Radio listeners pitch in $2,000 given
to victims' kids
Bill Donovan
Diné Bureau
GALLUP — A Gallup radio station collected more than $2,000 in
food and cash Wednesday, less than three hours after putting out an
appeal to help the Hobb family of Navajo, N.M.
Three members of the Hobb family father Ray, mother Christine and
8-month-old daughter Shasawn were killed Monday in a car accident.
The crash was allegedly caused when a 30-year-old Brimhall man, Johnny
Caballero, led Gallup police on a high-speed chase after refusing
to stop for driving with his headlights off.
The deaths of Ray and Christine Hobb left their six other children
without parents.
Station Manager Don Gonzales said he was surprised at the outpouring
of sympathy for the Hobb children by KGAK listeners.
"Within an hour after first broadcasting the appeal, our lobby
was filled with people wanting to contribute money or food,"
he said. "We even had a line going outside the station."
KGAK and other radio stations in the area spent much of Wednesday
allowing listeners to call in to express their sorrow at the deaths
and to urge other listeners to help the children.
More than $1,700 in cash was brought in to KGAK between 2 p.m., when
the appeal started, and 5 p.m.
One young girl, Jessica Johnson of White Rock, came to the station
with her father to turn over 92 cents, money she said she had left
over from her weekly allowance.
Most people donated between $5 and $10, although there were a couple
of contributions of $50 and $100. The station also collected enough
food to fill the back of a pickup.
"We're not doing this to promote the station," Gonzales
said. "Our staff strongly feels that this family needs help,
and we wanted to do what we could."
Although the station, which broadcasts in Navajo, occasionally turns
over its microphone to reservation residents who ask for contributions
to help pay for everything from school trips to ceremonies, this marks
the first time the station has committed so much air time to help
a single family.
The request for contributions caught on quickly, with several departments
of the Navajo tribal government collecting money from its employees
and issuing challenges to other departments to do better.
Gonzales said an account has been set up for the Hobb family at the
Gallup Bank of America branch. "We are trying to collect as much
as possible because the six children, who are now without parents,
will need funds for the next several years," he said.
People who want to contribute to the fund can go to the Bank of America
and donate to the Hobb Family account. Gonzales said KGAK plans to
continue its drive today and possibly Friday.
"We're hoping to raise $5,000 for the family," he said.
Officials with Tse Bonito Mortuary said funeral arrangements for the
three victims are still pending, but preliminary plans are to hold
the funeral at St. Michaels Catholic Church.
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Non-Indian to Hopis: Tepee had tribal
OK
Nancy Watson
Diné Bureau
KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. — A woman the Hopi Tribe is trying to expel
testified Wednesday she did not want to break tribal law when she
erected a tepee on Hopi Partitioned Lands last summer.
All she wanted to do, Arleen Hamilton said, was to protect Navajo
and Hopi elders and children from the 115 degree heat and wind.
The Hopi Tribe wants to banish Hamilton, a non-Indian, from the reservation,
because she allegedly constructed the tepee without tribal approval.
Her attorney argued she had not violated tribal law because a tepee
is not a permanent structure as described in Hopi law.
Hamilton, who spent an hour on the stand, broke down in tears several
times during her testimony in front of an audience composed mostly
of supportive Navajos from the HPL.
Hamilton has spent several weeks annually for the past 17 years working
with elderly Navajo weavers.
The conflict began when Hamilton constructed a tepee at her Witness
for Peace Camp at the home of a Navajo living on the HPL last May.
Under Hopi and federal law, any construction in the HPL needs the
approval of the Hopi Tribe.
Hamilton's trouble began last spring when she was warned by tribal
officials to apply for a permit to hold an educational camp.
In her testimony, she said that on April 13, following her habit of
17 years, she called the tribal center and spoke to someone at the
Hopi Land Office.
She said she wanted to bring 40 college students to the camp 10 at
a time to haul water, plant corn, shear sheep and remud the hogans
of the elders.
She was given verbal approval by someone at the land office, she said.
By May 15, she said she had put one tepee, one outhouse and another
temporary building on the home site of Bonnie Whitesinger.
Field monitors from the Hopi Land Office arrived at the site and told
her she had to submit a request for a permit in writing, which she
said she did.
On May 29, the field monitors arrived again and presented her with
a paper instructing her to cease and desist from putting up more structures.
"I asked them then, 'Do I have to leave?' and they said that
I didn't have to," she said. They offered to give her a ride
to tribal headquarters where she could talk with Eugene Kaye, assistant
to Hopi Tribal Chairman Wayne Taylor. Instead, she spoke with him
over the radio in the truck.
Kaye told her that her permit request was still being reviewed by
Taylor.
She said she explained what the camp was for to him and he told her
to come to tribal headquarters to talk about it. The final decision
would be made by Taylor, he said.
Meanwhile, during a heat wave Hamilton thought was harmful to the
elders who were teaching at the camp, she put up a second teepee to
protect them from the heat and wind.
"I didn't want to break the law," she told Eldridge Coohise,
the hearing officer.
She then received notice that she had been denied her permit. She
pleaded with Kaye and submitted a third permit request. She promised
she and those attending the camp would be respectful of the land.
During the past 17 years, Hamilton, a resident of San Francisco, has
worked with several survival camps and sun dances held on the area
that is now the Hopi Partitioned Lands. The same area was called the
"Joint Use Area" when she first started coming to the reservation.
Hamilton and Sarah Katenay built the Weaving Resource Center on the
HPL in 1988.
In 1983, Hamilton began the Weaving for Freedom collective, a nonprofit
organization where weavers can sell their products.
Through Hamilton's efforts, more than $1 million in traditional weavings
have been sold through the collective during the past 17 years. The
weavers receive 100 percent of the purchase price.
Hamilton comes to the HPL every six weeks and spends two weeks with
Navajo elders.
Hopi leaders testified on Tuesday that they view Hamilton as a troublemaker
who continues to violate Hopi law.
Scott Canty, general counsel for the Hopi Tribe, said the Hopis are
doing what they have to do to protect their rights because Hamilton
and others refuse to respect the rights of the tribe.
"Chairman Taylor is the doorkeeper and he has been given the
right to decide who is allowed to come onto the reservation,"
Canty said.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Coohise said he would make his recommendation
to Taylor within 45 days.
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Navajo leaders may change legal system
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation is about to uproot much of the
Western-based legal system it has used on the sprawling reservation
for almost half a century.
At stake is a dramatic shift in the legal system, which will now try
to focus on Navajo common law, including the concept of restoring
harmony in nature, called "K'e."
Later this year, the Navajo Nation Council is expected to consider
adding Navajo common law an unwritten tradition handed down orally
from generation to generation to the Navajo Tribal Code as another
step in a tribal cultural revolution.
"This is a revolutionary task, putting Navajo common law in the
core of our government," said Edward Dee, a Navajo common law
specialist.
A year ago, the Navajo president, council speaker and chief justice
signed a statement, called the "Two Guiding Principles."
The first principle is the preservation of Navajo culture, tradition
and language; the second, the preservation of Navajo sovereignty.
Navajo judges already use the cultural tradition on a case-by-case
basis, although it isn't written into the tribe's code of law.
The present adversarial style of American justice which results in
punishment for wrongdoing would give way to the Diné concept
of K'e.
A few years ago, the Navajo Supreme Court formed a K'e-based peacemaker
system within the courts. It grafted a concept unknown in Western-style
justice onto America's largest Native American judicial system. The
Navajo courts began operation in 1959.
The system's 14 judges handled about 75,000 cases last fiscal year,
but resolved many of them through the peacemaking process that brings
the parties together with a mediator in a traditional Diné
way, seeking K'e.
But Navajo culturalists want more. A year ago Wednesday, they received
their Magna Carta when the three chiefs of the branches of the Navajo
Nation government adopted the "Two Guiding Principles."
Since then, President Kelsey Begaye, Council Speaker Edward T. Begay
and Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Yazzie laid the groundwork
to make the declaration more than another piece of paper.
Begaye applied the principles as a judgment tool for dealing with
proposals. Begay reserved a staff position for someone who would detail
how Navajo common law could be included in the written code. Yazzie
continued the pressure.
"Any legislation on Navajo common law should take into account
the definition and nature of traditional Indian law, the need for
it to be flexible and the fact that it can grow and change over time,"
Yazzie said at a meeting last Thursday of those involved in the project.
"It should be 'plastic,' which means that when it is applied,
it should fit the given situation."
The chief justice said K'e "is Navajo thinking. It is relationships.
You cannot find the K'e principle in Anglo law."
Yazzie said K'e means that "people use respect and encourage
positive interaction out of respect for others, and the good of the
group, simply because people depend upon each other to live in a good
way."
"One of the large differences ... is that while Anglo law is
'rules' handed down by a Legislature and enforced by police and courts,
Navajo common law has a great deal to do with relationships and how
the people themselves apply it.
"Navajo common law is unique, because 'Navajo thinking' is put
into journey and creation narratives, songs, chants, stories and even
sayings."
"It is my belief that integrating elements of Navajo common law
into every aspect of Navajo government is key to preserving our culture,"
Begay said in his quarterly report to the council last October. "A
significant majority of Navajo statutes are influenced by non-Navajo
laws, customs and traditions."
The speaker added that tribal courts state that Navajo common law
is an unwritten constitution.
"As I understand it, common law means an unwritten law that governs
the rights and duties of individuals," he said in January 1999.
"For example, in a nidaa' ceremony, it is commonly understand
that the patient cannot have contact with his or her spouse. This
provision is not written in the Navajo Nation Code books. However,
the judges in Navajo courts are utilizing the concepts and theories
imbedded in Navajo customs, value and traditions to interpret laws."
The speaker hired Dee to put Navajo common law in writing so the codes
can be amended.
Working with medicine men, Dee found that in 1977 the Navajo Tribal
Council required the courts in civil cases to apply Diné customs.
When Navajo customs or federal law did not apply to the situation,
then state laws must be used. In 1985, the tribal council expanded
the use of Diné customs to all cases, except when forbidden
by U.S. law and made the application of state law optional.
In 1990, the Navajo Nation Supreme Court expanded the special status
of Navajo common law.
Dee said the Navajo Nation will be careful not to conflict with U.S.
laws, but pointed out that the Navajo Bill of Rights predates the
federal Indian Civil Rights Act.
The common law specialist said the speaker and chief justice want
to conduct a seminar on the topic for the 88-delegate Navajo Nation
Council.
This means the proposed revisions could reach the council in October
or next January.
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Early Exits!
Thoreau, Pine Hill start slow, eliminated from state
competition
N.M. state boys basketball tournament
Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer
LAS CRUCES - When it comes to playing at the state tournament, teams
must be ready to go from the opening tipoff.
Thoreau and Pine Hill experienced slow starts that paved
the way for early exits for both teams during the boys state basketball
tournament in Las Cruces.
Thoreau trailed 31-6 after the opening period and was unable to overcome
that early deficit in losing to Portales 75-58 during the Class AAA
first round Wednesday night at Las Cruces High School...
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Lady Bengals swept by Bloomfield
BLOOMFIELD — The Gallup Bengal softball team suffered a doubleheader
sweep to the Bloomfield Bobcats 7-3 and 5-3 on Tuesday afternoon.
The Bengals fell to 2-4 with the loss. They travel to Las Cruces on
Friday and Saturday for the Las Cruces Invitational.
The Bengals were trailing 7-1 by by the fifth inning in the first
game. The Bengals added two runs in the seventh to account for the
final score...
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Gallup tennis second at Farmington
GALLUP — Led by the doubles team of Anna Min Nolte and Tena Bulthius,
the Gallup Bengal girls tennis team captured second place at the Farmington
tennis tournament held on Tuesday.
Nolte and Bulthius had a 2-1 record in doubles competition for their
runner-up finish. The Bengal duo defeated B. Bibo and B. Feirgero
of Grants 6-0, 6-3 and then knocked off J. O'Neal and A. Knight of
Farmington 7-6, 7-6. They then lost the championship match, 6-0, 6-3,
to Farmington's Leanna Dennard and Tamra Jones...
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Seboyeta traces roots of kids' reading
woes
Mary E. Davis
Staff Writer
GRANTS — There was a time when 33 percent of Seboyeta Elementary
School students were classified as nonreaders because they couldn't
read or comprehend the simple sentence, "Are you Matt?"
Many kindergartners didn't know their sounds, and most youngsters
were reading below their grade level.
"We had 42 percent (of students) that were below second (grade
reading level)," said Elaine Romero, a special education teacher
at the school. "They didn't know all their sounds. It's kind
of scary isn't it? So many of our kids were so far below grade level
that they have a long way to go..."
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Ramah man killed in rollover on dirt
road
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — A passenger who was ejected when a car rolled over
in the Jones Ranch area died at the scene from head injuries, Navajo
police report.
Leander Pino, 19, of Ramah was one of four young adults riding in
a 1991 Oldsmobile early Sunday.
According to the Crownpoint Law Enforcement District report, the car
was apparently driven by Loren Singer, 19, who lives about one-half
mile south of a Mustang convenience store south of Gallup...
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Thoreau teacher helps storm-damaged island
Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer
GALLUP — William Lenzner has seen the faces of people determined
to rebuild their lives.
Lenzner, a Thoreau Middle School teacher, went to St. Croix in the
Virgin Islands in late December to help people there recover from
a hurricane that had passed through the island last fall.
He went to St. Croix with Global Volunteers, a service organization
that does projects across the world. With Lenzner, 20 other people
volunteered to help the island's people clean and construct parts
or all of their homes...
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Deaths
Darrell "Doc" E. Benally
CROWNPOINT — Services for Darrell "Doc" E. Benally,
35, will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, March 17, at Cope Memorial Chapel.
Father Ulrich Pax will officiate. Burial will follow at Sunset Cemetery
in Gallup.
Visitation will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Friday, March 17, at Cope.
Benally was born March 23, 1964, in Crownpoint into the Water Flows
Together People Clan for the Tangle People Clan.
Benally was a 1982 graduate of Crownpoint High School and attended
UNM in Albuquerque. He was employed by Certified Services Inc. in
Albuquerque from 1995 until the time of death. He served in the U.S.
Navy from 1984 to 1990 aboard the U.S.S. Puget Sound.
Survivors include his mother, Mary F. Joe of Crownpoint; brother,
Michael Leon Joe of Window Rock; sisters, Rebecca Lori Yazzie of Crownpoint
and Leandra Trudi Cayatineto of Farmington; and grandmother, Lorretta
C. Benally of Crownpoint.
Benally was preceded in death by his wife, Edvern Bitah-Benally, and
grandfather, Johnson Benally Sr..
Pallbearers will be Ivan Whitehair, Alex Benally, Danielson Barbone,
Darrell Christensen, Marshall Benally and Michael Leon Joe.
The family will receive friends and family after the burial services
at the St. Paul's Parish Hall in Crownpoint.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Rondy V. Thompson
RAMAH — Services for Rondy V. Thompson, 27, will be held at 10
a.m. Friday, March 17, at the Ramah Navajo Church of the Nazarene.
Pastor Herman Nells will officiate. Burial will follow in private
family cemetery in Cerro Alto.
Visitation will be 3-7 p.m. today, March 16, at Rollie Mortuary.
Thompson died March 13 in Albuquerque. He was born Nov. 27, 1972,
in Zuni into the Chiricahua Apache People/Meadow People Clans for
the Sleeping Rock People Clan.
Survivors include his wife, Julianna Thompson of Ramah; son, Ethan
Shelton Thompson; mother, Mary Thompson of Pinehill; brother, Niel
Dave Thompson of Pinehill; sisters, Kimberly Katie Thompson and Michelle
Mary Thompson, both of Pinehill, and Valerie Lynn Thompson of Houston,
Texas; and grandmother, Katie Coho Henio of Pinehill.
Thompson was preceded in death by his father, Nelson V. Thompson,
and grandparents, Harry Henio, Louise James and Dave Thompson.
Pallbearers will be Lionel Benally, Jim Bob Custer, DeWayne Henio,
J.J. Henio, Michael Henio and Note Henio.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Arnold "Fito" Joseph Galindo
GALLUP — Services for Arnold Fito Joseph Galindo, 69, will be
held at 10 a.m. Friday, March 17, at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. Father
Jim Walker will officiate. Burial will follow at the Sunset Memorial
Park.
Galindo died March 13 in Gallup. He was born May 16, 1930, in Gibson.
Galindo was a life member of the Knights of Columbus 3rd Degree and
the Sacred Heart Cathedral. He served in the U.S. Army during World
War II.
Survivors include his wife, Rita Galindo of Gallup; daughters, Diana
Galindo, Linda Herrera and Rita Galindo-Noriega, all of Gallup, and
Geralyn Villalobos of Winslow, Ariz.; brother, Benjamin Galindo of
Amarillo, Texas; sister, Cipri Sanchez of Gallup; seven grandchildren;
and four great-grandchildren.
Galindo was preceded in death by his parents, Guillermo and Maria
Galindo, and a brother, Trini Galindo.
Pallbearers will be Eric Herrera, Paul Jude Herrera, Brian Maldonado,
Richard Ross, Jose Sanchez Jr. and Manuel Villalobos Jr.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Elsie Redhouse Jim
LUKACHUKAI, Ariz. — Services for Elsie Redhouse Jim, 66, will
beheld at 10 a.m. Friday, March 17, at the St. Isabel Catholic Church
in Lukachukai. Father Caron will officiate. Burial will follow at
the Lukachukai Community Cemetery.
Jim died March 13 in Albuquerque. She was born July 10, 1933 in Lukachukai
into the Folded Arms People Clan for the Water Flows Together People
Clan.
Jim was a well-known rug weaver, making the Two Grey Hills design.
She was a rancher anda practitioner in the Beauty Way ceremonies.
Survivors include her husband, Leo A. Jim of Lukachukai; son, Gary
Jim of Tempe, Ariz.; daughters, Emma J. Tully, Lorene "LA"
Jim, and Dorene K. Jim, all of Chinle, Ariz.; sisters, Annie Sandoval
of Fort Defiance, Ariz., Betty Nez of Kayenta, Ariz., Julia Claw of
Lukachukai, and Caroline Redhouse of Chinle; and eight grandchildren.
Jim was preceded in death by her parents, Willie and Pauline Redhouse,
and a sister, Alice Redhouse.
Pallbearers will be Wilbert Sandoval, Randy Claw, Dewayne Claw, Gerald
Sandoval, Michael Uentillie, Jefferson John, Doug Uentillie, Reynolds
Uentillie, LeManuel Yellowman and Lewellyn Tully.
The family will receive friends and family after the burial services
at the Catholic Hall.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
John B. Tsosie Sr.
NAVAJO, N.M. — Services for John B. Tsosie Sr., 77, will be held
at 10 a.m. Friday, March 17, at Our Lady of Blessed Sacrament in Fort
Defiance, Ariz. Father Martan Rademaker will officiate. Burial will
follow at the Veterans Cemetery in Fort Defiance.
Tsosie died March 14 in Navajo. He was born May 10, 1922, in Sawmill,
Ariz., into the Tangle People Clan for the Big Water People Clan.
Tsosie attended Fort Defiance schools. He was employed by Navajo Forest
Products for 12 years as a heavy equipment operator, with Neilson
Construction for two years and Navajo Nation for three years. He received
the European African Service Medal, American Charter Service Medal,
Distinguished Unit Badge, Good Conduct Medal, and the Navajo Nation
Service Medal medals.
Survivors include his wife, Lois Dale Tsosie of Whiteclay, Ariz.;
sons, Ron Tsosie of Sawmill, Ariz., Herman K. Tsosie of Cortez, Colo.,
Harold Tsosie of Navajo, Ariz., Willis Tsosie of Wyola, Mont., Raymond
Tsosie of Navajo, N.M., and John B. Tsosie Jr. of Shonto, Ariz.; daughters,
Rolanda Tsosie of Gardenia, Calif., and Delphine James of Tselani,
Ariz.; sisters, Caroline Muskett and Nita Rose Watchman; 37 grandchildren;
and two great-grandchildren.
Tsosie was preceded in death by his parents, Eli Rose and Ahinilbah
Tsosie; brothers, Willie Brown, Willie Tsosie and Kee Chee Rose; and
sisters, Lilly Tsosie and Annie Rose Nez.
Pallbearers will be Phillip Tsosie, Shawn James, Reuben James, Merlin
Tsosie, Nelson Yazzie and Stewart Johnson.
Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Frank Anthony Komadina
GALLUP — Services for Frank Anthony Komadina, 85, will be held
at 2 p.m. Friday, March 17, at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Father Jim
Walker will officiate. Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park
in Gallup.
Rosary will be held at 7 p.m. today, March 16, at the Rollie Mortuary
Palm Chapel. Visitation will be held at 7 p.m. today, March 16, at
Rollie Mortuary Palm Chapel.
Komadina came to Gallup with his parents at age 7 and lived here for
the remaining years of his life. He served during World War II as
a staff sergeant in the Air Force. He was a freelance writer, cartoonist,
artist and calligrapher. His work was published in the Reader's Digest,
Saturday Evening Post and the National Enquirer.
Survivors include his sisters, Mary Komadina and Rose Komadina, both
of Los Angeles, Calif., Katie Schmaltz of Albuquerque and Dorothy
Walker of Granda Hills, Calif.
Komadina was preceded in death by his parents, George and Rosie Komadina;
brothers, George Komadina, John Komadina and Tom Komadina; and sisters,
Ann Bubany and Helen Gillis.
Pallbearers will be Nick Bubany Jr., Chuck Komadina, J.S. Komadina,
Howell Walker, Ron Schmaltz and Kent Walker.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
Jenny Rollie
GALLUP — Services for Jenny Rollie, will be announced at a later
date.
Rollie died March 16 in Showlow, Ariz.
Rollie Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.
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