Medicine man: House unhealthy
Many Farms family trying to move from home they believe is haunted

Mae Tsinnijinnie explains some of the abnormal occurances she reports have taken in this bedroom of her Many Farms home. She and her five children and three grandchildren occupy the residence a medicine man says is haunted and is the reason for her children's illnesses. Tsinnijinnie wants to leave the home but a dispute with the West Mesa Housing Management Corp. has left her at a stalemate. [Photo by Jeremy Schneider/Independent]

By Pamela G. Dempsey
Diné Bureau

MANY FARMS — Trying to get a new house has put one family back where they started from: in a house that medicine men have been telling them to move out of because it is haunted.

Since 2002, Mae Tsinnijinnie's repeated requests to West Mesa Housing Management Corporation for a transfer to another house have gone unanswered.

As a single mother of five children and three grandchildren Tsinnijinnie has grown increasingly concerned about the home she has lived for the past 15 years northeast of Chinle.

During the past six years, she said, her children have become sick, sometimes blacking out. When nearby doctors told her nothing's wrong, Tsinnijinnie sought the help of medicine men.

Medicine men, however, have told her that her children were sick because someone passed away in the house. They advised her to move.

One even wrote a letter in 2004 stating "the house that she lives in is not good ... because it is haunted; that's why the kids get sick."

Tsinnijinnie said she asked the resident organization's executive director, Larry Mitchell, to be considered for a new home or another rental unit. She said that while she completed all of her paperwork, submitted all of the documents requested, and became eligible for a five-bedroom unit, she has never been transferred.

"I still want my house for the safety of my kids," Tsinnijinnie said.

West Mesa Housing built 10 new homes and five public rental units last year, units that Tsinnijinnie said she was next in line for.

Mitchell said on Friday that he understood Tsinnijinnie's reason for wanting to move, but until she completes her application, there's nothing they can do.

"She has never complied with the policy and procedures for (a new home)," he said.

Tsinnijinnie maintains that she has; Mitchell said that Tsinnijinnie won't be on the list for transfers until she completes her file.

The process, he said, is on a first come, first served basis.

Tsinnijinnie, Mitchell said, brought her concerns to the organization's board of directors, who asked her for a release of information.

"It became a dead issue," he said. "She never followed through."

In a letter to Mitchell, dated March 22, Tsinnijinnie cited Navajo Housing Authority's policies and procedures for the selection of tenants for new or existing homes that also allows for cultural displacement.

"In closing, I authorize Mr. Mitchell to release information regarding my case to whomever he feels needs to know about my complaint," Tsinnijinnie wrote. "I have a very legitimate complaint and should not be overlooked again."

Tsinnijinnie isn't the only one complaining.

In May, the Many Farms Chapter passed a resolution requesting a financial audit of the West Mesa Housing Management and removal of its staff and board of directors.

Its tenants, the resolution stated, alleged the staff harassed them, denied housing assignments, and mismanaged funds.