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January 30, 2009
Followup - Hopi government turmoil continues, but elections scheduled
Perhaps the light at the end of the tunnel? Hope it's not the train coming.....the unrest and turmoil in the Hopi Tribal government continues. The Tribal Council meets....but are the actions taken legal without a Tribal Chairman and Vice-Chair? The former Tribal Chairman says they are not.
But that glimmer of light - the primary election is scheduled for April 13 and the general election a week later. See the full story HERE.
twp
January 30, 2009 in Tribal Law and Justice | Permalink
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The original article at azjournal.com, "Hopi Elections Slated in April," had one major error; there were no elections slated and there were no elections held. The Constitution of the Hopi Tribe clearly mandates an election to fill vacancies in the offices of the Chairman and/or Vice Chairman. In this case there has been no Chairman or Vice Chairman since December 31, 2008. The Hopi Constitution also mandates that the Tribal Council "shall" consist of a Chairman and a Vice Chairman and Representatives from the Villages. It does not say "may consist of." It also does not provide for any "interim" government until such time as it is convenient to hold an election. So, virtually everything the "interim" government has done since December 31, 2008, has been illegal.
Let's back up a little and talk about what led to this situation. Here's the short story:
In early 2007 there was a special election for Chairman to replace Ivan Sidney, Sr., who was removed from office following his drunken incident in a hotel in Winslow, AZ, that so embarrassed the Hopi people. Benjamin Nuvamsa was elected, the election was certified by the Election Board, and he was sworn into office. Then his opponents, who mostly consisted of unsuccessful candidates in the bid for Chairman, succeeded in getting a resolution passed by Council nullifying the election. This was found illegal by both the Hopi Trial Court and the Hopi Appellate Court. The Appellate Court ordered Nuvamsa be restored to his office.
His opponents responded by firing the entire Appellate Court and passing a resolution in September 2008 "suspending" all of the Chairman's authorities and bestowing them on the Vice Chairman.
On December 31, 2008, both Chairman Nuvamsa and Vice Chairman Honyaoma resigned in an effort to cause some return of balance to the government by forcing a new election.
Chairman Nuvamsa's opponents only saw this as an opportunity to seize the reigns of power in the government and, instead of holding an election, they succeeded in passing a resolution setting up an "interim" government and, effectively, giving themselves the authority of controlling the government and the Tribe's finances. The Tribal Secretary, who had been instrumental in frustrating the attempts of Chairman Nuvamsa to lead the Tribe, has assumed the role of "Acting CEO," even though the resolution does not say that, and one Tribal Council Representative (one of Chairman Nuvamsa's major opponents) has assumed the role of permanent "Acting Presiding Officer," even though the resolution mandates that the Acting Presiding Officer position be filled on a rotating basis with a new one selected for each Council meeting until the Council decides to restore things to their Constitutionally mandated status.
The individuals who have illegally taken up the reigns of power in the Hopi government have on three occasions thwarted the efforts of the Tribe's Election Board to conduct the mandated special election for Chairman and Vice Chairman.
Even though the Hopi Tribe has no casino and seemingly very little revenue/resources, there is money and power involved. The very people who have taken over the government are determined to satisfy the demands of the Peabody Coal Company to establish a life of mine permit which will grant them perpetual rights to Hopi coal AND Hopi pristine N-Aquifer water for industrial purposes. Chairman Nuvamsa had tried to get the Department of Interior (DOI) Record of Decision postponed until it could be properly studied and understood by the entire Tribal Council and the Hopi people, but his efforts were thwarted by his opponents who represented themselves as the true representatives of the Hopi Tribe. As DOI was largely acting as if they were agents for Peabody, this suited their purposes and they ignored Chairman Nuvamsa and listened instead to a small handful of Tribal Council Representatives and the Tribe's General Counsel.
As you can see, the Rule of Law is ignored and not understood by those currently in power at Hopi. Those who have taken over the government have violated the people’s civil rights and have denied the Rule of Law. They have illegally nullified an election, only to have that declared unconstitutional and illegal. They have illegally suspended the authority of the Chairman and they have illegally denied the people the right to an election for a Chairman and Vice Chairman. They have seized control of the Tribe’s finances and they have threatened and intimidated anyone who disagreed with them. There is no right to appeal in the Hopi Courts.
A resolution was passed to extend appellate jurisdiction to the Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals (SWITCA) but their hands are tied because there is a lawsuit in Hopi Tribal Court challenging the legitimacy of the Tribal Council Resolution extending that authority to SWITCA. Also, SWITCA receives its funding for the purpose of providing appellate court services to tribes that do not have appellate courts, NOT for tribes that have appellate courts but have decided to remove the entire panel because they don’t like the decisions they are making.
There is currently no legal government in place at Hopi and other tribes, government agencies, and funding sources need to be aware of the extent of dysfunction at Hopi.
Ironically, Ivan Sidney, Sr., the former Chairman who was removed from office following his embarrassing drunken incident in a hotel in Winslow, was hired toward the end of 2008 by those who orchestrated this coup in Hopiland and he is now, for the most part, the puppeteer pulling the strings behind the scenes.
There is great suspicion among Hopi people that those currently in power will also find some excuse for not holding the general election that is also constitutionally mandated. The People feel powerless against those who have stolen control of their government. “They” seem determined to maintain their power indefinitely.
Editor's Note: We have no ability to confirm what Mr. Havens has written in this comment, other than to note that elections have NOT been conducted. We continue to try to follow this story, but the information coming out in publicly available sources, has been, to say the least, limited. Accordingly, we are posting Mr. Havens' note in its entirety, and welcome additional commentary from anyone else who wishes to add to the discussion.
Posted by: Bill Havens | Jun 15, 2009 12:45:31 PM
