Copyright © 2000 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

In January of 1999, several traditional Dine'h (Navajo) families were served 90-day notices that their names were reported to the United States Attorney's Office in Phoenix, Arizona and face forced evictions in 2000.

Sometime after February 1st in 2000, these Dine'h still living in an area designated for Hopi by the United States Congress face possible forced eviction by the United States Department of Justice, the same agency now under investigation for their role in the firery deaths of Branch Dividians in Waco, Texas. With the help of their supporters, Dine'h will challenge eviction hearings in the United States District Court in Phoenix, Arizona.

Dine'h supporters are raising funds for eviction hearing costs and related travel, room and board expenses for the extended families of these Dine'h.

In separate litigation, the Hopi Tribe will be seeking to expel Dine'h Elder Kee Shay and a non-Indian supporter off the Hopi Partition Lands through action in the Hopi Tribal Court in January 2000 (the "Hopi Tribe" is a federally certified tribal council under the United State's 1934 "Indian Reorganization Act" aka the Howard-Wheeler Act of the United States Congress, rather than a traditional Hopi governing body).

Also at an unknown date in 2000 the class-action religious freedom lawsuit "Manybeads V. United States et al" may return for an appeal hearing in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Dine'h plaintiffs have a First Amendment constitutional right to remain on the Hopi Partition Lands and practice their land-based spirituality.

Workers who can herd sheep, help with chores and witness government harassment and potential evictions are needed to stay at Dine'h home sites. Background literature and orientation packets are available upon request, and video presentations and protests are being planned throughout Oregon.

Groups are organizing fund raisers, letter writing meetings, prayer vigils, petition signature gathering, pamphletting, and action alert phone trees.

Dine'h (Navajo) people have been living in the southwest on the Colorado Plateau in the former Joint-Use Area (now known as the Navajo and Hopi Partition Areas) and sharing the area with Hopi since before the Spanish invaded. It is ironic the Dine'h are treated like squatters by the US government who encircled and encroached upon both tribes over centuries.

Indigenous Support Coalition of Oregon (or "ISCO") has been asked by Dine'h facing eviction to send out a call for help from supporters in Oregon and across the country. There is a lot you can do to help and we urge you to contact us and get involved. We need your help to make our efforts count! Please contact us to offer your help soon!