NAVAJO NATION TO SEND BUS TO HEARING IN PRESCOTT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: Tuesday, October 25, 2005
The Navajo Nation leadership is asking the Navajo people to show their
opposition to the continued desecration of the sacred mountain Dook 'o'slííd
or the San Francisco Peaks during the hearing which is scheduled to continue
on November 2, 2005, in Prescott, Arizona.
Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan and President Joe Shirley released a joint letter
this week asking the people of the Navajo Nation to come out in full support
of the efforts to protect the sacred mountain to the west. To do so, the
Office of the Speaker and the Office of the President are sending a bus to the
court hearing in Prescott so that the position of the Navajo people will be
made known during this important hearing.
The bus will be leaving the morning of November 2, 2005, from the Navajo
Nation Veterans Memorial Park in Window Rock, Ariz., at 6 a.m. The bus will
return on the same day. Seating will be filled on a first come, first served
basis.
In addition, the Navajo Nation Honor Riders are scheduling a motorcycle run to
ride to the court house, which they also did on October 18, 2005.
The Navajo Nation is party to the lawsuit against the Coconino Forest Service
and the Arizona Snowbowl to halt the proposed use of reclaimed waste water on
the San Francisco Peaks. The use of sewer water on the mountain is considered
sacrilegious by the Navajo people and by at least 12 other tribes.
"The integrity of our culture and our way of life is under attack. When the
sanctity of one sacred mountain is compromised, the entire system is
compromised. It is our job - as stewards of the environment in which we live
- to protect these mountains for future generations to come," the letter
states.
"We humbly ask the Navajo people to fulfill that role as the protectors of
our sacred sites and make known our opposition to any further development on
Dook 'o'slííd - the San Francisco Peaks," the president and the speaker
state in the letter.
Native American Religious Freedom Threatened: Prayers Needed
The San Francisco Peaks, a mountain located in Northern Arizona, which are
also
sacred to over 13 native American nations, are the center of a legal battle
that
will determine the future of Native American religious freedom.
A lawsuit has been filed by the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, Havasupai,
Hualapai,
White Mountain Apache, Yavapai Apache, Sierra Club, Flagstaff Activist
Network,
Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, Dine Medicine Men's Association
&
a Hopi traditionalist against the United States Forest Service due to its
attempt to allow the Arizona Snowbowl Ski area expansion, which includes;
clear
cutting 74 acres of rare alpine ecosystem, building a 14.8 mile buried
pipeline,
and snowmaking from wastewater on the sacred mountain.
On October, 12th, 14th, 17th, & 18th, the Religious Freedom and Restoration
Act will be the focus of the trial at the Federal Courthouse in Prescott, AZ.
We are calling for prayers of all faiths and denominations to support the
tribe's and environmental group's lawsuit and to ensure that Judge Paul
Rosenblatt will make a ruling that upholds religious freedom and human rights.
The court will be in session from 9:00 am to 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard
Time.
People will also be gathering outside of the courthouse in downtown Prescott
all
day.
Please visit Save the Peaks or Arizona Indymedia for more info
on
local actions.
Special thanks to Dorinda Moreno for sharing this information.
Contents
Last updated on October 30, 2005