Protect Sacred Sites Indigenous People, One Nation

by  Martin Barillas

The University of Michigan released a statement on January 12 that after “18 months of careful deliberation, U-M has completed a formal set of policies and procedures for handling Native American human remains and cultural objects from its museum collections under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).” The statement noted that NAGPRA was passed in 1990, requiring museums such as the Ann Arbor-based institution’s Museum of Natural History to follow a mandatory process for transferring culturally affiliated human remains and associated funerary objects to individuals and groups that have requested them and have the legal right to them. On May 15, 2010, the law was expanded and clarified to embrace the transfer of culturally unidentifiable human remains.

Furthermore, read the statement, “Under the clarified law, unidentifiable remains must be transferred to the tribe or tribes that were historically located at the sites where the remains were collected. When more than one tribe has inhabited a particular area, the remains are transferred to all those that have made a request, and they then determine the final disposition among themselves.”

The University of Michigan has a small archaeological exhibit at the museum on campus that includes artifacts of various cultures, including Native American nations. In 2011, following complaints and suggestions from the public and various groups, the university removed several dioramas depicting Native American culture that had been judged outdated and in an incorrect context. The dioramas, depicting Native American life and ceremonies, had been juxtaposed with skeletons and fossils of extinct animals.

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By TIM HULL

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (CN) – The Navajo Nation claims the National Park Service sacked more than 300 sets of human remains and cultural artifacts from Canyon de Chelly National Monument, in violation of an 1868 treaty and the U.S. Constitution.

The Navajo, who refer to themselves as Diné, meaning “people,” sued the National Park Service, the Department of Interior, the two agencies’ top officials and Canyon de Chelly National Monument Park Superintendent Tom Clark, in Federal Court.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument is on the Arizona portion of the vast Navajo Reservation. Famous for its dramatic rock formations and ruins of ancient cliff dwellings, the monument is one the of reservation’s top tourist attractions, and has been featured in countless cowboy movies.

According to defendant Clark, the canyon has been inhabited and considered a spiritual landscape by the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and other tribes going back some 4,000 years. About 40 Navajo families still farm and raise livestock in the canyon.

The Navajo, the country’s largest tribe, gained title to Canyon de Chelly and its tributary Canyon del Muerto through the Treaty of 1868, which ended years of fighting between the tribe and federal troops and established the borders of the reservation. The tribe agreed to allow the federal government to establish the monument in 1930.

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Contact:

Public Information Office
Phone: (928) 734-3104                                    
Fax: (928) 734-6665

www.hopi-nsn.gov
 
October 11, 2011
 
The Hopi Tribal Council Does Not Support Navajo’s Proposal to Use Groundwater for Snowmaking on Nuvatukyaovi
 
Kykotsmovi, Ariz. – The Hopi Tribal Council does not join or support a recently proposed Navajo Nation Council Resolution recommending the use of groundwater for snowmaking on Nuvatukyaovi (the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff). 
 
Navajo Nation Councilman Walter Phelps has introduced a bill that would have the Navajo Nation support the use of groundwater for snowmaking on the San Francisco Peaks. 
 
Water – regardless of its source – is a limited and critical natural resource in the Southwest and the Hopi Tribe continues to oppose any artificial snowmaking by these means.  As set forth in the Hopi Tribe’s complaint against the city of Flagstaff, the city is already using more than its fair share of water, and any plans to sell water to the Snowbowl will only worsen this problem.  In addition, the sale of water for snowmaking so that a select few can benefit, violates the public interest in wise water use for our region.
 
Nuvatukyaovi is an important, sacred place for the Hopi which holds a central and essential role in Hopi culture, traditions and way of life. The Hopi Tribe has tirelessly opposed the issuance of the Special Use Permit to the Arizona Snowbowl, which allows for the installation of artificial snowmaking equipment.  The Hopi Tribe has maintained unwavering opposition to any type of artificial snowmaking on the San Francisco Peaks, whether from reclaimed wastewater, recovered reclaimed water or groundwater.  The only water appropriate for Nuvatukyaovi is natural water as provided by rain and snow, and there can be no exceptions.
 
The Navajo proposal is not a solution to the issues facing the tribes with respect to Arizona Snowbowl’s expansions on Nuvatukyaovi.  Hopi Tribal Chairman LeRoy N. Shingoitewa affirms, “The Hopi Tribal Council, all known Hopi religious practitioners, the Hopi Tribe and its people are still, and always will be, opposed to the use of any snowmaking operations on Nuvatukyaovi.” 
 
The Tribe continues to declare that the only solution is to prevent any and all artificial snowmaking on the Peaks and to void the contract between the city of Flagstaff and Arizona Snowbowl. 
 
For more information on the Hopi Tribe visit www.hopi-nsn.gov.