San Juan Southern Paiute Tribal President Johnny Lehi Sr. signs a treaty with the Navajo Nation as Navajo President Kelsey A. Begaye watches Saturday.

Photo by Michael Fagans

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Gamerco man held in fatal crash

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A former Haskell Indian Nations University student will spend two years, eight months in prison for the deaths of four of his friends in an August traffic accident.

Manuel Brown, 20, was sentenced in Douglas County District Court for four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of aggravated battery and one count of driving while intoxicated. Brown pleaded guilty to the charges last month.

Yancy Longhat, 20, of Zuni, was killed in the accident. Injured were two passengers, Kerry Jymm, 21, Gallup and Joshua Longhat, age unavailable.

Following the hearing Friday, Brown of Gamerco leaned over the courtroom railing to hug his father. It was an emotional ending to a 90-minute proceeding that included testimony from victims' families and an apology from Brown.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," he said, still crying. "Every time I try not to remember, it just keeps coming back, keeps coming back, keeps coming back."

Those memories are of the accident last summer in Lawrence when the pickup Brown was driving went out of control. Four men riding in the truck bed were killed; three of them were Haskell students. One passenger in the bed was critically injured. Brown and a passenger in the cab were slightly injured.

Brown told Judge Jack A. Murphy and the families that he has nightmares about the wreck and sometimes wishes he had died, too.

"I still have a hard time sleeping," he said. "Some nights I stay up all night, thinking, praying, wishing it would all go away. But it won't."

Brown said he tried to kill himself in January. "I thought the families might feel better, that justice had been done," he said.

Jerry Little, a Douglas County assistant district attorney, asked Murphy to sentence Brown to only six months in the county jail because most of the victims' families did not think prison was appropriate.

He said, however, that prosecutors "certainly felt some time was appropriate. I don't think 32 months was out of line."

Little said Friday that Brown's blood alcohol content was 0.21, almost three times the state's legal limit of 0.08. Brown was under the legal drinking age at the time of the accident.

Authorities say the truck was traveling at more than 60 mph in a 30 mph zone when it failed to negotiate a turn. The truck smashed onto the railroad tracks and slid sideways down the tracks until it flipped at least once. It landed upright.

Killed at the scene were Ray "Michael" Red Elk, 24, Anadarko, Okla., Yancy Longhat, 20, Zuni, N.M., and Albert Whitebull, 25, Kenel, S.D. Clint Wahquahboshkuk, 23, of Mayetta, Kan., died Sept. 10 of his injuries.

Relatives were mixed in their feelings to Brown's sentencing.

"We have forgiven Manuel, because that's what our heavenly father expects of us," said Vicky Jymm, mother of two victims.
Frank Longhat, father of two victims, expected Murphy to give Brown the maximum sentence of 17 years.

"I expect him to be slapped so hard with it, he'll go into future. I can't see any lenience being handed down," Longhat said. Later he describe the punishment as "very light."

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Treaty gives Paiutes land

Bill Donovan
Diné Bureau

HIDDEN SPRINGS, Ariz. — After almost 20 years of effort, a small band of San Juan Southern Paiutes in northeastern Arizona finally has a home.

Leaders of the 300-member Paiute Tribe signed a treaty with the much-larger Navajo Nation here Saturday that bestows on the Paiutes some 5,400 acres of land that had belonged to the Navajos.

The Paiutes now become the second Indian nation in the country after their neighboring Hopis to have a reservation totally surrounded by another tribe.

Navajo Nation President Kelsey Begaye pointed out in a short speech just before the signing that the treaty signed between the two tribes may be a first.

"This treaty shows that two Indian tribes can work together without outside interference mainly Congress," he said to the 150 or so spectators who showed up at the small home site across from the Hidden Springs Baptist Church.

Some 5,100 of the acres given to the Paiutes by the Navajos are in the Hidden Springs area, a small area about 10 miles north of Tuba City. The other 300 acres are in the Utah portion of the Navajo Reservation just south of Lake Powell on what is known as the Paiute Farms area.

Although a small but vocal number of Navajos from the Tuba City area had protested the giving up of the land last year when the treaty was in its final stages, there was so sign of animosity Saturday as more than 20 area Navajo officials spoke before the signing, saying they hoped the two tribes would forever work together in peace.

Seymour Tso, a former council delegate from the nearby Cameron Chapter and its current chapter president, said he believed the Paiutes and the Navajos need to work together to resolve the area's major problem unemployment which is now more than 60 percent in the chapters around Tuba City.

Begaye added after the ceremonies that the concerns expressed by some Navajos during the discussion of the treaty has died down, pointing out that "some of the speakers (Saturday) were among those who were upset" a year ago.

According to historians, the Paiutes had settled in the area now known as Tuba City in the 1800s.

When the Navajos and Hopis began arguing over that area in the 1970s as part of what has become known as the Bennett Freeze area dispute, the Paiutes contended they should have a say in any land dispute because their ancestors also lived there when the western agency was created by Congress in 1934.

Kim Gottshalk, the Paiute's attorney, said the tribe made a formal request for federal recognition in 1982 and was recognized by Congress in 1990.

There was some question in the 1980s, however, as to whether the Paiutes still existed, since over the years many of the Paiutes had intermarried into the Navajos, spoke Navajo and had Navajo census numbers.

But tribal leaders were able to prove that many elderly members still spoke Paiute and still practiced their own traditions separate from the ones the Navajos practiced.

Tso stressed the intermarriages mean the two tribes are, in some sense, still only one. "All Paiutes are Navajos and all Navajos are Paiutes," he said.

It was also in the 1980s that Paiutes began talking about having their own reservation, carved out of land that was then the Navajo Reservation.

The debate among the Navajos most of it private between Navajo leaders and their legal counsel centered on legal issues. It boiled down to a question of whether the Paiutes would be successful if they went to federal court and sued the Navajos, as the Hopis had done.

Navajo leaders in the 1990s, including former Navajo Nation President Albert Hale, however, were afraid to get into another legal battle that would cost the Navajos millions in legal fees, only to have the federal courts rule in favor of the Paiutes. So negotiations began over how much land the Paiutes wanted.

The request for 5,400 acres only a fraction of the Navajo's 25 million acres was reasonable, in the minds of many tribal officials, especially when it was brought out that no Navajo families would have to be relocated. The only people living on the land were families who viewed themselves as Paiutes.

Johnny M. Lehi Sr., the Paiute's current president, said the tribe's council which consists of seven members will now start work on finding funds for a tribal headquarters, which will be located in Hidden Springs. The tribe has been operating out of offices in Tuba City.

The leaders of the Paiutes and the Navajos knew each other growing up, which was mentioned by Begaye before the signing.

"Who would have thought that we two would have ended up in politics and across from each other signing a treaty?" Begaye said.

This may also be the only time in the history of treaty signings when the two main participants joined together minutes after the signing and entertained the crowd with a gospel song, Begaye singing and Lehi on drums.

The big question that went unaddressed during the speeches but was answered by both tribal leaders Saturday concerned the C word casino.

Although the Navajo people had voted twice in referendums to reject gaming as did the Hopis in their own referendum, the creation of a new reservation brought up the question again because of concerns by some traditional Navajos in the Tuba City area that they would wake up one morning to find a multimillion dollar casino on their doorstep.

Lehi said before the ceremonies the Paiutes "are not discussing that yet."

Begaye said after the ceremonies that in his talks with Lehi and other Paiute leaders, he has been given assurances that there will be no casino.

"But we don't have anything in writing," he said.

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Hopi villages await money

Stan Bindell
Special to the Independent

KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. — Community leaders from several Hopi villages are upset because they have not received monthly funds from the tribal government as anticipated.

In January, the Hopi Tribe approved an allocation of $300,000 for each Hopi village for the current year. The amount was a reduction from $475,000 per year, which had been given previously.

But some villages are upset because they haven't received their monthly allocations.

Robert Sumatzkuku, the community service administrator for Upper Moenkopi, said he is frustrated because this lack of money is going to impact the village's utility payments. He said dealing with the tribe's finance office has been a problem because of a lack of communication.

Community service administrators will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Lower Moenkopi CSA office to discuss the lack of payments and other village issues.

Hopi Vice Chairman Phillip Quochytewa Sr. said the tribe is facing a dilemma with finance and is advertising for a finance director. The vice chairman said he will look into this issue.

Ernice Sakeva, acting finance director, said each village must meet certain requirements before receiving its funds. He said the finance office is a processing office and the approval for cutting the checks must come from the treasurer's office.

Tribal Treasurer Tom Kahe could not be reached for comment.

Ivan Sidney, community service administrator for First Mesa Consolidated Villages, said the village had to use its own funds to pay its employees this month, because First Mesa had not received its monthly money from the tribe.

Debra Moon, a consultant for Mishongnovi-Sipaulovi, confirmed the village had not received its money from the tribe, but deferred comments to Community Service Administrator Tim Keevama. Keevama, however, was traveling and could not be reached for comment.

Sumatzkuku said Upper Moenkopi received $23,000 on Jan. 8, but has not received a check since then. Moreover, he said, the tribe owes the village $72,726 for fiscal year 1999. He said the village submitted its 1999 report on Oct. 12 and received approval on Dec. 8, so he didn't understand why the check has not arrived.

"It's lost somewhere in finance," he said. "I would say the communication has been lacking."

"I've made several attempts to call them (the Finance Department), and I can never get through," he said. "You get put on hold and you're on hold forever."

Sumatzkuku said after filing one report with the tribe he was told there were discrepancies, so he sent an updated report detailing every issue.

"I never heard back," he said.

Sumatzkuku said Upper Moenkopi is barely meeting its bills for utilities and supplies. Upper Moenkopi has eight employees to serve the village of slightly more than 1,000 residents.

"It's frustrating," he said. "We get little help, if any, from the Hopi Tribe."

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Lack of defense hurts Bengals in loss

Santiago Ramos
Staff Sports Writer

LAS CRUCES - Errors plagued Gallup as the Lady Bengals committed a total of 13 errors in losing to district opponent Valley 13-2 and to Artesia 14-1 in the third place game on a gusty Saturday afternoon during the New Mexico High School Fastpitch Softball Tournament at Las Cruces' Maag Park.

"Defense has been our weakness all year," Gallup coach Wes Shank said. "When you play a very good team you make for a long day when every popup is an adventure. We got into a hole and couldn't get out of it. We can't fall behind. We need to shore up the defense or it might be a long season. I still have a couple of questions (about the starting lineup). I have six girls set but no one stepped up today."

Gallup, 5-6 overall, will play a single game at Del Norte Thursday at 3 p.m. before opening up district play the following week against Valley...

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CCA delays decision on Milan jail

Mary E. Davis
Staff Writer

GRANTS — Officials with the Corrections Corp. of America, which privately operates prison facilities in Grants and Milan, last week turned down a chance to amend its contract with Cibola County for placing county prisoners in its Milan jail.

CCA officials reportedly told county representatives they wouldn't be interested in renegotiating their contract until after they learn whether CCA has won a contract with the Bureau of Prisons to house 1,000 "low-level" illegal aliens. CCA should know if it won the contract in about 30 days.

"We would renegotiate the Residential Services Agreement (the three-year contract with the county) upon contract with the Bureau of Prisons," said Don Russell, warden at the Milan prison. "We submitted this proposal (to the Bureau of Prisons) in January. We ... pretty much just want to stand by our agreement (with the county)..."

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Are there more illegal aliens?
State, county police differ over numbers

Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

GRANTS — The number of illegal aliens traveling the immigrant pipeline along Interstate 40 is increasing dramatically. Or maybe it isn't.

Cibola County Undersheriff Johnny Valdez said he thinks the number is not increasing. Rather, he said, the media have picked up on the story, giving it more exposure.

On the other side of the coin is State Police Capt. Glenn Thomas in Gallup whose figures, taken over the last year, tell a different story...

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Woman forges prescription slips
Cibola jury indicts her, others

Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

GRANTS — A 52-year-old Taos woman must have known that the best place to get drugs was at a pharmacy. But she found out this month that the worst place to pass off a bogus prescription for drugs might well be a drugstore. For her trouble, the Cibola County grand jury has rewarded Henrietta Salazar with a 28-count indictment.

Salazar's prescription slips had been stolen from Dr. Barry G. Weinstein of the Los Alamos Medical Center on March 1, according to the indictments.

That same day, Salazar attempted to acquire drugs at Los Alamos Medical Center and in Grants at Wal-Mart Pharmacy and Parkhurst Pharmacy...

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Tribe to get $88 million for 37 housing projects

Nancy Watson
Diné Bureau

GALLUP — The Navajo Nation will receive more federal housing assistance in fiscal 2000 than any other tribe in the country.

The Navajo Housing Authority was notified last week that it will receive $88.6 million for reservation housing, which include 37 different projects.

"This grant will help us continue combating housing needs within the Navajo Nation, where over 19,180 families live in substandard housing," Chester Carl, NHA executive director said, "and 18,922 families live in overcrowded housing conditions..."

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Udall revives fight against prescription-drug cost

S.J. Ludescher
Staff Writer

GALLUP — U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., has put the discussion of the high costs of prescription drugs for the elderly back on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

During a phone interview earlier this week, Udall said a recent court ruling against Knoll Pharmaceuticals hasn't had any impact on the price the elderly pay for drugs.

"Seniors still have a choice: They can cut their prescription medication in half. They can decide whether to buy their prescription or buy food," Udall said. "We need to take action on this issue..."


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Gallup teachers try test-taking strategies

Zarana Sanghani
Staff Writer

GALLUP — Before an elementary school teacher gives her students a practice test, she has them stand and do some exercises next to their desks. She does that, she tells them, because a student should be alert and energized while taking an exam.

An eighth-grade teacher reminds her students to eat well and relax before the big test.

Another eighth-grade teacher asks her students to define anxiety.

"You get all worked up ... You can't even read," several students yell out...

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Deaths

Jake Dempsey Sr.

PINON, Ariz. — Graveside services for Jake Dempsey Sr., 65, will beheld at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 21 on the family plot.

Dempsey died March 17 in Chinle, Ariz. He was born Nov. 22, 1934, in Pinon, Ariz. into the Tanle People Clan for the Manygoats People Clan.

Demsey Sr. spent 8 years in Sherman, Calif.; 12 years of farming in Idaho and Utah; and worked for the Santa Fe Pacific, Union Pacific, Western Pacific, Rock Island Pacific, Cottonbelt Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads.

Survivors include his wife, Violet B. Dempsey of Pinon, Ariz.; sons, Jay Dempsey of Lukachukai, Ariz., Dennis Dempsey and Jack Dempsey Jr., of Pinon, Ariz., and Chris Dempsey of Whipporwhill, Ariz.; daughter, Bertha Dempsey of Shiprock; and 22 grandchildren.

Dempsey Sr. was preceded in death by his son, Vincent Dempsey; and parents, Hosteen Dempsey and Mary Dempsey.

Pallbearers will be Chris Dempsey, Dennis Dempsey, Jack Dempsey Jr., Jay Dempsey, Johnny Segay and Jack Segay Jr.

The family will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday, March 21, at Roadside Housing House #3.

The family will receive friends and family after the burial services at the Roadside Housing House #3.

Tse Bonito Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.