Excerpt from Navajo-Hopi agreement on Bennett Freeze area.
We do not want this!
The Navajo Nation Council delegates who are pushing this project are from the eastern half of the Navajo Nation. They have nothing to lose. Residents in the western half of the reservation are the ones who will lose.
Any agreement made by the Navajo Nation to move forward on the Escalade Desecration, Is a violation of the compact between the Navajo and Hopi that ended the Bennett Freeze. The Navajo Nation agreed to protect Hopi cultural resources on Navajo land, such as at the Confluence.
As soon as the Navajo Nation agrees to the atrocity known as the Escalade, we violate the good-faith agreement made between our tribes.
We are also liable for the violation of Article 16.4 relating to legislation on development in this area.
The developers will be able to sue the Navajo Nation, outside of tribal court in non-minority-friendly Maricopa County. This is because the legislation waives the sovereign immunity of the Navajo Nation.
The developers know that the project will violate the agreement between the Navajo and Hopi tribes. The developers have set themselves up to make money off the Navajo Nation's willful violation of our good faith-agreement between our tribes.
The best thing we can do is talk to our council delegates, or write to them and tell them what a bad idea this is.
Once this goes into a legal struggle, be ready to support the local people who will be most affected. Be ready to support the Pueblo nations, the National Park Service, the river community and citizens groups as they are forced to take legal recourse.