It is important that the readers of The Republic not assume [that] the Hopi Tribe, as a whole, supports the recent resolution by the Tribal Council declaring environmental groups unwelcome on the Hopi Reservation.

The decision to prohibit environmental groups has devastated many Hopi tribal members.

Our Hopi religion teaches us that we made a sacred covenant with our Supreme Being to be responsible stewards of the world we live in. Hopi people are environmentalists by our teachings and cultural practices.

The environmentalists have fought valiantly on behalf of Hopi against big corporate energy companies that have been pumping our pristine water to slurry coal from the Black Mesa Mine to the Mohave Generating Station. As a result, our sacred springs have dried up, affecting our age-old religious ceremonies, corn crops and water quality, and impacting the very fabric of who we are as Hopi and Tewa people.

Our current tribal "leaders" have sold their souls for financial and corporate greed.

It is ironic that the Hopi Tribal Council, after decades of successful partnerships with the environmentalists, now complains that these groups are "spreading misinformation and instilling fear."

Don't be fooled by the smoke screen.

- Bonnie Talakte, Phoenix

The writer is a Hopi tribal member.