The people of Big Mountain, Black Mesa, in their own words...

Sorry for the last mangled message. This article is dated but quite relevant
today. Pls read...

STOP THE GENOCIDE! http://blackmesais.org/

Leonard Benally's Message:
Genocide, of people here. That's what it is.
I mean, the bottom line, when I was going to school, we were forbidden, I
was forbidden to speak my own language. Both of my late parents were
traditional people. They had no knowledge of, whatsoever, they never spent
a day in school. For me... I was just dragged off to school. {was it a BIA
school?} Yeah, BIA school, which was down here in Rocky Ridge. And I stayed
down there, for not too long... & next thing I know, I didn't even know
where the hell I was at. They just sent me off somewhere. I didn't even
know which way was home. And then finally, I got to know where we were at
because I noticed that some of these young kids, they were my relatives. I
got to talkin to them & they said: "This is Tuba City, you're a looong way
from home, dude!" (laughs). Yeah, that's what they did to us back in those
days.


And now they talk about genocide here & that's what it is. I mean, moving
people against there will here, saying, "This is the law here." Right now,
for some of us, we're treated like foreigners. They ask us for- papers, &-
an ordinance, that's what they ask for... called the laws, & justice, and
which is pretty much what we ignore... This law here that they impose on
us, it treats us like we are a nobody, like somebody who doesn't have the
right to exist in these areas... I know out there what they say about the
people here. It doesn't work; it doesn't make sense here.

But again here, like with our animals, we talk about these things. Just
like in here, where we're sitting... we call it the circle of life, which
is... in the western way called a hogan. But in our ways its called
"hho-wan" (spelled phonetically). This is a female style "hho-wan", that's
what it is. And there's a male type too,... a different design. But
something like this is for a family. Like everything, these stories here,
we don't leave anything out here. In our culture, in TRADITIONAL ways of
thinking, the knowledge here, noboby's left out because, you know, we're
all inside a circle here. From the door, and then it goes all the way-
clockwise & back out that that way (the door). And it's called the
universe, here... The center of everything. And then from the outside, you
go the outside world. And this world we share with our feathered friends,
the 4-leggeds, the insects, the reptiles. All these things, they are
kinship here, you know. And with our ceremonies & everything, this is what
we pray for. And then we know there are people out there too, to the east,
south, west, north. We know that people are all 4 cardinal directions. And
when we pray, we don't pray for ourselves. We pray for these people. We
bring them in together into a place like this, into the center of
everything... Nobody is left out.

It's not like... these church things,
like where you're reading the bible. In our ways of life, it has to do with
these environments here. The environment, which is the air, the water, the
land, the fire, this is what we call life & this is what GIVES us life
here. I know it's different in the western perspective... {Yeah, there it's
supermarkets & shopping malls}. This is what we call the Great Spirit, the
Creator, because these are the life givers here. But I know it's different
out there... Who we call the Great Spirit, its out there, it's all around
us, the air, the water. But now when you hear about these things are being
contaminated, poisoned, whatever that's left here by these industrialized
nations. By their carelessness for the environment. And again, when you say
there's an off-balance, yeah, it's because man is pulling itself away from
nature. That's what it is. I don't know, I don't think man can win here,
because... nature has more power than everything. For us, that's who we
offer to, the wind, the water, you know, the sun, the air. This is who we
pray to... And if we hear about big winds or whatever in the area, we ask
for them to protect us, help us here... And yes, in a way they respond,
they listen here. This is the other way of life, a traditional way of life.
This is walking in harmony... With nature. And then you got the animal
here, everything. A circle of life.


And again, here, when they want to take our animals, they want to
confiscate, impound our animals. The campaign is elimination. The permanent
elimination of our herds, of our animals. They're violating our religious
freedom rights. Because our belief in our ways of life are in THESE THINGS,
& WE ARE NOT SEPARATE FROM THEM. WE ARE ALL ONE HERE. We're supposed to be,
but I don't know about the outside world. We are all one because we might
have different skin color, different eye color, but... we all share the
same air, the same water. We all live here so we are all one like that. Now
people don't think these, they don't think like this no more. Sometimes I
just wonder... about all these politicians here. they're like aliens...
because they don't care what's on the planet. They'd rather see the dollar
sign... That's what's destroying everything. And they say, the gov'ts
saying, "ooh, this is gonna happen here" (Y2K), you know, the millennium,
and tis is their saying, and some people are probably freaking out about
these things. But in the indigenous prophecies, it talks about all these
things, all the natural things. It's just gonna take place, naturally, when
it decides to do it. It's not gonna tell somebody in Washington, "Hooray,
we're gonna do that," you know. Nothing like that.


In today's world, we live in an artificial world... because there are no
more real things... But in a place like this type of environment, I think
its the only place you find the real things, the reality of life... Like
having respect for one another. Having respect for whatever that lives
around you, especially the plants, the trees too. (They're) just like us.
They depend on water, they need air to live here. They need the sun too, to
live. But now, man don't think that way, man is the alien here. They think
they can clear out everything. And when they do they see where they are
gonna go next. I mean, I don't think there's a tree or whatever on the moon
& all that. I think this is the only place, for us, even too. For myself,
too, I'm going NOWHERE. They tell me I'm gonna relocate, or they're gonna
force me, evict me outta here. I'm going nowhere, 'cause I've got no place
to go. This is MY HOME. This is our ancestral land. This is where my
umbilical chord is buried. This is where I have the connection to the land,
which is Black Mesa.


And Big Mtn, herself too, she says she's the Mother here, of everything.
She's the guardian here, of all life here. What Peabody's doing here...
sucking the life out of Black Mesa: they're taking the water, taking the
coal... These guys, they're like vampires. They're sucking the life out of
everything... Not only for us, but you gotta think about these things;
there are people too. You got the 4-leggeds here, the insects here. And
they need water. But... they say our water rights & our land rights have
already been sold from underneath us, and that's what makes us illegal to
be living on our ancestral land... This whole struggle is pretty much older
than I am. They say in the 60's, the 50's, I guess its when they did alot
of these lease signings & all that, where people coming in where these
things were created like the reservations. I guess they did that a long
time ago. And now all they're doing is pursuing these things, and that's
it. And even though you try to confront them & tell them about it, they
say, "Oh, our hands are tied here." They can go & undo these things,
resolve these things in a better way, not taking the life out of Black
Mesa... Right now with all this eviction & everything they talk about here,
as far as i know they got blood on their hands with these things. That's
the way I see it. And BIA, yes, they're 'evil empire' here... they don't
care Indians. They want to extinguish these things. That's what's going on.
Turning people against people, their own kind. Indians against Indians
here.


All the (HTC & NTC) are thinking about is money here, and that's it.
Because what Peabody gives to them, $45 million a year funnels from Peabody
to Window Rock, & we don't see a cent of it. Yeah maybe for people who live
across the fence line, across the wash. Because we're divided here, the
fence line here... everything stops at the fence. And here we're stuck with
no rights like we're in a box... & they say they're looking down on us
here, saying the only way you're gonna come out whole is if you sign the
AA. If you do, you sign your life away. Whatever you consider right, they
say you cannot talk about these things; other than that you go to jail. But
me, I've seen their jail... There are times I get threatened with jail
sentence & all that & I say I don't care 'cause I know what a jail looks
like, the inside. I especially like that one in the Hopi P.D. (police dept-
I'm assuming). They feed you 3 times a day (laughs), get to watch T.V.
(laughs). Sometimes you see them (Hopi Rangers & BIA) in the area here,
sometimes it gets to me. Sometimes these things are on my mind, my
conscience. This Feb. 1st thing... it's still a question mark.


If I have a world to choose, I'd rather stay in my traditional world
because the outside world, the western way, everybody just want to
out-crazy each other. It's because all things are related. Because it's the
off balance of nature... I know out there, you hear of alot of prisons
going up, alot of jails being built. {The real AA}. Yeah, that's where it's
headed. And here they try to impose it on the people here, but hey!, WE
JUST WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE. We just want to be living the way it was,
peacefully. We just want our dignity here. That's it. We aren't hurting
nobody (or) in nobody's way. They say there's a land dispute & the Hopis
are on the edge of Black Mesa... (There's) maybe 25 miles between us.
That's where my Hopi neighbors are at. And in between, I don't see none of
them moving out here.


(You) see it's the 'Hopi Tribe' here. They say it's a progressive, the
progressive Hopi Tribe. I'm not talking about the traditional people of the
Hopi nation. They say they don't recognize the word 'Hopi Tribe' because if
you say somebody's Hopi tribe, you're thinking with a progressive mind.
Because these guys, the real Moqui here, they stick to their prophecy,
philosophy which stands for PEACE. The say 'Hopi', that's what it's about.
And yes, I believe them, I respect their culture because me, myself, I got
friends in the village, and they are Hopis. And I like them for who they
are. I know they got a unique culture there too. It's this whole gov't,
what they are doing because of Peabody up here.


And we're impoverished
because of Peabody. It degrades both cultures. Because if it wasn't for
Peabody, there would be no 'land dispute'. {They say the land dispute is
between the Hopi & Navajo people, but it's actually between the Hopi &
Navajo TRIBAL GOV'TS, they each wanted to sign most of the mineral rights
to themselves.} Yeah, but when the royalty checks come in, there's no
dispute. They laugh their way to the bank. Because as far as I know, 80% of
Hopi tribal revenue comes out of Peabody, so it's probably hard to push
somebody aside like that. And over here for the Navajo (Nation), they say
it's like 60%. And that's what makes you neglect your own people here. But
on the other hand, you're just like the gov't here, saying you're 'walking
in beauty', or sovereign (while) on the other hand you got people
suffering. This whole area here is called the 'National Sacrifice Area.'
Just like I was saying, in the fall of this year, we had 4 people pass on.
So it's a sacrificing area.


That's what happens when you talk about genocide. That's what's going on.
This is America's genocide, like it or not. This is what most of the
American people need to know... The politician, they're just a bunch of
screw-ups. They got their heads twisted on the wrong way. They say, 'You
got the power, you're the voter here.' Yeah, it's time to exercise these
things. That way, with the struggle here at Big Mtn, if we can get alot of
people behind us here. Between the traditional people, there's just a
handful on both sides, threatened with cultural extinction, a cultural
genocide. That's what's about to take place here. And you got the entire
Navajo Nation who just doesn't give a damn about the people, like on the
HPL side, and the very few on the Hopi side too. They say on the Hopi side,
only 30% stick to their traditional philosophy, and 70% are christianized.
It's very complicated, hard to tell the story about legal theft here when
these corporations have the power to make... & pass laws here. {Just like
they signed away the water, the land...} Anyway they want it. They make it
into law here. But for the traditional people, especially the elders,
somebody who doesn't speak English language, they don't know. They see a
paper that's black & white.


For me, the way I see it, all avenues are closed up ahead of me, and I'm
sure for us, the resistors, it's like that. They expect to drag us into
their court saying we're going to get a fair hearing. But this is the
SYSTEM THAT WE'RE GOING AGAINST, so how could it be FAIR?! {Exactly!}
Unless you take it outside the boarder of the U.S., into an International
level, then we can see justice here. According to Int'l law, looking into
these national laws here, it's a big violation here. You're talking about
genocide here, of a culture. That's what's about to take place. (The U.S.
gov't) preaches to the world outside the boarder of the U.S., they tell
them not to do these things: religious intolerance, genocide, human rights
violations, & what-not.


They say don't do that but this is what's going on
in the 4-corners region of the U.S. And it's time to turn this thing
around. Because, you can turn a man-made thing around, but if it's a
natural thing, the weather, or the changing of the seasons, yes that we
cannot turn. But if it's a damn clock we can turn the damn thing back. Get
all these political things, we can turn it back. Because... the American
public payed for this whole relocation package. $350 million of American
tax payers money to accomplish this human rights abuse here. 'Your tax
dollars at work,' I guess you may call it. (laughs)


But me, I'm not moving. I'm going NOWHERE. This is where I stay & that's
that. We're just like everybody else. I don't know about the outside world,
but we breathe air, we drink water, & I'm sure everybody does that out
there, but I don't know. Maybe the outside world might be into genetic
engineering where they get their pill on the water, and their oxygen pill.
It's heading that way. (laughs) In our ways here, only witches do these
things. Because when you're talking about genetic engineering, you're
messing with creation, creation of life. And they say there's alot more
evil in the world than good. So, I mean, the good has to come out. They say
the good is stronger than evil. Yeah, it is, even here in the natural
world. (Good & evil) collide with one another, everyday & every night,
here. But sometimes the good always wins. If the good starts winning out
there again, it's gonna be a better world for everybody... not only for us.
I went to the ancestral land of the oppressors here (Europe), & I know
what it looks like, where all the rules, all these laws are coming from.
These
are coming from the castles, from the deep, dark dungeon days. That's where
they used to torture... & kill people because these people were resistors
to the laws that were made up. And this is the same thing... it came over
to this side. And they're doing a good job. Conquering people, dividing
people. And here they say it's the 'Land of the Free'. Who's free? I'm not
free. I don't know who is. I don't think so, because when you're born,
somebody has to pay. And when you go, then somebody has to pay again. So
where's the freedom?


All these laws. They're trying to do everything they can to us out here,
especially the elderly people who are not complying with them. It's just
because we don't depend on them. This is the most oppressive code ever,
it's so absurd. You have no rights & they come at you & say, 'it's the law
here'. I think the (Hopi) Rangers & BIA need some education. These people
are the oppressors out here. It's the Hopi Tribe, & then it's the U.S.
gov't behind them. Window Rock is guilty too. They try to keep their hands
clean, but sometimes they get their hands caught in the cookies jar. These
people are all alike out there. It's hard. That's why we ask for support
people here. Supporters to stand with us... These environmentalist out
there too, they're doing a good thing.


For me, I admire them because
whatever they do, like trying to protect these trees, especially up in the
Redwoods area, for us in the indigenous ways of life, these are all in
these (same) things. So when (corporations) clear-cut the trees, they wipe
out a culture... Now it's sad when you're in the area, and (its) all wiped
out. Sometimes you still see big trucks in the road carrying Redwoods. So
whatever that's left, try to hold on. But I don't know. These corporate
people. When I say aliens, I think these corp. people, the politicians.
They only think about themselves. Period. If they wanna give something,
they may throw you a little chump-change & then tell you to get lost! The
people doing these things... they have to be educated or you can cut them
down from the saddle. If they're too big, on a horse, you just cut the
strap.


Naturally that whole thing's gonna take it's course. (laughs) That's
what needs to happen here. Not only for us, for everybody out there.
And that's the only way because these laws I was talking about, it's the
people. If we have the voice,... an outrage here, of the people everywhere
asking their gov't, 'hey what's going on here, inside the boarder of the
U.S.?' On the news, you hear what's going on outside the boarder, & people
look at it with their long nose, from the tip of their nose on down. Maybe
at China, or Pakistan. But this thing here (relocation) is going on in
their backyard. The American gov't needs to clean up it's own act; needs to
do its homework. Start doing its trust & responsibility here.


They're
neglecting, big time here. It's a giant, a predator. It eats people. And as
far as we know, this giant here wants to be humbled, which we CANNOT,
because what we know, this thing is historically loaded with contempts &
neglects, especially for indigenous people across the country.
And justice is blind for the people of Big Mtn, & for indigenous people
around the world. That's how it is, & that's what you call justice. Justice
is not equal here. {It's set up for corporations, gives them justice to do
whatever they want to do.} Yeah, check out the symbolism for justice here:
you know, that lady who holds that sword- SHE WEARS A BLINDFOLD! She cannot
see. Simple. Everybody should see this thing, because she's wearing a
blindfold, she doesn't know what the hell she's doing.


Speaking of symbolism, what the gov't uses here- the American eagle. They
say when the time the gov't went into treaty with the Indian people, saying
he's gonna protect them... In respect, they say a bird was given to him,
which was the eagle. And now, you can start a campaign saying we want the
eagle back! Because check it out: 1400's, 1500's, 1600's, 1700's, 1800's,
1900's- GENOCIDE! So it's time to give that bird back, in the last minute
of the millennium here. And then in the 21st century they can find their
own bird. {It'd probably be genetically altered} (laughs) It's so crazy!


It's all these laws, being imposed on us... Even in Window Rock, they
just draft up anything without the consent of the people here. Then they
come
over, everything's finalized... putting their fingers together saying,
'Look, this is what WE decided for you.' Who are these people? They should
come over... (&) make their outreach through here. So crazy,... people in
Window Rock, sometimes they say they don't know where (a) grandma lives.
But maybe some white lady from Los Angeles or the Bay area, they know where
this grandma lives. (laughs) Here they say these are our Tribal Council,
they are our government... I don't recognize them because they don't help
me! They never did. They say they want to talk on our behalf. I don't
believe whatever they say; you're talking about somebody with a forked
tongue. On the one side, they want to give you something, but on the other
hand, they want to TAKE something from you. They call it fair, but I don't
know.


Everything's not fair here, because it's up to the American people, to
correct this thing. That way, if we get more people behind us, we're gonna
be everything. But if we stand up to this thing alone, what's been
happening 3 decades here, we're nobody, we're nothing to them. But if we
stand with the people... then they know they're being looked at from the
outside. That's why we try to keep up the pressure from the national &
international level. That's the only way. Other than that we have no
alternative.


Politicians, forget about them, man. This is what you call a politicians
sweet dream & a poor person's nightmare. We're forced to live in poverty...
I don't have a choice but go & look to the outside. Not at Window Rock,
forget about them. I'd rather look the other way to the support people
here... They come in & there's alot of good people. They make up our
backbone in this struggle. That way we stand strong. Things (are) heavy
here... like I say, it's a burden. So with the support we get, it makes
these things a little lighter & then that way we do all our own talking up
there on the front... We talk for ourselves. Too many years, the people in
Window Rock were saying they were talking for us & then these Navajo-Hopi
Land Commission people were saying they were talking for us, but its
getting nowhere. It's an endless thing. But now, we just want to settle
this.


.

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