by S.J. Wilson
The
Navajo-Hopi Observer
30 December 2008
FLAGSTAFF,
Ariz. - Four of the five members of the Navajo Nation Human Rights
Commission recently visited the communities of Winslow and
Flagstaff to hear public testimony regarding race relation issues
in areas including housing, education and civil rights.
Chairperson
Duane "Chili" Yazzie, Clarence Chee, Steven A. Darden
and Irving Gleason spent over three hours in the chamber of the
Flagstaff City Council listening to complaints that ranged from
cultural insensitivity, disrespect and desecration of sacred
sites, mistreatment and disrespect by places of employment and by
places of business, the denial of legal process and clear,
undisguised racism.
Kelvin
Long, the executive director of ECHOES (Educating Communities
while Healing and Offering Environmental Support), addressed the
Save the Peaks effort against snowmaking on the San Francisco
Peaks and other environmental issues in northern Arizona.
"There
are unhealthy relations between the Navajo people and the city of
Flagstaff," Long said. I know this from growing up here and
my experiences within the community ," Long said.
Long
described his experience with former Flagstaff mayor, Joe
Donaldson, where a toilet bowl was placed on Donaldson's car
during a forum concerning the Arizona Snowbowl's plan for
artificial snowmaking - Long and two other Native American men
were suspected of the act, Long said.
"I
felt like I was being used as a catalyst for his [re-election]
campaign," Long said.
Clayson
Benally, who did not testify, was also a suspect in the act, and
was detained by police on Mother's Day 2007, as he sat on the
trunk of his car awaiting AAA services to retrieve his keys from
his locked vehicle. Donaldson was inside the store and believed
that Benally was stalking him, according to police reports.
Benally denied even knowing what the former mayor's car looked
like until he watched Donaldson hurry to his car while he was
detained. Throughout the incident, Benally's keys were in plain
view hanging from the ignition.
Bob
Lomadafkie, a longtime citizen of Flagstaff and a member of the
Hopi Tribe, spoke about the effects of relocation on members of
the Navajo and Hopi tribes, and the allegiance held by many
traditional Hopis against the relocation of their Navajo
neighbors.
"We
were opposed to relocation; we feel it was wrongfully imposed on
the Dine'," Lomadafkie said. "We also addressed the pow
wow in Flagstaff; there was a lot of negative talk that put Native
Americans in a bad light."
Lomadafkie
sits on several boards for Flagstaff organizations and is involved
in issues such as homelessness and the recruitment and retention
of Native American students at Northern Arizona University (NAU) -
where he finds that one of every four students is Native American
- predominantly Dine'.
Tony
Skrelunas, who has worked for the Navajo Nation in various
capacities revolving around economic issues, suggested the
development of a Navajo-friendly business directory, where good
customer service can be expected.
"We
could provide cultural sensitivity training to business
owners," Skrelunas said. "They need to understand our
standards and traditions. We need to figure out an entity to
represent off-reservation Navajos; so that they represented in the
Navajo Nation. We need to develop more Navajo leaders in key
positions off the reservation as well.
Another
woman, an Anglo, stood to describe the treatment given to her and
her Navajo in-laws when her husband was murdered outside
Flagstaff. The two non-Indian men were never prosecuted for the
crime - despite the fact that there were two witnesses who had
heard the premeditated scheme before the shooting. The grand jury,
she explained, declined to try the case.
"This
wouldn't have happened if it had been me they shot that
night," she said with conviction.
"My
husband, a medicine man, is from Forest Lake," Berta Benally,
another non-Indian, said. "He is a relocatee - relocatees are
still facing the same issues - high suicide and alcohol and drug
abuse rates."
Klee
Benally said that the Peaks snowmaking case is a "critical
threat to our cultural survival. The Peaks case is not the cause
of racism - it has brought the racism out. We as Dine' are
instructed not to go up to the Peaks unless there is an important
reason. My father is a member of the Dine Hataalii Association. My
brother and I are apprentices to him; we go on the Peaks to
collect medicine and we've encountered J.R. Murray (general
manager of the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort), law enforcement, the
Forest Service and the county sheriff."
Benally
described a paper he was given by Murray while he was conducting
prayers on the Peaks, which identified two spots reserved for
"protest" purposes at the Snowbowl. These areas designed
to protect the experience of skiers who come to use the slopes.
However, prayers have been interpreted as being protest actions.
"At
the discretion of [non-Indians], this is the criminalization of
traditional practices," Benally said. "Racist attitudes
are still here; we have been forced to take issues such as
snowmaking to court because we have no other recourse. We face
institutional violence in the federal courts."
C. Dale
Rafael, of Pima and Hispanic descent, spoke his concerns
surrounding relocation and the Bennett Freeze - an area where
until recently residents could not repair, build or improve their
homesites. These individuals are known as the "Forgotten
People."
"When
I think of the reservation, I look at the Bennett Freeze,"
Rafael said. "People faced 40 years of confinement
there."
He also
listed land taking through imminent domain, deaths and Habeas
Corpus Rule 32 issues as important to him.
Councilman
Thomas Walker Jr. (Leupp, Tolani Lake and Birdsprings) represented
residents of the Padre Canyon and Canyon Diablo residents who live
along the north side of Interstate 40 east of Flagstaff. As these
elders do not tend to leave their homes after evening, Walker
brought their concerns to the Commission.
"There
are unhealthy relations out there," Walker said. "There
are non-Indians going onto the reservation to target shoot and
hunt. People are dumping their trash out there."
Sam
Minkler, who teaches at NAU, expressed concern for Native youth
growing up in Flagstaff - youth who are not being heard and have
no sense of community. On Navajo, we have a court modeled after
the western world. In Tuba City, we have a bigger juvenile prison
than recreational opportunities for our youth."
Beverly
Smith moved to Flagstaff in 2001 to attend NAU.
"Yes,
I've been discriminated against," Smith said before her
testimony. "It doesn't matter how young or how old, it's
everywhere."
Smith
told the commission about her attempts to start a Native American
Church Club on campus.
"We
are prohibited from having peyote ceremonies on campus,"
Smith said. "We are prohibited from practicing our
spirituality on campus. "
Monty
Singer has worked in construction in Flagstaff for many years.
Recently he was asked to leave a grocery store.
"I
asked the clerk 'why?' three times," Singer said. "'Is
there anything I've done wrong?' I told her that I don't do drugs
and alcohol. I tried to get a phone number I could call [to talk
about the issue] but I was refused. It's the same with the cops;
it gets to where you'd rather be in a car than walking on the
streets. It's in the school system as well."
Ron
Interpreter moved from the reservation to obtain his education and
currently resides in Cave Creek, where he runs his own business,
Red Road Architects. He offered his appreciation to the members of
the commission.
Interpreter
also supported the idea of a chapter for Navajos who live in the
Phoenix area.
"As
Navajo, we are identified by clans, not by jurisdictional
areas," Interpreter said. "There are a lot of people in
Phoenix with families on the rez."
June
Birdsong relocated from Big Mountain years ago due to the
relocation law - and said that she'd found life in Flagstaff
difficult.
"I've
tried to live here," Birdsong said. "I've experienced
hurtful treatment from the [Relocation] Commission. I had leave my
animals behind, I could not plant corn - I didn't have the place
or resources to allow me to live in harmony to continue the Dine'
way of life."
Birdsong's
youngest son also had a hard time fitting in, Birdsong said.
"My
son confronted the law; he's been through the court and the jail
systems," Birdsong said. "I was treated with scorn as I
tried to deal with the system.
"Young
people [who come to Flagstaff to go to the university] don't have
the resources or legal recourse when they get into legal
problems," Birdsong said.
Darden
expressed his gratitude to all who presented, and to those who
listened quietly.
"I've
had the great privilege to be a voice in this community,"
Darden said. "Like you, I've experienced racism-as a mixed
blood I learned discrimination from my own Navajo people first.
I've had many non-Indian friends. Not all of the people in [border
towns] are racists. We are not here to just lambaste these
communities. I have faith that we can foster a win-win-win
situation, encouraged by our forbears.
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