Woman claims BIA officials abused her

By John Christian Hopkins
Diné Bureau

Rena Babbitt Lane

BLACK MESA — An elderly Navajo woman is claiming she was assaulted by Bureau of Indian Affairs officials.

A fierce foe of forced relocation, Rena Babbitt Lane, 84, lives in a remote region of Black Mesa, without electricity or running water. She can neither speak, read nor write English.

On Nov. 4, three BIA federal rangers raided Lane's home in anticipation of a law that would force her removal from the land her ancestors have lived on for generations.

According to a press release from chapter officials, the heavily armed agents " ... broke into her home, dragged her from her bed, threw her around, shook her cane at her, threw her cane on the roof of her home ... "

The rangers then forced her to stay in one of their vehicles while they searched her home and her son's without search warrants.

During the altercation, Lane with a history of heart problems suffered a heart attack.

According to the press release, Lane told the agents, "How can you treat me like this? I am not a criminal. I am a good person, a kind person. I am your mother, you are my son."

The officers told her she was going to jail and said they'd be back the following day to take away her sheep and "let the coyotes eat all your sheep."

They continued that they would make her sit in jail and then walk home about 100 miles in the winter.

Lane's crime was going into another grazing area. She had gone through a section of barbed wire fence to retrieve her goats that had wandered off.

While in the hospital, with an oxygen mask, Lane cried and continued to worry about her sheep and her son. She was released from the hospital Nov. 8 and met with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in Flagstaff the next day. A report is reputedly under way and will be forwarded to the U.S. Attorney.

FBI Special Agent Brian Sagan had no comment on the case.

"I can neither say if there is an investigation, or if there is not an investigation," Sagan said.

Marsha Monesterski, a paralegal working with the Navajo on this case, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Lane has had a tumltuous history with the BIA. In the past she has been severely beaten, had her hand broken and her horses, goats and sheep confiscated. The BIA once took her chainsaw and firewood, saying her son Jerry Lane had illegally cut firewood.

Lane's husband, John died from an aneurysm while trying to get water from a capped-off well. The water wells in the region are capped off or dismantled. They were destroyed by BIA bulldozers.

After her husband was buried, BIA rangers reportedly threatened to dig his body up.

Officials told Lane the only way to save her animals and home was to sign a 75-year Accommodation Agreement, requiring her to live under jurisdiction of the Hopi tribe. When she refused to sign, her signature was forged.

Lane cannot write English and uses a thumbprint.

Other Navajo elders have been the victim of BIA abuse, the release said. In October, an elderly Cactus Valley man had his firewood confiscated. After going to Hopi court and proving that he had a permit, the man's wood was still not returned.

On Nov. 15, the Western Navajo Agency on Aging representing 18 chapters unanimously passed resolutions in support of Lane and calling for hearings on elderly abuse in the region.

John Christian Hopkins can be reached at hopkins1960@hotmail.com or by calling 505-371-5443.