FOUR CORNERS CLAMOR ®
Volume I       						Issue II		 
1997-98							JUNE 1997
JUNE 1, 1868: Treaty Day. To begin the return of the Navajo to New Mexico.
The Editor, Mike Smith, gets to say what he wants. There is no editorial "we."

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INDEX
Kayenta: A New Idea Smoke From A Distant Fire The Golden Rule
Do It Yourself A Quick (Sour) Note If They Are Unidentified?

Kayenta: A New Idea

On April 30, 1997, Kayenta, Arizona became the first community on the Navajo Nation to have its own governing body. This has been a 14 year project for the people of this small town, which was once known as "the farthest place from anything." (See Map)

They are planning improvements such as solid waste transfer stations, an airport, a fire station, flood control, city parks, and youth recreational facilities. And streets.

The first order of business was a city tax of 2.5 per cent, first ever on the reservation. They say this will raise $500,000 a year with 80 per cent of it coming from tourists.


Smoke From A Distant Fire

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Montana could become extinct within 200 years due to a change in the tribal constitution in 1960.

Within 30 years the death rate will overtake the birth rate and a decline of 40 percent per generation is expected as fewer people can prove membership in these tribes. Those born before 1960 were enrolled under less strict guidelines which allowed ancestry from related tribes.

Following tribal customs or tradition, residency on the Flathead Reservation, and skin or hair color is not considered proof of tribal membership.

One result of this change in requirements is the splitting of families. Siblings with the same blood and residency, yet born on either side of the dividing date of 1960, are now separated by this abitrary line.

The requirement of one-fourth Salish-Kootenai blood to qualify did not come from tribal tradition. It is a U.S. law imposed on the tribes.


The Golden Rule

To understand the importance of this here is some background. In the Hopi religion the golden eagle is a messenger between this world and the spiritual. When a bird is sacrificed the soul is sent with prayers. Of further concern to the Hopi is the growing belief that the Hale-Bopp comet fulfills the prophesy of end times.

And now for the news: The Navajo President has granted a permit for the Hopi to gather 12 golden eaglets on the Navajo reservation for use in their ceremonies. The full provision of the permit is a combination of golden eaglets and red-tail hawks up to 14 birds, with no more than 12 to be eagles.

This permit is in sharp contrast to the one written by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department, which had allowed 40 golden eaglets and an unlimited amount of red-tail hawks.

The Hopi say that according to the 1974 settlement agreement they do not need permission for the gathering of birds. Last year Navajo arrested 11 Hopi for trespassing.

There is a lot of gray area involved here, and I'm not going to touch it at this time. But we shall get down to the heart of the matter.


Do It Yourself

Apparently - likely - confirm or deny - rumors - speculation - did not disclose - could be - unclear - does not know - trying to figure out - concerns about - suspicious - sneaky.

These are all the words and phrases used in a recent copyrighted story, evidently to protect the writer from being involved in the reporting of the matter.

Here is the story - you may sprinkle the words liberally through it to confound yourself as you see fit.

The Hopi tribe recently bought a 100,000 acre ranch near Flagstaff, AZ, using money from a $50 million U.S. government settlement.
Now, that wasn't so hard.

There is a related story about the Navajo/Hopi Partition in the May 1997 issue of the Four Corners Clamor.


A Quick (Sour) Note

Plot this curve: In 1994 it was 30.48 per cent. In 1995, 39.46 per cent. Latest survey, 44.61 per cent. These are the figures for the unemployment rate on the Navajo Reservation. Prediction is that by 1998 there will be more unemployed than employed.


If They Are Unidentified?

Like acronyms? 4SUFOG. The Four States UFO Group began meeting in January this year, and over 100 people attended the first meeting. The March gathering brought out 40 people, and these matters were discussed:

Though Roswell gets all the press a UFO crash occurred in Hart Canyon near Aztec, NM in 1948, less than a year after the famous Roswell incident.

Another UFO has crashed in Chaco Canyon and a man tried to pull it from the cliff face with his four-wheel-drive. Though he was interrupted by the military, he managed to salvage a piece of the craft.

Many people are reporting strange lights in the sky over Archuleta Mesa, which is on the Jicarilla Reservation. The evidence shows that aliens are maintaining a base under the mesa.

Membership dues for 4SUFOG are about one dollar a month, which seems reasonable.

My viewpoint is identify one and then we'll talk. I have allegedly never seen one.


See the Four Corners Clamor: Main Index for more recent discoveries
and events concerning Native American Indians.
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© Copyright 1997 by L. Michael Smith. Fair use granted.