By then, much damage had been done. Only three percent of the families affected by the Bennett Freeze have electricity, and only 10 percent have running water. The Navajo Nation has money available to rehabilitate the former Bennett Freeze area. The money has been earmarked for Bennett Freeze area rehabilitation. Maxx insists that Navajo Nation bureaucracy is to blame.
Originally, his office was ready to distribute the funds among the nine chapters that were affected—in whole or in part—by the freeze. But that plan was scrapped when the chapters could not agree on a fair distribution. The council approved the expenditure, but Shelly vetoed it. As part of the fallout, their lawsuit is stalled. How does that empower the people? Conflicting Visions There have been attempts to improve the lives of Bennett Freeze residents. And Project Pueblo, a student- and volunteer-run nonprofit organization with chapters at several California colleges and universities, has made several trips to install infrastructure at individual homes.
Larry Nez, legislative associate for the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission, says some of the disagreements come down to a difference in visions. The way he sees it, he and Maxx want to see aid go immediately to the people who need it most.
Competition for the land continued, especially over large coal-containing areas under Black Mesa. In , the Supreme Court ruled in Healing v. The Freeze was intended to be temporary incentive to make the two tribes negotiate over the land, but an agreement was never reached. This meant the start of many hardships for the thousands of Navajos and Hopi affected because the Freeze essentially halted all economic development in the area. Additionally, there was constant conflict revolving around access to sacred sites.
In , Peabody Coal starting mining on Black Mesa. Revenues from the lease agreement were shared between the Navajo and Hopi. However, because these areas were primarily Hopi and therefore hardly any more Hopi territory was affected by the Freeze, the Hopi essentially had unilateral veto power for proposed projects. Recognizing this problem, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thomson gave his office the authority to override any improvement requests that the Hopi had rejected in The Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of was a further attempt to reduce tensions by forcing Hopis off of lands reserved for Navajos and vice versa.
Under this act, 6, Navajos had to leave their homes and once again, tensions were not reduced. Some claim that the primary beneficiary of this act were actually coal companies, specifically Peabody Coal, who would gain land access.
They also posit that the conflict between the Navajo and Hopi was greatly exaggerated precisely to gain access to these resources. Senator Kyl joined The work of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs [advanced] this legislation quickly through the Senate We look forward to working with the House to achieve quick passage there and clear the bill for presentation to President Obama. At that hearing, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe and the Department of the Interior testified in support of its passage.
Code, there also remains a fear that it could be reimposed. Passage of S. The Navajo Thaw project was initially inspired by planning done at Nahata Dziil and USDA Rural Development grant funding received by the chapter whose members wanted to help out their relatives in the freeze area. Tso said, for example, he can envision a major corridor going from Flagstaff all the way to Four Corners.
Cole says the freeze area roundtable that will start meeting soon will be comprised of leaders from the nine affected chapters who will advocate on behalf of their communities and collaborate with regional planners. Participation in the Navajo Thaw project is not mandatory, said Cole, but to receive benefits, chapters have to participate in the planning process. Cole says while the chapters will be responsible for advocating for their projects, Native Builders and Building Communities will be there to help get those projects done.
He believes the Navajo Thaw project can be successful, but good communication among all of the participants will be key. Breakout sessions at the Navajo Thaw Summit were held by entities that will be involved with regional planning, including Navajo land and water management departments, the economic development, natural resources, transportation and community development divisions, Navajo Housing Authority, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service, and the Carpenters Union, Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation, and Navajo Power.
S freedoms. Years later, Kee said the Navajo Nation promised all the people who had been in the Bennett Freeze area for 30 years houses, roads, water and power lines.
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