Essay on Navajo-Hopi Lande Dispute - 1679 Words

Navajo-Hopi Lande Dispute When first considering the Navajo-Hopi land dispute as a topic of research, I anticipated a relatively light research paper discussing the local skirmishes between the two tribes. However, my research has yielded innumerable volumes of facts, figures and varying viewpoints on a struggle that has dominated the two tribes for over 100 years. The story is an ever-changing one, evolving from local conflict to forcible relocation to big business interests. The incredible breadth of the disputes history makes it impossible to objectively cover the entire progression from all viewpoints. I will therefore focus on current issues - and their historical causes - facing the two tribes as they mutually approach†¦show more content†¦The land was officially partitioned in 1974 by mandate of P.L. 93-531 - also known as the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974 - without the input or consent of those from both tribes actually occupying the land in question. The partition equally divi ded the JUA into the Navajo Partitioned Lands (NPL) and the Hopi Partitioned Lands (HPL). About 12,000 Navajo were stranded on newly declared Hopi land and, likewise, about 300 Hopi families found themselves on Navajo land. Many hold the belief that government-sponsored and styled tribal council and influential energy interests contrived the JUA dispute to promote congressional action. The US has subsequently spent over $400 million to relocate the families to tract housing in nearby cities. The disproportionate amount of Navajo forced to relocate heightened age-old anxieties between the Navajo and Hopi. The Navajo are still at the center of the relocation controversy as many traditional Dineh families have chosen to remain within the HPL in defiance of 1974s P.L. 93-531. The Navajo traditionalists view their land as representing the essence of their being, says Jennie Joe of the Native American Research and Training Center at the University of Arizona in Tucson, who conducted a study