Horses, cattle seized in Hopi roundup By Kathy Helms Dine Bureau Gallup Independent 2/3/2012 WINDOW ROCK The

e Hopi Tribe rounded up and sold 63 horses which had either no brands or no permits during Jan. 21 livestock confiscations on Range Units 257 and 295 on Hopi Partitioned Land. Eight cattle belonging to an HPL resident who was allowed only one cow, also were seized. The cattle were returned to the owner and sold by the family, according to information released Thursday by the tribe. The feral horse population has become troublesome as horse owners have abandoned their horses on Hopi lands, Chairman LeRoy Shingoitewa said. The Hopi Tribe received numerous requests and demands by Navajo families residing on HPL to remove trespass animals from areas to which they have proper grazing rights, in accordance with the Navajo-Hopi Relocation Accommodation Agreement, according to Louella Nahsonhoya, Hopi public information officer. Hopi said affected HPL permittees with valid grazing permits were notified of the roundup and the required five-day notices were posted in public places. The roundup was conducted with the full support of the Hopi Tribal Council and executive officers. Roundups will continue throughout the year in all range units. Mae Tso, an Accommodation Agreement signer, did not receive a courtesy notice in advance, and I don't know of anyone who did, her daughter-in-law Rachel Tso said Thursday evening. Tso added that when she brought the matter up with the Hopi ranger, he said he wasn't required to give a personal notice because the livestock was unbranded and that no one is allowed to have horses on HPL. The five-day notices posted in public places are written in English, a language many residents (including Mae) cannot read, and those notices are not sufficient because it can be hard for residents to get to these places frequently, Tso said. Also, the notices are posted so frequently that they lose their meaning. If it was the first time the notices were going up, maybe a neighbor or friend at the store might have mentioned it to her, but because they are always posted they are kind of like constant idle threats, she said. Former Hopi Chairman Ivan Sidney, who grazes cattle in District 6, said he believes the roundup, in part, might have been due to complaints from Hopi ranchers about the rangers not carrying out their responsibilities in the grazing areas. The rangers have been used to become police officers patrolling in villages. In fact, they have been used to throw Council Representatives out of the Council Chambers by orders of the current chairman, he said. I understand some of the Council Representatives are questioning their work or non-work. Why stir up

sensitive inter-tribal issues when we are all trying to work on a resolve? The old days of political fighting is over. The land dispute is over. What's wrong with working with the ranchers and getting to know them? Hopi Ordinance 43 governs the control of livestock and grazing on HPL range units and authorizes the tribe and Resource Enforcement Services to impound both branded and unbranded livestock found in trespass or not permitted under existing HPL grazing permits. The Hopi Reservation has been experiencing severe drought conditions over the past 16 years. If actions are not taken to protect Hopi lands, livestock reductions within the Hopi range units may become necessary, Priscilla Pavatea, director of Range Management, said. I have received several phone calls from HPL residents expressing their appreciation for the action taken. The residents have endured much hardship and continue to safeguard their grazing area. The Jan. 21 roundups occurred in the range units bordering HPL and Navajo Partitioned Land in the northern portion of the Hopi Reservation. The drought and the growing number of illegal livestock have impacted the grazing rights of Navajo AA signers. This overgrazing caused by livestock owners has caused tremendous negative impact on the land, Shingoitewa said. At a Sept. 14 meeting on HPL hosted by Navajo families, strong statements of concern were voiced about non-permittees cutting fences to access grazing areas, according to Nahsonhoya. Other concerns centered around water hauling and faucets being damaged or not shut off, leaving little or no water for animals belonging to Accommodation Agreement signers. Families also were concerned about their own well-being and their lifestyles being infringed upon by Navajo resisters, Nahsonhoya said. One would expect this to be a problem of Navajos against the Hopi, but its not; its Navajos against Navajos, Hopi Councilman Cedric Kuwaninvaya said following the meeting. He also expressed disappointment that no Navajo Nation Council delegates attended the meeting, although they were invited. I would have liked to have seen one of their representatives, as we have issues on both the HPL and NPL sides that we need to address as tribal governments, he said. The Accommodation Agreement is called a 75-year Accommodation Agreement How come the Hopi Tribe is calling it a Navajo Hopi Relocation Agreement? Is it their desire to make it so hard for AA signers and non-signers to live under Hopi rule that they will relocate without benefits now that the window has closed?