Issue Number 17
A LOOK INTO OUR PAST
In our last issue we let you have a short glimpse into the past Hopi world, when our ways of life were still stable in purpose. You will now enter the world of Bahanna (white race). The period when the first Bahanna planted the curse in Hopi land. The result of this curse is where we are now at this stage. Knowing this, the Hopi refuse to acknowledge the Bahanna's proposals or to be tempted to raise arms against any foreign powers. The Hopi stand is clear, all that he wants is to control his own way of life, his land and freedom to practice his own beliefs. Maybe the Hopi do see into the future so as to foretell the Bahanna's acts which will split the Hopi nation into two factions, two paths is the true meaning. When this situation finally came to a head one faction must suffer. Those who chose the original path were punished, imprisoned and finally evicted from their homes. This is their sacrifice in order to keep to their ways. This is a brief introduction to the situation so you may find your way around as a Hopi in the Bahanna world.
Please, once again pretend you are a Hopi in your early years, the period when your view of life is still somewhat blurred. Your home is in the village atop the mesa with a view to sunrise and sunset, a view to wide desert and high mesas. At night there is the most enchanting view of the heavenly bodies. Here too is where you will view the first Bahanna through Hopi eyes.
From your uncle's lips you have been hearing a lot about the Bahanna, an elder brother of the Hopi who was to come someday. You often wondered what he looks like and when he will come. You did not know that you will have a chance to witness the historical event until the village crier announced that strange people are coming up to the mesa.
You are told to stay indoors until confirmation is made by the chiefs whether they are friends or foes. It is best to be cautious. They are believed to be Bahannas. ''Bahannas," you say aloud to yourself, "What will they be like?"
The announcement did not take long in coming, they seem to be harmless and want to be friends. With the other children you go out to explore what the first Bahannas are like. At first you peek at them from a corner and when they come closer you run quickly to the next corner. By and by you come nearer to get a better look. You hear them speaking a strange tongue. "Look," you say excitedly, awed by such strange creatures, "Look, their clothing is different." "Look, they have hairs on their faces like dogs!" Very weird things happen that really astonish you, as you look with wide eyes, one of the Bahannas takes out his glaring eyes and puts them back again after wiping them with a piece of cloth. Another pulls off the top of his head and replaces it without a show of blood. "They must be witches," you think to yourself.
The Bahannas have with them a black box with one bulging eye. They connect legs to this so it stands up and then their behavior becomes very strange indeed. They flap their hands like birds wings, with other hands they offer you some kind of objects. They motion the objects are to eat. You are too shy to come close so they toss a few to you. Naturally you grab for them. They toss more and more and soon you all scramble to grab more than the other children resulting in some friction among you. All during this time you notice one of the Bahannas is always behind the black box with his head covered. You do not understand, it is only your fun that matters. You do not know that the first seed of the curse is sown by the Bahannas.
As time passes on the scouts for the more ambitious Bahannas have exploited the Hopi. From now on the life of the Hopi is one of tension and fear. In spite of this the yearly life cycle continues according to the Creator's plan. Before long the Bahannas make a proposal to set up a school to teach Hopi a better way of living. Hopi leaders oppose these plans on the basis that we are satisfied with the Hopi way of life, but the Bahanna persist and build schools near each village.
Your young mind has not yet comprehended full knowledge so you think it would be interesting and exciting to go to the white man's school. Perhaps to eat more candies and cookies and other things you may like. Your whole family is totally against this, your uncle would often gather all the clan members and preach to all of you how it will affect your future. He would end up by saying, "If we all turn into Bahanna, the great waves of water will swallow us all."
Before long the factions began to form, some to stay with the old ways, some to learn the new white man's ways. It begins to affect the children and some of your friends become your enemies. The schools open and the parents who agreed to go along with the Bahannas plan to enter their children of their own free will. Those who oppose do not. Teachers come into the village to take you and the other children, but your parents and the other parents refuse. The teacher tells them to reconsider, he will return.
Now you and your sister sleep each night in different places, changing each night so that you never sleep in the same place twice. Several time you have a close call but you were able to outrun the Bahannas. They carry guns and shoot after you to scare you into stopping, but you never stop running.
One morning you come home and your sister is gone. Your mother and grandmothers are crying, the Bahannas have taken her. Sounds of crying come from the other households nearby who also lost their children.
One day you walk right into them, the Bahannas were waiting in your house! Your father grabs you into his arms and the Bahannas try to drag you away, but your father holds you firmly. There is a struggle and your father lets go only because he was hit on the head by a Bahanna's club. Still struggling, they take you to the school. They take all your clothes and clip all your hair off, then they throw you into a tub of hot water and scrub you raw. Now a new kind of clothing is thrown to you for you to put on.
To keep you from running off, they take you on horseback two days travel away to another school. There you are given a bed and a blanket and a meal. Not candies or cookies, but something you have never eaten before. The first few days you are very sad and lonesome, you cry yourself to sleep. The other children are in the same shape.
In this new place there are many strict rules. You are not permitted to utter the words of Hopi or you will be punished with a whip. You are expected to be in bed and to rise at certain hours. There were many more dont's than do's.
After months go by you are taken to another school still further away from your home. Here you will spend the next four to five years.
* * *
In our next issue we will take you on a trip to the white man's country and give you a glimpse as to what is happening to our people while you are gone.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
What can we do to help our Mother Earth regain her health? How can we stop runaway technology from destroying her and all life? Has she not provided us with days to live, work, and enjoy our lives, and nights to rest? Has she not provided us with seasons to seed the land and harvest its fruits for our nourishment and provided water for our growth? With her love she gives us life, hope, and dreams of happiness, the mating for all to love one another.
Sadly, since technology flourished, our nights and days become a mixture of happiness, sadness, illness and anger. That which we call bad or good, that which spreads negative thoughts of love and hatred, near and far, blinds us to see what is beyond. With words of peace and human rights nations are stock-piling weapons of war. The greed for natural resources creates friction among nations, retaliations, marriages to richer or stronger nations for better or worse until death do us part. Whom to love or hate? Masses of life in a heap, confused and frustrated waiting with fear for what will leap upon them, peace or upheaval.
It was said, when man on earth loses sight of the Original Purpose and begins opposing the universal laws of the Great Creator, he will face and experience many problems in many forms. To mention a few: wars, changing climate, man-made or natural catastrophes, and finally moral breakdown. Here we bring out what our behavior is succeeding in accomplishing. Through our research in analyzing the theories of several religious sources of knowledge and prophecies we find these sets of facts related to one another. This is confirmed by scientific study for those who tend to shun spiritual beliefs. In order to create a better understanding we will briefly compare the concepts of Hopi and Bahanna spiritual knowledge.
At the time of creation, the Great Creator made the earth to be inhabited with life, but it was empty and covered with water. So He created four assistant Gods to help put the world in order. A God of lightning and thunder, a God of knowledge and wisdom, and the twin brothers, Poqonghoya, God of hardness, and Palongwhoya, God of sound. Together they created life and earth. With their powers they rotated the
earth, thereupon the water rushed to each pole, the land appeared and at both poles the water was solidified into ice. The twin gods were given the duty of keeping the world in proper rotation by sitting atop the water serpent to keep the poles in a stable form of solidity. They must not release the serpent, only a little now and then, in order to warn man of his recklessness and disobedience, then natural catastrophes will occur. If mankind fails to heed and goes beyond bounds the water serpent will be released and the water will cover the earth and swallow us. That will be the end of this age as well as the beginning of a new age.
The following are concepts of Bahanna, a few scriptures of the Bible prophecies along with short interpretations:
Genesis 1:9 "Then God said, let the water under heaven be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear. And it was so." Interpretation: By the command of the Great Creator, earth was formed and water parted from the land.
Isaiah 45:18 "For thus saith the Lord that created the heaven. God himself that formed the earth and made it to be inhabited, I am the Lord, and there is none else."
Interpretation: The Great Creator has created heaven, earth and life. He inhabited the earth with life and for this purpose He gave instructions of a life plan and laws, which only He can give.
Matthew 24:7-8 "For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines and pestilence and earthquakes in divers places."
Interpretation: I will box your ears for acting childish, fighting for what is not yours. I will try and refine you with much suffering and sorrows.
Job 38:8-9-10 "Or who shut up the sea with bars and doors when it breaks forth as if it had issued out of the womb. When I made the clouds and the garment thereof and thick darkness as swaddling band for it. And established My decrees upon it and set the bar and door."
Interpretation: The Great Creator said, "I have planned for this day when man forgets his purpose and goes against My laws. I have reserved the water in the form of ice and snow for My own use as a weapon for punishment on the day when mankind gets out of control. The Judgement Day."
Daniel 9:26 "The end thereof shall be with flood."
Interpretation: "You do not deserve to live on this land which I made for you, I will regenerate the earth."
What shall be the signs of the coming end of this age? This question is on the lips of many. Sadly the unfoldment of the signs are not pleasant. We turn now to the studies of scientists, geologists, and other groups. Their reports say that the earth is warming up, causing high water in the South and low in the North. There is a report of sinking lands and disappearing islands at the southern tip of South America and elsewhere. They think that changing climate could be the cause of droughts in some parts and floods in others. Cold and hot spells are occurring in new patterns so that vegetation is also affected. Corn is now being raised much further north in Canada. The time may come when citrus fruit can be grown there.
New insects, animals and birds are appearing in different places as old habitats disappear, supposedly they are in search of their own cultural environment. If one or two things were involved there might be some explanation, but when every phase of life, sea, earth, and air are feeling the same changes there must be something happening. Scientists believe the earth is tipping southward, because the melting ice is lessening the weight at the North pole. Their report says the ice is melting alarmingly because the earth's temperature is rising degree by degree as a result of pollution, due to the billions of tons of carbon-dioxide put into the earth's atmosphere from internal combustion engines and the tons of fossil coal burned for power in factories and homes. They call this the greenhouse effect which traps more heat in the earth's atmosphere, averaging from one to three degrees a year. This in turn may melt vast antarctic ice fields, raising the ocean level 170 feet or more and flooding much of the land. That is, if nothing is done to correct or control the heat buildup. Chunks of ice weighing thousands of tons which have accumulated for thousands of years will break off and slide into the sea which would cause the ocean level to rise to new heights. Scientists predict this may happen in about three or four years from now.
But this is too slow for the technologists. Dropping the powerful A-bomb would speed the melting of the ice. They say we might defeat the communists by this act of war, or vice versa, but there is no power of man which can defeat the threat of flood. When God releases the surplus water, only God can stop it.
Is there a way of preventing this catastrophic upheaval of the earth? Will we dismiss it as a hoax and continue on living as before? This is up to us, but we should not forget the future of our children and those to come. We may be helpless against the powerful technologists and people in high places, but there must be a way.
$5 MILLION CLAIM HEARING
Since the Land Claim Commission awarded five million dollars to the Hopi tribe on the land deal, Hopis have been undecided what to do with the money and are in disagreement whether it is a land sale or whether the funds have been awarded for wrongs done.
Several fruitless attempts have been made by the Hopi traditional leaders to meet with the Hopi Tribal Council about this question, all of which were declined. Instead Supt. Alph Sekakuku conducted his own five million dollar hearing on March 11, 1980. None of the traditional leaders attended because of his slanderous remark in the tribal newsletter, "That they think it will be useless to attend his meeting because of his racist attitude."
On the agenda was the question, "Have the Hopi people sold their land as claimed by some people?" He says the winning answer was NO from the crowd of approximately 200 persons. Actually few agreed, so we are informed, because there were so many who remained curious and undecided.
His theme, "It is like paying (a) fine for something that you have done wrong." "Because," he says, "that is what the U.S. Government had been guilty of." He claims that the Hopi tribe, under the Hopi Tribal Council, has owned the land under Indian title, (who gave them the title?) for half of the 19th and the 20th centuries. We wonder why? The Hopi Tribal Council was not around then and was not really organized until the Commissioner granted official recognition December 1, 1955. The traditional Hopi government has been organized for thousands of years before the Bahanna came, so actually we, the traditionals, have more right to control our own land than the Hopi Tribal Council.
The following is an interpretation of Docket 196 of the Land Claims Commission by capable lawyers:
"Accepting the money for the claim will have the same legal effect as selling the rights to the land. This is so because accepting the money will mean that the Hopi will no longer have any right to the land for which the claim was made.
"According to present U.S. law, payment and acceptance of an award made by the Indian Claims Commission is a complete bar to any other legal action to recover the land for which the claim was made. This is stated in Sec. 70U of the law, 25 USC 70U.
"The claim made in the Indian Claims Commission was for the taking of Hopi land, among other things. To say it another way, the claim asked for money, that is, for the value of the Hopi land. This can be seen by reading paragraphs No. 8-19 in the claim petition. The five million dollars award settles and puts an end to any claim to the land itself. This award is not simply compensation for past wrongs.
"In paragraphs 20-22 of the petition the lawyers make what is called an 'alternative' claim. In those paragraphs they take the position that the land still belongs to the Hopi, and that the claim is for depriving the Hopis of the use of the land. But as explained above, the claim also takes the contrary position, saying that the land was taken and making a claim for the value of the land itself.
"Accepting the award will settle and put an end to all the claims in the petition, including any further claim to the land itself."
In view of the opinion poll on Docket 196 of the claim petition, we feel it is time to ask our readers to give their opinion on what Sec. 70U really means. If possible consult your lawyer if you are in doubt. Because of limited space only 70U is put before you. You need not sign or address, only initial and include your state or country, unless you want to include your complete address. Because of disturbance and interference with our mail, send registered, certified or by other means by which it will be sure to reach us. This is urgent, accepting the money means losing our land.
OPINION POLL
I fully understand and acknowledge the Sec. 70U of the law, U.S.C. 70 printed below. Indicate how it will affect Hopi by marking (X) in the box.
70U Payment of claim after final determination; adverse determination as bar to further claims.
(a) When the report of the Commission determining any claimant to be entitled to recover has been filed with Congress, such report shall have the effect of a final judgment of the Court of Claims, and there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to pay the final determination of the Commission. The payment of any claim, after its determination in accordance with this chapter, shall be a full discharge of the U.S. of all claims and demand touching any of the matters involved in the controversy.
(b) A final determination against a claimant made and reported in accordance with this chapter shall forever bar any further claim or demand against the U.S. arising out of the matter involved in the controversy.
____ The award is simply a compensation for past wrong by the U.S. Government. It will not affect any right to the land. Comment:
____ The award is not simply a compensation for past wrong. It will also extinguish all claims to the land for Hopi forever. Comment:
Name or initials _____________________________________________________
Address ___________________________________________________________
(Please copy and give to friends, clubs or organizations.)
Mail to: Techqua Ikachi
P. 0. Box 174
Hotevilla, AZ 86030
The shield symbol with its fourcircles in four quadrants means:
"Together with all nations we
protect both land and life, and
hold the world in balance."
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