Boundary dispute heats up
Paiute Mesa rep to seek legal opinion on resident's unwanted chapter exchange

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The idea that chapter boundaries follow the same lines as grazing districts is just an assumption. Because chapter boundaries have never been legally established, they basically don't exist, which creates a major problem for chapters trying to generate economic development.

As a result of the lack of official boundaries, "there's going to be a major dispute," Resources Committee Chairman George Arthur said Monday.

Already, Willie Grayeyes, council delegate for Inscription House/Navajo Mountain chapters, is seeking a legal opinion regarding a boundary dispute between Shonto and the chapters he represents after Shonto included Paiute Mesa residents in its community-based land use plan without officially notifying them and obtaining their consent. Paiute Mesa folks have voted with Navajo Mountain Chapter and thought of it as home for generations.

Under the Local Governance Act, all chapters are required to adopt community-based land use plans, which designate specific future land use based on the desires of the community.

In February, the Transportation and Community Development Committee gave Shonto/Inscription House/Navajo Mountain chapter officials 60 days to resolve their boundary issues, and it was that topic which dominated Saturday's District II Council meeting at Shonto Chapter House.

Overstepping authority
Arthur, who represents Burnham/San Juan/Nenahnezad chapters, said TCDC is not the ultimate authority in land issues. That oversight responsibility belongs to the Resources Committee he chairs.

He added that a similar boundary dispute has arisen between his chapters of Nenahnezad and Burnham as a result of proposed construction of the joint Sithe Global LLC/Dine Power Authority Desert Rock Energy Project.

Arthur said there is a need to establish official chapter boundaries, and there will be an even greater need when economic development monies start rolling in. "This is one area proponents for the Local Governance Act failed to address when they were putting that LGA together. They didn't clarify how chapter boundaries were going to be identified, and by what format.

"That's going to be a very drastic setback for LGA. What it did allow is chapters will be in a position to sue one another," Arthur said.

"I think this is going to be a test case," Grayeyes said of the Shonto boundary dispute. "TCDC has no authority to direct us chapter officials to set boundaries when they don't have the oversight authority for it. It has to be requested. I think it's not going to be settled overnight."

The Burnham/Nenahnezad question over Desert Rock "is an argument that sits right in the middle of whatever boundary you want," according to Arthur. "If you want to use the BIA land administration map, it's Nenahnezad. If you want to use the historical boundary that has been always understood to be the boundary by virtue of geographical alignment, it's a wash.

"By looking at the historical boundary that has been always understood to be acknowledged, the power plant will be put into Burnham Chapter. But there's no official boundary," he said.

Which boundary counts?
At a joint meeting March 4 between Economic Development and Resources committees, DPA General Manager Steven Begay said Nenahnezad passed a resolution last February supporting the Desert Rock project; however, "before they passed it, they took out the land withdrawal language because George (Arthur) and others were saying the border is really Cottonwood Wash, which is farther up.

"So we took that (land withdrawal language) out and we added it to the Burnham resolution, but that got stalled for a long time. Then later we asked the question: How official are these boundaries? And we were told, 'These are just grazing districts. There is no official chapter boundary'."

One way to get around that, apparently, is to gain chapter support. According to Begay, Economic Development Committee guidance states that "chapter support approval or Navajo laws on local land use" is required for projects such as Desert Rock.

At the Burnham meeting in February, Begay said he was told that the boundary line for Burnham Chapter was really Cottonwood Wash, which runs all the way across into Upper Fruitland. "So if this isn't the right boundary, then does that mean that they also are claiming some Upper Fruitland land if they're saying Cottonwood Wash is the boundary?"

Begay said DPA is not arguing with any of the chapters on the boundary issue. "We just want to get the project to move forward, so what we tried to do was get support from both chapters. Because it's clear in the Nenahnezad area, they moved forward quicker. In the Burnham area, they're having an issue with Nenahnezad."

At the March 4 meeting, Arthur said a lease for land withdrawal probably does not need a chapter resolution. "But the withdrawal for a business site, I understand, requires a chapter resolution. We're going to proceed. The Resources Committee is going to withdraw the land for a lease through NTUA (Navajo Tribal Utility Authority) to Desert Rock," he said.

DPA is asking for a 600-acre withdrawal. Once the project moves into the site preparation phase, it is expected that the acreage would be reduced to about 150 acres for the industrial site.

"Now, the big question is, 'In which chapter is it sitting?'" Arthur said. Both chapters have drawn up wish lists for Sithe Global so they can get their respective pieces of the pie before Navajo Nation Council dives in. Arthur said Nenahnezad Chapter had been in a similar situation in the past and basically ended up with nothing. He does not want a repeat.

"The Burnham Chapter is going to be moving a legislation forward, asking the Land Use Planning Committee to identify the north boundary. I don't think the Land Use Planning Committee has that authority. I think it falls back on Resources Committee," Arthur said.

However, he added that he believes Burnham is going to be the chapter to house the Desert Rock development based on historic data that there's "a geographical line that has been always understood to be the boundary."

But those geographical lines and features erode with time, Grayeyes argues in the Shonto test case, and are basically "unilateral implied chapter boundaries."

Kent Graymountain, Grazing Committee member from Navajo Mountain, said Saturday that his chapter, like Shonto, has plans for economic development in the Paiute Mesa area brought into question. "Maybe we might build some ramps, some marinas," he said, to generate revenue in the most remote area of the reservation.

Work togetherGraymountain and Shonto Chapter Vice President Jonathan Nez suggested that rather than bicker over boundaries, chapters ban together and adopt a regional approach, which could increase their clout in qualifying for state and federal grant money that could be used for development. By joining forces, their base population and land mass automatically would increase, which translates to points in scoring grant money.

Young adults from Navajo Mountain have had to seek work in other areas due to lack of job opportunities in their home chapter. Now they are developing and building other communities, Graymountain said.

"All these other communities, they don't send tax money back to Navajo Mountain and say, 'Thanks for your work force working out here.' They use that tax money for themselves," he said.

Chapters which are not LGA-certified "still get a little chunk of it, but not a whole lot. But the process that I understand is that if you're LGA certified, you get more than the regular chapter that's still under the old system." Graymountain said he still questions how Shonto obtained certification.