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THE TRU:TH. WELL· TOLD

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Weekend \
April9-10,·2(}1l , \
Number 114 Volume 123,

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51 ~ml:sslnl,
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Forgotten People sue for accounting,

Land Commission wants NHL'C books audited
ByShelley Smithson
For the Independent
TUBA CITY - Officials at the Navajo Hopi Land
. Commission Office do not mow how much money is in
a federal trust fund intended to help victims of the Nava-
jo-Hopi land dispute, . "
Forgotten People, a grassroots advocacy group, is
suing the tribal office, asking for an explanation of how
Independent file photo
the agency spent nearly $26 million, Although Congress
Denise Almeida and her son Julio sit on the authorized $60 million for the Navajo Rehabilitation
front steps-of their small trailer that serves Trust Fund, only $16,2 million was actually appropriated
as their home in the Bennett Preeze on the between 1990 and 1995; another $9,7 million was earned
outskirts of Tuba City, Ariz. in this Nov. 27, in interest, according to a 20 l O Land Commission Office
2009, file photo, report,
I
According to the report and interviews with Land .
Commission Office officials, about $22,4 million was
spent between .1990 and 2010, That should put the bal-
ance in the trust fund account at $3.5 million, However,
the most recent figures provided to the Land Commis-:
sion Office by the Navajo controller's office says the
fund is in the red by more than $206,000.
~'Idon't agree with that," Navajo Hopi Land Commis-
sion Office Deputy Director Thomas Benally said. His
records indicate there should be a total of$2.9 million in
the trust fund, he said.
Land Commission Office Director Raymond Maxx
said the office has not regularly provided financial infor-
See $3.5 million, Page 5/
 The Independent - Gallup, N.M. -'Saturday, April 9, 2011
Ind~pendent\FI ======~
Continued from Page 1 buy property on Interstate Highway 40 east of Flagstaff, agreements with the Hopi tribe. Nearly all of that money ,
Ariz., for a casino. was earmarked between 1998 and 2009 to build 48 homes
mation to the Navajo Hopi Land Commission. The Com- Forgotten People objects to trust-fund money being . that were later deemed substandard .
mission is composed of.lribal Council delegates who are used for the planned Twin Arrows Casino, even though . A Navajo auditor general report blamed the Navajo'
charged Witl;ioVerseeiug the LaI1:dCommission Office and some families affected. by therland dispute will benefit Housing Services Department for shoddy workmanship . i
with deciding h6w federal fu,nds.;wiHbe speht.·, ' from casino lease and loan payments during the next 75 and the Navajo Hopi'Land Commission fo~failingro' cSr~
• In, addition,' Maxx said. some of the trust fund money years. Opponents say the trust fund money should be used rect 'deficiencies. Even though the auditor general sane-
was co-mingled with general fund accounts, The Land to improve desperate living conditions now. tioned the Land Commission Office in 2005' for its failure
Commission Office is trying to recoup the money, he said. Congress created the trust fund in 19&8 to aid families to finish constructing homes in the HPL, 14 homes still are
'We are not getting consistent numbers from the con- impacted by the land dispute. incomplete. Monestersky said she knows of at least seven
troller's office," Maxx said, "This office will start keeping In addition to helping those Navajo families who were families who were promised homes that were never built.
track of our own numbers rather than relying on other forced to move from Hopi land in Arizona, the trust fund About $1 million was spent in new communities near
offices. This confusion has been-going on for a long time." also was supposed to help those living in nearby' commu- Sanders, Ariz., which were established for refugees forced
, Navajo Controller Mark Grant did not return a call nities where construction restrictions were imposed to leave Hopi land. Though the federal government built
seeking comment. Maxx, who began the director job in because of lawsuits that dragged on for 40 years. homes for people who relocated to the new: lands, residents
late Janm/ry, said he has asked the Navajo Office of the Thousands of people living in the western part of the say promised services were never delivered ..
~uditor(:Jener~ t9 ,al,ldi~theLand Commission Office, .' reservation stil~ do not have electricity or indoor plumbing . According to fu.erep9rt, nearly $5 million went to com-
"We win'!.tto'be more' u'aJ.lSparent,"'Maxx said. He said as a result of'the land dispute, and many water sources are munities in the. former Bennett 'Freeze area, about l.S'mil-
the office is ~vorldng to reconcile two decades of account-. contaminated with uranium. lion acres spanning from Tuba CitY, to northeast of
ing records in response to the lawsuit, which was filed last' . In. January, a Navajo tribal judge gave Ithe Land Com- Flagstaff. Development in that area was stymied by litiga-
August. mission Office and the Forgotten People until April 8 to tion with the Hopis until 2006 when a compact was offi-
Marsha Monesterskyprogram director for Forgotten resolve the matter through mediation. Jim Zion, attorney cially adopted. The money fimded home repairs and com-
People, said an accounting lawsuit should not be necessary for Forgotten People, said he has agreed to a one-month munity buildings such as senior centers.
to find out how money has been spent and how much extension to give the Navajo Hopi Land Commission "They fimded things like Head Start, which is a feder-
money remains in the trust fund. Office more time to reconcile its accounting. ally fimded progranl; and has nothing to do with rehabili-,'
"There is a continuing history of mismanagement and How much woney was actually distributed, and to tation," Monestersky said. "1 don't see how a Head Start
a lack of accountability t9 the people," she said of th~.· ..Whom, is .still. unclear, Benally said, "The record keeping building or a senior center "qualifies for rehabilitation
Navaj9 Hopi. ;{i,a,n111 Comriilssjo(i):Office. "In 'tJ:}e'o;utSic,le":'\;;w.asn'tthegre~t.~st back :thlin,"He said, ., ,.,;;'(1 :){.~. mone),':,'wnel'1you have people freezing to deatlt (\?ec~i
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roll. Tih~)tfuld~d sho\11dll't ;be.~ess (for Navajo govern- wereaccurate~ep.ally said the report was "accurate WIth . She said many of the expenditures.that were catego-
ment), especially when the rehabilitation trust fund is ; what we hadatthe time." .: . , rized as being in the Bennett Freeze actually occurred in ,
using federal money." Monestersky, whose organization advocates for people other areas. She said she was frustrated by the lack of spe- .
Benally said he believes there-is about $650,000 in the affected by the land dispute, said she was unaware of the ci:fic information in the report, especially concerning who
trust fund account that is earmarked for land purchases and Land Commission report until the Gallup Independent for- received assistance. She contends that some who have
another $1.3 to $1.5 million is in an interest-bearing warded the document to her organization in March. The received money did not need it, or did not even live in the
account for future projects. He said he believes another Independent requested the report from the federal Office affected area.
$800,000 remains in an account to repair homes in the of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation in Flagstaff. That "There is not a drop of water for people to drink: in the
Hopi Partitioned Lands in Arizona. The money was never office oversees the relocation of families forced to move HPL. People in the Bennett Freeze are drinking uranium-
spent' because the Commission did not go through the from Hopi and Navajo land. contaminated water," Monestersky said. "The wisest
proper process for approving the money in 2005, he said. . According to the report, nearly $1 million from the trust investment they could make is to hire developmentplan-
Tlle2010 report prepared for the Tribal Council's Gov- fund was spent on planning consultants', lobbyists and nets who can plan for lllfrastructure and prioritize;
ernment Services Committee states that $16 million from. administrative office space, furniture and equipment. needs."
the fund was allocated between 1990 and 2009. Most of About $6 million, or 37 percent of total expenditures, The trust fund money was never allocated according to
the money was spent on home repairs and community went to communities in Navajo Partitioned Land. That is need, Monestersky said. "They don't have any prioritiza-
construction projects in the western part of the reserva- the part of the disputed area that was partitioned for Nava- tion of needs, for handicapped, for disabled, for people
tion. • jos after Congress passed the 1974 settlement act. with major health conditions, elderly,. people who are
Benally said another $6.3 million was used to buy Another $3.2 million, or 20 percent, went to communi- homeless," she said. ''That means the friends and relatives
property with economic development potential, including ties in Hopi Partitioned Land, where some Navajos have and people who yell the loudest get the money, and then
a $3.7 million loan to the Navajo Gaming Enterprise to remained either illegally or through accommodation the money is gone."