Embattled Aneth trio to be seated
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — Three new officers will take office in Aneth Tuesday,
despite efforts by former officials of the chapter to stop the special
election.
Manuel Morgan is the new president of the chapter; John Curley, the
new vice president; and Patricia Benally, the new secretary-treasurer.
The three were selected in a special election held Feb. 15, but there
was some question about whether the election was valid because of
a restraining order issued by Window Rock District Court Judge Thomas
J. Holgate just before the polls closed.
Election officials in Aneth received the restraining order about 6:30
p.m. At that point, the polls were scheduled to remain open for another
half hour. The officials allowed voting to continue until 7 p.m. and
said the restraining order had no effect on the outcome of the race.
Leonard Lee and Nelson Rockwell, who were removed from their Aneth
chapter office by the Navajo Election Board last year for mismanagement
of some $28,000 in chapter funds, filed the request for a temporary
restraining order on the day of the election.
Holgate dissolved the restraining order on Thursday, which allows
the election totals to stand and paves the way for the tribe's election
board Tuesday to confirm the three as the chapter's new officers.
Holgate agreed with the position of attorneys for the election board
and the tribal Department of Justice that the Navajo Nation Sovereign
Immunity Act requires the tribe be given 30 days' notice before any
lawsuit is filed.
That was not done in this case, said Holgate, who added that he was
misled on this point by Geri Harrison, who was legal counsel to Lee
and Rockwell.
Because of that, he ordered Lee and Rockwell each to pay half the
cost of the special election within 30 days or file documents showing
they are indigent.
Special elections usually cost about $2,500 to $3,000 per chapter,
according to estimates in the past by tribal election officials.
The three new officers for the Aneth Chapter will serve only until
August, since elections are now in progress for the 2000-2004 term.
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Sacred eagle hoop to pass through Gallup
Nancy Watson
Diné Bureau
GALLUP — Marchers carrying a sacred hoop of 100 eagle feathers
to honor sobriety will arrive in Gallup on April 16.
The march begins April 2 in Los Angeles, where actor Danny Glover
will participate in the official send off as marchers leave the city
for Washington, D.C. They expect to arrive in the nation's capital
on July 10.
White Bison, a non-profit Native American organization dedicated to
providing programs and education resources for Native Americans wellness,
is facilitating the Wellbriety March.
At designated stops along the way, the group will hold conferences
on the four directions of recovery, treatment, prevention and intervention
for alcohol, drugs and domestic violence.
While in Gallup, the group will participate in a day-long conference
on domestic violence. A local group of supporters is trying to find
a suitable site for the conference, said Dennis Lorenzo of the Na'Nizhoozi
Center Inc. Other conferences will include discussions concerning
Native American youth suicide, children of alcoholics, strengthening
families and honoring the women of the four colors.
The conferences will include prevention resources and "tool kits"
for individuals and families. The tool kits include a network of 800
phone number hotlines, cultural videos, reading material and training
programs.
Several hoop ceremonies and feasts will also take place as the group
travels east.
The marchers will have to cover about 40 miles each
day to make the 3,800-mile trip. Vehicles will be used some of the
time, said Frank Adakai, coordinator of the march for New Mexico.
"Our goal is to spread culturally specific knowledge
about sobriety and wellness," he said.
But organizers of the march encourage people to take part and walk
for short or long segments.
"The 100 Eagle Feather Sacred Hoop provides a spiritual connecting
point which is culturally appropriate to native people and others
who are sympathetic with native ways," said Richard Simonelli,
spokesman for White Bison.
"It is said that the longest road we will ever walk is the 18
inches between the head and the heart. The four gifts of the sacred
hoop and the human bonding that will take place on the walk helps
make that connection," he said. "If the honor of one is
the honor of all, then the pain of one must also be the pain of all."
A core group of marchers will cover the entire distance,
but the hoop will be passed to relay walkers at designated points.
Some of the New Mexico stops include Lupton, Gallup, Baca Chapter,
Thoreau, Acoma, Rio Puerco and Albuquerque.
Chapters and other groups are being encouraged to support the marchers
and provide lodging or an encampment area, food, first aid for the
marchers and support.
The sacred hoop was constructed in 1994 by Don Coyis,
a Mohican, who saw it in a vision. Coyis is the founder of White Bison.
In his vision, he saw a willow tree shed its leaves
and form a circle about 4 feet in diameter. He also saw feathers from
both golden and bald eagles fly through the air. One by one, 100 feathers
attached themselves to the hoop.
After consulting elders about the vision, word passed along the "moccasin
telegraph" that eagle feathers were needed. One by one, they
began to arrive from native people all over the world.
Since then, the sacred hoop, also know as the Hoop of
Nations, has traveled to hundreds of native and non-native communities
in the U.S. and Canada. White Bison has been a facilitating program
of sobriety, recovery and community healing in native and non-native
communities since 1988. Coyis will participate in the walk.
Anyone wishing to provide support for the march or conference
should contact Frank Adakai at (505) 897-1489 or Dennis Lorenzo at
(505) 722-2177.
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Chaco Canyon buildings, roads serve as
giant clock
Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
GALLUP — Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
The shadows slip across Chaco Canyon, keeping time with the sun.
The centuries-old Anasazi buildings and roads in Chaco Canyon and
in other similar sites act like the numbers on a giant watch, and
the sun's rays are like its hands.
"It's all a clock," said John Stein, the chief archaeologist
with the Navajo Nation Chaco Protection Sites Program. "A rotating
thook, thook, thook, thook."
The ancient Native American architecture does not show the hours and
minutes of a day, though. This clock records the passing of seasons.
On Dec. 21 every year, the sun is farthest south from the equator,
and on June 21, it is farthest north. This happens because the Earth
tilts on its axis as it orbits the sun.
For the northern hemisphere, these days are called the winter and
summer solstices, respectively. (For the southern hemisphere, the
seasons are flipped.)
During the two yearly equinoxes, on March 21 and Sept.
23, the Earth is not tilted, and the sun is at the equator.
With the sun's activities in mind, the Anasazi built roads and great
houses, large buildings more than one story tall. This construction
keeps time for Chaco Canyon.
For example, on equinoxes, the shadow of the rising sun hits the base
of the great house in a Chacoan site in Newcomb. (Newcomb is 45 miles
south of Shiprock on the Navajo Reservation.) On the winter solstice,
the sun rises directly above one road running from east to west in
that same sight.
Catching shadows
These are not isolated examples. Scientists have found almost all
Chacoan great houses and many roads were aligned to meet the sun or
catch shadows on these days that mark the changing of seasons, said
Richard Friedman, the McKinley County Geographical Information Systems
director.
Other features of Chaco sites record the movements of the sun also.
About 20 years ago, the artist Anna Sofaer discovered three slabs
resting against the side of a mesa in Chaco Canyon. Carved into the
mesa wall were two spirals.
On the summer solstice, sunlight slipped through the openings between
the slabs and a single ray falls onto the center of the larger spiral.
On winter solstice, two rays bracketed the sides of the large spiral
and one of those rays divides the smaller spiral. However, tourists
trekking through the area after the slabs were discovered have disturbed
the rocks, throwing off the alignment of the spiral to the sun.
This Anasazi apparatus also marks the movements of the moon over a
19-year cycle.
Such reverence for the sun may be part of the Anasazi culture or religion,
but tracking seasons also has an economical benefit.
"You can't be a farmer in our part of the world without knowing
when the summer's coming or when the winter's coming," said Stephen
Lekson, an archaeologist with the University of Colorado who did extensive
work in Chaco Canyon in the 1980s.
Consistency in the positioning of architecture must result from conscious,
intelligent planning, said Stein, the archaeologist with the Navajo
Nation.
Designed environments
"These are giant, interlocking, designed environments,"
Stein said. "They're (the Anasazi) real careful about where they
put things."
The Anasazi were not a singular tribe, but several groups of peoples
who inhabited the Southwest from A.D. 500 to A.D. 1300. A strong connection
existed between Chaco Canyon and the outlying Chaco communities that
pervade the four corners. Stein described this as the "Chaco
Franchise."
"The Anasazi were a varied people, but there is a direct, encompassing
influence," Stein said. "There is a political glue that
holds it all together."
The function of Chaco Canyon and its buildings has been a topic of
debate between archaeologists. Some believe Chaco Canyon was a large
community inhabited at all times of the year; others believe people
came to Chaco Canyon only during certain seasons to trade and bring
their product to the Chaco market.
Stein and Friedman said they believe few people lived at Chaco Canyon.
The great houses and pueblos in the canyon were used as temples and
as the political center of the larger Chacoan area, they said.
Though individual communities developed their own particular cultures,
some things remained the same across those cultural and geographical
boundaries.
Stein likened this to the United States. For example, while New York
City and Gallup are very different, some features are the same, such
as the roads infrastructure, post office building designs and holidays.
"The direct influence of Chaco extends 74,000 square miles,"
Stein said. "That's more than a mom-and-pop kind of thing. It's
a major organization it's an empire. There wasn't gradual regional
change; there was socio-political change."
A regional change occurs slowly as people adopt cultural trends from
their neighbors. A socio-political change occurs significantly faster
because the center of a society implements the change.
For example, in the United States, if women in New York City start
wearing green lipstick, it may be months before women in Gallup pick
up the fashion. However, if president Bill Clinton signs into law
a bill requiring all women to wear green lipstick by March 1, the
change would happen in two days.
A key to understanding the relationships between the
communities are roads, said Friedman, the director of the GIS office.
A spiritual link
The Anasazi roads were not used as roads are used today.
Instead, the roads served to spiritually link one building to another.
"If you look at the (great houses), the roads are extending the
essence of (them) to another place," Friedman said.
Stairways and ramps articulating with the roads imply
they did see some traffic, but 10- and 7-meter wide paths were not
needed just for foot travel. Unnecessarily wide roads may indicate
they were a type of memorial or sacred structure, Friedman said.
The Anasazi built some roads atop mountains and plateaus when a much
simpler, direct trail on the ground next to the buildings would have
made foot travel easier.
The roads were straight and built into a cardinal grid
that is based on the four directions.
"They don't function as roads," Stein said.
"There is a cosmological function. They formalize part of a sacred
grid."
The roads are like an umbilical cord, Stein added.
Lekson, the archaeologist at the University of Colorado,
said the roads helped the Anasazi people relate to each other.
Everyday, the inhabitants of a Chacoan community would
see a road, and though they could not see where it ended, the road
reminded them that they were connected to other people like themselves
elsewhere, Lekson said.
There is a possibility the Anasazi people first looked at the grid,
planned and built a road and then built a great house at the end of
it, instead of building the house first, Friedman said.
The roads tied not only communities to communities, but the present
to the past. When the Anasazi stopped using one building and constructed
another, they built a road connecting the old to the new.
Determining the use of the roads is almost as difficult as finding
the roads. Navajos and other people living here have noticed and even
used the roads for many decades, Friedman said.
Since the 1930s, archaeologists have noted these roads.
In the 1970s, the scientists studied them. Even so, little attention
has been given to the roads because they were hard to find, Friedman
said.
The mystery of roads
"Archaeologists are touchy-feely," Friedman, a geologist,
said. "If they can't (physically) pick up what's there, they
can't perceive it."
Friedman and Stein said they have learned how to see roads camouflaged
in grass and dirt.
Vegetation anomalies that follow a straight path often indicate a
road, Friedman added.
Wide, long roads will merge into the surroundings, but aerial photographs
offer a larger view on a smaller scale, so the scientists can see
the road's full form.
Friedman and Stein must check their findings in the photographs in
the field. They said after more than 10 years of doing this, they
are able to discern the roads much easier.
The Geographical Information Systems and Global Positioning Systems
help reference the location of the buildings on a coordinate system
so the scientists know where they are as they move over the field.
"You have to be able to see if lines are cultural or a natural
expression of the underlying geology," Friedman said. "You
look for anomalies in the terrain."
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Tuba City Of Champions
Warrior boys, girls sweep state titles in Class 3A
Ariz. state championship
Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer
PHOENIX, Ariz. - It was a long time coming but Tuba City made it a
clean sweep during the Class 3A state basketball finals, grabbing
the boys and girls state titles Saturday afternoon.
The Tuba City Warriors, 28-4, made history as they tasted their first
boys state basketball championship as senior forward Nolan Tsingine
nailed the winning shot with five seconds left to lift his team to
a thrilling 65-62 victory over Winslow (27-5) Saturday afternoon in
front of 14,219 fans.
In the girls state finals, after a 22-year wait, Tuba City (27-5)
turned back Winslow (23-8) 41-33 as the Lady Warriors claimed their
third state title, its first since 1978. Under veteran coach Don Petranovich
with a career won-loss record of 519-108, the Lady Bulldogs came up
shy of the state title for the fifth time in the last 10 years...
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4 indicted in beating at San Rafael
Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
GRANTS — Four Cibola County residents, who reportedly threatened
and beat a San Rafael man Jan. 23, have been indicted by the Thirteenth
Judicial District grand jury.
Benito Rodriguez, 23, of Milan was charged with breaking and entering,
aggravated burglary (while committing battery), assault (unlawful
acts, threats or conduct) and battery.
The grand jury indicated he broke down a door of the San Rafael man's
home on Loma Linda Road, burglarized the home, threatened the man
and finally beat him...
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Bengals depart 1AAAA in style
Gallup girls perfect in district to win seventh straight
title
District 1AAAA Championship
Alan Arthur
Sports Editor
GALLUP — With the district championship game on Saturday night,
teams bid farewell to District 1AAAA in its current form.
The other teams in the district are probably not sad to see the Gallup
Bengals leave.
The Lady Bengals captured their seventh straight district crown and
their second straight with an unblemished district record with a 47-26
victory over the Farmington Scorpions in the title game at Gallup
High School...
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Grants center reaches out to young people
Mary E. Davis
Staff Writer
GRANTS — Crystal LaPierre was 12 and a middle school student
who didn't believe there were bad people who would hurt her. But after
taking a ride with three local teen-age boys, she found pure evil
on the side of Mount Taylor.
She was defiled and murdered by the 15-, 16- and 19-year-old boys
in August 1993.
Saturday she was remembered not as a rape or murder victim, but as
someone whose tragedy will benefit other girls like her...
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Navajo judges to get new retirement plan
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — After more than two years of meetings, debate and
a little hair-pulling, Navajo tribal judges are finally getting close
to having a new retirement plan.
As soon as tribal budget officials can find the money to fund the
program, the new plan will be put into effect.
Judges have not been happy with the current plan, which requires an
annual appropriation by the council. This year, the retirement fund
received $321,391...
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Rehoboth better than Gallup Catholic
at right time
District 8A Quarterfinals
Robert Arrieta
Staff Sports Writer
GALLUP — While the Rehoboth Lynx were warming up before their
playoff game against Gallup Catholic, their coach, Steve Weeda, said
his team was ready to play. When the final buzzer sounded, the Lynx
proved their coach right, upsetting the Panthers 53-43.
It was the first time all season the Lynx were able to defeat the
Panthers.
"Every time we've played them this year we've been getting closer
and closer," Weeda said before the game. "Maybe tonight
we'll be able to take that next step..."
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Police find 30 pounds of meth in car
Staff report
GALLUP — Two out-of-town men were arrested early today after
30 pounds of methamphetamine, worth an estimated $240,000, were found
in their vehicle.
The driver, Vicente Resendez, 23, and passenger, Juan Marana, 22,
were transferred this morning from the New Mexico State Police station
to Albuquerque by the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Resendez told police he is from Atlanta, Ga., and Marana says he is
from Tijuana, Mexico.
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Deaths
Don Siutza
ZUNI — Traditional Zuni Wake Services for Don Siutza, 51, were
held on Saturday, Feb. 26 at the family home. Burial followed at the
Quincey Panteah Memorial Cemetery.
Siutza died Feb. 24 in Zuni. He was born Feb. 20, 1949 in Zuni.
Siutza was a Viet Nam veteran and served with the United States Army.
Survivors include his wife Janie Siutza of Zuni; sons, Bobby Siutza,
Destry Siutza, and Fabian Paylusi, all of Zuni; daughters, Denise
Suitza, Carlitta Siutaz, Donna Siutaz, Amanda Siutaz, all of Zuni;
mother, Edwina Siutza of Zuni; brother, Wilbur Siutza of Zuni; sisters,
Nadine Chapito and Sherry Siutza, both of Zuni; 18 grandchildren.
Siutza was preceded in death by his father, grandmother, and a baby.
Rollie Mortuary of Gallup was in charge of the arrangements.
Margaret S. Yellowhair
STEAMBOAT, Ariz. — Services for Margaret S. Yellowhair, 80, were
held at 10 a.m., today, Feb. 28, at St. Michaels Catholic Church.
Father Pio, O.F.M. will officiate. Burial will follow on family land.
Yellowhair died Feb. 24 in Toyei, Ariz. She was born March 15, 1919
in Steamboat, Ariz. into the Coyote Pass People Clan for the Water
Edge People Clan.
Yellowhair was a homemaker, rug weaver and lived a traditional life.
Survivors were her sons, Roy Yellowhair of Page, Ariz. and Larry Yellowhair
of Winslow, Ariz.; daughters, Lutricia Yellowhair of Phoenix, Ariz.
and Anita Y. Hildreth of Toyei, Ariz.; brothers, Howard Smith of Steamboat,
Ariz. and Lee Smith of Page, Ariz.; sisters, Marie Salabye and Alice
Smith, both of Steamboat, Ariz., Elsie Smith of Holbrook, Ariz.; eight
grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and 15 great-great-grandchildren.
Yellowhair was preceded in death by her sons, Harry Yellowhair, Thomas
Yellowhair, and Leonard Yellowhair; and parents, Sam and Mary Smith.
Pallbearers will be J.R. Bedonie, Ronnie Bedonie, Jimmy Smith, Jerroll
Pete, Dion Yellowhair and Ernest J. Hildreth.
The family will receive relatives and friends at Toyei Police Academy
Campus House 594-2.
James Tsinijinnie
COTTONWOOD, Ariz. — Services for James Tsininjinnie, 96, will
be held at 10 a.m., today, Feb. 28 at the Community Cemetary in Black
Mountair, Ariz.
Tsinijinnie died Feb. 24 in Chinle, Ariz. He was born Jan. 1, 1904
in Cottonwood, Ariz. into the Dark Streak in the Wood People Clan
for the Towering House People Clan.
Tsinijinnie was a hand trembler medicineman. He enjoyed riding horses,
hiking, and Navajo art. He worked for the Union Pacific Railroad and
ONEO, doing repair and carpentery work for the community.
Survivors include his sons, Dennis Tsinijinnie of Window Rock, Ariz.,
Robert Tsinijinnie, Dennison Tsinijinnie, Terry Tsinijinnie, all of
Cottonwood, Ariz.; daughter, Julia Tsinijinnie of Cottonwood, Ariz.
Tsinijinnie was preceded in death by his parents; one brother and
two sisters.
Pallbearers will be David Francis, Johnson Francis, family and friends.
The family will receive relatives and friends at Eva Chee Francis'
residence at 2 miles South of Cottonwood Day School.
Tse Bonito Mortuary of Tse Bonito is in charge of the arrangements.
Adalene Kee
CHINLE, Ariz. — Services for Adalene Kee, 32, will be held at
9 a.m., Tuesday, Feb. 29 at the Bedonie's residence.
Kee died Feb. 25 in Chinle, Ariz. She was born March 21, 1967 in Ganado,
Ariz. into the Water Flows People Clan for the Towering House People
Clan.
Kee graduated from Chinle High School in 1986. She also graduated
from Diné College with a AA Degree in business in 1991. She
was ranked #2 in her Diné College Class. She was employed with
Chinle District #24.
Survivors include her husband, Verdell Primeaux of South Dakota; daughter,
Wichoni Adelle Primeaux of Chinle, Ariz.; mother, Rita Bedonie of
Chinle, Ariz.; sisters, Abelene Bedonie and Arlinda Kee, both of Chinle,
Ariz.; grandmother, Louise Tah of Chinle, Ariz.
Kee was preceded in death by her grandfather, MoKee Bedonie; great-grandmother,
Margret Tallwood.
Pallbearers will be Steven Bedonie, Leroy Bedonie, Michael Bedonie,
Rudy Bedonie, Wilfred Tah, Lee Tah and Lewis Robertson.
The family will receive relatives and friends at the Bedonie residence.
The family will meet at 7 p.m., tonight, Feb. 28 at the Bedonie residence.
Tse Bonito Mortuary of Tse Bonito is in charge of the arrangements.
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