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As expected, Peabody has been given the green light to continue its rape of Black Mesa. Seven days after the promised date for their decision, OSM has released it for the Black Mesa Project, giving Peabody the life-of-mine permit they have sought, denying such things as adverse affects of N-Aquifer use, and misrepresenting comments made in letters sent in opposition. Their "record of decision" contains "five parts":
Contents, Memorandum, Map, Chronology, Findings and Approval, Permit, and Environmental Impact Statement
Endangered Species Act
Letters
Cumulative Hydrologic Impact Assessment
Technical Analyses

[Please note: The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) has reactivated on the Black Mesa Project FEIS is now available at their website, the study funded by Peabody Western Coal Company. It appears that OSM is leaning toward Alternative B though no decision has been released yet, and won't be till the beginning of December.]

[Please note: The Office of Surface Mining will still consider comments for the Final EIS that are submitted after the deadline date for comments, 2/6/07.

[Please note: Support is needed at Desert Rock. See http://www.desert-rock-blog.com/ for the latest information.]

[Please note: The Office of Surface Mining has finally published the long delayed Black Mesa Project Draft Environmental Statement. It is a long document, 758 pages in length. An executive summary is also linked on that page. The report itself can be downloaded in parts if you don't want to download the whole report at once.

Please read the report, and prepare your comments to oppose Peabody Energy's Life-Of-Mine lease.

Comments on the draft EIS may be submitted in writing or by e-mail over the Internet. At the top of your letter or in the subject line of your e-mail message, indicate that the comments are "BMP Draft EIS Comments." Include your name and return address in your letter or e- mail message. They may also be submitted snail mail to: Dennis Winterringer, Leader, Black Mesa Project EIS, OSM Western Region, P.O. Box 46667, Denver, Colorado 80201-6667. These should be mailed either first class or priorty mail.

Please note that there is a small extension for written comments. The deadline is now February 6, 2007, as stated in a recent communication from OSM on Dec. 22, 2006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Winterringer, Leader, Black Mesa Project EIS, OSM Western Region, by telephone at (303) 844-1400, extension 1440, or by e-mail at BMKEIS@osmre.gov. Please note that 17 families will face relocation should the EIS be adopted.Many thanks in advance for your support of the Dineh people.]

Please note that harassment is continuing on the land. Please see Latest Info at Black Mesa Indigenous Support, in particular, Black Mesa Elders - Take Direct Action and Elder Assaulted.

Please note that OSMRE has issued a September newsletter with important information about the Black Mesa Project EIS. It looks like things are moving ahead. Please see newsletter to read about what will be coming up soon. Please note the dates. The Draft EIS will be available in late Novemberl comments in January 2007. It may be helpful to bookmark this page.

The House Resources Committee has held a hearing 20 June 2006, on S. 1003. Please see written statements. Not all who were present at last summer's Senate Committee hearings were in attendance.

Please note: OSM has decided to "suspend" activities until "the future of the Mohave Generating Station and the project become clearer." Please see July 2006 Newsletter. Two key points should be noted even with this news:
1. It states that, "The new water-supply system would replace much of the water currently drawn from the Navajo aquifer." Notice that it doesn't say it would be totally replaced by use of the C-Aquifer.
2. It also states: "Because the viability of the proposed project is in question, OSM has suspended activities to publish the draft EIS. As the future of the Mohave Generating Station and the project become clearer, OSM will decide whether to continue or abandon preparation of the EIS." All this is dependent on whether the Salt River Project, another co-owner of Mohave can find new partners.

[Please note: an updated version of Broken Rainbow has been released with about 25 minutes in the "extra" section for updates. There you can hear what Katherine Smith, Thomas Banyacya, Jr., Louise Benally, Danny Blackgoat, Bahe Katenay, and others have to say about how things are now out on Black Mesa. If you'd like to pick up a copy of the film, it's available at Wherehouse Records as well as at Amazon. It was released 6/27/06. ]

[Please note that S. 1003 was passed and sent to the House of Representatives 2 May 2006. Please also see Page S3924. It is now in the House Resources Committee (May 3). Please let them know your views. The Navajo Nation opposes this bill, Roman Bitsuie saying, "S. 1003 would bring an abrupt end to the relocation program before any independent study of the program's successes and failures can be undertaken. Congress would repeat its earlier mistake." Read more in Navajo oppose bill that would close relocation benefits office. ]

[Please note the "studies" on the C-Aquifer, one called Groundwater Flow Model of the C Aquifer in Arizona and New Mexico, prepared by S. S. Papadopulos & Associates, Inc., described as "prepared for the Salt River Project on behalf of the use of Mohave Generating Station Co-Owners." This is a very large pdf file, so it may take some time to download, depending on your connection. The other is the USGS "study." This is a much smaller file with a very auspicious sounding title, "Numerical Ground-Water Change Model of the C Aquifer and Effects of Ground-Water Withdrawals on Stream Depletions in Selected Reaches of Clear Creek, Chevelon Creek, and the Little Colorado River, Northeastern AZ."]

[Please note articles concerning the recent protests against water use: Navajo water protesters censored by tribe, and in the Gallup Independent: Council keeps Peabody discussion private.

[See what has been going on in these meetings behind closed doors.]

[Please note the recent opinion articles that have showed up in the Navajo Times over the last two weeks some related to the secret meetings that have recently come to light. Peabody Coal Co. is off the hook?]

[Please note new articles that have been written about the pumping of the N-Aquifer as well as Peabody getting off the hook for any damage that has been incurred.
Please see the site index for more related articles.]

[Please see Comments — Mohave Generating Station and Black Mesa Mine written in response to the claims of victory that have arisen since their "closures."]

[Please see Black Mesa Mine closure for recent media. Please see site index for more recent articles about the mine and power plant closures. Also see The Struggle Continues for analysis.]

[Please note current activity regarding S 1003. This can be seen at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.1003:. Click on Congressional Record. Also see the Report recently made available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp109:FLD010:@1(sr206), or click here to retrieve the file in pdf format. As expected this law is about the coal that Peabody covets. Please see Black Mesa coal talks continue.]

[Please see Elder Rena Babbit Lane is under threat of livestock impoundment now, and please do whatever you can to help. Note that this information became available October 7, 2005. Many thanks.]

[Please see Battle over Sacred Mountain Enters Next Phase for current action to save the Peaks.]

[Another deadline? The heat is turning up again. Please see Tribes lobby to end land dispute. Resisters have asked for support. They do not want to be relocated from their homelands. Hearing on S. 1003 (McCain's proposed amendment to PL 93-531, available at Committee on Indian Affairs toward the bottom of the page ... hearing date 21 July 2005). There is a video of the hearing which can be purchased. If you want a copy of the video then you have to get one through your US Senator. However, transcripts are available for most of what was said. Please see Christopher Bavasi, President Shirley, Roman Bitsuie, Chairman Taylor, and William Ragsdale, BIA. Louis Denestsoie's is available at the Navajo Nation page. Please also see testimony for those things not found in the submitted written testimonies. ]

[Please note very sad news. Kee Watchman passed on to the spirit world June 25, 2005. He will be missed by many. Prayers are with his family and friends.]

[Take a look at what Senator John McCain has been up to lately, this one who has been lauded for being a champion of Indigenous Rights. Go to Thomas -- US Government on the Internet and type in S1003, and click enter bill number. This will take you to a page where you can read the bill as well as read References to this bill in the Congressional Record (about half way down that page), and the Bill Summary and Status file. S1003 is a pdf file of this bill. This action is not the first time he has attempted to do something like this as is shown in the Congressional Record. This information is from May 11, 2005.]

[IMPORTANT: Roberta Blackgoat's homestead is threatened. Please see Press Release to see what you can do to help. Also see the statement made about current events there. Also, if you're interested in reading reports on this gathering, there are two available, one at BMIS and the other at SENAA West.]

[Harassment has been stepped up on the land. Please see Bush Thinks America has Nailed the Final Nail on the Coffin of Indigenous History in the US (Resisters Threatened) for contact numbers. Also see URGENT: Support Needed for Dineh Resister. Many thanks for your support.]

[Currently there is a lawsuit related to the actions taken at Sundance 2001 and soon thereafter, Louise Benally et al v. Eugene Kaye et al. The case has gone into mediation as ordered by Judge Neil Wake. It is asked that contact be made with the United States District Court in support of the Navajo People in this case. Please write:
HONORABLE NEIL V. WAKE
United States District Court
Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, Suite 524
401 West Washington Street, SPC 52
Phoenix, AZ 85003
Phone: (602) 322-7640 ]

[Please note: Support for Black Mesa is Needed. Please also see Ways to Support the People of Big Mountain, Arizona USA.]

[Please note: Very sad news -- Arrick Crittendon passed on January 18, 2003. Prayers are with his family.]

[NOTE: Worldwide Prayer Gatherings will begin March 21, 2003, and held on a monthly basis. Visit SENAA International to learn more.]

This page, totally dedicated to the Dine'h of Big Mountain, is created with the idea in mind that it be a page where others can be educated about what the Dine'h have faced for over a quarter of a century, and still continue to face today, something which has gone on for far too long. It is created also in hope that those who visit will become supporters as well. Because the list of links became so long, there is another page just for these links. The tags below will take you to that page to learn more. There are also other sites which present current information, the best being those which follow here. To be kept up to date I suggest you visit the following sites on a regular basis:


and click on the link below for access to all of SENAA's pages:

SENAA link

There is also another site in the works which is truly worth your time to visit. Much is offered here in the way of information, pictures of the area used on this page as well as others, and Jake's beautuful art work. It is Bo Peep's Hogan. It is a site to visit often to see new developments.

 

It is with deep sadness that I speak of the passing of Roberta Blackgoat, one admired and respected by so many. She just wouldn't give up. She had more strength to stand up to the beast than anyone I've ever known. She will be sorely missed by those who knew her, by those whose lives she touched. It is today, April 27, 2002, that an article appeared in the mainstream news, an article which only begins to tell the story of one determined woman, Navajo who resisted land transfer is dead. There is an article at BMIS, Roberta Blackgoat Matriarch of Big Mountain and the struggle against relocation. Also, please visit In Loving Memory of Roberta Blackgoat to read a moving tribute created to honor her life. There is also a poem which is quite beautiful, Honoring Roberta as well as one I was finally able to write, In Honor of Roberta Blackgoat. She will continue to live on in the hearts and spirits of those who loved her. Respectfully I ask that you help continue her work. Circulate the petition which is mentioned below.

Prayers have been answered for those arrested at Sun Dance. The charges have been dismissed. To read one's views about the waning support, visit Why the Silence? Visit BMIS at Statement from Dine' Elders on Black Mesa, March 2002. What is sad is that Arrick was quickly convicted of trespassing at his trial on March 27. Read about it here. Information about other recent happenings can be learned Important Info on Big Mountain. People are needed on the land with cameras for documentation of the harassment by the Hopi Rangers. There have been reports of guns drawn and pepper spray used. This cannot be allowed to continue. If you can help, please visit BMIS to learn more about what is needed. Support is needed NOW.

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I also ask that you visit a new page which contains recent information and a request for help from BMIS. Please visit BMIS Call for Support and Action to see what is needed. Thank you in advance for your help.

I'm not sure if you all understand what the effect of Peabody Coal has been here. It is one where human and religious rights have been violated. It has been one which destroys the land. To more fully understand just what their strip mining does, I am excerpting some passages from Wilkinson's book, Fire on the Plateau, published in 1999. Maybe this will give you a better idea.

     "Strip mining...begins when giant earthmoving equipment bares the coal
      seamsby tearing away the topsoil and overburden-layers of rock, shale, and
      soil. Then explosives break apart and loosen the tight dense coal seams for
      scraping and loading. Each individual blasted strip is two feet wide, 30 feet
      deep, and a mile in length...Then to go deeper, the strip will be blasted
      again and again and again. The resulting pit is a man-made canyon a mile
      long, nearly that wide, and 180 feet deep" (Wilkinson Fire on the Plateau 208).

All this is being done on land that is sacred, destroying everything.

On July 12, 2001, the unconscionable began. According to reports which were made public this morning, several were arrested by the Hopi police at a Sundance ceremony meant to benefit Big Mountain. Documentation is needed there as well as calls to the Hopi police expressing outrage for these actions. The contact is Eugene Kaye at (520)734-2441, extension 107. Tonight, July 13, 2001, it is being asked that you call Gale Norton's office at (202) 208-3100. She oversees the BIA and other agencies which are connected to the land. Contact your congresspeople also at (202) 224-3121, telling them the quest for more energy at this time cannot and will not be done at the expense of others. For a more complete listing of those to contact, visit the new page at Black Mesa Indigenous Support, Relocate This. Let them know that all are watching, and that we will hold them accountable should they not listen to the hearts of the people. I also ask for prayers for everyone concerned here now. Many thanks for these and all that you can do.

It appears that the AP Wire picked up this story. You can read the article here (Traditional dance further frays relationship between Navajos, Hopis). If course, I found it very interesting that it's reported about the "Navajo's living on the Hopi Reservation." I can't help but question its source. More articles are appearing now in reference to the situation at Big Mountain. Again I question what they have to say, all but one of them, but you can read them for yourself and make up your own mind in this matter. They have been placed in their own section since the number of articles written has grown so. Just click on Sun dance to reach the section of this page which has these articles listed. To keep abreast of recent updates regarding the trial, please visit BMIS. Recent news from Big Mountain (8/17/01) new information has come to light. The latter adds insult to injury, or in this case, total disrespect. According to recent news, the Hopi Rangers, the BIA, and the Navajo Police entered Camp Anna Mae, dismantling the arbor and removing the Tree of Life. Apparently there was an arrest as well and a car impounded. Most fervently, I ask again for your prayers for all concerned.

On Friday, August 17, 2001, the HTC was at it again, this time sending in staff with bulldozers and a small army of Hopi Rangers, BIA Police, and Navajo County Sheriffs. They destroyed the arbor, and ripped out the sacred tree from Camp Anna Mae. They ripped down the prayer flags and tobacco ties. Many are reeling from this recent action which shows total disregard for the sanctity of the beliefs of others. You can read my initial response at Crisis at Big Mountain. I also ask that you visit the contacts page at BMIS - Relocate This. Please take heed of what they say in the beginning on that page. We want these actions stopped but we need to do it in such a way that it does not threaten the People on the land. As I have said many times already, many thanks for your help to stop this madness. As always I ask for your prayers as well. They are much appreciated.

The Dine'h need the support of all. For those of you who want to ask me what you can do, I'll tell you now. Write letters, lots of letters. Make phone calls. Here are some numbers I received recently. Call the Hopi Tribal Council at (520)734-3707; Benally says to ask for the Chairman, leaving "your request to protect Dineh Rights for Chairman Wayne Taylor and Eugene Kahe, Hopi Tribal Council Chief of Staff." Call Wendell Honanul at the BIA at (520)738-2225, asking him to stop the livestock impoundment and livestock reduction. Be sure to also demand that they stop "all human rights violations and carry no guns around the people." Make these calls at least once a week until January. All this is requested to protect the Dine, their indigenous and human rights. Big Mountain needs to be preserved "as a National Historical Cultural Preservation Site." It is also asked that you call the Hopi Area Bureau of Indian Affairs (520) 738-2249, and ask that they stop harassing the Dine'h elders which appears to be ongoing. Finally, let Joe Lodge at the US Attorneys Office know of your support for the Dine'h resisters. He can be reached at (520) 556-3115.

One other request is that you write your Congressmen, asking them to support H.R. 104 which will remove the Bennett Freeze, thus benefiting the Dine'h. You can visit a call to action for more information as well as SENAA's Newsletter to view a text version of the bill. The links are on this page. Thank you in advance for taking the time to do this.

Navajo resisters lose last appeal. This brought about another action which will allow the Hopi to do this, the lifting of an injunction by U.S. District Judge Earl Carroll in Arizona. This injunction was against the Hopi enforcing their grazing laws, and had been in place since 1977, three short years after PL 93-531. At this time I'm at a loss as to what to do now. If anyone has any ideas out there, let me know.

If you missed the links to the on line petitions on my home page, consider signing them now. This link will take you directly to the signature page. Don't let the forced relocations take place. The other petition is We Demand Peace and Harmony for the Dineh, Hopi, and Mother Earth. You can also find a hard copy of this petition to print and circulate Petition - Big Mountain Sovereign Nation. The place for relocation is poison. Read about its water source, the Puerco River. Investigate Peabody Coal. Look at what the strip mining has already done to Black Mesa. Every time I look at these pictures, they tear at my inner most being - my stomach turns over in knots. But they need to be seen.

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Read also about the evidence that the Navajo are related to the Anasazis, and have been living in this area, dating back to ancient times. This is not their land? Still that is what is said by those consumed by greed.

Look into the area where the government wants to relocate the Dine'. You will soon see it is not an option. Where they live is their land, and they have every right to it. No one has the right to take it away, even those who look to make money since Peabody Coal wants to have its way with Black Mesa.

These sites will provide a learning experience for all. Below this description these tags should take you quickly to the section which most interests you.

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Bennett Freeze | Sun Dance | Save the Peaks | Desert Rock | Peabody Energy | uranium | Facts Related to Chambers, AZ | Manybeads Case | Other Related Sites

Bennett Freeze
Bennett Freeze
   Family that gave land has no regrets
Bennett Freeze compact violates rights
   A formal gesture of the Navajo Nation president introduced a contract that has been in motion for
   the past two years without the knowledge of the Navajo people.

Back to square one with Bennett Freeze
   One lonely winter night in December of 1998, I sat in a motel room in Winslow, Ariz., typing on
   a typewriter I borrowed from my sister, Gloria.

Electricity slowly coming to Freeze residents
   WINDOW ROCK - For more years than she can count, Ruth Tohannie has been wanting electricity
   in her come west of Tuba City.

Freeze amendment opposed
   McCain's legislation to on Navajo, Hopi Land Settlement resisted
   WINDOW ROCK - The Intergovernmental Relations Committee of the Navajo Nation Council backed
   legislation Monday sponsored by Delegate Hope MacDonald-LoneTree opposing the Navajo-Hopi
   Land Settlement Amendments of 2005 sponsored by U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Freeze comments frost delegates
   WINDOW ROCK — The three Navajo Nation Council delegates who voted Tuesday against the proposed
   intergovernmental compact between the Nation and the Hopi Tribe say they are not happy with statements
   made Wednesday by President Joe Shirley Jr. on KTNN Radio.

Freeze residents file lawsuit, seek to void compact
   WINDOW ROCK - Residents of the Bennett Freeze area have files a lawsuit in Tuba City District Court to
   get the intergovernmental agreement between the Hopis and the Navajos voided because parts of it are to
   remain secret....
Freeze residents impatient with planning process
   TUBA CITY - The residents of the former Bennett Freeze do not understand why it is taking tribal
   planners so long to figure out what they need....

New homes planned in Bennett Freeze
   WINDOW ROCK - The 1934 Reservation Subcommittee, of the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission, adopted a
   plan of operations and a work plan Monday.


Desert Rock
Desert Rock blog
Dog 'skinned alive'
   WINDOW ROCK — A sheep dog belonging to a Navajo elder who claims she did not sign over her grazing
   area, was "skinned alive, run over twice," and tossed next to a campsite occupied by Desert Rock resisters.

EPA releases Desert Rock public comments: No time line yet on final air permit for proposed power plant
   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has compiled and released about 1,000 comments on the
   draft air permit for the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant, which would be located in Burnham on
   the Navajo Nation.
Global warming bill delays Desert Rock
   ST. MICHAELS � The air permit for the Desert Rock Energy Project is being held up by U.S.
   Environmental Protection Agency over concerns with the Endangered Species Act and global
   warming, and legislation introduced March 11 in Washington is not going to help the matter.
'A Step in the wrong direction (Desert Rock)
   WINDOW ROCK - A lawsuit filed Tuesday by Desert Rock Energy Co. LLC and Diné Power Authority
   against U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “is unfortunate and premature, according to New
   Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry.


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The Dine'h
$1 million earmarked for Black Mesa mud
   WINDOW ROCK - Since word went out Monday about snow and mud conditions in the Black Mesa area,
  "it has triggered a lot of response," Delegate Amos Johnson said Tuesday afternoon during a break
   in the Navajo Nation Council's debate on allocating $1 million for Emergency Management to deal with
   weather-related emergencies.
Accord reached for sacred Hopi sites on Navajo land
    PHOENIX (AP) -- After a bitter 40-year dispute, leaders of the Navajo and Hopi tribes sat together
   Friday and signed an agreement that allowed development on 700,000 acres of land that both claim as
   their own.
Adopt-a -Native-Elder Program
Alert - Big Mountain - July 2002
      learn more about what you can do to stop the current escalation of
      terrorism against those who live at Big Mountain brought on by the constant
      presence of armed Hopi Rangers.
Analysis of Dine'h Case Needs
Back in the saddle
   WINDOW ROCK — The 10th Annual Navajo Nation Council Horse Ride will start July 13
   from Cameron Chapter, with those riders and Navajo Mountain riders merging
   at Tolani Lake and continuing on to Window Rock for the opening of the
   summer council session.
   Larry Noble and Willie Grayeyes, co-coordinators of the event, will lead riders on a trek
    across Navajoland in the tradition of tribal government leaders who have gone before them.
Beyond Dispute
Big Mountain
Big Mountain
Big Mountain Elders, Sundancers Resist Relocation
Big Mountain: Speech Read and Submitted by Coal Miner
Big Mountain Sundance grounds fenced by rangers
   a must read about current actions of the HTC and their armed guard,
   the Hopi Rangers - their latest act of harassment July 8, 2002 -
   article written by Brenda Norrell
Big Mtn. Dineh Support for Longest Walk II (Northern Route)
Big Mountain supporters targeted in Denver police spy files
   another article by Brenda Norrell, another must read
Black Mesa
Black Mesa, Arizona - Navajo Nation
Black Mesa Contacts
Black Mesa Historicals

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Black Mesa Indigenous Support (BMIS)
    This site has been revamped and contains much
    useful information. Current information can be
    found here about address for contact what is going on
    at Black Mesa. Please note the new email
    address for contact via the web.
Black Mesa Monitoring Program
   Charts about water usage here through 2000
Black Mesa Project goals
   a brief listing of the goals for Peabody's current permit request for
   Black Meas mine, almost simplistically given, no mention of the people this
   permit would effect, on the same page with an article presenting the
   the scewed response to protests against the LOM permit.
Black Mesa Support Updates
The Black Mesa Syndrome: Indian Lands, Black Gold
Black Mesa residents urge search for energy alternatives
   What is said here in terms of being certain Mohave will be shut down
   in light of earlier articles that have appeared that seemed to
   indicate that the DOI, HTC, NTC and Peabody were negotiating an
   extension of Peabody's lease. Peabody was also arrogant enough
   to say they had the "right" to use the N-Aquifer, and claim once
   that their usage of the N-Aquifer is not responsible for diminishing
   water levels or anything else associated with this use.
Black Mesa Trust
   this site was down for a while but is now up and working again
Black Mesa Weavers for Life and Land
Bo Peep's Hogan
Blood Money (Headwaters News -- Perspective)
   two articles -- Traditional Navajo and Hopi warned against strip mining Black
   Mesa and Contradictions run deep on Black Mesa
   October 23, 2002
Broken Rainbow on YouTube
Bush Thinks America has Nailed the Final Nail on the Coffin of Indigenous History in the US the Sacred Mountains: The Effects of the Navajo-Hopi Land
Chapter official wants emergency assessment now
   BLACK MESA - Glenna Chee, an official with Black Mesa Chapter, received a distress call Sunday
   evening from a mother stuck somewhere on the road near Kitsillie, but there was no way she
   could get there to help.
Cheyfitz, Gladue: Why not a chapter for the Navajos living on the Hopi partitioned lands?
       Katherine Smith, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and a life-long
       resident of Big Mountain on the HPL, wrote the following:
       "At this point in history, we, [HPL] Navajos, have no sovereignty left.
       We do not have power over our own lives or stewardship over our natural resources.
       The Dineh who live on the HPL under the 1996 Accommodation Agreement,
       are without proper political representation. Furthermore, HPL residents
       are left with no resources for funding basic human services, including community
       buildings, housing, decent roads, electricity and running water. Residents
       must drive long distances to access health services, schools, jobs, haul
       drinking water, pick-up mail, get gas, and groceries."
Chiron Communications
   Read about the Hiroshima Flame Interfaith Pilgrimage, and the
   extinguishing of the Hiroshima Peace Flame here.
Council votes against use of Navajo Aquifer
Dark Days on Black Mesa

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Deep Background
Dineh included in U.S. apartheid report to UN
   San Francisco - Navajo victims of coal mining and uranium mining are among the indigenous
   peoples included in a report on racism, forced assimilation and apartheid in the United States.
Dineh Information Site
    What is contained here was at the Mauro de Oliveira's
    Solsite that he created which has since been
    dismantled. You will see that this site is maintained as it
    was before in honor of Mauro's hard work.
    It is now part of SENAA International.
    the history of the area as told by Ruth Benally - a must
    read found in Indian Country Today - 8/21/01
the Dine', Navajo, Navajoland, Dine'tah
Dineh Nation Under Seige 1998
Dine' officials discuss Bennett Freeze agreement on KTNN radio
   WINDOW ROCK - The Navajo Nation's attorney general and the director of the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission
   told radio listeners Aug. 17 that the proposed Intergovernmental Compact between the Navajo
   Nation and Hopi Tribe will result in no land exchanges, relocation, loss of Navajo land or livestock
   or loss of sites sacred to either the Navajo or Hopi people.
Dineh Project / Video Documentation Fund
Dine'h Removal Accommodates Peabody Coal
Dirty Coal and Power at the Navajo Blockade
   BURNHAN CHAPTER, N.M. -- As Navajo elderly camp in the cold at a blockade of a planned power plant,
   the Navajo Nation Council plans to meet in special session to allocate millions for the Desert Rock
   Power Plant.
Dineh Testimony
Documentation
    Want to see the before and after effects of
    Peabody Coal? Look here.
Dividing the Sky
Don't close your doors until you clean up your mess
   Bravo! To Ms. Pauline Whitesinger in her continuous effort to take a stance in her beliefs and
   values! An exemplary woman continuing her crusade to remain on the land (Hopi Partitioned
   Land) so precious and dear to her heart that we learn by now is rich (plentiful) with natural resources.
Draining the Upper World: The Black Mesa Mine and the Navajo Aquifer
E in Brief -- Sacrificing the Sacred Mountains (Jan.-Feb. 2000)
An earful for the prez
   Attending a meeting on the Bennett Freeze in Tuba City last Friday, President Joe Shirley Jr.
   got an earful ... and not from supporters chanting "Four more years!"
Elders fight to keep land
   Peabody opponent says elderly suffer from stress disorder
   Elders fighting for survival on Black Mesa, the effects of Peabody Coal
   clearly seen. Their existence is likened to what soldiers often experience
   as a result of fighting in a war, but this "war zone" is one in which these
   Elders live. There is no end.
Environmental Justice Case Study: Navajo-Hopi Struggle to Protect
   the Big Mountain Reservation
Enviros encouraged over Mohave closure
   The permanent closure of the Mohave Generating Station marks the end of an era, but it could also
   be the beginning of a new, cleaner one, according to a coalition of environmental groups.
Experts say aquifers running dry
   Communities from Williams and Tusayan to Flagstaff and Tuba City are going to be using more water
   than they can sustainably draw from the ground by 2050, the Bureau of Reclamation has found in one
An Exploratory Visit to Big Mountain, AZ
European Parliament/Black Mesa Resolution
European Parliament Urgency Resolution
Forum on Black Mesa: Corporate Globalization & Indigenous Cultural Survival
Four Corners plant rates at top in pollution category 7/30/07
   No power plant in the country emits more total nitrogen oxides than the Four Corners Power Plant,
   according to a new report compiled from government data called "Dirty Kilowatts."
Fence damage charge against elder dismissed
   Kykotsmovi, Ariz. - Judge Delfred Leslie of the Hopi Tribal Court dismissed the criminal charge of
   damaging fences against Rena Babbitt Lane on Jan. 25, according to a news release from her
   lawyer, James Zion.
Fighting for home Bennett Freeze dissenters ready for legal battle
    BIG MOUNTAIN, Ariz. - An Aug. 18 meeting at Sam Yazzie�s home, called "forgotten people" by
   its organizers, starred with a Navajo prayer chanted by medicine man, Norris Nez of Hollow
   Mesa, Ariz.
Fighting Genocide at Black Mesa

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Geopolitics of the Navaho-Hopi 'Land Dispute" by John Redhouse
Great Grandmother from Dineh Nation to Testify at International Peoples?*
   Tribunal on Human Rights and the Environment

HELP US! Delegate: National Guard needed in Black Mesa
   BLACK MESA - Weekend rain and snow have left residents of the Black Mesa area bogged down in the mud,
   and Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amos Johnson believes it�s time to call upon the National Guard.
A Heritage Broken A Trust Betrayed
Holes and cracks scar Black Mesa landscape
Honoring Roberta
Hopi/Dineh Grandmothers Cry out for Help!
   IMPORTANT: page will ask to print but this can be cancelled.
Hopis, Navajos end 40-year battle
   An accord has been reached between the Navajo and Hopi tribes to end a bitter 40-year struggle over
   Hopi religious sites on more than 700,000 acres of the western Navajo Reservation.
hopi and navajo prophecy
Hopi's ongoing struggle for land, air and water
Hopi, Peabody cases top council's agenda
Holy Wind Camp; Natural Law
Hopi: Bill Divides Two Tribes
   WINDOW ROCK - Hopi Tribal Chairman Ivan Sidney on Tuesday told the U.S. House Committee on
   Resources that the Hopi Tribe is opposed to amending the Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act and
   urged the committee to reconsider moving forward with a bill that would pit Hopi and Navajo
   against each other.
Human Rights Violations of Dineh "Indians"
Information withheld? Delegates question timing of release of details about Bennett Freeze settlement
   WINDOW ROCK - News of a settlement agreement on the Bennett Freeze approved by the
   Hopi Tribe in 2004 apparently has been kept from the Navajo people for nearly two years.
Impacts of Resource Development on Native American Lands
iptcase
Just Transition Coalition Secures First Step Towards a
   
Sustainable Economic Future for Navajo and Hopi Peoples
   2006-05-20 | In the wake of the shutdown of the Mohave Generating Station, California
   energy regulators approved a request by the Just Transition Coalition to track
   and accumulate revenues from the sales of sulfur credits from Mohave's
   primary owner, Southern California Edison, for possible future
   distribution to the tribes once determination of Mohave's future operation is made.
Land Dispute History
   1882: An order by President Arthur sets aside about 2.5 million acres in northeastern Arizona
   for the Hopis and "other Indians" who might be settled there by the Interior secretary. The land
   centers on the mesas of the village-dwelling Hopis but includes areas occupied by
   scattered Navajo sheepherders.
Land settlement in sight Navajo, Hopi negotiating teams reach agreement on language in the proposed compact
   WINDOW ROCK — Since 1958, the Navajo and Hopi tribes have been involved in litigation over various
   aspects of the Navajo-Hopi land dispute. A proposed intergovernmental compact would settle a
   lawsuit authorized by Congress in 1974.
   Please see also Oxfam America: Tó Nizoní Aní
Land Use History of the Colorado Plateau - Black Mesa
Land talks take place in private Delegates question timing of release of details about Bennett Freeze settlement
   Despite objections to keep Friday's special Intergovernmental Relations Committee meeting open so
   the Navajo people might have some idea of what they're giving and getting in a proposed Bennett Freeze
   agreement, IGR voted 6-2 for executive session at the request of the attorney general.
Leonard Benally Speaks in Geneva Working Group on Indigenous Peoples - UN Human Rights
Leupp, Black Mesa, Hardrock unite to protect aquifers
Making a Difference
Making a Just Transition
   On the last day of 2005, the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada, powered down. The closure
   forced northern Arizona's Black Mesa Coal Mine to halt operations - its sole customer was the Mohave plant.
   As went the station and the mine, so went the pipeline that carried a slurry of water and Black Mesa coal 273
   miles from the mine to the power plant, where it was dried and burned to create electricity for Las Vegas and
   Southern California. They fell, one after the other, "like three big dominoes," says Andy Bessler, of the Sierra
   Club's Partnerships program. On the first day of 2006, a system that had existed for more than 30 years, that
   had obscured views of the Grand Canyon with air pollution and drawn down the Navajo aquifer, was brought
   to a standstill.
McCain bill would dissolve U.S. relocation office
McCain proposes closing federal relocation office
   Note the current rhetoric regarding McCain's "solution" as it is reported.
   Can't help but wonder what is really in the works considering the phraseology used
   here. Granted some key points were made about those who have been relocated,
   such as the death of elders soon after this action.
McCain prods tribes, government on tribal land dispute
   it's all about the money. listen to the hearing.
Migrations
Move from land tough on Navajos
   DINNEBITO - The area is called Hard Rocks, an appropriate name since no grass remains for Navajo
   shepherds and their flocks. It was here, 20 years ago today, that protesters, spurred on by elderly Navajo
   grandmothers, made their final stand at the fence and pinon ridge lines against the largest forced
   movement of Native Americans during the 20th century.
Myth-Fact: Land Dispute
Mining - the Navajo - to Extinction
Mining the Sacred Water of Black Mesa
Monitoring the Effects of Ground-Water Withdrawals from the N-Aquifer
Native Americans and the Environment: Research on the Land Use History...
Native Americans Resist Forced Relocation
Native Net: Navajo-Hopi "land dispute" articles from NATIVE-L
Navajo (Sierra Club New York)
   Unregulated U.S. Power Plants Threaten Global Climate and Human Rights:
   Act Now To Stop Proliferation of "National Sacrifice Area."
Navajo Coal-Fired Plant Called a Cleaner Energy Source, but Critics Disagree
   A handful of people, mostly Navajo women, have sat vigil on a dusty expanse of reservation land
   for months, hoping their presence will help to block the construction of a proposed $3 billion
   power plant that would keep the lights on in a million or more homes in Phoenix and Las Vegas, Nev.
Navajo councilman challenges Congress over relocation bill Indian Country Today, 10 July 2006
   TUBA CITY, Ariz. - Speaking out against the Navajo Hopi Land Settlement Act of 2005, known also
   as Senate Bill 1003, Navajo councilman Hope MacDonald-LoneTree said the U.S. government is treating
   Navajos the same way Iraqi are treated, with disregard to rebuilding nations that have been devastated.
Navajo 'grammas' provide heritage of will, wisdom
   An article by Jack Utter that first appeared in the Arizona Republic on March 5,
   2002, -- well worth the read.
NAVAJO-HOPI Land Dispute, History, Maps, Links

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Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Documents 1854-1984
Navajo and Hopi leaders testify
   Bill transferring relocation duties sharply criticized
Navajo President, Hopi Vice Chairman join Interior Secretary to sign historic Compact
    PHOENIX - With half the 250 people standing shoulder-to-shoulder and peering over a
   throng of photographers, the federal Interior secretary and the two leaders of the Navajo and Hopi nations
   signed documents to clear the way to coexist on a piece of land and remove a four-decade-old development ban
   that is unique in American history.
Navajo relocation mired in human suffering and costs
Navajo Sun Dances on Hopi Land
   Dine'h Response To: Traditional Lakota denounces Navajo Sun Dances on Hopi
   land
Navajos and Environmentalists Split on Power Plant
   NY Times - BURNHAM, N.M. - For the Navajo nation, energy is the most valuable currency. The tribal
   plands are rich with uranium, natural gas, wind, sun and, most of all, coal.
Navajos help friendship house
   CHINLE - Navajo relocatees and their children were "definitely" a factor in saving the
   Intertribal Friendship House in Oakland, Calif., last year, IFH spokesman George Galvis said in a
   recent telephone interview.
Navajos set to tap power of the wind
   Hundreds of windmills reaching nearly 400 feet into the sky could begin sprouting on the Navajo
   Reservation north of Flagstaff under a new agreement to harness wind energy for electrical use.
Navajo Resist John McCain's SB 1003
   listen to the wav file that accompanies this article to hear the voices of people from the land
   and the views of the Navajo Nation as revealed by George Hardeen, spokesperson
News About Big Mountain - Black Mesa
NRDC: Natural Resources Defense Council
NRDC: Natural Resources Defense Council - Drink...
NDRC Drawdown: An Update on Groundwater Mining on Black Mesa
       note the new water study available in a pdf file
       along with the study from 2000
Paths planned for energy lines across Navajo Nation
   WINDOW ROCK - Members of the Navajo Nation learned this week that they may find themselves hosting
   several federal energy corridors - wide swaths of land for pipelines and electrical lines
   - though it's still uncertain which families would be affected.
PBI North American Project Slide Show
   Check out the next 3 slides beginning with the one linked here.
Pauline Whitesinger
Pandering to Corporations, Drilling Sacred Lands of the West
   Read the uncensored version of this article.
Panel rejects deal settling Navajo, Hopi land feud
   WINDOW ROCK - The Government Services Committee narrowly rejected an agreement Monday aimed at
   settling the Navajo-Hopi land feud....
"the People's Path home page" - Articles - Arlene's Exclusion
"the People's Path" Articles - The Numbers Game on Black Mesa
"the People's Paths!" NAIIP Newspath - Black Mesa Crisis
"the People's Paths home page!" Articles - Black Mesa Under Threat
"the People's Paths!" NAIIP News Path!Save Big Mountain/Black Mesa
    Prayer
"the People's Paths!" Paths to Articles!
   links to several articles about Big Mountain
"the People's Paths!" Prayer Walk
President signs historic legislation
   Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. signed to historic pieces of legislation Friday one to
   close the book on the past and the other to begin a new chapter in Navajo history.
Program assists Navajo elders
   For information about how you can help, call 801-474-0535 or consult the Web at http://www.anelder.org.
The Rape of Black Mesa
Questions and Answers About Black Mesa/Kayenta
Renewable energy best choice for Dineh
Riders push to end Peabody's pumping of N-Aquifer
Roberta Blackgoat's Page
Sacred Lands? An Open Letter
   personal reflections stemming from the reactions of others to sacred lands

Save Black Mesa!
   An editorial in the San Francisco Bay Guardian that appeared around 9/18/02
   -- there is an email address there to contact regarding your comments on this
   issue and the pending decision -- Save Black Mesa Water
SENNA International
SENNA West
Sell Outs? Protestors say council puts mining interests before its citizens
     Recent protests by residents of Black Mesa -- pre Earth Day --
     addressing Peabody's recent request to expand both the Black Mesa and
     and Kayenta Mines. For those in gov't., it's all about the money as always.
   Now is the time to write to your Senators continuously, urging this study be
   done by impartial observers, not one done by those who represent the
   vested money interests in Black Mesa. Check back here often for more
   information about this.
Severe Winter Drought Causing Hardship for Dine'h
   Residents at Big Mountain
Short History Of Big Mountain - Black Mesa
Sovereign Dine'h Nation
Shirley wants 'unbiased' study
   WINDOW ROCK - Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., in testimony this week before the
   U.S. House Resources Committee, requested an independent, "unbiased" non-federal consultant
   conduct a one-year study to examine the impacts of relocation on the Navajo and Hopi people.
Solar energy a good idea
   KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz., - I look forward to a future for the Colorado Plateau, ancient homeland
   of the Hopi people, that is radically different from the one envisioned by the federal government
   when the Four Corners area was informally designated as a "national sacrifice area" in the
   1960s and 1970s.
Sovereign Dine'h Nation Alert
Speaking Dineh to Dirty Power: Navajo Challenge New Coal-Fired Plant
   In a makeshift hut on a hilltop in the high desert near Farmington, New Mexico, local
   schoolteacher David Nez projects a PowerPoint presentation on a blanket nailed to the wall.
   Outside the door, a small wind and solar generator silently provides the electricity for his
   computer-aided presentation. Less than a mile away, a different technology rules. Smoke
   plumes mark the horizon from huge coal-fired power plants, as an enormous crane rips into the
   Navajo coal mine, the largest open pit mine in the western U.S.
Struggles Continue Despite Black Mesa Mine Shut Down
STILL IMPASSABLE
   A week later, Black Mesa area roads a mess

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Top of Page

Peabody Energy

AG: Lawsuit against Peabody to resume
TUBA CITY - Negotiations to settle the Navajo Nation's 1999 lawsuit against Peabody Energy Company, which involves
   $600 million in damages, are over.
American Indians threaten suit over Peabody's Arizona mine
Arizona utility seeks investors to reopen Mohave coal plant
   SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A publicly owned Arizona utility is on the hunt for investors who
   will share its dream of restarting a shuttered coal-fired power plant in the Nevada desert that was
   abandoned by its other owners.
Anti-plant rally continues on first day of Navajo council meetings
Black Mesa coal mine set to reopen
    LAUGHLIN - Southern California Edison is giving up its effort to resuscitate the Mohave Generating
   Station after trying for almost two years to revive the 1970s era plant which provided up to 1,500
   megawatts of electricity to urban residents. May 24, 2007
Black Mesa and Kayenta Mines, Life-of-Mine Plans and Water Supply Project,
Black Mesa studies to resume, slurry appears dead
   Behind closed doors again. Short history included
   Coconino, Navajo, and Mohave Counties, AZ, and Clark County, NV
   Comments are still being accepted by OSM. Dates and places of meetings
   are posted there as well as Peabody's intentions for the future at Black Mesa mine
Black Mesa Project FEIS available
   WINDOW ROCK - The final Environmental Impact Statement analyzing the effects of the Black Mesa
   Project was published Friday in the Federal Register by the U.S. Office of Surface Mining and the
   Environmental Protection Agency.
Black Mesa Project Fact Sheet
Black Mesa coal talks continue
Black Mesa Project EIS Fact Sheet
Black Mesa EIS meeting one for the record
     To call Tuesday night's meeting on Peabody Western Coal Co.'s Black Mesa Project a public
  hearing, "is really inadequate," Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amos Johnson told federal officials.
     But that wasn't the only complaint in an evening that didn't get off to a good start and
  broke up just short of descending into verbal chaos....
Black Mesa Project impacts include relocation
   WINDOW ROCK -- Peabody Western Coal Co.'s proposed Black Mesa Project would require the relocation of
   17 Navajo households, the clearing of more than 13,000 acres of land, and an expected decrease in
   groundwater quality.
Black Mesa residents urge search for energy alternatives
Black Mesa's troubled history
   Coal strip mining was controversial on Black Mesa from the very beginning. When it was first
   proposed during the MacDonald administration in the 70s, residents of the highly traditional
   area predicted that it would divide the community.
Bringing Back Desert Springs
   Read to learn about the droubt in NE Arizona, the problems caused
   while Peabody Energy continues to drain Black Mesa's life to slurry the coal
Bush's dirty tricks campaign for Peabody Coal
Colorado pipeline plan in limbo
'C' Aquifer memo gains panel's OK
   The Coconino Aquifer as an alternative for Peabody Energy is discussed here.
   While neither the Navajo nor Hopi Nations are mentioned utility companies are
   --the Salt River Project, Southern California Edison, Nevada Power Company,
   and LA Water and Power along with the DOI.
Coalition works to bring renewable energy to northern AZ
   FLAGSTAFF-Navajo and Hopi tribal members, regional and national renewable energy experts gathered
at Northern Arizona University (NAU) on Jan. 17-19 for the first step in bringing renewable energy to northern Arizona's
Indian lands on a grand scale.
Company agrees to fund Black Mesa water study
Delegates get rude welcome
   Anti-Peabody protesters hammer tribal council on 'C' Aquifer deal
Efforts revived to save Black Mesa
   Close to yet another agreement that will use more water and
   and Peabody will continue its rape of Black Mesa
Feds approve Black Mesa life-of-mine permit
   CHINLE – In a move that surprised no one, the U.S. Office of Surface Mining gave Peabody Western
   Coal Co. a Christmas present, approving the company's application to roll the closed Black
   Mesa Mine into the life-of-mine permit for the Kayenta Mine....
Feds: Benefits outweigh harm in Black Mesa
   WINDOW ROCK — A draft Environmental Impact Statement put out by the U.S. Office of Surface Mining
   Reclamation and enforcement recommends that the Black Mesa Mine be reopened and the neighboring
   Kayenta Mine be expanded.
Feds, Mine Owners Meet to Keep Mohave Power Plant Open
   Peabody is winning again, and the People lose
Forecast murky for Black Mesa Project
   WINDOW ROCK - A study to expand strip mining on Black Mesa may stall for lack of money.
Groups challenge EIS
   WINDOW ROCK - National and tribal environmental watchdog groups have asked the Office of
   Surface Mining to redraft the Black Mesa Project draft Environmental Impact Statement.
Hopi chair: Survival is tied to mine at Mohave
Killing the Hopi waters
   an article written by Vernon Masayesva and found in the print
   edition of the Navajo Times, June 17, 2004
Hopi chairman denounces fed finding on Black Mesa
     KEAMS CANYON, Ariz. � Suspended Hopi Tribal Chairman Benjamin Nuvamsa said last
     week that a federal proposal to incorporate Peabody Western Coal Co.�s idle Black
     Mesa coal mine into the permit for its Kayenta Mine is a premature decision that could
     effectively shut out the tribe from decisions about its coal for years to come.
Hopis face uncertain future
   Chairman Taylor laments lack of water, jobs and mine closures,
   trying to build a case for the continuance of the Black Mesa mine
Hopis sue over pipeline meetings
   A class-action lawsuit might soon settle the question: Can federal agencies conduct important
   business during ceremonial holidays when traditional Hopis are bound to be absent?
Hopi Future Hinges on Economics of Energy
Leupp residents anxious about Peabody water plans
   LEUPP, Ariz. - More than 140 people showed up at two public hearings held here on the U.S.
Office of Surface Mining's draft environmental impact statement on the proposed Black Mesa Project last week.
Leupp Chapter considers Just Transition
   LEUPP-Leupp Chapter officials and chapter members received a request for a resolution supporting
   the Just Transition Coalition's proposal that includes plans to bring economic development and energy
   to the Navajo and Hopi reservations.
MacDonald joins call to derail Black Mesa plan
     The time has come for Peabody Coal Co. to leave Navajo land and let other companies
     mine and market the coal reserves it has controlled for close to 50 years, a
     former tribal leader said Tuesday.
Meetings held to educate public on Black Mesa EIS
Black Mesa Project document is lengthy and confusing, some say
   KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. - When one reads the Black Mesa Project Draft Environmental Impact Study (EIS),
   it appears that the Hopi Tribe is a cooperating agency in the process-something that is just plain
   wrong, according to Vernon Masayesva of the Hopi Tribe.
Mine closing to hit Hopi budget hardest
Mine pipeline could dry up Leupp wells
   Pumping water from the aquifer near Leupp to a reopened Black Mesa Mine would
   help restore hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in annual tribal revenues ... Seventeen Navajo
   families in the path of the new pipeline would need to be relocated...
Mining the Sacred Water of Black Mesa
   not really new but a good read about the effects of Peabody on Black Mesa,
   published in the winter 2002
Mohave closure now permanent
   note that in this Gallup Independent article there is mention of the EIS coming out in July
Mohave Generating Station: Pollution feud unresolved
   Plant in Laughlin faces Dec. 31 closure for failing to install $1 billion in controls
Mohave decommissioning good news, greens say
   CHINLE - Southern California Edison's recent announcement that it will abandon efforts to sell the Mohave
   Generating Station may be
   bad news for Peabody Western Coal Co., but it's good news for local environmentalists who are pushing a
   "Just Transition" to clean power.
Mohave demise leaves Black Mesa plan in limbo
  &nsbp;WINDOW ROCK - Tomorrow, June 15, will mark one month since Southern California Edison threw in
   the towel in its battle to revive the Mohave Generating Station, sole customer for coal from
   the Navajo Nation's Black Mesa Mine.
Mohave proposal gets mixed reaction
   John Kennon, a Laughlin area resident who retired from the closed coal-fired power plant there,
   wonders why Nevada officials want to build another one near Ely.
Mohave sale, restart dead
   WINDOW ROCK - Efforts to find a buyer for Mohave Generating Station have failed, and co-owners are
   now in the process of ceasing all activities aimed at preserving and restarting the plant,
   Southern California Edison announced Tuesday in its monthly report to the California Public Utilities
   Commission.
Mohave to seek alternatives to keep plant, coalmine open
   not a surprise ... article posted in the Navajo Times December 17
Navajo Nation Home Page (Navajo v. Peabody)
    Navajo Nation given go ahead in suit against Peabody and Southern
   California Edison
Navajo, Hopi citizens vow to stop Peabody coal mine expansion
   Flagstaff, Ariz. � Two days before Christmas, officials from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining have
   granted a permit to Peabody Coal Company to expand their mining operations on Navajo and Hopi
   lands, despite opposition from local communities and problems with the permitting process including
   lack of adequate time for public comment on a significant revision to the permit, insufficient
   environmental review, and instability in the Hopi government preventing their legitimate participation
   in the process. OSM�s �Record of Decision� is the final stage of the permitting process for the
proposed �Black Mesa Project,� which would grant Peabody Coal Company a life-of-mine permit for the �Black Mesa    Complex� in northern Arizona. Tribal citizens protest the
expanding mining operations of Peabody Coal Company.
Navajos protest water talks with Peabody Coal
   WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - Navajos marched to the Navajo Nation Council and protested the tribe's
   negotiations with Peabody Coal, opposing the use of Navajos' pristine aquifer water by coal mines
   and power plants. Navajos from remote areas, many of whom live without running water and drive long
   distances to haul their drinking water, protested ongoing negotiations with Peabody Coal for
   continued use of the N and C aquifers' water for coal slurry in Arizona.
Navajo-style plan arises to save coal jobs
   plan includes allowing Peabody to continue using the pristine water of the N-
   Aquifer to save jobs at the Black Mesa mine
Navajos protest energy exploitation at council
   WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - Navajos arrived by horseback and on foot at the tribal capitol
   to protest the use of Navajo water for coal slurry in Arizona, a plan to build
   a new power plant in New Mexico, and extensive pollution from oil and gas wells,
   coal mines and power plants throughout the Navajo Nation.
Don't read too much into coal proposals
     The March memo referred to in the Daily Sun story, "Tribes desperate to reopen
     coal mine," (May 7, 2006) was only a proposal, not a legal document. It is incorrect
     to say that the tribes were willing to give up anything. The March 7 document does not
     indicate what the tribes are willing to give up. Therefore the Daily Sun piece
     serves up speculation and an incomplete story. Please note report as well as the NRDC report.
No power plant aids N-aquifer
   Black Mesa Environmental Impact Statement to be reactivated
OSM won't discuss Peabody's mining application with Hopi and Navajo
      people
Peabody Announces Closure Of Black Mesa Mine, Layoffs
   nothing to celebrate. looks like this closure is only temporary, that is until the MGS makes up its mind whether
   bring itself up to par with environmental regulations
Peabody leases may be invalid
   well, what do ya know?!
Peabody's Black Mesa Mine Fact Sheet - hearings have begun!
Peabody cited cited in fatal accident at Kayenta Mine
   CHINLE - Faulty circuitry and short-cutting safety procedures led to the Nov. 5 accident at Peabody
   Western Coal Co.'s Kayenta Mine that cost a Rough Rock man his life, the federal Mine Safety and Health
   Administration has concluded.
Peabody Energy's Crimes: Part I
   the title for this article speaks for itself, giving a brief history
   of Peabody's destruction of the land no matter what the cost.
Peabody vs. Navajo Nation
Peabody Coal
    ("The links explains (sic) the destruction of Black Mesa by Peabody
    Coal for Profit.")
Peabody Coal Relocates Navajo - Background + Update
Peabody happy with progress to keep Mohave plant open
   So the doublespeak begins yet again to keep the rape of Black Mesa
   continuing, all in the interest of money. Peabody "claims" to "respect
   the cultural concerns" of both tribes, yet where was this concern
   as it depleted the N-Aquifer, affecting all living in the region?
   Trust Peabody and its figures? When pigs fly perhaps.
   Ask the People residing on the land what they think about this.
Plug pulled on power plant
   Efforts to restart Mohave Generating Station halted, report says
Peabody to combine mines, upsetting tribes
   Despite activists� and tribal objections, the federal agency that regulates surface mining
   approved a permit revision that combines the coal reserves and facilities of Peabody Energy�s
   two Arizona coal mines....
Power down: polluting power plant near Laughlin may close in 2005
Riders arrive carrying concerns of the people
Rush put on keeping Mohave, Black Mesa open
   Now it seems the US government has stepped in because of this meeting called
   by J. Steven Griles, the U.S. Interior Department's Assistant Secretary
   for Indian Trust Affairs, to try to keep both the mine open and
   the Mohave Generating Station. Looks like the quest for dollars
Edison replies to Reid
   LAUGHLIN - Southern California Edison has issued its replies to the latest attack by Sen. Harry Reid,
   D-Nev., against restarting the mothballed coal-fired electric generating station in the middle of
   Laughlin.
SCE: Plant purchase still possible
   LAUGHLIN - Southern California Edison is traveling simultaneous tracks which lead in
   opposite directions concerning the future of the idled Mohave Generating Station.
Shutdown of Peabody pumps imminent
   Masayesva's reflection on the closure of the Black Mesa Mine, calling for
   hydrologists checking of all wells because of concerns of possible
   contamination of the N-Aquifer.
Southern California Edison to sell Nevada Mohave plant
   Southern California Edison and three other owners will not try to reopen the Mohave Generating
   Station in Laughlin, Nev., and instead will try to sell it, the company announced Monday.
SRP wants to restart controversial coal plant
   Salt River Project wants to restart a controversial coal-fired power plant near Laughlin, Nev., that
   was shut down in December because of environmental problems.
Station won't be revived
    LAUGHLIN - Southern California Edison is giving up its effort to resuscitate the Mohave Generating Station
   after trying for almost two
   years to revive the 1970s era plant which provided up to 1,500 megawatts of electricity to urban residents. May 23, 2007
Taylor: Taking control of Hopi resources and our future
   Hopi chairman tells Peabody halt using water
Tribe struggles to digest loss of revenue
'Tell Peabody to fly a kite'
   Former Chairman McDonald says Navajos 'must control' their water
   It's time the Navajo Nation stood up, grabbed the reins of a runaway horse, and took the
   matter of tribal water rights into its own hands, according to former Navajo Nation
   Chairman Peter MacDonald.
   Speaking at a "Water for Din NOT Peabody" public education and awareness meeting in Dilkon Monday
   afternoon,    MacDonald who has a history with water rights told the group his position is: "Anything that
   has to do with the C-aquifer, or any aquifer for that matter, is that the Navajo Nation must control
   everything.
Trail ride for renewable energy begins today
   BURNHAM - In 2005, Delegate Leonard Chee and his band of elders protesting the use of C-aquifer
   water the Black Mesa Project, along with protesters from Black Mesa, and did not receive the warmest of
   welcomes when they joined with other delegates on the annual Navajo Nation Council horse ride.
Tribe: heritage lost to mining
   Big Mountain, an area near Black Mesa, Ariz., used to be a place of peace and tradition,
   but now the land is being destroyed by the Peabody Coal Company, said Allen Cooper, a
   former member of the Big Mountain Support Committee.
UPDATE 1-SCE ends efforts to restart Nevada Mohave plant
   LOS ANGELES, June 19 (Reuters) - Southern California Edison (SCE) said on Monday it will stop
   trying to reopen its Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada, a coal-fired plant that has
   drawn opposition from environmental groups and had trouble securing supplies from Native American
   tribes.
Use of water for coal slurry challenged in Flagstaff
   More information revealed through this scoping meeting in Flagstaff, including
   who else depends on the Coconino aquifer for water, in this case, the town of
   Flagstaff itself, thus shedding new light on the wording in the Black Mesa Project
   Project Statement where the wording includes should the Coconino aquifer become
   inacessible for any reason, Peabody will use the Navajo aquifer. The
   plan calls for water to be used from both aquifers. No environmental
   impact study has been completed in recent years though one has been promised but
   still no action in that regard.
Wanting it both ways
   Group seeks funds from Laughlin power plant owners for lost jobs, environmental damage they
   created
'We were denied'
   Groups appeal U.S. decision to meld Black Mesa Mine with Kayenta mine permit
What's Next for MGS?
   LAUGHLIN - The reaction of the Laughlin Chamber of Commerce typifies what local residents are facing
   with Southern California Edison's recent announcement that it will no longer attempt to restart the
   Mohave Generating Station as an electric generator....

Save the Peaks

[Please note: Most of the articles that appeared about saving the San Francisco Peaks have since disappeared. Please see Save the Peaks.org for new information.]
Tribes asked to pray for Peaks
     WINDOW ROCK - Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. and Council Speaker Lawrence
   Morgan are calling upon all tribes which hold the San Francisco Peaks sacred to join in
   prayer Dec. 11, when the issue of desecrating the peaks goes before the U.S.
   Court of Appeals for review.
Tribes demand respect for peaks
Tribes invoke Gods to Block Wastewater Snowmaking
   Faced with one of its worst ski seasons in years amid an ongoing drought, operators of the Arizona
   Snowbowl pitched a plan five years ago to make man-made snow by using treated wastewater
   from the nearby city of Flagstaff.
U.S. Department of Justice files for rehearing of SF Peaks case
   The sacred mountain is once again under threat due to the U.S. Department of Justice�s appealing the
   ruling to prohibit artificial snowmaking using reclaimed wastewater on behalf of the Forest Service.
   The initial ruliing of the case by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals thwarted attempts of proposed expansions
   and artifiicial snowmaking by the Arizona Snowbowl, a local ski resort

Sun Dance 2001 - Big Mountain

[Note: Many of the articles that were written about Sun Dance 2001 seem to have disappeared. Only a few are still available. Some listed below were found at other sites for which the links have been changed. Many thanks to those who had the presence of mind to save these articles so that access is still available.]

Arrests of Traditional Dineh Elders at Big Mountain, Arizona, July 2001
Sundance ceremony leaves Hopi and Navajo communities bitter
    (originally posted in Arizona Republic 7-17-01 now at BMIS)
Hopi raid angers Navajos in land dispute (Arizona Republic 8/22/01)
    Another story of this action with feeble attempts to explain by the
    HTC.
Sun Dance site desecrated: Ceremonial prayer site flattened
Arrests of Traditional Dineh Elders at Big Mountain
Update - Arrick Crittenden

Uranium
Company joins Navajo fight for uranium cleanup
   WASHINGTON - El Paso Natural Gas Co. is lending support to a new Navajo effort to force federal cleanup
    of one of the Cold War's last major toxic legacies.

EPA determines parcel near Church Rock is Indian Country
   ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The Navajo Nation believes a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
   ruling that a 160-acre parcel near Church Rock is "Indian Country" gives the tribe a stronger
   position to fight uranium mining in the area.

Feds blasted for lack of cleanup
   CHINLE - Members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform lambasted federal
   officials Tuesday for the slow pace of uranium site cleanup on the Navajo Nation, witnesses at a Washington,
   D.C. committee hearing reported.
Groups Organizing Against Navajo Nation Uranium Mining registration needed to access article
   GALLUP - Activists are fighting the possibility of increased uranium mining on the Navajo reservation.
Navajo fight to shake off lethal nuclear legacy
   Like many calamities faced by the Navajo since they were defeated by United States troops in
   the 1860s, the trial visited upon America's largest native American tribe - whose 300,000 members
   occupy a vast reservation of deserts, mesas, mountains and canyons that straddle Arizona, Utah and
   New Mexico - originated with a decision made far away in Washington.
Navajo gets commitment on uranium contamination
   WINDOW ROCK - Representatives of the Navajo Nation received a bipartisan commitment Tuesday from
   members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to address "a modern American
   tragedy" resulting from decades of uranium mining activities foisted on an uninformed Navajo public
   by the U.S. government.
Nuclear Effects - The Navaho Nation
Officials look at mining impact
   CHURCH ROCK - The dozen state senators and representatives clustered together in Teddy Nez's patchy
   yard last week knew they were standing on dangerous ground.
A persistent cold
   Former mine worker warns of 'the sickness' if uranium mining returns to Navajoland
Radioactive water near Hopi springs
   Two Hopi villages and their wells lie in the path of a radioactive plume of water.
Tainted water heads to Hopi
   WINDOW ROCK - On the rare occasion the Navajo Nation can convince someone else to clean up an old
   uranium mill or mine, it's usually the federal government that sues the former owner. But the old mill by
   Tuba City, Ariz., which the Navajo Nation has linked to a migrating plume of contaminated groundwater
   threatening both Navajo and Hopi water supplies, is different.
Theft of Navajo Lands
Too hot to handle?
   Rising uranium prices means jobs; but some say the risk is too great
Tribe takes on toxic waste
   On the Navajo Reservation, abandoned uranium mines and other toxic waste sites now stand a much better
   chance of remediation: The Navajo Nation Council just passed one of the most comprehensive toxic waste
   laws in Indian country.
uranium documents on file

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