The Northern Arizona Indigenous Peoples
Legal Defense Fund

The Crisis on Black Mesa

Under the terms of Public Law 104-301 which was passed in 1996, many Dineh families living in the Black Mesa region of Arizona will be forcibly relocated within the next year solely because of their ethnic origin. The families who are not relocated are denied civil rights also because of their ethnic origin. They are not allowed to vote or participate in the government under whose sovereign powers they must live. They are subject to legalized discrimination that interferes with their religious practices and their daily lives. They have no mechanism to appeal or seek redress from any government actions.

PL 104-301 is the latest in a series of laws affecting the Black Mesa region that began in the 1950s when the continent's largest deposit of low-sulfur coal was discovered on land where the Dineh had lived since long before the arrival of Europeans upon the continent. Their land became the subject of disputes between tribal governments founded for the purpose of exploiting this wealth. Throughout the history of this dispute, solutions were negotiated between these tribal governments and the federal government without the consent or participation of the people whose land was being taken.

As a result of previous laws and federal policies, over 12,000 Dineh have been forcibly relocated from their ancestral homes and have lost their ability to practice their traditional religion and way of life. Those who have remained on their land in defiance of these relocation efforts have been deprived of the right to make repairs to their homes, have had their wells and water supplies removed by the federal government, suffered the confiscation of their livestock which is central to their lives, and have been stripped of their civil rights.

The victims of these policies are mostly elderly people, who live in remote areas without telephones, electricity, or running water. Their communities have the lowest per capita income levels in the US, even though $10 billion in coal has been taken from their land to power cities throughout the Southwest. They do not speak English and have little understanding of the political system responsible for their plight. While being subject to policies involving complex legal issues, they have not had the opportunity for legal counsel to enable them to understand or take action to prevent this tragedy.

Role of the NAIP Legal Defense Fund

The Northern Arizona Indigenous Peoples Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is one of several efforts being made to assist the Dineh families. A humanitarian relief effort sponsored by supporters in Los Angeles and other regions has furnished food, clothing, and livestock feed. Sovereign Dineh Nation (SDN), a community-based organization on Black Mesa, assists the families in understanding and communicating with the federal government, with non-governmental organizations, and with UN human rights organizations.

The LDF addresses the problem of providing legal representation for the families. This effort includes both the provision of direct legal support to individual families as well as representation in class action suits affecting the overall community. Individual families facing relocation, livestock impoundments, and other threats are able for the first time to have access to counsel to secure any protection which may be available to them under current laws. The LDF also insures that the Dineh families are directly represented in the ongoing negotiations between the US government and the tribal governments that affect their community. To the extent that the attorneys working for the LDF determine that the filing of class action lawsuits can affect the laws responsible for the situation, the LDF will sponsor these efforts.

The LDF serves as a conduit between concerned legal professionals and community organizations such as SDN. As an integral part of the local community, SDN has already earned the trust and respect of the Dineh families, who look to it to provide assistance in dealing with the complex issues affecting their lives. Up to this time, SDN has never been able to offer the families access to the professional legal help which they desperately need. LDF works with SDN to identify and prioritize the need for legal representation on various issues. LDF then matches these needs with the interests and expertise of the concerned legal professionals and supplies the funding so as to provide the highest quality service in the most cost efficient method.
Organization and Operation of the NAIP Legal Defense Fund

General policy priorities and guidelines are established by the LDF Circle of Advisers, which consists of legal professionals, Dineh representatives, and supporters. Ongoing activities are managed by a Circle of Directors. The finances are administered by Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), a Los Angeles-based organization which provides financial management services for community-based environmental and human rights advocacy groups. The contributions are handled under SEE's 501C tax status, and SEE provides the accounting and other administrative services associated with managing the fund and providing the communication link between the activists and the attorneys. SEE receives a 5% fee for their costs in performing these services. The daily operations of LDF, including outreach to the legal community, interface with the Dineh and with SDN, and fund raising are handled by volunteers donating their services. This structure guarantees that 95% of the funds received go directly to legal expenses, and that these expenses produce the greatest possible benefit to the Dineh families.

Circle of Directors for Northern Arizona Indigenous Peoples Defense Fund

Verna Clinton-Dineh Tribal Speaker

Martin Hornstein-Motion Picture Producer

Carlos Begay- Dineh Tribal Speaker

Marsha Monestersky- Community Outreach Coordinator

Mauro Oliveira-Funding & Media Coordinator

Bill & Rita Sebastian - Legal Affairs Coordinators


Circle of Advisors for Northern Arizona Indigenous Peoples Defense Fund

David Adair-Engineer

Gabor Rona - Attorney

Paul Bloom -Human Rights Activist

Kim Kindersley- Documentary Filmmaker

Levi Bautista - U. N. Representative and Assistant General Director
Secretary of the United Methodist Church

Daniel Fiske-Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals

William Dailey - Attorney

Elaine Seiler - Consultant

Tracy Faucher- Screenwriter

Pamela Kraft- Tribal Link Foundation, Vice President of Decade of the
Indigenous at the UN

Steve Sugarman -Executive Director / S.E.E.

Circle of Spiritual Advisers

Norris Nez - Representative of the Medicine Man's Traditional Chief of the Algonquin Nation Association of the Navajo Nation

William Commanda- Keeper of the Seven Fire Prophecy Wampum Belt



Participation in the NAIP Legal Defense Fund

The LDF funding enables the participation from many different groups of legal professionals. This includes private practice attorneys who can perform pro bono work to assist the Dineh, and the fund covers their expenses such as transportation, court costs, and other expenditures. The law programs at several universities are facilitating the use of their students as interns to assist in the project, and the fund enables their efforts to be mobilized. Several non-profit organizations dealing with Indian and constitutional law have expressed interest in participating in the legal effort, and support from LDF may facilitate these efforts. The goal of LDF is to maximize the return on its investment by using the funding to leverage the contributions from these volunteers and from the other non-profit organizations. Where a critical need is recognized that can not be provided by these sources, LDF may supplement these leveraged contributions by funding work by private practice attorneys.

The LDF is also supported by are technical consultants, including experts on human rights policies, environmental science, medical issues, and other areas relevant to the legal cases. These consultants are working pro bono, and LDF both coordinates their contributions with the legal effort and covers the expenses involved when their expert testimony is required in legal actions.