Copyright © 2000 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

On September 9, 2000, the NY Times ran a front-page article, "An Apology and a Milestone at Indian Bureau". In this article, Mr. Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) apologized to American Indians on behalf of the bureau, recounting the BIA's evolution to an Interior Department agency entrusted with promoting tribal autonomy and improving the lives of Indians.

In this article Mr. Gover states, "In forcing Indians from their land and trying to stamp out their cultures and languages, this agency participated in the ethnic cleansing that befell the Western tribes". He continues, "Let us begin by expressing our profound sorrow for what the agency has done in the past and offer a formal apology to Indians." By accepting the legacy, he admits that he accepts the moral responsibility of putting things right.

If Mr. Gover really is sincere in his desire to stop the bureau from participating in the ethnic cleansing that befell the Western tribes, then he must immediately shut down the operations of the BIA Hopi area agency and issue a moratorium on all livestock confiscations while an investigation is conducted.

The Dineh live in terror not knowing when squadrons of armed BIA officials will steal their means of survival. If animals are not released for free because the BIA violated any federal regulations, the Dineh must raise the funds to pay for their release from the BIA impoundment yard, the cost dependent upon how many BIA personnel were involved and what their combined hourly wage and mileage is. The Dineh peoples only other alternative is to face their loss at public auction.

It is imperative that the BIA re-evaluate a method of range management that enforces a system under which many Dineh families lack permits necessary to keep and protect they're current livestock. Many of the Dineh at risk are elderly. The Dineh culture and religion is based on their ties to their land and their livestock. There are more humane alternatives than confiscation available. The BIA has to respect the right of these people to continue their traditional lifestyle in their customary use areas and to ensure that their policies do not interfere with this right.

I am also concerned about the conflict of interest inherent in the BIA's dual role of enforcing both range management and the provisions of the 1974 and 1996 Navajo-Hopi Settlement (Relocation) Acts. The purpose of a range management program should be confined to exercising a Trust Responsibility with respect to the health of the ecosystem. Under the Settlement Acts, the BIA is asked to demolish houses, ceremonial hogans and assist in the relocation of many Dineh from their ancestral land.

For over three decades government policies such as the Bennett Freeze has denied the Dineh people the right to all infrastructure, housing repair and any new construction. Congress, tribal governments, and federal agencies have passed laws and regulations so severe that elders have been cited for building an Outhouse, subjecting them to unsanitary and inhumane conditions. These policies are clearly intended to make it difficult for the people to remain on their land.

To remove the people's means of survival on their traditional land would make it easier for the BIA to fulfill its enforcement obligations with respect to the Settlement Acts. The presence of this conflict of interest undermines the credibility of the BIA with respect to range management. It is time now that Mr. Gover show how sorry he is by shutting down the BIA Hopi area agency. For too long the Dineh have suffered at the hands of bureau officials.

Yours sincerely,

/S/ Marsha Monestersky,
Consultant to Sovereign Dineh Nation
Black Mesa, AZ
Phone: (520) 779-1496
E-mail: sdnmarsha@aol.com