Coal? Where we’re going, we won’t need coal…
What really made me aware of mineral colonization that is happening on the Navajo Nation was SB 2109. Regarding the thievery that Arizona was trying to commit by trying to disregard indigenous people’s water rights. Just because they do not know how conserve water and actually adapt to the land, rather than having the land adapting to them. They wanted to dismiss our rights of being caretakers of the water. From there I started to see the exploitation of coal, oil, uranium and degradation of the land. What was more unsettling is the fact it was also perpetuated by my own people. Something that I have actually come to understand on why that is. To understand on why it is so easy for mineral companies to come on to our nation, we must go back to the beginning of our Nation’s history.
Episode I: The Mineral Menace
During the time the US housed our people in concentration camps, the US military tried to create “puppet governments”. Meaning that they appoint leaders only to have those leaders to take orders from the US government. This state of mind would not go away, because after the concentration camps in Hweeldi (Bosque Redondo) our people returned to our lands with one of many conditions to be under the control of the federal government. For a while the federal government were fine with my people practicing our form of governance. A form that actually blended spirituality and ethics by having a community appoint a leader based his understandings of selflessness and also his knowledge of ceremonies. Then having that leader represent their community if ever there was a gathering of two or more other communities. Usually it would be the women who would have the say on who should be the leader, due to their awareness of people in the communities’ actions. But this caused fear due to the fact that there was pocket sized rebellions that posed a threat of another war. The US’s response was to first have prominent leaders on their side. They would give extra land, livestock or goods for leaders so this could appease them and in return they expected them to talk to the “agitators”. This worked, in means of having people to stop attacking military and federal personnel. But once the industrial revolution happened, overnight every company wanted their hands on coal and oil. To their surprise the land that our people lived on is rich in natural resources. So much so that they had to figure out a way around their own treaty (that already favored their interests) to further own interests.
This was done by trying re-introduce what they tried to do in Hweeldi, which was appointing a leader. However they could not just trust anyone. The US had to be certain it would be someone who spoke English and Navajo. Someone that can set the bar in terms of obedience. It also had to be someone who the community could trust and someone people would listen to. The person who fit this bill was Henry Chee Dodge. He was the beginning of what the Navajo Nation is today. Now he is not a bad person or a person who was aware of what the US was doing. (At least not to my knowledge.) But someone who lived during a time were survival was held above everything and person who was a product of war. Yet the private companies had trouble to legally mine the minerals. Mining companies had trouble of purchasing or renting land due to the fact that various communities had to be consulted in order for them to do business. Mineral company’s solution? Indian Reorganization Act or the IRA, this was a platform for the federal government to restructure Native Nations’ governance system. This Act is a double sword, as it did give Native Nations a chance to govern themselves, but the BIA would change on how the communities should be structured. Kind of like cramming a square block into a circle slot. It just does not fit especially considering Euro-American frame of mind is different than indigenous world views. With our government being model off the US’s system it would be easier for companies to meet with just a council and not multiple communities. Not the most detailed history but I recommend an old book called Navajo Politics that goes into so much depth. So let that sink in. The United States of America who pride themselves on democracy decided to build a governance system for us to cater to the private mineral companies. Just so they can mine coal and oil for cheap, pay the workers cheap and sell at market or a little more than market value. Think about that before you wave that American flag…
