Wednesday, 2 February 2000
2 arrested in protest for Navajo land rights
By Stephanie Innes
The Arizona Daily Star
As U.S. Sen. John McCain campaigned in New Hampshire yesterday,
two
protesters advocating Navajo land rights locked themselves together
in a
sit-in at his Tucson office.
Tucson police arrested Kristin E. Amdahl, 23, of the 400 block
of North
Wilson Avenue, and a 17-year-old youth from Phoenix, both for
disorderly
conduct and trespassing. The Star is not naming the juvenile suspect.
The two were taken into custody at about 3 p.m. after city
workers cut the
U-shaped bicycle locks from their necks with a hand-held grinder
used for
cutting hard steel.
Tucson firefighters protected the pair from the hot metal and
sparks with
heavy covers, hearing protection and water.
Amdahl, who as of last night was in the Pima County Jail in
lieu of a $551
bond, was also charged with contributing to the delinquency of
a minor. The
youth was taken to the Pima County Juvenile Court Center.
As Amdahl and the youth were fastened neck-to-neck inside the
office, about
20 demonstrators outside voiced their concerns over a settlement
to the
longstanding Navajo-Hopi land dispute. The protest took place
at McCain's
downtown office at 450 W. Paseo Redondo.
Yesterday marked the first day that Congress' accommodation
agreement in the
decades-old tribal land dispute in Northern Arizona could be enforced.
A statement issued by McCain's office said the Arizona Republican
``does not
have a problem with peaceful demonstrations.''
``However, Sen. McCain does hope that protesters will maintain
an orderly
presence and respect the daily operations of his local office.
If public
safety is in jeopardy, we understand that authorities will be
on hand to
keep the situation under control and protect public safety,''
the statement
said.
Technically, according to the 1996 legislation that McCain
sponsored,
Navajos living on Hopi land without a lease as of yesterday would
be
considered trespassers.
When the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act passed, McCain hailed
it as a firm
step in resolving the two tribes' differences.
The two Northern Arizona tribes have been in a spat over land
rights ever
since the federal government began carving reservation boundaries
in the
late 1800s. When the Navajo Nation continued to grow, Congress
granted the
tribe additional territory - cutting into land that the Hopi believed
was
theirs.
According to McCain, his 1996 Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act
was a
compromise. But to yesterday's crowd - none of whom identified
themselves as
Navajo - the legislation was poison to Navajo elders living on
what is now
rightfully Hopi land.
``We are asking Sen. McCain to introduce legislation to end
the
accommodation agreement and to stop the forcible relocation of
(Navajo)
elders.''
Although the accommodation agreement allows for Navajo to hold
land leases
with the Hopi, several Navajo families have refused to sign leases
or leave.
The protesters said the agreement forces the relocation of
Navajos from
their homeland, and rather than a compromise it represents a grab
at land
that is rich with coal and uranium deposits.
Protester Guy Lopez, a 36-year-old Tucsonan who works at the
Center for
Biological Diversity, said that his family was relocated from
the South
Dakota Sioux Reservation in the 1950s, and that the impact it
had on his
family's culture continues to sting.
``McCain is a states' rights politician. He hasn't been true
to the ideal of
sovereignty,'' Lopez said.
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... many prayers ...
dn: daily news code for auto placement
William "Sky" Crosby, director E C C O
Environmental and Cultural Conservation Organization
Tucson, Az
tel 520 749 0585