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The Hogan 06
View From The Hogan 6 September 1999 136 days till the final solution
Notes from Big Mountain
Ya'a'tee
It seems I am suffering from a bout of verbal diarreah this month,
and View From The Hogan is a little longer than usual. Might I respectfully
suggest (if you don't already do it) that you print it out and read it later,
away from this infernal screen?
As well as the "raid" on Paulines cornfield, we hear that my
Grandma, Rena, is being threatened and intimidated. We hear also
that the cows of one non-signing family have been snatched. Summer recess
is over, Warmakers minions are back in the saddle with the daily grind of
low-intensity warfare and siege tactics. The attack on Rena is grossly
disturbing. I know the land she herds her sheep on, I have walked it
every day for many, many, moons. The Hopi Tribal Council do not graze any
of their animals there. The land has not been grazed by any animals for
many years. This is not good for the health of the land as any Range-Management
expert will tell you. By taking her animals across the fence to another
"grazing district" her animals are doing the lands "owners" a favor.
To continue to claim that the harassment of these grandmas is to
protect the land is blatantly, and verifyably untrue. By the way, the
fence Rena and her animals crossed was not between HPL & NPL, but between
"grazing districts" of the HPL. As more details came in about the raid on
Paulines cornfield, I was aghast ( a word I've longed to use) at the depth
of the disrespect perpetrated. Bahe has , as usual, done an excellent job
of translating Paulines statement about the incident. If you haven't read
it, and I would highly reccomend you do, let me know and I'll pass it on.
A recent visitor to the land made the following comment: " I think what's
going on here is criminal." Those eight words contain volumes of truth.
Let's begin with International Law, because there is such a thing, though
currently the biggest "outlaw" on the world stage is the U.S. of A. What
follows is by no means a complete list of laws that are, or have been,
broken here at Big Mountain, but I would urge you to find copies of them
yourselves and draw your own conclusions.
Article II (c) & (e). Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide.
Articles 21 (2) and 22 (5) of the American Convention on Human Rights.
Principles I, II, III, &V of the Helsinki Final Act.
Paragraph 6 of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial
Countries & Peoples.
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Article 12 of the American Convention on Human Rights.
Principle 7 of the Helsinki Final Act.
Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Article I of the International Covenant on Economic, Socail, & Cultural
Rights.
Article I of the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights
Principle I of the Helsinki Final Act
Paragraph I of the General Assembly Resolution 1803 (XXII) Concerning
Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources.
Paragraph 2 of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial
Countries & Peoples.
And then of course, there are the Treaties. Is there anyone out there who
does not know that of the many hundreds of treaties made between the U.S.
and the inhabitants of this continent, not a single one has been honored?
Co-signors of such treaties as GATT and NAFTA would be naive in the extreme
to believe that the US will honor them if they become inconvenient.
Then there is Domestic, Federal, and Constitutional law. Check out:
U.S. Constitution, Amendments I, IV,VI,XIV, and XV.
Native American Religious Freedom Act
Native American Graves Protection Act.
I'm not even going to touch the many Environmental Laws that are broken
here with impunity.
If any of you are familiar with U.S. Contract Law, check out the
Accommodation Agreement. I'm not a lawyer, but I recognize a good joke when
I see one.
But, to be fair, I must also report on the other side of the coin.
With my very own eyes I have seen "illegal" and "undocumented" sheep
grazing.
With my very own eyes I have seen roofs, hogans, & corrals be built and
repaired, "without permission".
With my very own eyes I have seen firewood collected "without permission".
With my very own eyes I have seen elderly women "trespassing" on land
composed of their ancestors bones.
There are those that live in some of the large cities that take a perverse
pleasure in claiming to be the "Crime Capital" of the country. Hah! There is
more crime here "per capita" than anywhere I know.
But in a very real sense all of the foregoing is irrelevant.
It's not the issue.
Let me try to explain.
In navigating my way through lifes sometimes complexity I have always
found it extremely useful to distinguish between two things, Rules and Laws.
The distinction is simple, rules have exceptions and change rapidly, laws are
absolute and change slowly, if at all. In any conflict between the two, I
will hopefully opt for THE LAW everytime. I admit to the necessity and
wisdom of rules some time, but I think to confuse rules and laws is the
cause of much misunderstanding. Much of the mythology called science is
rules. And, this is the point, much of the dominant societies "laws" are
rules. These rules are owned and created by those with power. I do not
believe there is a single reader who has not had personal experience of this
fact. As Corbin Harney puts it "These so-called laws that we've got today,
they make them every hour on the hour. Then they keep changing the law,
because whoever presents it doesn't like the law of whoever presented it
before, so they make another law to replace the first one."
So what is THE LAW?
Some would call it the Creators Law, some would call it Natural Law or
the Law of Life, some might say Conscience. Yet another might call it Original
Instruction. Leonard Peltier astutely perceives 3 levels of Original
Instruction. The first is the Original Instruction given to humanity, all 2
leggeds. Then there is the Original Instruction given to each of the many
different Peoples, and then there is the Original Instructions given to each
of us as individuals.
I can't tell you what the LAW is; we must each come to it ourselves,
by paying attention to how the world works, by listening to our hearts, and by
listening to those with wisdom, the Elders. On this last point I offer the
following pearls.
Whenever the subject of the Whitemans law came up, my Grandma would
always say "when they can make it rain, when they can make the grass grow,
THEN I'll listen to their law"
Robertas well known statement "The Creator is the only one who will
relocate me" cannot be surpassed for simplicity.
My current favorite though is another anecdote from Pauline. Seems that
one day yet another official came by with yet more paperwork. " It's the law" he
told her. Pauline took the offered paper and asked "This is the law you
say?". "Yes, yes!" answered the official eagerly. Pauline opened the door to
her woodstove and placed the paper inside. Within seconds it was reduced to
ashes. "Oh well " she sighed, "it failed the first test".
Pauline has been "deprived" of the "benefit" of a school education.
She has the sharpest mind I have ever encountered.
Could these two facts be related?
If it were possible for me to communicate just one thing, if it were
possible for me to pass on to you just one simple truth, it would be this:
THE NON-SIGNING GRANDMOTHERS HERE AT BIG MOUNTAIN WILL CONTINUE TO PROTECT
AND DEFEND THE LAW WITH THEIR LIVES. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US, AND THE
GENERATIONS YET UNBORN, BENEFIT BY THIS.
If as Katherine Smith suggests there are 7 non-signing grandmas,
surely they must be known as the Magnificent Seven?
It continues to rain and rain here. I have never seen the Mesa so
green. For some years now the BIA/HTC has been claiming that the drought is
the reason for the continued reduction of the peoples small flocks. What are
they going to do now? Maybe it's too wet for livestock? Recently I heard
murmurings that actually its going to take "years" to recover from the
drought. Yeah right.....It's hard to exaggerate what a blessing the rains
are. We do not live in a climate of abundant rainfall. Sometimes it rains,
sometimes it doesnt. We do not have rivers we can divert for irrigation. We
cannot turn a spigot and turn on sprinklers or drip irrigation for pasture
or the cornfields.( For those of you with plumbing, do you not feel as Gods
& Goddesses to have such power over the water of life?) We must depend on
THE LAW. So when we have a really wet summer like this year, it is
impossible not to experience it as a gift The sheep are fat with the
abundant grass. This is good for the new life growing inside them. We
2-legged are eating plenty of delicious fresh corn, potatoes, squash,
pumpkins, tomatoes etc. This is a great help in dealing with the daily grind
of low-intensity warfare and siege tactics.
At the end of the last VFH I told you of the "raid" on Paulines
cornfield, and that I couldn't understand how a few women growing corn could be
a threat to the HTC. Well, obviously such a thing as women working together in
life-sustaining acttivities is a threat to any patriarchal institution such
as the Hopi tribal Council, but I think the real reason may be simpler, I
think I've surmised the real reason the HTC wants the cornfield left
unguarded. The cornfield is right beside the road. Every day Hopi "Law
enforcement officers" (I'm sorry, but it is impossible for me to write those
words and not laugh) travel the road, making sure the land is safe for
their bosses cows. Now, I don't know how many of you have seen Hopi cops,
but like most cops I know, the kindest thing that can be said is that from
their appearance they certainly seem to enjoy their food. There are no donut
shops round here. A field full of fresh corn may be just a little too much
temptation. Fortunately 2 women are still standing guard.
For those of you who do not live in Northern Arizona, and as one of
View From The Hogans aims is to bring you the words of the Grandmas directly,
I include a letter written to the Navajo Times. Any of you who have seen
"Broken Rainbow" will be familiar with Katherine Smith. Like all of the
elders here, her oral tradition leads to a simplicity and poetic power in
her words that is lacking in much of the way the Whiteman speaks. No words
are wasted. So I urge you to read her letter "slowly and carefully", which
is always the best way to listen to Elders..
Editor July 29th
Navajo Times
We heard of a law called PL 93-531 about twenty three years ago. At that
time, the people within the HPL were peaceful, all of our people smiled with
nice faces and they were polite and helped each other. At that time, this
crazy law came, we didn't even know that this law was made and what it did
to us.
We didn't see the judge that passed this law , and we didn't go to court at
that time. They passed this law in Washington, not on Navajo land.
Now, not only one law has been passed, more laws have come to us. I'm still
here yet on the Big Mountain. I have fifty grandchildren, four generations.
What happens to them now that the Hopi and the Whiteman have swallowed our
land. They have swallowed our livestock and our big cornfields. Now they
want to swallow our life, our body.
I've seen a lot of police around Big Mountain, because we have the
Sundance. We left the gates of the dance and police chased us, stopped us
and ticketed us. I think these police are so hungry, nothing to eat, they
want to swallow us after they have eaten our land and livestock. After I am
gone what are they gonna swallow next.
So police harassment is going on in the HPL today. The policemen have a
badge, so they tell the jailor at the office lies about us on their land.
Their words and stories are not true. The police want to capture me like
they did Peter McDonald. If the big trouble comes, with large crowds and a
lot of police, then somebody gets killed, then they will quickly capture the
seven ladies who didn't sign the agreement and take us to prison.
We are already in prison, but they won't lock us up. I think thats why they
are really bothering us. We can not support or let policemen make up stories
to scare people.
Please read this letter. This is a true letter.
Katherine Smith
Big Mountain
I have received enquiries as how to support ceremonies here, and before
answering I wanted to clarify some points with the Bosses, so I paid a visit
to Robertas. As usual Unclejake was out with the sheep. As usual I found
this Great Grandmother cross-legged on the floor weaving. Not just one rug
though, she was surrounded on 3 sides by looms with unfinished rugs. Without
interupting the rhythmn of the weaving, without taking her eyes from the
rug, she answered my questions. One of the things she said was "tell them to
use their own ways, to use their own ceremonies, and to pray for Big
Mountain." A point so obvious that I had forgotten to mention it to you.
I'm a sheepherder.
I spend vastly more time with sheep and goats and dogs than I do with
2-leggeds.
Most of you reading this do not, therefore I'd like to tell you a little
about sheepherding, and by implication, sheep, as they are as an integral
part of what is going on here as the Grandmas, and also because someone
wrote me and said I "seemed intelligent for a sheepherder". I don't feel
competent to judge wether I am intelligent or not, but the people I live
with have been sheephereders all their lives, usually from even before they
could walk, and these sheephereders are the wisest people I have ever met,
so I remain hopeful.
Some years ago, when I was living with my Grandma and Grandpa, we went
through a rather "lean" period one winter of being "cash poor".
Breakfast was mutton soup, frybread, and coffee. Lunch was mutton soup,
fry bread, and coffee. Supper was, well, you figure it out. This went on
continuously for eight days. Each day the soup got thinner. I have to ask
you to trust me that you cannot imagine how tasty mutton soup is to me since
that time. I now experience "Mutton Hunger", a curious complaint that
afflicts Traditional Dineh. When I visit Babble-on, after a few days I start
to yearn for mutton. Store bought, Whiteman-raised mutton can relieve the
condition slightly, but only mutton from the land I live on will bring
relief. It's a very real form of homesickness. The sheep and goats we live
with eat a whole variety of food and medicine plants that give a unique
flavor to the meat. In a different area, the plant life varies in different
ways, the sheep eat a diferent diet, the sheep taste different. To eat the
mutton is to partake of a sacrament, an acknowledgement of connection to an
area of land, the source of our lives, our home.
At the time of this "lean period", I'd only been herding sheep for
six months. In many ways it was a "chore". I did it because my Grandma and
Grandpa shouldn't have to do it at their age. It was something of an
inconvenience. One day soon after, I was standing on a rock watching the
flock, and I was invaded by the statement " A happy sheep is a tasty sheep".
Maybe the flock had been collectively psyche-bombing me with that notion,
but I realized, and have since found it impossible to forget, that in a most
real way I owed my life to the sheep. From that moment on , my attitude to
the sheep altered. As a sheepherder, my function, my "job", is to serve the
needs of the flock, not vice versa. I hasten to add that their "needs" don't
always match their "wants", but mostly they do. My job is to assist them to
do what they want, but pretty much it means I just follow them around, and
be on-call 24 hours a day for them. These are not "resources" in the
Whiteman sense, they are not "economic units". We let them do their thing.
No drugs, dipping, controlled breeding,.... we let the Men sheep and the
Lady sheep do what comes naturally to them. Consequently the flock is
composed of all sizes, shapes, colorings, and personalities. We know the
lineage of each animal, its mother, grandmother, great grandmother,....
sometimes we know the father. We know them as individuals. There is little
"control" imposed on them. This makes it in some ways much more work for us.
The old sheep, the grandmas, are not killed beacuse they are no longer
productive. They are looked after with care, in gratitude for their
offspring that will sustain us, even though it means more work for me,
picking the medicines for their ailments, slowing the whole flock down so
they can keep up.etc. Lambing is the time that is most work for
sheepherders. The weather is usually at its worst, mid winter, and any weak
or sickly lambs must be bought into the hogan, kept warm, bottle fed, etc.
Pre and Post-natal care is my job. We cannot afford to lose any, especially
as the flocks are so small nowadays. The flock must be checked several times
a night to see if there is any problem births. Every single lamb that makes
it is an affirmation that life will go on, at least for now. It is a gift we
cannot presume the right to, but must earn by following THE LAW. I love "my"
sheep. I cannot ignore that they are relatives. With each passing day, they
teach me new things about life. I guess the sheepherders life is not for
everyone, but I remain the richest man I know. When the BIA take the peoples
sheep it is much more than economic terrorism, it is an assault on the very
source of life for these people. We know it is not done to protect the land,
but out of greed and a kind of fear-based hatred. Every winter the
Grandmothers need help to protect and defend their flocks. This coming
winter will be no exception.
I note with curiosity that the majority of emails I'm receiving are
coming from females. I further note that among the sheepherding/support community,
females again predominate. The frontlines here at Big Mountain are occupied
by Grandmothers. With them stand mothers, and daughters, and sisters. This
seems to be so in so many of the other places around the world where the war
against life rages.
Where are the men?
(a cry heard too often, I fear)
But then, what the hell do I know,........ I'm just a sheepherder.
"Disobedience is the first step towards freedom"
I thank you for taking the time to read my words.
Your prayers, support, and correspondence are invited.
For all my relations
Bo Peep
Consultant to SDN (Sheepherder Defense Network)
Probationary Member, Union of Sheepherding Philosophers,
Local 101.
reachable via unclejake74@hotmail.com
P.S. To all those who have written to me, please be aware that owing to the
pressing needs of the flock, the corn, and the Grandmas, the office is
sometimes left unattended for days at a time. It may take as much as a half
moon between when you write, and when you hear back from me. Around here the
information superhighway is a muddy jeep trail. Please be patient, you will
hear from me.
If you have received this update as a forward, but want to sure of getting
them in the future, please let me know and I will add you to the list. Also
if there are any "back issues" you don't have, again, let me know.
