase, former Sipaulovi representative and chairman of the Water & Energy Team, and was endorsed by former tribal Chairman LeRoy Shingoitewa.

Then on Dec. 18, 2012, the Hopi Tribal Council voted to repeal Resolution H-073-2012.

Today, we see press releases and news articles with pictures of tribal Chairman Herman Honanie and members of the Water & Energy Team touting collaboration with other parties in negotiating our Little Colorado River water rights. But as noted in Resolution H-072-2012, Honanie and the Hopi Water & Energy Team are in direct violation of the mandates of the Hopi and Tewa Senom. Yes, Resolution H- 072-2012 is still in effect because the Hopi and Tewa Senom, village governments, traditional leaders and former tribal chairmen and vice chairmen were not consulted and did not authorize the tribal council to repeal their resolution.

This means the Hopi Tribal Council does not have the authority to continue current negotiations and to spend the tribe’s money on attorneys. It means the Hopi Tribal Council must provide full and open consultation with the Hopi and Tewa Senom, village governments and traditional leaders. It means members of the Hopi Tribe must vote in a referendum on any offer to settle the water rights. This further means the Hopi Tribal Council does not have authority to accept or reject any proposed settlement.

Our villages are the rightful owners of water rights since time immemorial. Water right is a sacred right. It is a property right of the villages and any wrongful taking of this right without just compensation is a violation under federal and tribal laws.

The Hopi Tribal Council is not informing the Hopi and Tewa Senom of what it is doing. The tribal council is not consulting with village governments, village leaders and Hopi tribal members on matters important to the tribe. In this respect, the tribal council is in violation of the Hopi tribal constitution.

Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and others are determined to take our water rights away. Former Sen. Jon Kyl tried hard before he retired.

As Hopi and Tewa Senom, we must protect the future of our people and make sure the tribal council does not enter into any settlement that will impair our future and compromise our village aboriginal and sovereign water rights.

Benjamin H. Nuvamsa

Former Hopi Tribal Chairman Village of Shungopavi

Also see:
Vernon Masayesva: "Hopi and Tewa Demand Halt to Water Negotiations'
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/05/vernon-masayesva-hopi-and-tewa-demand.html


Former Sen. Kyl's planned theft of water rights: This leaked doc in 2012 to Censored News shows how former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl planned to steal Navajo and Hopi water rights by pushing legislation through a lame duck Congress. Interior Sec. Salazar was part of the planned theft of water rights, and Salazar resigned soon after. http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/11/leaked-documents-mainstream-media.html

Vernon Masayesva 'Hopi and Tewa Demand Halt to Water Negotiations'

Vernon Masayesva, the former chairman of the Hopi tribe and founder and director of the Black Mesa Trust. Photograph: Sam A Minkler

A No Is A NO!

"Hopi Tribal Council and Chairman without consulting with villages have agreed to resume settlement negotiation against the will of the village they represent. We, the Hopi and Tewa people, demand and have a right to know why council decided to resume negotiations. Until a meeting is held, ALL settlement negotiations must end." -- Vernon Masayesva

By Vernon Masayesva

Censored News

Letter to the Editor

Former Chairmen: Ben Nuvamsa, Ivan Sidney, and Former Vice Chairmen: Phillip Quotshytewa Sr., Clifford Quotsakwahu, Caleb Johnson others wrote a letter to the Hopi Tribal Council on November 12, 2012 rejecting the Senate Bill 2109 sponsored by Former Senator Jon Kyle. Copies of the letter were sent to Arizona congressional delegation, DOI Secretary Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, Kevin Washburn.

Subsequently leaders of Shungopavi, Hotevilla, Lower Moencopi, Bacavi, Kykotsmovi, Walpi, First Mesa Consolidated Villages and Mishongnovi adopted resolutions to reject Kyle Bill S 2109.ku

Then on June 15, 2012 at a Council meeting held at Hotevilla the Council voted to reject Kyle Bill SB 2109. Voting to kill Kyle Bill were; Herman Honanie, David Pecusa, Gayver Puhuyesva, Nada Talaqyuimptewa, Carlene Quotskuyva, Rebekah Masayesva, Danny Honanie, Bruce Fredericks, Leroy Sumatskuku, Wayne Kuwanhoyouma, and Danny Humetewa. Voted for the Kyle Bill were Alph Secakuku, Cedric Kuwaninvaya and George Mase with Chairman Leroy Shingoitewa presiding and not voting.

The Kyle Little Colorado Rights Water Settlement Bill, which if it had passed, would have allowed all non-water users to keep using the water they presently now use. What is left over will go to Navajo Nation, and not one drop will go to Hopi.

Hopi Tribal Council and Chairman without consulting with villages have agreed to resume settlement negotiation against the will of the village they represent.

We, the Hopi and Tewa people, demand and have a right to know why council decided to resume negotiations. Until a meeting is held, ALL settlement negotiations must end.

Vernon Masayesva

Cc: Hopi Tribal Council

Hopi Village Community Offices

Also see:

Benjamin Nuvamsa 'Grassroots Hopi and Tewa Senom Defense of Water Rights'

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2016/05/benjamin-nuvamsa-grassroots-hopi-and.html

Former Sen. Kyl's planned theft of water rights: This leaked doc in 2012 to Censored News shows how former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl planned to steal Navajo and Hopi water rights by pushing legislation through a lame duck Congress. Interior Sec. Salazar was part of the planned theft of water rights, and Salazar resigned soon after. http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/11/leaked-documents-mainstream-media.html

Vernon Masayesva

Executive Director
Vernon Masayesva

http://www.blackmesatrust.org/?page_id=19

Vernon Masayesva is the Executive Director of Black Mesa Trust, a Hopi Leader of the Coyote Clan and a former Chairman of the Hopi Tribal Council from the village of Hotevilla, one of the oldest continuously inhabited human settlement in the Americas in Arizona.

Masayesva received his B.A. degree from Arizona State University in Political Science and a Masters of Arts from Central Michigan University in 1970. He returned to Black Mesa of the Hotevilla Bacavi Community School, the first Indian controlled school on Hopi as the lead educator of the school systems. In 1984, he was elected to the Hopi Tribal Council and then served as Chairman from 1989. He immersed himself in the tangled intricacies of the mining on Black Mesa and the Hopi – Navajo land dispute, and is widely respected on and off the reservation.

In 1998, he founded the Black Mesa Trust and currently serves as its Executive Director. Vernon is an international speaker on the subject of Water and is honored among many scientists, physicists and water researchers including renown author and water researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto from Japan.  Among other things, he is beginning a serious study of Hopi symbols and metaphors to understand who he is and what he can do to help his people lay a vision of a future Hopi society. As a result of his commitment to preserving our water, former President William Clinton honored him as an “Environmental Hero.” Charles Wilkinson, a distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Colorado said, “You will gain a strong sense of history, of millennia, from listening to Vernon, but my guess is you will also see something else-the future-for Vernon embodies personal qualities and philosophical attitudes that can serve our whole society well in the challenging years that lie ahead.”

To learn more about Black Mesa Trust visit www.blackmesatrust.org