Helen Davis to Mr. James Anaya, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, OHCHR 5/8/2012

Helen Davis25137 N. Wupatki Loop #20

Flagstaff, AZ 86004(928) 527-3824

h.davis49@yahoo.com

Via Email to: Ms. Maia Campbell <mcampbell@ohchr.org> Copy: Ms. Carrie Stusse <cms1@email.arizona.edu>

Dated: May 8, 2012

Attention: Mr. James Anaya, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Subject: Return Stolen Lands-Case of the lands stolen in Wupatki National Park by the US government

FOR THE OFFICIAL RECORD

I read an article in the Navajo Times about the Rights of Indigenous Peoples meeting taking place in Tucson on April 26th and 27th Unfortunately, I could not make it to the meeting on account that I have to work and drive my daughter to and from school. However, in the article, it said we are welcome to send any information relevant to the visit to this email address. I know, being a United Nations special rapporteur, you are very busy but I want my story to be known and make it part of the Official Record.

My name is Helen Peshlakai Davis. I am a Diné (Navajo). My clan is Kiyanni named after the ruins in Wupatki. I am born for Red House named after the ruins. That is how long we have lived in the area.

I was born here and raised on these lands by my mother, Stella Peshlakai Smith, and my grandfather, Clyde Peshlakai. Our family has resided in Wupatki since before the Long Walk. When I was younger, my grandfather Clyde Peshlakai used to tell me stories about people living in the Wupatki area, back to the time of the dinosaurs. My grandfather, grandmother, great grandfather all lived here.

My grandfather told us, us, our relatives lived at Sunset crater when the volcano erupted. There were no survivors there. Those are our ancestors. He told me, always remember when people ask you a question, say, these are our ancestors, tell them our ancestors were Nihitsāzī, not Anasazi, that is an enemy. Most of our ancestors died from tornadoes, hurricanes, they starved when there was no food. After the disasters, tornados and volcanos, that is when they started building female and male Hogans.

Helen Davis to Mr. James Anaya, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, OHCHR 5/8/2012

Prior to the Long Walk to Fort Sumner in the mid 1800’s, my family has lived in and around the area known today as the Wupatki National Monument but when Wupatki was established as a national monument in the 1920’s, a lot of the people who lived on these grounds were forced out without any explanation. Back then English was hardly spoken among the Navajo people and park officials came around to have papers signed by the people without any explanation. About 70-80 families lived there, many more used it as a migration route from Leupp, Bird Springs, Dickon, Tolani Lake to pinon season in Gray Mountain. When pinon season ended they moved by the river with their livestock. It was a good life.

Our oral memories include being subjected to deceptive offers of help and gifts, the gradual unveiling of the eviction agenda, being herded by Park Rangers away from Wupatki toward the Little Colorado River, being threatened by the overhead firing of rounds by ranch fence riders, threats against and arrest of family leaders, and the gradual eviction of families as heads of households died. In the case of the sole remaining resident within the national monument, Stella Peshlakai, the pressure and harassment has included placing a locked gate in front of her access road making entry by family and service personnel difficult, the recent, mysterious opening of her livestock corral followed by Park complaints about her goats being loose, repeated incidents of pressure by individual Park Rangers, including even within the last month. If her water usage seems high, she is accused of sharing the piped in water with other Diné. Other events frequently follow the pattern.

In addition to our memories as survivors, we have numerous remnants of the homes and corrals of the evicted inhabitants scattered over the hills, the cemented closing off of traditional springs in the region, and the piping in of outside water. Some of the disturbed springs are sacred sites, which provided water for generations of native inhabitants, their livestock and wildlife.

First it was the Babbitt’s ranchers. They forced out our people. It was very cold, freezing season. The river was high when they forced the livestock across the river and many animals were washed away. Park rangers. The Navajo people only spoke Navajo. They came and motioned their hand to move their stuff out. They were forcing the livestock across the river. All this happened in the 1920’s, 1930’s, 1940’s. In the 1960’s Eleanor Peshlakai’s family was the last family evicted. That is when my grandpa told us what was going on. It feels like we are still on the Long Walk Fort Sumner. Today there is not much spoken about how people were mis-treated like we are today.

Some of the Navajo had to swim across the river in the icy water. My grandpa said the newborn animals were washed away. Some of the homes were torn down by rangers. There used to be some foundations. Some Navajos came back to take their Hogans down. They wanted to move back but they were told they signed a paper but they were forced to use their thumbprint and were never told what they were agreeing to. There was never any meeting between park service and people. When they wanted to move back they were told they signed a paper. I remember we were told we signed a paper and cannot move back but my mother is still living there and we have no other home.

Helen Davis to Mr. James Anaya, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, OHCHR 5/8/2012

It is really sad how we are being treated. They do not want us to have anything. What are we going to do? This is our birthplace and our grandfather is buried here. How can they tell us we cannot live here? It is so sad for the people that moved out to the former Bennett Freeze and drank contaminated water without every getting told the water is contaminated. If the people try to get water from the visitors center they are told not to. Once my mother passes on we are not supposed to return. That is why they closed down the springs and put in a gate on the road. They are doing this on purpose because my mother is of an old age.

My great grandfather Peshlakai Atcitty went to WA DC to say, give the land back to my children. Before the establishment of the National Monument in the 1920’s, we had many animals and fresh spring water. We moved 3 to 4 times a year. My mother, grandfather, and I would move along with the seasonal changes so the grass would grow for our animals but unfortunately, a lot of our animals were confiscated by park officials and the springs were covered up denying us, our animals and wildlife access to water.

I remember we lived at 3 different places in Wupatki, winter, spring, summer camps to let the grass grow. And even though we had big herds we did not have overgrazing. We had 3-4 springs. Now our water sources are capped off and our livestock is confiscated that we are tied to in our ceremonies. I am suffering with children with disabilities. Our healing ceremonies are taken away because my children have disabilities. After Nettie got out of the hospital we had to conduct ceremonies in secret. They will not allow us to practice our religion. If we have a ceremony we have to keep it to ourselves. They do not want us to have healing ceremonies, visitors.

I was raised there by my mother and grandfather Clyde Peshlakai. That is the only place I call home. There is no other place I call home even though I was forced out of there in 1995. We were told we could not build a home next to our mother’s home.

Without a meeting, in 1994, Superintendent Sam Henderson told us we could not live in the park and once our mother that will end Navajo presence in the park so he told us we had to look elsewhere to live. What happened is we got 2.4 acres and we needed to buy our own home. I had to sell our truck and horses to make a down payment on a mobile home. My husband and I were both working at the time and for 15 years we were able to make mortgage payments. When our home was foreclosed we moved back to live with my mother and suspect Diane Chung, the Park Superintendent does not know we are living there.

Every part of our lives is regulated and our goats were confiscated when my daughter was in the hospital. Park rangers threaten they will shut off our water. My mother has a grazing permit but they are trying to confiscate our 2 horses but in order to protect them we have to buy them hay and keep them in a corral.

I tried to go to lawyers from DNA in the 1980’s when they started telling me once my mother passes on I cannot live in the park but no one helped me. So I had no other choice but to go along

Helen Davis to Mr. James Anaya, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, OHCHR 5/8/2012

with the Park Superintendent. At the last minute, he said we have to buy our own home. I asked him, didn’t you say you would buy us land with a home on the property and were given no choice other than sign papers when we did not know what the documents stated. We had no witnesses or interpreter. That is the same thing they did with the Dine’ elders that were forced marched across the Little CO river.

In 2009, I had to quit work because of my daughter’s illnesses. She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma and the doctor told me I had to stay with her at Phoenix children’s hospital where she went through chemotherapy and surgery for about a year. That is when we started falling behind on our mortgage payments. We ended up paying her medical bills because she did not have insurance. That is why we had to foreclose our trailer and the land we were given. Now we do not have a home and are living with my mother at Wupatki. I also have a son who is autistic. So we are busy with our daughter and son who both have disabilities.

It is not safe for my mother to live in the Canyon. The rocks are falling down and when it rains it floods, denying her emergency access. According to our beliefs we are not supposed to live in the Canyon. We were given no choice by the Park Superintendent Larry Henderson in the 1970’s and his belief that tourists should not see evidence of Navajo occupancy.

To secure our right to live in Wupatki and the right of return for Dine’ people tragically displaced from their homelands we are drafting legislation for Congress entitled: An Act of Return to a Land Once Lost at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1whM58NZI6QRUCjyy9Y-y-dSqeFpLfm1kCNbM05b9jGg/edit?pli=1

We all know there are other Native Americans in other Parks that do reside inside the Parks and I was looking at the possibility if there is a way for my family to buy and obtain a few acres at market value within the Monument and convert it into private property instead, that way it'll get to National Park Service off our backs and we can do what we want. I have researched there are private properties that do exist in other Parks in the US however they existed before the National Park Service obtained land around those private properties.

My grandchildren, great grandchildren move back. We like to see neighbors. Once I leave this world, I would like to see that happen. I don’t like to see a lot of our own people that were forced out dying of cancer from drinking contaminated water. We don’t want the park service to claim our land and say we cannot live there. This is our land.

When I grew up at Wupatki we did our own ceremonies, gathered herbs for medicine, healing, veg. dyes but we cannot do this because we are harassed by park service. We cannot even go out there and are told we have no rights. Just like the ranger came over when we were at my grandfather’s burial site to harass us. Even today the rangers are pulling over Native Americans going thru, racial profiling. They tried to close the emergency access road for people living across the river in Black Falls. When my mother’s water bill was high she was told they would shut off the water because she was giving water to people living across the river. We didn’t give

Helen Davis to Mr. James Anaya, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, OHCHR 5/8/2012

them water. We told them if they are so concerned about the water. They had to fix the line but they did not check first to see if that was the problem.

They put up a security gate without telling us. There was no meeting. The ranger said the gate was for the maintenance yard and the weather station. They did not tell us it would block our entrance. They are tightening the chain and it is hard to get it open. We had to ask Maintenance to come down to open the gate. We do not have a cell signal no emergency.

Stella was promised electricity and running water in 1970’s and has a rusted electric box on her house. They said they would work with her to give her electricity but we are just being denied. We are blessed to be getting a grant to have solar. Recently, the park service tried to stop us from getting solar but the USDA told the National Park Service they approved our application and will install a solar system because not to install solar would be a human rights violation.

The National Park Service is trying to silence us. We would like to use our family plot when the time comes for our family. We don’t want to be somewhere we were never raised. This is my home but we do not know what will happen in the future since we are being robbed of our future.

My mother Stella is 84 years old. Time is of the essence. The homes we built are the same our ancestors built. This is our heritage. This is our future. We cannot be robbed of our heritage and our future.

Since the US government now officially supports (as of 16 December 2010) the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, it is an opportune moment.

Recommendations:

Please meet with us in Wupatki and investigate our concerns. Workable legislative precedents of renewed indigenous presence in national parks are available. Our ultimate goal is justice, not merely a monument memorial to the Wupatki Navajo and the Nihitsāzī, but also the right of return of my family and the families with roots in the Wupatki. (Ms. Alexa Roberts Thesis is available detailing the history of Navajo occupancy in Wupatki)

Please request the US return stolen lands in Wupatki and our human rights to housing, water, and grazing.

Ahe’hee. Respectfully submitted by Helen Davis