
Big Mountain ~ Black Mesa Article Index – Navajo (Dineh) / Hopi Land Dispute
Statements by; Cedric Kuwaninvaya, Chairman
Hopi Land Team, made to the Arizona Republic,
concerning the dismantling of Sundance site.
“This is just one of the steps that the Hopi Tribe will be taking
to enforce its jurisdiction over the Hopi Reservation,” said Cedric
Kuwaninvaya, chairman of the Hopi Land Team. “We will keep a close
eye on the former site of Camp Anna Mae to ensure that the
trespassers do not try to establish another camp at which they
hold unwanted gatherings and celebrate their lawlessness.”
“The Hopi will never again tolerate a situation where our lands
are stolen, our people abused and our laws ignored. We will protect
our lands and our rights,” he said. “When so-called religious
ceremonies become little more than political rallies, both the
Hopi and the Navajos lose. The actions of the resisters do not
support peace between the two tribes.”


Hopi Tribe Asserts Jurisdiction Of HPL – Camp Anna Mae Dismantled
Early in the morning on August 17, Hopi Tribal staff were already hard at work. In a definitive act of asserting Hopi jurisdiction over its land, the Hopi Tribe dismantled the site referred to as “Camp Anna Mae”, where a recent Sundance as well as other...
Food for Thought – Arresting the Grandmothers
Asquali, Ngungu’lawu Tutsqwa I’qatsi, Friends of the Hopi Traditional Peoples and Touch the Earth Foundation Thank you for being our friends! We have been very busy with the responsibilities that we have been entrusted with. However, I wish to take this...
Big Mountain August 17th Raid Camp Anna Mae Disassembled
At three o’clock on the afternoon of August 17th I spoke with the office of Hopi Tribal Chairman, Eugene Kaye. It was confirmed that: 1. Bulldozers and Chainsaws have destroyed all buildings/Sundance arbor at Camp Anna Mae. The office also says that “No...
Desecration of Sacred Sundance Ground
BIG MOUNTAIN, AZ – Today (8-17-01) at approximately 5:00 a.m., the Office of Hopi Lands, Hopi Range Management, Resource Enforcement Services, Hopi Tribal Police, Navajo County Sheriff, and BIA impoundment trailers entered Camp Ana Mae, a sacred religious area...
The View From The Hogan XIV – Notes from Big Mountain
Ya’a’tee, Something a little different this time round. I’m off on my vacation, and I thought I’d try to take you along with me. I spend every day walking over the land, so, for my vacation I plan to……. walk across the land. With a...
View From The Hogan Reminder – Statemnet To the United States Congress
Ya’a’tee It will be a little while till I can get the next VFH out to you,…. Unfortunately I’ve had a damaged leg that has put me behind schedule, so in the meantime Roberta has asked me to send the following statement to you all. It is a from...
Violation Against Sacred Ceremony
Statement from Chief Arvol Looking Horse: I, Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nation would like to offer a statement concerning the violation against the Sacred Sundance Ceremony at Big Mountain, Arizona. The Sacred White Buffalo Calf Bundle...
ENOUGH! What happened to us at Big Mtn
ENOUGH! Statement by Leonard Benally in response to desecration of sacred Sundance Grounds site. To all the people Indigenous and non-indigenous people, On August 17th at 5:00 a.m. this was a disgrace, humiliating, and disregarded our right to pray which is supposed...
Hopi Stuff “Tree of Life” Into Chipper
“Hopi Tribal staff stuffed the Tree of Life into a woodchipper and haul the other remains away in trailers” Camp Ana Mae, the well-known site of Sun Dances , home to Louise Benally and her children at the foot of Big Mountain, Arizona has been bulldozed by...
The View From The Hogan XIII – Notes from Big Mountain
Ya’a’tee Once again, things have been real busy here, and I’ve had a hard time getting this out, so please excuse if some of the “news” is a little out of date. It was gratifying to hear of the demonstrations and public outreach on behalf...
Navajo Resisters Jeopardize Own Water Supplies
A May 10, 2001 letter circulated on the Internet from Caroline Tohannie, a Navajo residing on the HPL in the Tonalea area, to Marsha Monestersky requested her help in restoring the Tohannie’s only water source, a local windmill. Tohannie alleged that the Hopi...
View From The Hogan XVIII – Notes and comments on Big Mountain
Ya’a’tee I have occasionally received criticisms that these writings of mine are too lengthy. Without wishing to go into a critique of “sound-bite” culture, or a discussion of the difference between being informed and being well informed, I...
Witnesses Observe Dismantlement of Site
Big Mountain, AZ – Yesterday, Friday, August 17, 2001, at approximately 5:00 a.m. Mountain Standard Time, the Office of Hopi Lands, Hopi Range Management, Resource Enforcement Services, Hopi Tribal Police, Navajo County Sheriff, and U.S. Department of the...
The View From The Hogan X – Notes from Big Mountain
Ya’a’tee Judging by the amount of visitors we are getting here recently, its my guess that a lot of you are focussing on the Altar right now, so I wanted to get something out quickly, so please excuse me if this issue is a bit scattered. Communications...
View From The Hogan – Notes from Big Mountain
Ya’a’tee As usual, I am behind schedule getting the next VFH out to you, so in the meantime I thought I would pass on some more words from the resistors. The first is a letter sent to the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs in 1991. Many of the...
Big Mountain Sundance 2001 Scene of Sexual Misconduct
BIG MOUNTAIN, AZ – A 13 year old boy participating in the Sundance held at Big Mountain was reportedly the victim of sexual assault at the hands of one of the dance participants. According to the boy, he and his brother and a medicine man went to sleep in a...
The View From The Hogan #XB
Ya’a’tee I’ve had difficulty getting the time to send out the latest VFH, so I add this addendum. The following is a statement made by Roberta Blackgoat just a few days ago. She would appreciate it if her words were distributed. Uncle Jake RELIGION...
President Kelsey Begaye Pledges To Trample the Rights of Hopi People
According to a September 6, 2001 statement issued by Navajo President Kelsey Begaye, he pledged to the Navajo trespassers on the HPL at an August 25 meeting that he will do everything in his power to support their lawless behavior, trample the rights of Hopi people,...
Begaye On Bulldozing of Sundance Site
Statement by the President of the Navajo Nation, Kelsey A. Begaye, on the bulldozing of HPL Sundance Ceremony site by the Hopi Tribe. Window Rock, Navajo Nation (Arizona) – The Hopi governmentĂs decision to bulldoze the Sundance ceremony site at Big Mountain is...
Livestock Permitting On HPL – Is Good Land Stewardship
A good deal of the propaganda spread by Navajo resisters living on Hopi land bemoans alleged harassment by BIA and Hopi police who impound the resisters’ livestock. They would have the public believe that livestock confiscation is part of a greater conspiracy...
The View From The Hogan XV – Notes from Big Mountain
Ya’a’tee I know its late in september, but here is the news from august. So, the persecution of Kee Shay continues. Some background……. Kee Shay is an elderly Dineh man. He and his family have spent their lives raising a small flock of sheep,...
Big Mountain Press Conference Called To Address the Destruction of Sacred Sundance Site at Big Mountain, Arizona
Due to the crisis resulting from the destruction of a sacred sundance site, Camp Anna Mae at Big Mountain, Arizona, and continuing threats being made against the civil and religious rights of the people involved in those spiritual ceremonies, a panel of civil,...
Sacred Sundance Ceremony – Used for Political Motives
Once again groups of Navajo resisters living illegally on Hopi Partitioned Lands (HPL) and their friends are flouting the laws of the Hopi Tribe – this time under the guise of participating in a religious ceremony. More than 100 individuals have set up camp on...
The View From The Hogan XII – Notes from Big Mountain
I have an alarm clock. Its called the Peabody Mine Plane. Most days it flies by a little before sunrise, so if I am still in bed when I hear it I know I’m running late. Its not a little 2-seater, but large enough to have cargo doors in the rear. A couple of...
The View From The Hogan XVI – Notes from Big Mountain
Ya’a’tee First off, regarding the article A TRUST BROKEN, A HERITAGE BETRAYED: Battle for Native American Rights, which I urged you to read. Last time I checked, the magazine still hadn’t put it on their website, but the editor...
Big Mountain Under Siege
From the Southeastern foothills of Big Mountain – We wish to say our words to our Indigenous brothers and sisters and other concerned people. By now you have heard the news that we were recently under military siege (armed Hopi Rangers, armed Navajo police,...
Dismissal of Charges Disappoints Hopi’s
Over seven months after their arrest at Camp Anna Mae on the HPL, charges of trespass were dismissed against Joella Ashkie, Ruth Benally, Louise Benally, Elvira Horseherder and Pauline Whitesinger. The five Navajo women were arrested on July 11, 2001 and charged with...
Big Mountain Sun Dance 2001 Report
“This tree is a prophecy. That’s what the Hopi rangers don’t understand. This tree is the fulfillment of a prophecy. This is the end of the 4th world in Hopi prophecy. The name of the 5th world is the World of Glittering Trees.” — Joseph...
Response to the Sundance Incident In the name of Traditional Hopi Elders
Message from the Traditional Hopi Elders: Asquali, In the name of the Traditional Hopi Elders that have gone before -Thank you for hearing me. Dear friends and relations, After reading the report on the “Sun Dance” and the Hopi Tribal Council I feel again...
View From The Hogan XVIII Supplements – Notes from Big Mountain
Ya’a’tee Its been a while since I have sent anything out, and there is a lot to tell you, so I am splitting this VFH into 2 more-manageable sections. This first part consists of recent statements from Dineh and Hopi resistors. These people are...
Photos from Sacred Sundance at Big Mountain
Interference and Arbor after dismantling. By order of the Hopi Tribal Council. Photos by Morning Star Gali, Flagstaff, AZ. Photographs of arbor after Hopi destruction. Photos by Danielle...
Arlene Hamilton’s Exclusion – By the Hopi Tribal Council
A note to the reader: I am going on the Internet for the first time with a direct statement to the global public for ONE REASON: To communicate with all my relatives who know and love Big Mountain and all that the Dine & Hopi Traditionals stand for – the...
Begaye Met With Big Mountain Families
On Saturday, August 25, 2001, along with Navajo Nation Council Speaker Edward T. Begaye and other Navajo officials, I visited the Navajo families at Big Mountain to discuss with them the destruction of the Sundance ceremonial ground by the Hopi government. As you...
Current Trouble on Hopi Land Stems from lack of respect for an entire nation, by handful of Navajo.
No single issue has consumed more valuable time and irreplaceable resources than the century old dispute between the Navajo and Hopi over Hopi ancestral land. In spite of the turmoil, the Hopi have been steadfast in their belief that peace between our two people can...
View from the Hogan VIV ~ January 2000
Ya’a’tee First off, I apologize for the length of time since I last wrote, I had a dose of pneumonia, things have been real busy, and quite frankly I choose not to spend too much time staring at a computer screen. So Thanksgiving came and went, and a good...
Hopi Tribal Court Proceedings Update – Five Dine’ Women Arrested for Trespassing
On August 13th Joe Washington, attorney for the five Dine’ (Navajo) Women who were arrested for trespass on their own homeland, entered a “motion to dismiss” the charges. Yesterday’s arraignment was set in order for the women to enter a plea of...
Monestersky Loses Appeal In the Hopi Appellate Court
On June 27, 2002, the Hopi Appellate Court affirmed the decision of the Hopi Tribal Court in Monestersky v. Hopi, thereby upholding the Order of Exclusion issued by the Chairman of the Hopi Tribe against Monestersky. Monestersky was permanently excluded from the Hopi...
Violation Against Sacred Ceremony – Statement by Chief Arvol Looking Horse
I, Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nation would like to offer a statement concerning the violation against the Sacred Sundance Ceremony at Big Mountain, Arizona. The Sacred White Buffalo Calf Bundle that I care for consists of the Seven...
Working Group on Indigenous Populations 19th Session, 23 to 27 July 2001
Statement by Kee Watchman, Cactus Valley/Red Willow Springs Sovereign Community, Big Mountain, Arizona Item 5: Review of recent developments: General Statements, including on land issues, education, health Thank you Madam Chair, all distinguished leaders and all my...