Last month the Hopi Tribe issued a resolution declaring local and national environmental groups unwelcome on Hopi land. The Hopi Tribal Council unanimously approved a resolution stating that environmentalists have worked to deprive the tribe of markets for its coal resources and the revenue it brings to sustain governmental services, provide jobs for Hopis, and secure the survival of Hopi culture and tradition.
The Hopi Council announced that the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Grand Canyon Trust, and organizations affiliated with them are no longer welcome on Hopi land.
The Council believes that these organizations have acted without regard for the tribe’s right to determine how best to develop and manage the natural resources on its land, and without concern for the future welfare of the tribe and its people.
They cited the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, which used coal exclusively from the Black Mesa Mine, resulting in a loss of $6.5 to $8.5 million in tribal revenues per year.
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr. strongly supports the Hopi Tribe’s resolution.
“Unlike ever before, environmental activists and organizations are among the greatest threat to tribal sovereignty, tribal self-determination, and our quest for independence,” Shirley said. “By their actions, environmentalists would have tribes remain dependent on the federal government, and that is not our choice. I want the leaders of all Native American nations to know this is our position, and I would ask for their support of our solidarity with the Hopi Nation in the protection of their sovereignty and self-determination, as well as ours.”
Although Shirley is currently on administrative leave, his words carry weight throughout the Navajo Nation.
Shirley believes some Navajo environmentalists and the non-Navajo environmental groups that support them work to the detriment of the Navajo people and Navajo Nation.
“Environmentalists are good at identifying problems, but poor at identifying feasible solutions,” he said. “Most often they don’t try to work with us but against us, giving aid and comfort to those opposed to the sovereign decision-making of tribes. They support tribes only when tribes are aligned with their agenda, such as our opposition to renewed uranium mining in the Grand Canyon and on Native land.”
Shirley cited recent environmental actions that led to the demise of Navajo logging and the closure of the Navajo sawmill in New Mexico, the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, and the shutdown of the Black Mesa Mine.
A spokesperson for the Navajo Nation said that Shirley’s remarks were his alone and not representative of the Navajo Nation. He noted that the Navajo Nation passed the Natural Resources Protection Act in 2005, which strongly supports the positive goals of many environmental organizations.
