Division Amongst the Hopi

The situation at #FourCorners has brought to the surface a division amongst the Hopi themselves, something that Hopi prophecy said would occur three times. The first occurred in 1906 between the Traditionalists (one-hearted Hopi) and Modernists (two-hearted Hopi), the Traditionalists leaving the mother-village Oraibi to establish a new home in Hotevilla. The Traditionalists have strived to protect their way of life and to keep the covenant with the Creator to perform the ceremonies necessary to hold the world in balance. The Traditionalists also believe that the Hopi are obligated to the Great Spirit (Masaau) never to cut up their land, or to sell it.

The second division occurred in 1970 amidst a spectacular lightshow of unknown origins. The third division has recently taken place between progressive Hopi belonging to the Hopi Tribal Council and the Traditionalists.

The #HopiTribalCouncil was created in part by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. At the urging of the Department of the Interior of the Untied States, the Hopi Tribal Council has signed several leases with #PeabodyCoal Company, allowing them to #StripMine the sacred mesas, resulting in the destruction of several ancient burial sites.

In 1996, the Modernists had another victory as sewer and power lines were brought to Hotevilla. Many considered these to be disruptive to the sacred prayer ceremonies. In 1997, the sacred prayer bundle was unearthed -- another desecration. Possibly as a result of these actions, Grandfather #DanEvehema, considered to be one of the last traditional elders, left Hotevilla in protest. He passed away less than a year later, at the age of 108.

Grandfather Dan Evehema had met with many world leaders as well as Native American ones, and was a respected healer who has spent his life praying for world peace and upholding the Hopi truth of "Together with All Nations We Hold This World in Balance." He spoke at the #UnitedNations several times, and last winter met with the UN #HumanRights Violations and Religious Rights inspectors who recently investigated human rights violations taking place on Native American reservations. He co-authored "Hotevilla Shrine of the Covenant" and the "Hopi Survival Kit," and worked on the traditional Hopi newsletter, the #TechquaIkachi for many years. In the "Hopi Survival Kit" he stated that fuel shortages will bring technology to a stop -- people will either learn to live in sacredness with the Earth, or they will perish when "#MotherEarth will hide her nourishment."

Grandfather Dan was also one of the Elders involved in bringing the Hopi message to the United Nations, which was finally accomplished in 1992.

#HopiProphecy #Koyaaniqatsi

#FourCorners Area Crucial

The Hopi prophecies warned that the white men or "#Pahana" would come to their land and try and lead them into evil ways. The Hopi were told that they must hold onto their tradition and their land, though always without violence. If they succeeded, their land would become a center from which Spirit would be reawakened, resonating throughout the world.

Frank Waters, author of "The Book of the Hopi," wrote in 1963 that "when the 'heart' of the Hopi land trust is dug up, great disturbances will develop in the balance of nature, for the Hopi holy land is the microcosmic image of the entire planet; any violations of nature in the Four Corners region will be reflected and amplified all over the Earth," and that what is dug up there (#uranium) would be used for destructive purposes. #ThomasBanyacya also wrote of the Four Corners area: "Great Spirit told Hopi [that Four Corners is] the backbone of the United States. Hopi must hold land till Human Beings live in harmony."

This sacred area is being strip-mined for #coal and uranium, reducing the water table and causing radioactive pollution. According to Quail Littlefield of "People Concerned with #MotherEarth," recent discoveries show that the Four Corners area is not only rich in coal and uranium, but is also a main source of positive and negative ions in the atmosphere. It is also said to be one of the few key focal centers in the world where the energy current must be kept in balance to maintain a life-giving biosphere. According to some Hopi Elders, if this center is disrupted, then the atmosphere will become unstable and all life will perish.

The Hopi and #Navajo (#Dine) have co-existed peacefully on these lands (Four Corners) for many generations. A "range war" was fabricated to allow the Bureau of Indian Affairs [#BIA], through the #HopiTribalCouncil, to grant exclusive #mining rights to #PeabodyCoal Company, which called for the eviction of Navajo elders to an area that is barren and 60 miles downstream from uranium-poisoned waters. Forcible removal of the Elders begins in February, 2000.

Hopi Elders Thomas Banyacya and Grandfather #DanEvehema, as well as many others, have opposed this forced relocation. People from not only the United States but all over the world have sent letters to Janet Reno, and other government officials to stop this eviction, which violates the American Indian Religious Freedom Act 17 and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 18.

#NoUraniumMining #BigMountainResistance #HopiProphecy #Koyaaniqatsi