REPEALTHE NAVAJO-HOPI LAND SETTLEMENT ACT OF 1974 P.L. 93-531) AND REVERSE THE DOI/OSM DECISION TO GRANT PEABODY COAL A LIFE OF MINE PERMIT ON BLACK MESA: IT ENFORCES THE METHODS OF GENOCIDE BY POPULATION REMOVAL AND COAL MINING EXPANSIONS As you may be aware, the relocation of thousands of Dineh (Navajos) and Hopis has been in process since 1977, after 1.8 million acres was partitioned on their territories. That was the time when the Dineh elder leaders at Big Mountain, in cooperation with the traditional Hopi leaders, began their resistance to U.S. government court orders to vacant areas partitioned to the official and federally-recognized, Hopi tribe. These traditional Dineh communities still continue to resist the harsh relocation policies and coal mining encroachment to this day. Despite of that only a few elders are now left, they continue to reaffirm their ancestral land rights which are contrary to all court decisions related to the fore mentioned communities from 1974 to 1998. U.S. Judicial System has had a vital role in this land rights issue ever since energy companies of the southwestern United States became interested in exploring the coal reserves of Black Mesa in northeastern Arizona. In 1962, there was a well-orchestrated rush to establish an Indian Land Claims on the behalf of the Hopi tribe and which was guided by a Peabody Coal Company attorney, and this allowed Peabody to acquire mining leases. The U.S. courts and corporate attorneys eventually, thereafter, helped create the relocation and land-partitioning policies which only made way for coal exploration. None of these court rulings were based on proving that an actual land dispute did exist between the Dineh and Hopis. Please see a comprehensive investigative report on how Peabody Coal acquired mining leases on Black Mesa at: http://blackmesais.org/1998/10/geopolitics-of-the-navajo-hopi-land-dispute/ Big Mountain on Black Mesa is one of the few still remaining places in the United States where two Indian nations can still define cultural coexistence and shared territories, and now they have become endangered aboriginal peoples. The U.S. courts have ordered continued pressure on the remaining traditional Dineh and keep the areas sealed and isolated. The United States is allowing this tragedy and genocide to be sustained under the guise that relocation are on voluntary basis and that Indian police are being used rather than state authorities to carry out enforcements. These traditional resisters hold great knowledge and wisdom of ancient information and natural existence that are irreplaceable, and it is the world societys responsibility to stop the United States and its largest coal-producer, Peabody Energy, from this human and mega-environmental destruction. Additional documentations (www.blackmesais.org) of human rights violation and religious intolerance are as follows: - Limitation or complete denial of: crop cultivation and livestock husbandry, community and religious activities, access to or maintenance of water wells, and elder residents safety needs to attain wood fuels for heating and cooking, - Forced relocation to foreign settings that does not support or replace loss culture and religions, - Deliberate breaking up of family and clan structures, - Controlled national media that portray the Big Mountain story as a result of legitimate and humane court decisions, - Peabodys mines create: daily detonation that causes micro-quakes, depletion of pristine aquifers that causes subsidence and fissure zones, and massive emissions of coal dust and engine exhaust. We the undersigned hereof state our demand that the United States cease all forcible relocation enforcements on the Dineh, and reverse the decisions made for Peabody Coal Companys Life of the Mine Permit on Black Mesa. It will be further recommended that: - Indigenous peoples inherent rights to their homelands be recognized and respected, - Traditional tribal communities be allowed to reinstate and restore the inexorable ties to fundamental existence and spiritual practices, - There must be serious reviews of the decision that Black Mesa coal to be the primary source for energy and that being reviewed in the context of global concerns for greenhouse gas emissions, - Acknowledge that indigenous beings has sustained all human cultures moral obligations throughout the ages, and it is much more crucial in this technological era that the demands and rights of indigenous peoples be received with greater human understanding. Thank you for your time and consideration.