Water Is Life, Politics Are Deceptive

Water Is Life, Politics Are Deceptive
by Brenda Norrell, Kykotsmovi, Arizona

The future of the world depends on water and the future of Hopi villages depends on protection of the water that flows beneath the earth surface, Hopi said at the "Water is Life" Hisot Navoti (knowledge of the ancestors) conference.

Vernon Masayesva, executive director of Black Mesa Trust, said Hopi placed their destiny at risk when they agreed to sell sacred Black Mesa water for pennies to transport coal.

"We risked our right to be here," Masayesva said at the two-day gathering at the Hopi Veterans Center. "Black Mesa Trust was created to stop Peabody pumping and to help the elders and ancestors correct a grave mistake. Two hundred and fifty gallons of water is pumped with each breath we breathe."

He said the Hopi Tribal Council sold their pure drinking water from the N-aquifer when they signed a lease with Peabody Coal, selling the water for a mere $1.67 an acre-foot in 1968. Masayesva said the Hopi Tribal Council "broke a covenant and the Hopi people must accept a punishment."

Masayesva said the Hopi Tribal Council was deceived by Peabody Coal's explanation of the amount of water that would be taken when the tribe signed the lease. Further, the tribe did not know that their attorney, the late John Boyden, was also working for Peabody Coal at the same time. "John Boyden broke the covenant," Masayesva said.

Leonard Selestewa, board chairman of Black Mesa Trust, said pristine water from the N-aquifer is used to transport coal in slurry from Black Mesa in northern Arizona to the Mojave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nev., 276 miles away. Meanwhile, Hopi elders said the water level in Hopi village wells dropped 134 feet in recent years.

"You can put on your dancing shoes that Navajo aquifer pumping is going to end in 2005. If not, we're going to court," Masayesva said of conditions in the current lease.

Jerry Honawa said Hopi sold their water for pennies to Peabody Coal and the consequences will be great. "Our teachings tell us that if we don't quit wasting that water, someday we won't have any water to drink."

He said the issue can not be approach with anger. During an interview, Honawa said there was never a range war between the Hopi and Navajo. The so-called Hopi and Navajo land dispute was designed to divide the people and take their resources on Black Mesa. "The whole thing was created by the federal government," Honawa said.

Jason Tanakeyowma, founding member of Black Mesa Trust, said "Hopi always encourage one another. If they don't understand information, they are encouraged to take it home, put it away and take it out again later. We are just very common people who started this.

"Let us be more forward, so we will know where our destiny lies. Let us hold hands and start moving forward, without hatred, and with love and respect for one another."

Hernal Dallas, Sr., Hopi, said, "Water is our bloodline. That is the only way this world is going to survive."

At the water conference, Hopi received support from former Hopi tribal employee Steve Blodgett, who worked for the Hopi Tribe's Office of Mining and Minerals Resources, 1989-1991, then returned from 1998 through 2000 to establish the Hopi Environmental Protection Office. .

Speaking of Hopi knowledge, Blodgett said, “The federal government has chosen not to listen to any of these wise warnings" Blodgett spoke of one place where the underground N-aquifer discharges water at the surface. “The discharges have gotten less and less. The salt cedar is drying up, in many cases dead. The federal government and Peabody have chosen to ignore it."

He said, "Even if they stop pumping now, the effects will not be known for 35 years."

Pointing to the coal lease negotiations by Boyden, he said, "The whole thing was a conflict of interest. It is a long sad history." The Hopi Tribe received $l.67 an acre-foot for their N-aquifer water on Black Mesa. The Navajo Tribe negotiated a higher rate and received $5 an-acre-foot for water from the same aquifer.

Blodgett warned, "If you ignore the advice of the Indigenous people, you are tempting fate." He said the Hopi are gentle and mild-mannered and do not get angry and belligerent. He points out there was no environmental impact statement when Peabody signed the 1968 lease and began mining here. An EIS was initiated later and comments continue today.

Blodgett said the Hopi Tribe receives 80 percent of its revenue from Peabody Coal Mine. "That's why you don't see anyone from the tribal government here."

During the introductions, Pueblo and Navajo were spoken. Manuel Pine, Acoma Pueblo, said, "We believe that water is a prayer. It is reflected in our songs and our ceremonies. There is no separation between water and life."

Referring to the sacred warrior twins of the Hopi, Masayesva said, "We are destroying the twins and in the process we are destroying ourselves." Masayesva said Hopi and others know why the attack on the Twin Towers in New York happened.

"All the federal government can tell the people in the United' States is that they are making progress on the war against terrorism." Pointing out the prophecies and commands to protect land and water, he said, ''Indigenous people know why it happened."

The gathering began with water blessings from a Hopi spring. A global prayer for water circled the globe for one day, culminating at noon on Hopiland with the prayer of gratitude, "Water we love you. Water we respect you. Water we thank you.”