Arlene Hamilton-Benally died a hero

Big Mountain weaving coordinator, arrested defending Sundance,
paved way for Peabody Coal resistance in New York

by Brenda Norrell

Arlene Hamilton-Benally with Navajo resister Roberta Blackgoat
Photo courtesy Weaving for Freedom.

  

BIG MOUNTAIN, Ariz. – Arlene Hamilton-Benally, arrested as she attempted to protect the Sundance Tree from destruction in August, died in a car accident east of Kayenta on her way to a weaving show.

"Arlene died fighting for the rights of the People!" said her husband Leonard Benally.

"She was my hero, she fed a lot of people, families and children."

"Arlene will always live in our hearts," said Louise Benally, her sister-in-law. “She was a warrior on her path, when she went into the spirit world."

In the final year of her life, Arlene helped achieve great victories by exposing the desecration of the Sundance Tree and arbor and the gouging of Big Mountain, the Mother Mountain on Black Mesa.

Arlene was often a quiet voice, whispering to the right ears.

Arlene made it possible for a Navajo Hopi and Lakota delegation to address stockholders of the parent company of Peabody Coal at the World Trade Center last spring, by purchasing a small amount of stock in Lehman Brothers. These speeches to the stockholders resulted in one of the most censored articles of 2001.

During the destruction of the Sundance at Big Mountain August 17, she was arrested.

Arlene said she had no choice but to attempt to halt Hopi police and stop the destruction. The Sundance was brought to Big Mountain by way of an agreement with Lakota spiritual leaders of Pine Ridge, S.D., to protect the land and people.

Arlene was handcuffed at the Sundance site as Hopi rangers, surrounded by Hopi, county and BIA police, destroyed the Sundance Tree and arbor.

Arlene said, “They cut down the Sun Dance Tree with a chain saw, then cut it into smaller pieces with the chain saw. Then they put the pieces in a wood shredder and what came out looked like sawdust.”

She said two police shoved her back and forth, and handcuffed her. “I told them they were violating international law. Native to Native Ceremony is protected by international law.

“The power of the Tree must have been very threatening.

“This is not just about Native American religious rights. Next time it will be someone else, someone in a city, and they will be telling them how and when they can pray.”

Arlene, non-Indian, spent four hours in a holding cell in the Keams Canyon jail before her release. No charges were filed.

In an interview after her arrest, she said she feared for her safety, but was speaking out because abuse breeds in isolation. She compared the abuse of the people of Big Mountain, resisting forced relocation, to other victims of domestic violence, tyranny and oppression.

Referring to Leonard, Louise and other family members, she said, “The children of Alice Benally are standing up for everyone’s right to pray, their right to live in harmony with the land.”

In April, a Navajo Hopi Lakota delegation addressed stockholders of Lehman Brothers, the parent company of Peabody Coal, at the World Trade Center. Arlene faxed copies of their speeches to this reporter. The resulting article remained censored by the print media until it appeared on online news sites eight months later.

The traditional Hopi elder in the delegation told stockholders, "Lehman Brothers, even though we are just a few here, we speak for the Creator, who is the majority.

“Therefore we demand you to stop the Peabody coal mining and the slurry. We demand again,” said the Hopi elder who asked that his name not be published in the media.

"Traditional and priesthood people don't want this mining. The Hopi prophecies say that we have to protect land and life. If we don't protect our beautiful Earth -- our Heaven, our Mother, we will suffer with her.

"Our ancestors warned that someday this would happen. White men will say that it is our own people that sold this land. I will not accept this.

"Our roots are rooted in our villages and it goes up to the whole universe. If we break these roots the world will get out of balance. I pray for you and hope that we open your eyes and you find the majority in your heart.”

Joe Chasing Horse, Lakota, and Roberta Blackgoat, longtime resister and sheepherder from Cactus Valley, addressed the stockholders. Blackgoat said that Black Mesa, in the region of one of the Four Sacred Mountains, San Francisco Peaks, is holy to the Navajo people. Mining is the same as desecrating an altar and church. It is making the people sick.

"When you have a pinprick on your finger, just take it off and the pain will go away. But there are too many pins on the Mother Earth."

Arlene said she personally bought two shares in the corporation to ensure entrance into the stockholders meeting. She and Leonard negotiated with Lehman Brothers to allow the elders time to address stockholders.

"These were some of the richest men and women in the world. The delegation was so beautiful, and so with the truth. Their presence was holy," Arlene said.

"We want the dehumanizing and militarizing to stop. There is a lot of suffering going on. We want to make sure the ceremonies are not surrounded by guns and the people have clean drinking water.

“There is no life without water."

Arlene said Navajo elders resisting relocation often become dehydrated during the hot summer months because of the scarcity of clean water, while Peabody Coal pumps 10,000 gallons of water a minute to slurry coal.

She pressed human rights concerns before Peabody management for years, but she said they did little to improve the quality of living as promised.

"It's really just diversion and distraction while the people are suffering out there. Everything is based on making way for mining."

Arlene was coordinator of the Weaving For Freedom project. She said the Dine' weavers are struggling for religious freedom in order to practice their ancient craft while protecting their sacred land.

The United Nations Arts Commission named Weaving For Freedom the “Finest Craft Designers of the World 2001.” The non-profit organization sells Navajo tapestries and returns the money to Navajo weavers.

Before she was arrested at the Sundance, Arlene had already been arrested 12 times, but never charged, for intervening during BIA confiscations of Navajo livestock on Hopi Partitioned Lands.

Arlene said in April, "This work is very risky now. We protect each other by traveling in large groups."

Following the destruction of the Sundance Tree and arbor, Leonard said he is confident the Sun Dance Tree will once again rest in an arbor here, the Sweat Lodge will return and the prayers will rise again.

“It was like somebody reached inside of me and was cutting me with a knife.

“We were sad. I was sad. But the prayers and songs are still there. Naturally, the Tree will go back up. The power of the Tree is still working.

“The Tree has a natural wisdom. The power of the Tree is still working. It is a healer.”

Louise said, “The Great Spirit is still here.”

After Arlene’s passing, Louise remembered the sacredness of the Sundance grounds at Big Mountain.

"The Sundance site is still a scared site -- removal of structures was done based on hate-crime. As for the prayers and holy grounds, those are still there! Hate crimes will not change that, no-man made will change that."

In the struggle for the land and people that is never easy, Arlene stood steadfast and resisted until the end.

Arlene died April 3.

 

(c) 2002, by Brenda Norrell. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.