Marc S. Roy

Tribal code

Ask Donna

What actually matters in this document.

Text

Marc S. Roy

Appointed by

Hopi Tribal

Council to serve

as Chief Judge

Arizona law allows

greater cultural

expression at

graduation

-More on pg.5

-More on pg. 10

COMMUNITY

COLUMN

LARRY’S CORNER

Cat to the

Future

about it

More on Page 5

Merry Hopi Holidays

December 15, 2021

Volume 29

Number 23

54˚/ 22˚

Sunshine

~Est. 1987 • OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE HOPI TRIBE • NEWS SOURCE FOR THE HOPI PEOPLE~

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Announced by Hopi Tribal Secretary

HOPI TUTUVENI

PO BOX 123

KYKOTSMOVI, AZ 86039

1110-01600-7460

CHANGE IN

ADMINISTRATION

Kyaamuya

December

Beginning

Hopi New

Year

This Month In

Hopi History

•December 16, 1882

:President Chester A.

Arthur signed Executive

Order

Chief Judge Roy and Chairman Timothy Nuvangyaoma (Photo by Romalita Laban/HT)

Chief Judge Roy and Vice-Chairman Craig Andrews (Photo by Romalita Laban/HT)

Have a Safe

Wonderful Christmas, and

Have a Happy New Year,

from the

Hopi Tutuveni Staff

By: Judith Youvella, Hopi

Tribal Secretary

Kykotsmovi, Ariz. – December 2, 2021, on behalf of the

Hopi Tribal government, it is

with great honor we announce

a momentous occasion held

on December 1, 2021, at the

Hopi Tribal Council Chambers. Performed by the Hopi

Tribe’s Chief Judge Marc Roy,

Honorable Chairman Timothy L. Nuvangyaoma and

Honorable Vice Chairman

Craig Andrews took the Oath

of Office, a necessary step

before the two being seated in

their positions.

Chairman Nuvangyaoma

and Vice-Chairman Andrews

have begun serving a fouryear term that commenced

on Wednesday, December 1,

2021, ending on November

30, 2025.

You are welcome to contact

the offices of the Chairman

at (928) 734-3102 and the

Vice-Chairman at (928) 7343113 for information and

assistance. The offices are both

located in the Hopi Tribe Legislative Building.

•December 19, 1936.

Hopi Constitution adopted. Established the

Tribal Council.

•December 28, 1890,

104 Hopi children captured and sent to school.

•Smallpox decimates

Hopi in 1780, 1840,

1853-1854 and 1897

Hopi

Tutuveni

wants to

know how we

are doing.

Call or email us

to tell us if we are

doing a good job.

We need your

feedback

928-734-3283 or

rlaban@hopi.nsn.us

More photos on PG. 2

Office of

the Vice-Chairman

- Close-Out...

-More on pg. 3

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

CHANGE IN ADMINISTRATION Announced by

Hopi Tribal Secretary, pictures

Chief Judge Roy and Chairman Timothy Nuvangyaoma and Vice-Chairman Craig Andrews (Photo by Romalita Laban/HT)

Chief Judge Roy shaking hands with Vice-Chairman Craig Andrews (Photo by Romalita Laban/

HT)

Chief Judge Roy shaking hands with Chairman Timothy Nuvangyaoma (Photo by Romalita

Laban/HT)

FMCV representatives Albert T. Sinquah , Ivan Sidney, Dale Sinquah, and Wallace Youvella Jr.,

and being sworn into council on DEC 1st (Photo by Romalita Laban/HT)

Phillip Quochytewa, Sr. and Herman G. Honanie kyakotsmovi representatives sworn in DEC 6th

(Photo by Romalita Laban/HT)

Marylin Fredricks, village of Bakabi being sworn in DEC 1st. (Photo by Romalita Laban/HT)

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

Office of the Vice-Chairman - Close-Out/Transition Report

(December 2017 – December 2021)

President Joe Biden and Vice Chairman of the Hopi Tribe, Clark Tenakhongva (Pic Submittal)

Submitted by: Clark W. Tenakhongva,

Upon assuming office in December

Hopi Vice-Chairman

of 2017, Vice-Chairman Clark W. Tenakhongva was appointed, via Hopi TribScope of Delegations

al Council Resolution, to the Bear Ears

ARTICLE I-DUTIES AND QUALIFI- Commission, replacing outgoing Hopi

CATIONS OF OFFICERS SECTION 2. Vice-Chairman Alfred Lomahquahu,

The Vice Chairman shall help the Chair- who along with the Hopi Cultural Presman in his duties when called upon to ervation Office, played a key role in esdo so and in the absence of the chairman tablishing the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal

shall act as Chairman with all the atten- Coalition and in ensuring Bears Ears was

dant powers and duties.

declared a national monument.

ARTICLE VI-POWERS OF THE

As an extension of his office’s priorities

TRIBAL COUNCIL SECTION 1 (l) To around the Preservation of Hopi culture,

delegate any of the powers of the Coun- history and language, Vice-Chairman

cil or committees or officers, keeping the Tenakhongva, as co-chair of Bears Ears

right to review any action taken.

Inter-Tribal Coalition, continued ongoing

In exercising the powers granted to the efforts to protect the Bears Ears National

Hopi Tribal Council in the articles above, Monument from rescission, vandalism,

the Office of the Vice-Chairman was commercial development and contraction

delegated as the point of contact for the while also endeavoring to keep the area

programs, committees, programs, teams, accessible for the traditional and cultural

and departments indicated below by the practices of the tribes.

Hopi Tribal Council at various points

In April 2021, as Secretary of the Inthroughout the four-year administration terior Deb Haaland toured the Bears

of Vice-Chairman Tenakhongva. What Ears National Monument as part of her

follows is intended to be a summary of executive-ordered review of the Utah

the activities of the office in relation to monument for President Biden, Hopi

these Hopi Tribal Council delegations Vice-Chairman Tenakhongva and other

and is in no way exhaustive.

tribal leaders met with Haaland voicing

Bears Ears Commission

their support for the restoration of the

Since Vice-Chairman Tenakhongva’s monument to its original boundaries.

appointment as the commissioner for the

To Vice-Chairman Tenakhongva,

Hopi Tribe to the Bears Ears Commis- meeting with Secretary Haaland was a

sion near the start of his administration, valuable opportunity to share the true sigthe Office of the Vice-Chairman has par- nificance that Bears Ears—Honmuru—

ticipated in weekly conference calls and has for the Hopi people. This landscape

various meetings throughout the Fourth is an ancestral home to many Hopi clans

Quarter which included receiving up- who, in the past, migrated throughout the

dates regarding the Bears Ears litigation Four-corners region, and the responsibilias well as updates on the drafting of the ty to educate and impart to others the valBears Ears Land Management Plan.

ue and history of the Bears Ears National

Throughout the entirety of the Hopi Monument was not one that the Office of

Tribe’s involvement with the Bears Ears the Vice-Chairman took lightly.

Commission the Office of the Vice-ChairFollowing the signing of the Proclaman has been engaged in public advo- mation, President Biden was gifted a hat,

cacy and has continually expressed the Hopi Tribal Flag, and Hopi Veteran’s latribe’s support for the Obama Monument pel pin, by Vice-Chairman Tenakhongva

Proclamation and the continued desire to to which President Biden reportedly reremain engaged in the lawsuit entitled the sponded, “Clark you are one man who

Hopi Tribe et al vs. Donald J. Trump et al. has worked so hard on this matter, and I

Restoration of the Bears Ears Na- have so much respect for you. You never

tional Monument

gave up. Please continue the work of the

On October 8th, 2021, President Joe Nation, your people and the World.”

Biden signed a proclamation restoring

Yet despite the restoration of the Bears

the Bears Ears National Monument to Ears National Monument via Presidential

1.36 million acres in San Juan County, Proclamation, the legal battles surroundUtah effectively reinstating environmen- ing the monument will likely continue

tal protections to an expansive and varied and require Hopi tribal involvement.

landscape.

Following President Trump’s action

Hopi Chairman Timothy L. Nuvan- to revoke and replace the Bears Ears

gyaoma and Vice-Chairman Clark W. National Monument in 2017, the Native

Tenakhongva were present at the signing American Rights Fund (NARF), repreof the proclamation along with other fed- senting the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of

eral, state, and tribal leaders.

Zuni, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe,

This move came four years after for- filed a lawsuit against the Trump Adminmer President Donald Trump stripped istration, claiming such action was not

protections away from the Bears Ears only an attack on the five sovereign naNational Monument, a place sacred to tions with deep ties to the Bears Ears resurrounding Native Nations, reducing the gion, but a complete violation of the separea by 82%.

aration of powers enshrined in the United

The Bears Ears National Monument States Constitution, and asserting that no

was originally established in December president had ever revoked and replaced

of 2016 by the Obama Administration a national monument before because it is

following a multi-year effort by indige- illegal to do so; only Congress may alter

nous-led organizations to protect the pub- a monument.

lic lands. The creation of the Bears Ears

However, this lawsuit has been on hold

National Monument was significant, in since Biden issued an executive order in

that for the first time in history, Native January of 2021 to look further into the

Nations were given a powerful voice in matter. Regardless, President Biden’s demanaging a national monument as the cision may not prevent future lawsuits,

proclamation called for the establishment with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, already

of a Bears Ears Commission, staffed by a having stated that he would sue Biden if

representative of each of the tribes com- he restored the monument unilaterally.

prising the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal CoaliBears Ears Land Management Plan

tion, namely the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo

While the Drafting of Bears Ears Land

of Zuni, the Navajo Nation, the Ute Indi- Management Plan was originally to be

an Tribe (of the Uintah and Ouray), and managed by Logan Simpson, a specialthe Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

ized environmental Planning firm, due

to the lack of progress and failure to produce substantial material over a period

of four months the Bears Ears Coalition

leadership determined that it was in the

best interest of the component tribes that

various sections of the Land Management

Plan should be drafted by the respective

tribes using subcontractors.

To this end staff for the Office of the

Vice-Chairman who were part of the Bear

Ears Cultural Sub-committee worked diligent with the Hopi Tribe’s sub-contractor Maren Hopkins to conducted work

sessions with the Program Managers of

Hopi’s Department of Natural Resources

to review the management goals and objectives in the existing BLM and USFS

Monument Management Plans for BENM

and modify them as needed to conform

to Hopi tribal perspectives on preservation. On September 20–24, 2021, Maren

Hopkins, Daryn Melvin, Chief of staff for

the office of the Vice-Chairman, and five

Hopi DNR staff members conducted site

visits to various locations within BENM.

Trip participants included: Priscilla Pavatea (DNR Director), Norman Honie

(Mining), Robbie Honani (Grazing), Max

Taylor (Water), and Georgiana Pongyesva (Cultural Preservation). The group

was accompanied by Brandy Hurt of the

BEITC, and Ryan Pelizzoni of Friends

of Cedar Mesa. The purpose of the site

visits was to familiarize Hopi DNR staff

with the various types of resources and

their locations within BENM that require

management, including cultural sites,

grazing allotments, water sources, Special Use Areas, recreation sites, and other

locations.

In addition to conducting work sessions, interviews, and site visits, Hopi

contributions to the BENM LMP included

an extensive review of Hopi ethnographic

literature. For the past 30 years, the Hopi

Cultural Preservation Office has conducted ethnographic studies across the

Four Corners region to document Hopi

connections to their ancestral homeland.

These studies have resulted in a rich body

of reports and archives describing Hopi

history and values for resources, much of

which is relevant to the BENM region

The goal of the report that was ultimately produced is to present the Hopi

Tribe’s contributions to a land management plan developed by the BEITC. This

report includes six fundamental components that describe Hopi needs and priorities for management, including: (1) Hopi

connections to the BENM, (2) Hopi stewardship values, (3) Hopi perceptions of

threats and impacts to BENM, (4) knowledge gaps, (5) management actions to reduce threats, and (6) plan implementation

and programs. Information presented in

this report will be integrated into a comprehensive land management plan soon

that includes inputs from all five of the

BEITC member tribes.

Hopi Department of Education and

Workforce Development - Hopi Education Code

Following the adoption of the Hopi Education Code by the Hopi Tribal Council

in August, 2019, which officially created

a unified school district under which all

local Hopi schools would be required to

operate and report to new Hopi board of

education, the Office of the Vice-Chairman has participated in various meetings

throughout the last two years including

meetings with the newly formed Transition Team whose focus it is to address

various school operation issues during

the transition from numerous Hopi school

districts to a unified school district.

Hopi Education Endowment Fund

As an Ex-Officio to the Hopi Education Endowment Fund (HEEF) the Office

of the Vice-Chairman attended a number of meetings with the Hopi Education Endowment Fund’s Executive and

Nominating Committees via telephone

throughout the four-year administration

of Vice-Chairman Tenakhongva.

Hopi Proficiency Exam

In the 2002 Hopit pötskwani’at, The

Hopi Tribal Council directed the Hopi

Cultural Preservation Office and the Hopi

Office of Education and Workforce Development “to promote and preserve the

Hopi language by developing a total cultural immersion program”.

While the dream of a total cultural

immersion program has not yet been realized, one of the key aspects of this directive was the teaching of the Hopi language and the assurance that “instruction

in the language would be made available

to students of all grade levels, in all Hopi

schools serving the Hopi nation.” Additionally, in resolution H-010-2006, The

Hopi Tribal Council recognized a series

of Language survival goals drawn from

the Hopit pötskwani’at, which included “Teacher training and certification in

Hopi language and culture.” To this end

the Hopi Department of Education and

Workforce Development, the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, and the Hopi

Office of the Vice-Chairman, in 2018

made substantial progress toward fulfilling these two particular directives by

developing a Hopi Language Proficiency

Exam. The exam, administered for the

first time on December 7, 2018, to a pilot

group of 13 Hopi educators seeking certification, was intended to be conducted

on a quarterly basis. In order to ultimately

provide instruction in the Hopi language

to students of all grade levels, in all Hopi

schools serving the Hopi reservation, we

must first ensure that we have educators

certified to teach the Hopi language. Impetus to create such an exam also came

from a 2012 State Board of Education

ruling regarding Native American Language Certification in which a certificate

would be “issued to individuals qualified

to teach only a Native American language

in Grades Pre-K-12.” However, one particular requirement of this certification

was that “proficiency shall be verified on

official letter head by a person, persons,

or entity designated by the appropriate

tribe.” Therefore, as the manner in which

Hopi language proficiency is verified is

left to the Tribe’s discretion, the Hopi Department of Education, the Hopi Cultural

Preservation Office, and the Hopi Office

of the Vice-Chairman aimed to develop

a proficiency exam that would serve as

an unbiased yet quantifiable measure of

one’s linguistic abilities. To do this the

Hopi Proficiency Exam was structured

to assess one’s proficiency in four fundamental areas: Comprehension, Reading, Speaking and Grammar. These four

fundamental areas were meant to correspond with the Hopi language instruction

requirements also set forth by the Hopi

Tribal Council Resolution H-010-2006,

which stated that “Hopi language instruction shall include to the greatest extent

practicable…speaking, comprehension,

reading and writing skills and study of

the formal grammar of the language”.

One of the biggest misconceptions regarding language is that fluency is purely

about speaking the language, when in reality, learning how to speak is only part of

the process. In academic terms, Linguistic Proficiency is the ability of an individual to demonstrate adequate mastery of

the language in a range of skills and applications, which is why we endeavored

to develop an assessment that took into

consideration as many of the key areas

of language as possible. It is important

to understand that Language is a living

thing and it always takes place within a

relative context. Fluency is not an absolute status, and the use of language constantly changes, matures, and grows, and

while this exam is meant to be a tool for

assessing one’s language proficiency, it

can also be a great motivator for Hopi

people to perfect their language abilities

and take their Hopi language skills to the

next level. Being able to teach and utilize

a language in an academic setting is often very different from the casual everyday use of the language, even for a fluent Hopi speaker. So, it is unfair to place

teachers or paraprofessionals, without

proper assessment and excellent preparation, in situations where teaching conventions and students’ expectations may

be quite different from their earlier experiences. Ensuring a quality education for

Hopi students and promoting the use of

the Hopi Language have been top priorities for the Office of the Vice-Chairman

and have been priorities that he and his

staff have worked on diligently with other tribal programs and departments since

the start of the current administration. By

establishing consistent protocols to test

language proficiency, we are not only being considerate of the welfare of both the

teachers and the students that will learn

from them. It was the intention of the Office of the Vice-Chairman to establish a

foundation on upon which we can build

a comprehensive Hopi language program

and curriculum in the future.

Hopi Department of Natural Resources

Hopi Cultural Preservation Office –

Desert View Watch Tower

The Office of the Vice-Chairman

to date has continued its involvement

regarding the renovation of the Desert Watchtower. Over the course of

the several meetings the Office of the

Vice-Chairman has engaged with U.S.

National Park Service Staff on planning

and developing the Hopi Tribe’s Participation in this project and arranged for

the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office

(HCPO) to have a one-on-one consultation with The United States National Park

Service regarding the various options and

alternatives the National Park Service

is proposing for the Desert Watchtower.

Following these consultations, the plan

for turning the Desert View Watch Tower

into an inter-tribal cultural heritage site

was agreed upon. Prior to the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic, each of the tribes

associated with the Grand Canyon were

asked to submit artwork representative of

their tribe. This artwork would in turn be

incorporated, following consultation and

approval, into the overall layout and design of the proposed Inter-Tribal Cultural

Heritage Site.

CONT. PG 4

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

Office of the Vice-Chairman - Close-Out/Transition Report (December 2017 – December 2021), Cont.

Finland Repatriation

On Wednesday October 2, 2019,

during a press conference between President Trump and Finnish President Sauli

Niinisto it was announced that Finland

had agreed to return Native American remains that had been excavated and taken

from the Southwestern United States to

northern Europe in 1891 by Scholar Gustaf Nordenskjold.

This announcement came after a yearslong concerted effort by the Hopi Tribe’s

Cultural Preservation Office, Office of

the Vice-Chairman and other tribal nations to have these remains and funerary

items returned.

The history of this case played an important role in swaying public perception

about the importance of protecting cultural heritage resources that ultimately

led to the 1906 Antiquities Act and the

Establishment of Mesa Verde national

park, as Nordenskjold, who was of Finnish and Swedish descent, also took hundreds of artifacts from the Mesa Verde

region (which the Hopi people refer to

as Tawtoykya, or Place of the Songs) of

Colorado in the 1891 and was arrested

for attempting to export these remains

and artifacts out of the country. He was

later released, and the collection shipped

to Stockholm Sweden as no U.S. Laws

at the time prohibited such action. Nordenskjold then sold the collection to a

Finnish doctor who later bequeathed the

collection to the state of Finland following his death, and the collection was ultimately placed in The National Museum

of Finland in Helsinki

The museum took an inventory of the

collection following inquiries by the

Hopi Tribe’s Cultural Preservation Office

who in 2016, along with other Hopi consultants, led efforts to identify the human

remains funerary objects in the collection.

This inventory, which was complete

in June of 2018, determined that the

collection contained 600 items, including the remains of 20 individuals and

28 funerary objects. In July of that same

year, the United States State Department

sponsored an International Visitors Leadership Program to build relationships

between Native American Communities

and European Museums and as part of

this program Heli Lahdentausta Curator

of the Nation Museum of Finland met

with Representatives from Hopi and visited other cultural institutions in New

Mexico.

Following this visit the Government

of Finland notified the U.S. Embassy in

Helsinki that it would consider an Official request for repatriation of Human re-

mains and Funerary objects made by the

U.S. Government through Official Diplomatic Channels. The Official request was

made in Fall 2018.

Repatriation

On September 13, a coalition of tribes

including the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of

Acoma, the Pueblo of Zia, and the Pueblo

of Zuni repatriated and reinterred ancestors and associated funerary objects at the

Mesa Verde National Park. The National

Museum of Finland returned the human

remains of 20 ancestors pursuant to a

joint agreement with the sovereign tribes

who claim cultural affiliation to the Mesa

Verde Area. The U.S. Ambassador to Finland, Robert Pence, and representatives

from both the Finnish government and

the National Museum of Finland escorted

the remains back to America.

Hopi Language Grant

The Hopi Cultural Preservation Office (HCPO) and the Hopi Office of the

Vice-Chairman in September of 2021 began work on a new Hopi Language project, made possible through funding from

the American Rescue Plan, and distributed through the Administration for Native

Americans.

The project will see the development

of new instructional material which will

focus on a common core of words and

grammatical structures to attain proficiency in the Hopi Language and help

Hopi individuals to better understand

and grasp the language. Historical audio

recordings of Hopi speakers currently

housed at the American Philosophical Society (APS) in Philadelphia will be used

in this Hopi Language project and new

recordings of current Hopi speakers will

also be created as necessary. Recordings

will then be paired with an introductory

language-learning curriculum designed

to ensure that learners have good control

of the high-frequency vocabulary and

grammatical conversions. Upon completion this instructional material will then

be made accessible to the Hopi community.

Hopilavayi is at a crossroads. There is

less transmission of the language within

families and homes, across all Hopi villages. Despite the dedicated and tireless

work of the Hopi Cultural Preservation

Office staff, the Hopi Department of Education, and Hopilavayi teachers in the

school settings, older and younger generations are sometimes unable to converse

with each other in Hopi.

It is the Hopi of the Office of the

Vice-Chairman that the instructional materials developed through this grant, will

enhance, and provide much needed support for the ongoing efforts to increase

transmission of our language.

Hopi Emergency Response Team Hopi Return to Work Guidelines

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hopi Tribe instituted widespread

community mitigation and prevention

efforts that included closing much of the

tribal government. These efforts, combined with ongoing containment activities, served as an effective intervention

for limiting the spread of COVID-19, but

at the same time, have become a stressor

to the economic well-being of Hopi communities. However, during that shutdown

of the Hopi Tribal Government, executive leadership, in partnership with Hopi

Tribal Department Directors, reviewed

federal guidelines and recommendations

from the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention and developed guidelines for

the purpose of achieving Return to Work

preparedness.

As circumstances surrounding the

COVID-19 pandemic continue to change,

a flexible phased Reopening Plan for a

new operational norm was necessary. To

that end, Return to Work Guidelines was

prepared by Staff from the Office of the

Vice-Chairman and various other Hopi

Tribal Department Directors. This document is to serve as a guiding document

to aid in understanding the impact of

COVID-19 on our workplaces, standardizing hygiene practices and reinforcing

the shared responsibility that each of us

have for the collective health and safety

of the Hopi Nation.

Again, during its Government Shutdown, the Hopi Tribal Government established a Hopi Government Re-Opening Task Group (RTG), in which the

Office of the Vice-Chairman played a vital role, to assess the various facilities of

the Tribal Government and with technical

assistance from the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC), to implement key mitigation measures necessary

to safely continue the essential operations

of the Tribal Government.

Budget Oversight Team

Since the delegation of the Budget

Oversight Team (BOT) to the Office

of the Vice-Chairman, the Office has

worked diligently over the last four

years, as a part of the BOT to develop a

functional Annual General Fund budget,

as well as put forth feasible cost-cutting

recommendations for the consideration

of Hopi Tribal Council.

Given that the Hopi Tribe is faced

with declining revenues, a cursory total

of the Tribe’s Unrestricted Investments

was taken, which resulted in the sum of

approximately $107,657,142.72. This total was then prorated for 6-8 years. (This

time frame was based on reports that it

would take at least 6 years for any economic venture of the Hopi Tribe to produce revenues comparable to those lost

from the closure of NGS), which resulted in several annual budget totals, the

amount of which was dependent on the

number of years the Hopi Tribal Government was to function. The longer the

Tribe was to be in operation the smaller

the budget would ultimately have to be.

Throughout the four years of Vice-Chairman Tenakhongva’s Administration, the

Budget Oversight Team put forth several

cost cutting recommendations each year,

the most notable of which were: 1.) the

recommendation to reduce to a 32-hour

work week, 2.) Ending the payout of Excess annual leave and 3) Using the Revolving accounts of various programs

who have them, to off-set that particular

program’s general fund allocation. While

the work of putting forth a workable Annual General Fund budget is taxing, it is

important and will become even more

important in the future.

Veterans Affairs

The Hopi Office of the Vice-Chairman

met with the Hopi Office of Veteran Affairs various times throughout the last

four-years and collaborated with the Office of Veterans Affairs on a number of

events and celebrations including the Annual Hopi Code Talkers Day, Hopi Post

80, and the Hopi Honor Riders Event.

Yet, one of the most significant events

that the Office of the Vice-Chairman was

able to lend its support to with the Office

of Veterans Affairs, was the renaming

of four sections of Arizona highways in

honor of the 10 Hopi Code Talkers that

served During World War II. While the

Legislation was drafted during the Honanie administration, when Honanie’s

term ended, the Office of the Vice-Chairman continued the work through completion.

Law and Order Committee - Hopi

Tribal Detention Center

While the previous administration was

active in requesting that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) take immediate action

on the need for a modular detention center on the Hopi reservation, after the construction of this facility was met with a

number of delays and set-backs, the Hopi

Office of the Vice-Chairman became vigorously engaged in numerous lobbying

efforts on both the state and national level

to address these issues and sited that the

closure of the lone detention center on the

reservation, in Keams Canyon, continues

to create a hardship for the officers, extra wear and tear on official vehicles and

negatively impacts public safety

First Mesa Elementary School Presents School

Safety Plan at Native American Grant School

Association 2021 Winter Conference

First Meas Elementary School conference presenters. photo by Romalita Laban/HT

By: Romalita Laban, Managing Editor

Las Vegas, NV – December 9, 2021 was the first

day of the Native American Grant School Association

(NAGSA) 2021 Winter Conference scheduled from December 9 through December 11, 2021, and during the

day First Mesa Elementary School (FMES) staff presented the School Safety Plan created as a response to

the 2020 world-wide pandemic due to the COVID-19

which is still ongoing after a year and nine months.

Being that FMES is technically still a grant school being funded by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), the

BIE still exercises some authority with regard to federal

mandates and requirements. During the pandemic, the

BIE required grant funded schools to submit a School

Safety Plan in response to being prepared for the pandemic and FMES was the first local Hopi school to submit its plan.

During the afternoon session, Alma Sinquah, FMES

Community School Administrator provided an over-

view and explanation of how the FMES staff took

charge once she presented the requirement by the BIE.

She further explained that like for many other schools

and staff, it was a challenge because no one knew exactly how to approach creating a School Safety Plan

surrounding such an unknown virus but the staff did not

reproach and instead approached the situation and all

members of the Safety Team contributed even during

the summer on their break.

Initially Sinquah approached Annalese Nasafotie,

School Nurse requesting something in writing by the

end of the day which led Nasafotie to begin researching and gathering information from as many sources as

possible, including the Centers for Disease Control. By

the end of the day the School Nurse delivered the beginnings of the plan which has since been tweaked and

added to by the Safety Team.

Eventually the Hopi Tribe’s Assessment Team assigned to going to all Tribal Buildings, including the

schools, to determine the needs to be able to function

during the pandemic visited FMES. The FMES staff

shared the plan which the Hopi Tribe eventually shared

with all Hopi schools as some did not develop one as

quickly as the FMES team did.

Staff members who presented included Annalese Nasafotie, School Nurse, Shawn Tootsie, Facilities and

Francelia Tom, Lead Teacher who all talked about the

various effects the pandemic had on their workload and

most importantly attending to the children during the

pandemic. The team provided a listing of all the staff

who aided with developing the Safety Plan and expressed much appreciation to their colleagues.

The presentation provided reminders about the challenge, emotions and how positive teamwork helped the

staff to do a better job and to prove that they had the

ability to face even a world-wide pandemic. The team

made a big impact on the audience and were praised

very well by all those attending the NAGSA 2021 Conference.

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

Marc S. Roy Appointed by Hopi The Hopi Tribal Council 1st Quarter

Session December 1, 2021 Agenda

Tribal Council to serve as Chief UNFINISHED

BUSINESS

Discussion/Possible

– Letter dated July 30, 2021 Re: Request to rescind

Judge of the Hopi Tribe as of Executive Order #011-2021Action

and direct the Drought Task Team to reach out to Hopi

ranchers and Navajo Accommodation Agreement signers to work on identifying alNovember 7, 2021

ternatives for addressing drought issues on Hopi lands. / Letter dated August 16, 2021

Chief Judge Marc Roy (Photo Submitted)

Submitted by: Kathryn Kooyahoema,

Court Administrator Hopi Tribal Courts

Keams Canyon, Ariz. – December 7,

2021, Chief Judge Roy is a licensed attorney with over 30 years of experience

and an Arizona State Bar Association

member. Additionally, state, and tribal

bars, numerous federal courts, including

the United States Supreme Court, were

awarded a Fellowship by the National

Association of Attorneys General earlier

in his career.

He began his judicial experience as a

local criminal court judge in Mississippi

during the first year of law school, where

he augmented that experience with government service, including supervising

tribal relations, security, legal and infrastructure professionals for the US Department of Homeland Security. In addition,

several capacities following Hurricane

Katrina. Chief judge Roy works as Regional Director in the Office of the President of the United States in Gulf Coast

Recovery, serving as Chief Judge of the

Ute Tribe, setting up a newly authorized

office as a tribal attorney general in South

Dakota. Also, he has appointments as a

senior assistant attorney general and as a

vital member of the Governor’s staff in

the US Territory of American Samoa.

His educational credentials include a

B.A. in anthropology with an emphasis

on Southwest archaeology from Texas

Tech University, a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Mississippi College, and a

Master of Laws degree from the University of Nottingham in England.

Judge Roy has developed and taught

leadership programs, criminal law courses, and economic recovery seminars as a

professor and faculty member at Tulane

University and other universities. He

also, has served as a consultant or representative to other governments, including

Haiti, China, and the independent state of

Samoa.

Chief Judge Roy has published articles

on constitutional law and was recognized

for his legal and management contributions on behalf of the public by a Proclamation from the City Council of New

Orleans and in the Congressional Record

and has received commendations from

FEMA, DHS, the Governor of Mississippi, and others for his work in behalf of

criminal justice, infrastructure improvements and assistance to those in need. He

has served as a speaker and commentator

on governmental policy, jail standards,

law enforcement, disaster management,

and justice matter in interviews, presentations, and televised appearances, such

as C-Span, in this country and others. He

currently serves on the Finance Committee for the American Judges Association

and as a member at large on the Executive Committee for the Senior Division of

the Arizona State Bar.

Judge Roy and his wife, Diane, an attorney, very much enjoy hiking and restoring historically recognized properties.

December is “National

Drunk and Drugged Driving

Prevention Month”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Submitted by: Bernadean Kachinhongva, HSAPC Mentor

Kykotsmovi, AZ – November 24, 2021,

The HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention

Center (HSAPC) is supporting the December national awareness campaign National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month or 3D Prevention Month.

This awareness campaign is a reminder to

never drive impaired. Historically, there

has been an increase in impaired driving

during the annual holidays. The winter

months are typically the most impacted.

Your holiday plans may involve some

travel. Be cautious as you travel.

December has been proclaimed National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Awareness Month since 1981.

Every president since 1981 has shown

their commitment to stop impaired driving. The theme for Drunk and Drugged

Driving Prevention month or 3D month is

“Let’s take a Stand.” The HOPI Substance

Abuse Prevention Center has also seen

an increase in unhealthy activity during

the last few months of the year. Should

you be under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or other substances, highly consider

refraining from operating a vehicle and

machinery. You could be committing a

crime if driving while impaired. Impaired

driving may also lead to legal actions.

An impaired driving crime is when your

ability to operate a vehicle is impaired

by the effects of illegal drugs, illegal use

of prescription/over-the-counter medication, or alcohol. If driving a person who

has a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08

grams per deciliter or higher is impaired.

Alcohol concentration is varied by the

alcoholic beverage. For example, wine,

beer, malt liquor, whiskey, and liquor

have different variants of alcohol content.

Some have less and others have higher alcohol content. A person should also

consider their health, weight, social occasions, and first experiences as key factors

in their ability to consume alcohol and

substances. Your choices can highly impact your life if you're not consciously

aware of your health and body.

HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention

Center would like to share a friendly reminder that the time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is described by

the National Association of Drug Court

Professionals as “One of the deadliest

and most dangerous times on America's

roadways due to an increase in impaired

driving.” We here at HSAPC encourage

you to refrain from impaired driving and

drive defensively while on the roads.

Accidents caused by driving under the

influence are very preventable. Here are a

few tips for your holiday travel and gatherings to keep in mind as you travel. Plan

- if you think alcohol or substances are

going to be at an event. Designate a sober

driver. Also, consider arranging an alternate route to travel home. Plan friendly

and loving reminders - talk to your loved

ones about the importance of being safe

and responsible.

Hopi teachings remind us it is

Kyaa’muya, a fragile month. We can do

our best by keeping away from having

risky behaviors. Staying home and finding a fun activity to do with loved ones

can help. Challenge yourself - Create a

healthy sober challenge. Tell yourself,

“Just for today I’ll keep from consuming

substances, alcohol, and unhealthy behaviors.” Reach out to a trusted and encouraging person when you feel the urge

to use alcohol, substances, or engage in

unhealthy behaviors. If you’re hosting an

event offer to provide non-alcoholic and

substance-free options to family members and guests. This will show a loved

one you are supporting them and showing

them, they can still have a good time.

HSAPC encourages everyone to support National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention month on social media

as well by using the theme “Let’s Take

a Stand”, #Drunk Drugged Driving Prevention Month, #3D Prevention month. If

you need support, we encourage you to

seek help by calling a trusted individual,

program, or HSAPC staff member at 928734-0300.

To learn more about National Drunk

and Drugged Driving Prevention month

visit HSAPC’s Facebook page or call

928-734-0300 and/or visit https://www.

naadac.org; https://www.nationaltoday.

com/

Re: Executive Order #011-2021 Range Mitigation and Livestock Reduction – Albert

T. Sinquah, Tribal Council Representative, First Mesa Consolidated Villages – TABLED UNTIL DECEMBER 2021

NEW BUSINESS

1. Action Item #001-2022 – To accept Grant Funds awarded to the Hopi Cultural

Preservation Office in the amount of $82,609.00 from the American Rescue Plan Act

Emergency Native Language Funding to explore alternative educational methods in

combating Hopi language loss within the Hopi villages and communities – Author/

Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa, Program Manager, Hopi Cultural Preservation Office

2. Action Item #002-2022 – To obtain Hopi Tribal Council authorization to accept

funds from the U.S. Department of Treasury to support a Homeowner Assistance

Fund (HAF) Program and authorize the CARES Act Committee and the Office of the

Executive Director to develop and administer the program – Author/Jamie B. Navenma, Chairman, CARES Act Committee

3. Action Item #003-2022 - To approve Clause Law PLLC, as the Hopi Tribe’s

Lobbyist for one (1) year – Author/Timothy L. Nuvangyaoma, Chairman

4. Letter dated November 3, 2021 Re: Presentation of a potential partnership and

project for the Hopi Tribe – Wallace Youvella, Jr., Tribal Council Representative,

First Mesa Consolidated Villages – Time Certain - December 7, 2021 @ 1:00 p.m.

5. Interviews for the following positions:

Sergeant-at-Arms (1 candidate) - December 8, 2021 – 9:45 a.m.

Treasurer (2 candidates) - December 8, 2021 – 10:00 – 11:15 a.m.

Chief Revenue Officer (3 candidates) - December 8, 2021 1:00 – 2:50 p.m.

Deputy Revenue Officer (3 candidates) - December 8, 2021 – 3:00 – 3:35 p.m.

6. Memorandum dated October 27, 2021 from Priscilla Pavatea, Acting Director,

Department of Natural Resources and Clark W. Tenakhongva, Chairman, Drought

Task Team; Re: Request for Extension on Drought Mitigation meeting with ranchers

– Albert T. Sinquah, Tribal Council Representative, First Mesa Consolidated Villages

7. Letter dated October 5, 2021 Re: Walpi Housing Management – Timothy L.

Nuvangyaoma, Chairman, The Hopi Tribe

8. Letter dated November 3, 2021 to Mr. Virgil Pinto, Chief of Police, Hopi Law

Enforcement Services – Mervin Yoyetewa, Tribal Council Representative, Village of

Mishongnovi

9. Interviews for Hopi Tribal Housing Authority Board of Commissioners: Five

(5) candidates - December 20, 2021 – 9:15 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

REPORTS

1. Office of the Chairman – Trip to Washington, D.C.

2. Office of the Vice Chairman

3. Office of Tribal Secretary

4. Office of the Treasurer

5. Office of the Executive Director

6. Office of the General Counsel

7. Land Commission

8. Water/Energy Committee

9. Transportation Committee

10. Law & Order Committee

11. Investment Committee

12. Health/Education Committee

13. Report from Chief Virgil Pinto, Hopi Law Enforcement Services and Jamie

Navenma, Director, Department of Public Safety & Emergency Services; Re: Hopi

Tribe’s Letter of Intent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to take over Hopi Law

Enforcement Services (HLES) – Mervin Yoyetewa, Tribal Council Representative,

Village of Mishongnovi

14. Report – 2021 Year-End Review: Significant Accomplishments by the Hopi

Tribal Housing Authority (HTHA) Interim Board of Commissioners (Written)

Lomayaktewa Awarded NAGSA Hall of

Fame Class of 2021 School Employee

of the Year

Jennifer Lomayaktewa photo by Romalita Labab/HT

By: Romalita Laban, Managing Editor of Mishungnovi. Her parents are Genevieve Humeyestewa and the late Ronnie

Las Vegas, NV – December 10, 2021 Lomayaktewa. Jennifer graduated from

and during the second day’s events of the Hopi High School with Honors in 2014

Native American Grant School Associa- and attended the University of Arizona

tion (NAGSA) 2021 Winter Conference and Pima Community College. Prior to

scheduled from December 9 through De- joining the staff at FMES, Jennifer got

cember 11, 2021, Jennifer Lomayaktewa, to travel to places like New York City,

Teacher Aide for First Mesa Elementary Tennessee, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas

School was awarded the School Employ- for volunteering opportunities and sumee of the Year award.

mer internships. Jennifer has been a TA

According to its website the “Native for more than 2 years working alongside

American Grant School Association great teachers and has had the opportu(NAGSA) is a non-partisan, non-prof- nity to work with different grade levels.

it school board association governed Jennifer also got to help coach the junior

by its Board of Directors. Each board varsity basketball team. She currently

member is elected school board that he works with the third grade and enjoys usor she represents their school. NAGSA is ing her skills to contribute to the exciting

a multi-tribal school board association.” educational environment that happens evWith a Vision Statement that reads, "Uni- ery day. During Jennifer’s free time, she

ty to Inspire and Advocate for Diversity loves to run, read books, spend time with

in Education to Retain Language, Cultur- family and raise her Husky pup Miska”

al & Spiritual Values" The mission of the

The Award Ceremony was hosted by

Native American Grant School Associa- Alberto Peshlakai, Navajo County Distion is to advocate for all Native students trict II Supervisor with Opening Remarks

to ensure the best quality education for by Royd R. Lee, NAGSA Superintendent

Native American students.

and Presentation of Awards conducted by

According to the NAGSA Event Agen- NAGSA Officers & Superintendent, Euda, “Jennifer Lomayaktewa is a Teacher siw John, President, Leslie Williams Vice

Aide at First Mesa Elementary School. President, Sophia Francis, Secretary/

Jennifer is Hopi from Second Mesa, Treasurer and Royd R. Lee, Superinten[AZ] and is Fire Clan from the village dent.

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

HOPI H.E.O.C UPDATES

Hopi Tribe Department of Health and Human

Services Covid-19 Emergency Response

Update December 7, 2021 Report

KYKOTSMOVI, AZ – December

7, 2021

This data is updated on the Hopi

Tribe’s website “COVID-19 Response and Resources” page.

Hopi Health Care Center – Community COVID-19 Testing & Vaccination Information

COVID-19 vaccines are available

mornings and afternoons for the

month of December for those 5-years

and older. To schedule an appointment call (928) 737-6148 or 7376081- Appointments are required. For

questions about COVID-19 vaccines

call: (928) 737-6198 or 737-9197

COVID-19 Testing Drive-up Testing schedule: Monday – Friday from

8-9:30am AND 3– 4 pm. Enter at the

west entrance & drive around back.

Mask must be worn by everyone in

your vehicle. Please stay in your vehicle at all times. To schedule for testing or for more information please

call (928) 737-6233.

Tuba City Regional Health Care

Corporation - Community COVID-19

Testing & Vaccination Information

Moenkopi residents Tuba City Regional Health Care will have a Pfizer

vaccine community drive-up vaccine

clinic now available for individual’s

12-years and older. Call 1-866-9765941 to schedule your appointment.

As of December 7, 2021 the United

States now has approximately 49,002

million confirmed positive cases with

over 785,655 deaths reported.

Over 1,298 million confirmed positive cases now exist in Arizona. Of

those, close to 25,200 are in Navajo

and 26,000 in Coconino Counties.

“Prevention:

Watch for Symptoms - people with

COVID-19 have had a wide range of

symptoms reported – ranging from

mild symptoms to severe illness.

Symptoms may appear 2-10 days after exposure to the virus. Anyone can

have mild to severe symptoms. People with these symptoms may have

COVID-19:

• Fever or chills

• Cough

• Shortness of breath or difficulty

breathing

• Fatigue

• Muscle or body aches

• Headache

•New loss of taste or smell

•Sore throat

•Congestion or runny nose

•Nausea or vomiting

• Diarrhea

This list does not include all possible symptoms. CDC will continue to

update this list as we learn more about

COVID-19. Older adults and people

who have severe underlying medical

conditions like heart or lung disease

or diabetes seem to be at higher risk

for developing more serious complications from COVID-19 illness.”

Retesting of COVID-19 Positive

Employees. Per guidance and alignment with HHCC, CDC, state and

local health departments, and OSHA

workplace guidance for COVID-19

re-testing of positive or suspected

COVID-19 employees before they return to work, nor providing letters to

go back to work is not recommended.

The recommended reason for not

re-testing is an individual may continue to test positive on a viral test

long after they are recovered from

COVID-19. These dead viral particles will turn viral tests positive even

though they cannot cause disease in

others. The Hopi Health Care Center

strongly encourages employers to use

the CDC’s symptom and criteria below even if they continue to test positive. Once they meet the three criteria,

they are no longer considered infectious to others. However, if the employee was severely ill (hospitalized)

or in immunocompromised, plead advise them to visit their primary care

provide before returning to work.

The “checklist” below will be used

by employers to use with their employees to determine when an employee with confirmed or suspected

COVID-19 may return to work safely. For additional questions, please

call the Hopi Health Care Center

COVID-19 hotline (928) 737-6188.

□ It’s been at last ten days since I

first had symptoms or received my

positive diagnosis if “I’ve not had

symptoms (please note date of first

symptoms: (________)

□ Overall my symptoms have improved and I am feeling better.

□ It’s been at least 72 hours since

I last had a fever without using fever-reducing medicine.

If you checked all three boxes, you

are no longer a considered at risk

to infect others. You can go back to

work!

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

Tribe inches closer to historic purchase of

Las Vegas resort

The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has moved closer to owning the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas Strip. If the $650-million deal goes through, the tribe would be the first to own a

resort in the heart of the U.S. gaming industry. (Photo courtesy of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians)

Stewart Huntington

Special to Indian Country Today

LAS VEGAS, Nevada — A California tribe is poised

to make gaming history later this month after the Nevada Gaming Control Board voted unanimously last week

to recommend approval for its purchase of a Las Vegas

resort.

If the state’s gaming commission green lights the sale

of the Palms Casino Resort on Dec. 16, the San Manuel

Band of Indians would become the first tribe to own and

operate a resort in the heart of the U.S. gaming industry.

“It’s great to see tribes using their success (in gaming on Indian land) to diversify their economic portfolios,” said Dustin Thomas, the National Indian Gaming

Commission’s director of compliance and citizen of the

Mohawk and Oneida Nations. “As time goes on, more

tribes are looking for opportunities off of tribal land.”

The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut in March 2021

became the first tribe to operate a casino in Las Vegas

when it opened the Mohegan Sun Casino At Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. The San Manuel investment goes a step

further with proposed tribal ownership of an entire Las

Vegas destination property.

“This is an exciting story,” said Daniel Cobb, a professor of American studies at the University of North

Carolina.

“It’s one more chapter in a much longer story of renaissance and renewal,” as tribes across the continent

reclaim their culture and re-assert their sovereignty, he

said.

The tribal gaming industry has ballooned since its early days. In 2000, there were 256 Indian gaming operations in the country that handled $10.6 billion in gross

gaming revenue. By 2019, the last year not disrupted by

the pandemic, the industry had grown to 522 operations

that handled $34.6 billion in gross revenue, according to

the National Indian Gaming Commission.

In May, the San Manuel Band, based in San Bernardino, California, announced plans to purchase the Palms

Casino Resort located just west of the famed Las Vegas

Strip for $650 million in cash from Red Rock Resorts, a

unit of Station Casinos. The Palms opened in 2001 with

a 42-story hotel, and a second hotel tower with 40 floors

was added in 2005. The entire operation has been shut

down since March 2020 when the state of Nevada shuttered all non-essential businesses because of COVID-19

concerns.

The potential expansion into Las Vegas comes at a

busy time for the tribe.

On Dec. 13, the tribe will hold a grand opening for

a new 432-room hotel addition to its casino resort in

Highland, California, 60 minutes from Los Angeles.

The $760-million addition and renovation will also be

accompanied by a rebranding. The resort, which had

been known as the San Manuel Casino, will now be

called the Yaamava’ Resort and Casino.

“As we watched Yaamava’ take shape over these last

three years, the San Manuel community recognized we

were building something special,” San Manuel Chairman Ken Ramirez said in a prepared statement.

The tribe started gaming operations on the property

in 1986 with a bingo hall, and has overseen multiple expansions over the years.

A spokesperson for the tribe said it was in a so-called

quiet period during the regulatory hearings in Nevada

and couldn’t comment on the pending acquisition of the

Palms or its plans for the Las Vegas resort if the deal

is approved. But a clear theme has emerged since May,

that the tribe is dedicated to its employees and its traditions.

“In Southern California, our tribe is well known for

being a successful casino operator and recognized as

a community leader and an employer of choice,” Latisha Casas, chairman of the tribe’s subsidiary that will

manage the Las Vegas project, said in a statement. “We

live by values passed down by our ancestors; our values

define us.”

The tribe was recognized this year at the Global Gaming Awards as the “Responsible Business of the Year”

for its significant contributions to its community during

the COVID-19 pandemic. The award acknowledged the

tribe and its gaming enterprise for its commitment to

corporate social responsibility in the gaming industry.

“(This) is a testament to our tribal values and we

are proud to receive recognition of our philanthropy,”

Ramirez said in a prepared statement at the time. “I look

forward to working together to continue these meaningful efforts to give back to our community and those

in need,” which is considered an answer to the call of

Yawá, a Serrano word meaning “to act on one’s beliefs.”

The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, a federally

recognized tribe, descended from the Yuhaaviatam clan,

or “People of the Pines,” of the Maara’yam (Serrano),

who thrived in the highlands, passes, valleys, and mountains in and between the southwestern Mojave Desert

and what is known as the Inland Empire region in what

is now Southern California. Their history is remarkable

in its rise from near-annihilation to flourishing cultural

and economic power.

Beginning in the 1780s, the Maara’yam were forced

from their villages into church missions in order to

provide unpaid labor to Spain. Later, after the territory

became part of the state of California, the Yuhaaviatam

were attacked by a state government-sanctioned militia

in Big Bear Valley during a 32-day campaign in 1866.

Fewer than 30 members of the clan survived the massacre and ended up, in 1891, on what was established as

the San Manuel Reservation.

The tribal lands have grown from 640 acres to more

than 1,100 acres.

“Though the Reservation had very little usable space

and natural resources, the community came together to

establish a new way of life on the Reservation that not

only led to our survival, but also honored our culture

and traditions,” the tribal website states. “Our San Manuel Tribal Government works to provide a better quality

of life for our citizens by building infrastructure; maintaining civil services; and promoting social, economic,

and cultural development.”

The tribe this year is one of the largest employers and

philanthropists in the Inland Empire as well as in the Las

Vegas region.

“The generosity of (the tribe’s) investments is extraordinary,” said Cobb, the UNC professor. “Investing in the

economy of the people who sought to eliminate them is

a remarkable thing.”

PASSED: O’Halleran Bill to Extend Yavapai County and ADHS Confirm First

Case of Omicron Variant in Arizona

Deadline by which Tribes Must Use

Public health’s recommendation remains

CARES Funding

vaccination, boosters and mitigation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, December 8, 2021

WASHINGTON – Today, the House of

Representatives voted to pass H.R. 5119,

bipartisan legislation introduced by Congressman Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01) and

Congressman Don Young (R-AK-AL) to

extend the coverage of Coronavirus Relief Fund payments allocated under the

2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to tribal

governments from December 30, 2021,

to December 30, 2022.

“At the beginning of the pandemic,

bureaucratic red tape and disorganization within federal agencies forced tribes

across America to go with no aid for

over a month; during this time, the Navajo Nation in Arizona’s First Congressional District became the most concentrated COVID-19 hotspot in the nation,

and tribes all across our state lost far too

many elders, friends, and neighbors,”

said O’Halleran. “Our bill ensures sovereign tribal nations have adequate time to

allocate the monies they are owed to most

effectively address and recover from this

ongoing pandemic. I’m pleased to see

this much-needed legislation pass the

House today and urge the Senate to act

on it without delay.”

The CARES Act was signed into law

on March 27, 2020, allocating $8 billion

for tribal governments under the Coronavirus Relief Fund. However, tribes across

America did not receive any funds until

May 5, 2020, well after the bill’s statutory deadline. During this time, the Navajo

Nation in Arizona’s First Congressional

District became the most concentrated

COVID-19 hotspot in the nation.

"I am very proud to help lead House

passage of this bill with my good friend,

Congressman O'Halleran. But we must

not forget, the clock is ticking for countless Indigenous people in Alaska and

across the country,” said Young. “The

Senate must now act with great urgency.

The CARES Act was an essential piece

of legislation that came at a critical time.

But for all the assistance it provided for

Alaska Native and Native American communities, bureaucratic red tape has delayed the disbursement of these critically

needed funds. Our cause is an important

one for Tribes and Tribal organizations.

As it stands, approximately $16 million

has not been distributed, and up to $400

million has not been spent. The best stewards of federal resources are those closest to the people. Very frankly, Native

Americans know their communities best,

making this a worthy cause to get behind.

I am pleased with today’s progress, but

this is not done until it is done. Indigenous people were some of the hardest hit

by the COVID-19 pandemic, and pulling

the rug out from under them by letting an

arbitrary deadline take away these needed resources is a flagrant violation of

our federal trust responsibility. We must

avert this catastrophe. I call on my House

and Senate colleagues to join myself and

Congressman O'Halleran in this fight and

get it done."

The legislation builds upon O’Halleran’s 2020 bill to ensure that tribes had

the time and resources they needed to allocate and spend CARES funding.

For Immediate Release:

December 8, 2021

Media Contact: Steve Elliott

Email: pio@azdhs.gov

PHOENIX ‒ The Arizona Department

of Health Services (ADHS) and Yavapai

County Community Health Services

(YCCHS) have confirmed Arizona’s first

known case of the COVID-19 Omicron

variant.

“Much remains unknown about the

Omicron variant at this time, including

whether it is more transmissible and more

capable of producing severe illness than

the Delta variant,” said Don Herrington,

ADHS interim director. “We do know

that current COVID-19 vaccines have remained very effective against Delta and

other variants, and I strongly encourage

Arizonans to get vaccinated if they aren’t

already and make sure they’re current on

their booster dose if they are fully vaccinated.”

Leslie Horton, director of Yavapai

County Community Health Services,

echoed these sentiments.

“It’s natural to be concerned, but we

should avoid overreacting to this news,”

Horton said. “Since late 2020, as different variants have come along, COVID-19

vaccines have consistently proven highly effective at preventing severe illness,

hospitalization, and death. Our best response to the Omicron variant, as with

any other variant of concern, is renewing

our focus on vaccination and following

recommendations, such as staying home

when sick, that are proven to reduce the

spread.”

Arizona has hundreds of providers

offering safe, free, and highly effective

COVID-19 primary vaccines to everyone

age 5 and older. Booster doses are recommended for everyone 18 and older at least

six months after completing a primary series of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or

at least two months after the single-dose

Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine.

Arizonans also can protect themselves

and their families while preserving hospital capacity by:

Getting a flu shot: azhealth.gov/Flu

Masking up, maintaining physical distance, keeping hands washed, staying

home if sick, and following other prevention steps: azhealth.gov/COVID-19

Getting tested if you have symptoms

or five to seven days after being exposed

to someone who has or who you believe

may have COVID-19: azhealth.gov/Testing

If you or a loved one contracts

COVID-19, looking into monoclonal antibody treatments that can reduce the severity of illness and reduce the chances of

hospitalization: azhealth.gov/mAbs

To find a vaccination provider, please

visit azhealth.gov/FindVaccine or call the

bilingual Arizona COVID-19 Hotline at

844.542.8201 (press 8 to be connected to

a navigator) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

seven days a week.

More information on COVID-19

vaccines is available at azhealth.gov/

COVID19Vaccines. More information on

COVID-19 and ways to curb the spread is

available at azhealth.gov/COVID-19 and

www.yavapaiaz.us/chs.

CLASSIFIEDS

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention

Center

Job Announcement

WANT TO ADVERTISE WITH US?

We offer available space for any kind

of announcements, call for pricing and

availability call or email today

Call:

928-734-3283

PH: (928) 289 0974

Program Manager

Position Summary:

Primary responsibility is managing the Center and

supervising program staff. This position is based

in Kykotsmovi, AZ however services are provided

throughout the Hopi community. Manager will facilitate program development, maintain HSAPC programming and services, and apply strategies for the unique

and important work of the HSAPC, to ensure program

objectives. Also ensures effective communication with

partner agencies and the HSAPC Community Advisory

Board. He/she will complete other duties and responsibilities, as assigned.

Minimum qualifications:

Must have Five years current and continuous sobriety; Three years management and supervision experience; Associate’s or bachelor’s degree; or Any equivalent combination of education, training and experience

which demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of

the position.

FULL JOB DESCRIPTIONS & APPLICATIONS:

HopiFoundation.org/jobs

Contact: 928-299-0452 │ hannah.honani@hopifoundation.org

Salary: Based on experience & qualifications;

$35k-40k/yr

Benefits: 401k, vision, dental, telework options available

‑Minimum Requirements: Must possess valid driver's

license; No misdemeanor convictions within the past 5

years and no felony convictions; Background investigation and fingerprinting is required; Must have reliable

transportation

HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention Center is a project

of The Hopi Foundation.

porturica@gmail.com

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Natwani Coalition Job

Announcement

Program Coordinator

Position Summary:

Primarily responsible for coordination of Natwani

Coalition programing activities. S/He will develop,

maintain, and facilitate projects, communication, and

community organizing to meet program goals with the

support of community members, collaborators, Community Advisory Board members, and other interested

individuals.

Minimum qualifications:

Three years programming and coordination experience; and An associate’s or bachelor’s degree; or Any

equivalent combination of education, training and experience which demonstrates the ability to perform the

duties of the position.

Salary: Based on experience & qualifications; Starts

at $25k/yr

FULL JOB DESCRIPTION & APPLICATIONS:

HopiFoundation.org/jobs

Contact: 928-299-0452 │ hannah.honani@hopifoundation.org

Benefits: 401k, vision, dental, and telework options

available

Deadline to Apply: Friday, January 28, 2022

Minimum Requirements: Must possess valid driver's

license; No misdemeanor convictions within the past 5

years and no felony convictions; Background investigation and fingerprinting may be required; Use of personally-owned vehicle may be required to carry out job

related tasks.

Natwani Coalition is a project of The Hopi Foundation.

Hopi Tutuveni

wants to know how

we are doing.

Call or email us to tell us if we

are doing a good job. We need

your feedback

928-734-3283 or

rlaban@hopi.nsn.us

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

The Hopi Tribe P.O. Box 123 Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039

Ph: (928) 734-3281 • Ph: (928) 734-3283

Editorial Board of the Hopi Tutuveni

Kyle Knox , Gary LaRance, George Mase

Hopi Tutuveni Staff

Managing Editor - Romalita Laban

RLaban@hopi.nsn.us

Assistant Editor - Carl Onsae

Consae@hopi.nsn.us

ARTICLES:

The Hopi Tutuveni

welcomes original articles

reporting on local, state

and national news items

on issues related to Hopi

or of interest to Tutuveni

readers. We are especially

interested in articles reporting on issues impacting the Hopi community

or on events and activities

involving members of

the Hopi Tribe. Articles

should not exceed 750

words and should follow

Associated Press (AP)

style and formatting. The

Managing Editor reserves

the right to edit articles

for style, length and clarity. If significant editing

is required, the Managing

Editor will communicate

with the author prior to

publication.

PRESS RELEASES:

Press releases must be

submitted on official

letterhead and include the

name of the organization,

contact person, telephone

number and email address.

Press releases should not

exceed 500 words and

submissions may be edited

for length and clarity at

the discretion of the Managing Editor.

LETTERS TO THE

EDITOR:

Letters should not exceed

250 words and must

include the name of the

author and complete contact information (address,

phone number or email

address) and the headline

and date of the article on

which you are commenting. Anonymous letters

and letters written under

pseudonyms will not be

published. The Tutuveni

Editorial Board reviews all

submissions and reserves

the right not to publish

letters it considers to be

highly sensitive or potentially offensive to readers,

or that may be libelous or

slanderous in nature.

OPINION

EDITORIALS:

Submissions must be

exclusive to Hopi Tutuveni and should not exceed

1,000 words. Include

with your submission

your name and complete

contact information, along

with a short 2-3-sentence

bio.

SUBMISSION

INSTRUCTIONS:

All press releases, articles, letters to the editor

and Opinion Editorials

electronically as a Word

document or as plain text

in the body of an email

to the Managing Editor,

Romalita Laban. Articles,

press releases and editorials that include photographs must be in high

resolution, 300dpi or more

and must be your own. All

photographs must include

photo credit and a caption

for each photo listing

the names of all persons

included in the photo and

description of what the

photo is about. (call 928734-3283 for deadline

schedule).

CIRCULATION

The Hopi Tutuveni is published twice a month, with

a circulation of 2,500 copies throughout the entire

Hopi Reservation. The paper is delivered on the 1st

and 3rd Wednesday of each month to the following

locations: Moenkopi Travel Center, Moenkopi Legacy

Inn, Hotevilla Store, Kykotsmovi Village Store, Tribal

Marketing Coordinator

Government Complex, Hopi Cultural Center, Hopi

Position Summary:

Health Care Center, Polacca Circle M, Keams CanPrimarily responsible for fundraising and resource yon Store.

development to maintain KUYI operations. Main focus is on raising non-Federal financial support through

underwriting, merchandise sales, donors, contributions,

Hopi Tribal Council

planned giving, in-kind donations of goods & services,

memberships, volunteer recruitment, and general station

Timothy L. Nuvangyaoma,

Chairman

support through outreach. Works closely with The Hopi

Foundation staff to ensure financial reporting and manCraig Andrews,

agement of station resources and financial contracts.

Vice Chairman

Minimum qualifications:

Must have an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in

Judith Youvella

Tribal Secretary

marketing, advertising, communication, or business/financial management and at least 2 years of experience

Wilfred Gaseoma, Tribal

in sales, business/financial management, and/or nonTreasurer

profit fundraising. Must also have 2 years supervision or

management experience or any equivalent combination

Violet Sinquah,

of education, training, and experience which demonSergeant-At-Arms

strates the ability to perform the duties of the position.

Village of Upper

Salary: Based on experience & qualifications; $25Moenkopi

30k/yr

Robert Charley

Receptionist (Part-time)

Philton Talahytewa, Sr.

Position Summary:

Hubert Lewis, Sr.

Michael Elmer

Responsible for providing clerical and general support to the station and program staff to ensure efficient

Village of Bakabi

day-to-day operations of the KUYI Radio Station and

Marilyn Fredericks

its entities. Also responsible for coordinating general

Clifford Qotsaquahu

communication from and to the public.

Velma Kalyesvah

Minimum qualifications:

Village of Kyakotsmovi

Must have 3 years of clerical and office manageDavid Talayumptewa

ment experience and a high school GED and/or some

Phillip Quochytewa, Sr.

post-secondary educational experience OR any equivaDanny Honanie

lent combination of education, training, and experience

Herman G. Honanie

which demonstrates the ability to perform the duties of

Village of Sipaulavi

the position.

Raymond Namoki

Salary: Based on experience & qualifications; $25k/

Village of Mishongnovi

FULL JOB DESCRIPTIONS & APPLICATIONS:

Delores Coochyamptewa

Pansy Edmo

HopiFoundation.org/jobs

Mervin Yoyetewa

Contact: 928-299-0452 │ hannah.honani@hopifoundation.org

First Mesa Consolidated

Benefits: 401k, vision, dental, and telework options

Villages

available

Albert T. Sinquah

Dale Sinquah

Deadline to Apply: Friday, January 28, 2022

Wallace Youvella, Jr.

Minimum Requirements: Must possess valid driver's

Ivan L. Sidney

license; No misdemeanor convictions within the past 5

years and no felony convictions; Background investigation and fingerprinting may be required; Use of personal

vehicle may be required.

KUYI-Hopi Radio is a project of The Hopi Foundation.

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

KUYI - Hopi Radio Job

Announcements

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

Larry’s Corner

December is almost over, and the New Year is almost here. Now for Hopis, the New Year will start

next year February…I know confusing, but we Hopis like to confuse each other with our complicated

religion.

So, in the Pahana religion, it is customary to set

goals for the New Year, or what many call New

Year’s resolutions. So, let me ask you, what has

anyone contributed to this life? What has anyone

contributed anything in this life? What sort of

contributions do you make towards life? All these

listed are different ways of saying, “What are we

living for?” Well, what are we living for in this lifetime?

We, as human beings, measure time by the hours

on the clock and by the days of the calendar. Not

that anything is wrong with that, but what happens when we don’t make time using the western

concepts of time and date keeping? What happens

when there is no counting of the passage of time?

And when you are the only one keeping track of

that passage, from your perspective? Today we’re

going to explore the inside of time…or the best

way I can explain the idea through my cat eyes and

brain. Let me add this…that as far as a Hopi cat is

concerned, I sleep all day lying flat as a board until

I am ready to eat again…it is so good to be a cat,

like right now.

When the New Year starts to show itself, people

start to panic. Maybe we haven’t contributed anything towards life or anything in it, so we begin to

play catch up. When you think about it, we start to

pile on everything to fulfill our goals or meet some

quota to contribute to life at - the end of the year.

It’s like that final exam you haven’t studied for in

school. In that instance, we think we can cram everything taught throughout the year to fit a year’s

worth of knowledge into 8 hours before the final

exam. I believe life is like that…well, to some extent.

When I was a mush head kitten, I thought time

moved slowly. It felt like a whole year took decades to come to an end. And yet, in comparison, it

seemed like I was a hummingbird. Only National

Geographic’s high-powered cameras could capture

my fast-beating wings; that’s how fast I thought

I was while time was dripping by. I thought time

moved so slowly. I seemed to feel like it was Friday, but it always turned out it was only Monday.

You know that kind of feeling. It seemed the older

I got, the more time started to speed up, and I began to get slower. Time seems to be flying so fast;

I thought it was the year 1999, but in less than a

month, it will be the year 2022. I guess we are flying so fast in time that we forget what time is, so

we create goals to pretend to work towards accomplishing them.

When I was a handsome young kitten, and the

year was December 1993, I was in grade school,

and our project was to create something for our

class wall. I think it was to create a hand wreath

or clothespin deer, you know, the generic 90’s arts

and crafts. I believe there is even a book named

“Boring 90’s arts and crafts”.

Being mush head kittens back then, we took the

opportunity to take it as free time to mess around

while creating something with our hands. But our

teacher at the time said we had to write a poem

about our project reflecting the following year’s

Christmas. Sort of like a future goal for the following year’s holiday.

I didn’t want to write anything while working

with scissors with a blunt tip trying to cut out construction paper. You really must focus on one thing

at a time, and I didn’t want to do that.

So, this assignment took me quite a while because

we were mush head Native kittens who didn’t like

school, let alone the writing projects. So, my poem

consisted of all generic words like, “I love my parents” and “I will be good next year,” you know,

the selfish things that I only wanted. Now don’t get

me wrong, I’m not a greedy cat; I love my parents

and culture. But when we were kittens, we never

thought about what we wanted to accomplish anything when we grew up, nor what we wanted to do

with our lives when we grew up. Heck, there are

adults around here on the Hopi reservation that still

don’t know what they want to be when they grow

up, yet they are still dreamers.

So, when I reached my final year of schooling,

all 12 years of it. Our final assignment was to reflect on our lives, childhood, what we learned in

life, or what we knew while going to school for 12

years. As a Native cat, that consisted of going to a

public school where they taught you how to avoid

X number of years of jail time. Also, seeing those

female cats fight over the ugliest cat in the school

just because he talks with a REZ accent, but I digress…

Back to my writing assignment, before I started

to ramble, I wrote that my life was a fixed point

in history in the project. Like everything else, our

lives are fixed moments in history. At that time,

I believed that I could not go back to the past to

change anything, nor could I go into the future. I

could only watch my history unfold, like the crusty

folded homework that I never turned in, as I lived

it. Time travel is impossible, let alone just thinking about time travel. We can’t simply go back to

the past or jump into the future to change anything

with our lives. So in my mind, the assignment was

bogus.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that we must

move forward with our lives. Even though life gets

us down and we can’t find the early exit door, we

must move forward because we are all fighting to

become someone or accomplish something in our

lives. So, our exit door is indeed further than we

think.

Now don’t get me wrong, maybe time travel is

possible. Perhaps we can go back to our past lives

to tell ourselves not to wear that silly Jnco Jeans

that we thought were cool, or you can say to your

past self that your Hip Hop album will never go

platinum. You’re just singing silly songs in your

So’oh’s living room.

So, my advice is that the New Year we can all

look forward to and start fresh once again. I love

that we can just kind of “reset” our lives every year

and try it again. But life goes on, and for now, we

can’t do anything with a fixed time in our history.

But, if you still want to figure out time travel, I’m

very interested in that. That way, I can go slap myself as a mush head kitten to say, “DO IT BETTER

LARRY!” but until then,”Marty! We must go Cat

to the Future”!!

Games and Puzzles

Hopilavyit - Christmas Time

HOPI WORDS

December 3 issue

TICK-TACK-TOE

I W

P L

E E

S B

O G

L L

O O

N V

U P

W A

Q P

A I

M O

G I

I P

J K

T Y

U U T

T K Y

P I U

A V O

W A P

A T I

B W W

A A P

A A F

Y A T

V N T

E P E

A A T

T N A

W A Y

S M I

A L O

Santiki – Church

Lestooni – Ribbon

Pas Pay – About to

Atsa – False

Kis’ovi – Roof top

Kyaptsiyma – Abide by

Salavi – Fir (Douglas)

Possaltaapalo – Shawl

law

Noova – Food

(Heavy)

Awaptu – Afford

Kuna – Funny

Lalaytuwiki – Sheep

Hisat – Ago (Long)

Tayawinpi – Gift

Herder

Sipàltuva – Almond

Nima – Go home

Talvi – Slippery

Mansaala – Apple

Awtavi – Hand over

Nuva – Snow

Tukpu – Bag

Tunglayta – Hope

Tal’upta – Sparkle

Pono – Belly

O’kiwa’at – Humble-

(Stars)

Maqa – Bestow a gift

ness

Aasala – Spread

Tìitiwa – Born (Be)

Lepena – Icicle

Soohu – Star

Kyenti – Candy

Suutokihaq – Midnight

Aw – To

Poksoö – Chimney

Lakapa – Mistletoe

Somatsi Taaqa – Wise-

Kyesmis – Christmas

Qaavo – Next day

man

Kyesmistaawi – X-mas

Òlentsi – Orange (Fruit)

Mokyàata – Wrap

Song

Sowi’yngwa – Reindeer

Sunat-Tsiot – 25

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

Arizona law allows greater cultural

expression at graduation

Lourdes Pereira stands next to Gov. Doug Ducey on Sept. 1 as he signs House Bill 2705, which prevents schools from banning Native dress at graduation. Pereira three years ago helped

change Tucson Unified School District policy that had required special permission to display such regalia. (Photo courtesy of Lourdes Pereira)

Chad Bradley

Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Just minutes before her high school

graduation in Gallup, New Mexico, three years ago,

Dakotah Harvey was told to remove the eagle feather

from her mortarboard or she would be escorted out of

the ceremony and her diploma would be withheld.

Her grandfather had tied the feather to the cap’s tassel

earlier that day, Harvey told Cronkite News. He loaned

it to her after performing a Navajo prayer in celebration

of her achievement.

“I didn’t have the heart to tell him I couldn’t wear it,”

Harvey said.

To Navajos and many other Indigenous peoples, the

eagle feather is an important and sacred component of

many ceremonies and blessings.

In April, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation

that public schools can’t prohibit Indigenous students

from “wearing traditional tribal regalia or objects of cultural significance at a graduation ceremony.” The bill

specifically includes eagle feathers or eagle plumes.

Cultural regalia includes hair buns, rug dresses, woven sashes, moccasins, beadwork and turquoise jewelry,

including bracelets, belts and necklaces.

New Mexico does not have a similar law.

A few weeks before Harvey’s graduation from Hiroshi Miyamura High School, officials issued a graduation dress code that banned cultural dress or regalia that

was not concealed by the graduation gown. The cap also

couldn’t be adorned in any way, which included tying

anything to the tassel.

Students were allowed to wear moccasins, sashes,

jewelry or other items, but only if they were underneath

the gown, concealed for the majority of the ceremony.

Harvey fumbled with the feather and struggled to un-

tie it.

“They were trying to take it from me,” she recalled. “I

told them ‘No, I’m going to hold on to it.’”

She placed the feather between her dress and gown

and brought it back out when the ceremony’s prayer

in English, Navajo and Spanish began. She carried the

feather in full display when she walked onstage to accept her diploma – even receiving a compliment on the

feather from the school’s namesake himself, Korean

War veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Hiroshi Miyamura.

Representatives from Gallup-McKinley County

Schools did not respond to a request for comment.

Arizona law allows Indigenous regalia

The Arizona bill, House Bill 2705, was introduced in

early 2021 by Rep. Arlando Teller, D-Chinle, who later

resigned from the Legislature to work for the U.S. Department of Transportation. The bill was championed by

Rep. Jasmin Blackwater-Nygren, D-Arizona, a fellow

Navajo, and passed in April.

At the Capitol on Sept. 1, Lourdes Pereira, who is

Hia-Ced O’odham and Miss Indigenous Arizona State

University for 2020-21, stood at Ducey’s side as he

signed legislation that included HB 2705.

In 2018, Pereira and fellow Pueblo High School graduate Maddy Jeans, who is Navajo, Pascua Yaqui and

Otoe, successfully fought to change Tucson Unified

School District policy to allow Indigenous students to

wear cultural regalia at graduation. Previously, special

permission was required.

Similar laws exist in California and Montana, and

Utah lawmakers recently introduced similar legislation.

“Graduation is a milestone and is a ceremony,” said

Jolyana Begay-Kroupa, Phoenix Indian Center director

of development and Navajo language professor at Arizona State University.

Violence against Indigenous

women is a crisis, report finds

Navajo leaders offer their support for families of missing and murdered relatives at the

Navajo Nation Council Chamber in Window Rock, Arizona on May 5, 2021. (Photo courtesy

of Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President)

Shondiin Silversmith

Arizona Mirror

Violence against Indigenous women in

the U.S. is a crisis, but the extent of the

problem remains unknown, according to

a report released by the U.S. Government

Accountability Office.

“There’s no one single database that

has all this information,” Gretta Goodwin, the director of GAO’s Homeland

Security and Justice team, told the Arizona Mirror. “So, the full scope of the

problem is we don’t know.”

And gathering the data needed to figure

out just how big the problem is is complicated by a history of police racism and

prejudice that has left Indigenous people

feeling that there is no reason to seek help

from law enforcement agencies, leaving

untold numbers of cases unreported —

and uninvestigated.

The report, which was published Nov.

1, comes two years after more than a dozen members of Congress wrote a letter to

the GAO requesting an investigation on

missing and murdered Indigenous women in the United States.

With no centralized database among

the thousands of federal, state and tribal

entities, there is limited data on missing

and murdered Indigenous people.

The GAO report identified four major

federal databases that included some data

on missing and murdered Indigenous

people. The missing person data was

pulled from the National Missing and

Unidentified Persons System (NamUS)

and The National Crime Information

Center (NCIC). The data for murdered

individuals came from the National Violent Death Reporting System and the National Incident-Based Reporting System.

For instance, NamUS published a report in August stating that there are 734

unresolved missing Indigenous people’s

cases from 36 states. Arizona has the

thirst-highest number of cases at 55.

The NCIC publishes a roundup every

year that highlights the total number of

missing persons and unidentified person

cases reported.

In 2020, over 9,500 cases involving Indigenous people were reported, and nearly 1,500 were still active cases at the end

of 2020.

The lack of overall data is only one

of the issues that local MMIW advocate

groups and tribes have been talking about

for years, and now that the MMIW crisis

has more of a national spotlight, federal

and state entities are starting to pay attention.

“The GAO has affirmed what we have

known for a long time — that the federal government’s response to the crisis of

missing and murdered Indigenous women has been inadequate and lacks a basic

understanding of the scope of the crisis,”

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Tucson, said.

Grijalva and Rep. Ruben Gallego, a

Phoenix Democrat, both signed the letter

submitted to the GAO in 2019, and each

of them released statements pointing out

how the GAO report echoes what local

MMIW advocates and tribes have been

saying about the crisis for years.

“For too long, government and law

enforcement ignored the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women,”

Gallego said. “The findings of this report

confirm what Indian Country and advocates know: there is more that must be

done to end this crisis.”

In some tribal communities, Indigenous women face murder rates that are

more than 10 times the national average,

according to the Department of Justice.

CONT. PG 11

The use of feathers and other cultural regalia is important to many tribes in celebrating significant points

in life, she said, and it serves as a reminder to everyone

that “we’re still here.”

Begay-Kroupa hopes the new law will prompt discussions that lead to better understanding between cultures.

Harvey, who’s now studying at ASU, wished more

students and parents had advocated for a better, more

inclusive graduation dress code.

“I think at the time we were just like, ‘You know

what, we’re almost done with high school, we’re going

to suck it up through the ceremony and just get through

it and then we’re booking it out of here,’” she said.

Regalia allows for greater cultural expression

Such rules and policies can make it more difficult to

celebrate milestones in culturally relevant ways within

schools and make it harder to be Indigenous, especially

for those living near towns bordering reservations.

Gallup is outside the southeastern border of the Navajo Nation Reservation in New Mexico and serves as

a hub for commerce and education, which much of the

reservation lacks.

Other Navajo Nation border towns are Flagstaff and

Holbrook, as well as Farmington, New Mexico.

A life of commuting from the city to the reservation

is common around these towns, which can have stark

cultural differences.

“I know a lot of kids who struggled with trying to be

a city kid, or a suburban kid, or a Native kid and they

would struggle back and forth,” Harvey said.

Harvey hopes New Mexico adopts a similar law,

which would support freer cultural expression and alleviate some of those struggles. She doesn’t want her

younger siblings to endure what she did when they walk

across the graduation stage.

Stars align to celebrate

Indigenous film artists

Indigenous stars turned out for a special event honoring Native film and performers at the

new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles on Nov. 6, 2021. Among those

attending were, from left, Oscar winner Buffy Sainte-Marie, Academy Trustee Ray Halbritter of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York, actors Wes Studi and Tantoo Cardinal, and

musician and songwriter Robbie Robertson. (Photo courtesy of The Academy Museum of

Motion Pictures)

Sandra Hale Schulman

Special to Indian Country Today

A star-studded lineup of Indigenous

celebrities turned out for a special event

honoring Native film at the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los

Angeles.

Among those attending the private ceremony were Academy Award-winning

musician Buffy Sainte-Marie, actors Wes

Studi and Tantoo Cardinal, musician

Robbie Robertson and academy trustee

Ray Halbritter of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York.

The event was held Nov. 6 during the

opening week of Native American Heritage Month to showcase the museum’s

commitment to Indigenous film artists,

officials said.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts

and Sciences, the organization that hands

out the Oscars, opened a stunning, seven-story, 300,000-square-foot museum

on Sept. 30 that draws on the history and

magic of filmmaking.

Cinema has a long history in the Los

Angeles area, built on the premise of

making movies and turning people into

movie stars. It’s built on Tongva land,

though Indigenous actors and filmmakers

didn’t begin to get the respect or recognition they deserved until the 1970s.

The new Academy Museum seeks to

offer celebratory, critical, and personal

perspectives on the disciplines and impact of movie-making, past and present.

The special ceremony was preceded

by two days of film screenings featuring Indigenous films from the past 40

years, including The Fast Runner (2001),

Christmas at Moose Factory (1971), and

Walking is Medicine (2017).

The event honored award-winning Indigenous artists.

Sainte-Marie, Cree, became the first

Indigenous person to win an Oscar, when

in 1983 she won for her song, “Up Where

We Belong,” from the film An Officer

and a Gentleman.

Studi, Cherokee, was awarded an Honorary Oscar for his decades of outstanding work in mainstream (Hostiles) and

indie films (Ronnie Bo Dean).

Cardinal, Cree and Métis, was honored

for her work in Dances with Wolves and

other films since the 1970s.

And Robertson, a songwriter and musician of Mohawk and Cayuga descent,

was recognized for his work that includes

composing soundtracks for multiple Oscar-winning films by director Martin

Scorcese — Raging Bull, Casino, The

Departed. He is now working on the

soundtrack and score for the upcoming

Killers of the Flower Moon, based on the

Osage murders in the 1920s.

The evening was kicked off with a

blessing from Tongva spiritual leader

Jimi Castillo. Other notable Native celebrities attending the event were Crystal

Williams, Rudy Ortega, Stevie Salas and

Tishmall Turner.

On display in the museum are the clip

of Sainte-Marie winning her Oscar, clips

from the Scorcese movies with Robertson’s film scores, performer Cher’s wild

Mohawk outfit that she wore to present

an Oscar in 1988 - the year before she

won an Academy Award, and a looping

clip of Sacheen Littlefeather’s rejection

of Marlon Brando’s Oscar in 1973 over

his protests of how Natives had been

treated in

CONT. PG 11

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

Violence against Indigenous women is a crisis, report finds, CONT.

In 2017, homicide was reported as the fourth-leading

cause of death among Indigenous women between the

ages of 1 and 19 years and the sixth-leading cause of

death for ages 20 to 44, according to the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention.

In a report from the National Institute of Justice, 84

percent of Indigenous women experience violence in

their lifetime, compared to 71 percent of white women.

GAO Report Findings and Recommendations

The GAO’s inquiry into MMIW started in January

2020 and concluded in October 2021. The report examines to what extent the number of MMIW is known in

the U.S., as well as what steps the Department of Justice and Department of Interior have taken to address

the issue.

“When we started this work, we knew that a number

of groups had already been attempting to highlight this

issue,” Goodwin said. “This is the first time we’ve done

this work.”

Outside of the databases, the GAO was able to identify other data collection efforts, including regional efforts from researchers, tribes, and states.

The GAO worked with locations in seven states to

see how they collected MMIW data: Alaska, Arizona,

Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and

Washington.

Within these locations, the GAO interviewed law enforcement agencies, collected tribal perspectives on the

MMIW related issues from 23 tribes, and reviewed reports from local advocacy groups.

“Our seven cases certainly don’t speak to the experience of all 574 federally recognized tribes,” said Anna

Maria Ortiz, the director of GAO’s Natural Resources

and Environment team. “They do give us glimpses on

some of the factors that we think might play into this

crisis.”

Goodwin said they did not name the locations they

worked within the report out of respect because the

GAO intends on continuing their work in this field.

“We determined that while the data have limitations

for estimating the absolute magnitude of missing or

murdered (Indigenous) women, they were sufficiently

reliable for the purposes of identifying potential locations with relatively high numbers and missing or murdered (Indigenous) women per capita,” the report states.

In terms of what contributes to the lack of data, the

GAO report pointed out several reasons, including how

federal databases do not contain national data on all Indigenous women reported missing, but also that officials

are prone to underreporting cases, misclassification of

race as well as misclassifications of the manner of death

to the federal databases.

The findings in the report were not surprising to Ortiz,

but she was struck by how haunting some of the stories

were that tribal community members shared with them

during their research.

“The legacy of historical racism and prejudice made

families feel like they could not even go to law enforcement because law enforcement was going to be dismissive or ignore their concerns,” she said. “So, it was not

a surprise per se, but it was devastating and speaks to

how important it is that the federal government do what

it can to improve its response to this crisis.”

The GAO report also looked into how the Justice and

Interior Department has addressed the MMIW issue.

The report found that some of the requirements listed in

two laws from 2020, the Not Invisible Act and Savanna’s Act, could help address part of the MMIW crisis,

but it’s up to both departments to implement them.

National attention on the crisis involving missing and

murdered Indigenous people has been increasing over

the years.

In 2019, the Justice Department announced the agen-

cy’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Initiative and President Donald Trump launched a task force

on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska

Natives known as Operation Lady Justice.

In April, another national push came from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland when she launched

the Missing and Murdered Unit within the Bureau of

Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services. This unit will

provide leadership and direction for cross-departmental

and interagency work involving missing and murdered

Indigenous people.

“Whether it’s a missing family member or a homicide

investigation, these efforts will be all hands on deck,”

Haaland said at the time. “We are fully committed to

assisting Tribal communities with these investigations,

and the MMU will leverage every resource available to

be a force multiplier in preventing these cases from becoming cold case investigations.”

The Interior Department reported that 2,700 cases of

murder and non-negligent homicide offenses have been

reported to the federal government’s Uniform Crime

Reporting program.

Even though the Justice and Interior departments increased their efforts to address the MMIW crisis, the

GAO report found that the departments have not implemented certain requirements to increase intergovernmental coordination and data collection as part of the

Not Invisible Act and Savanna’s Act. The agencies have

even missed some of their statutory deadlines.

As part of the Not Invisible Act, one requirement is

that the secretary of the interior, in coordination with

the attorney general, is supposed to appoint members

to a Joint Commission on Reducing Violence Against

Indians. Those appointments were supposed to be made

by February 2021, 120 days after the act passed.

None have been appointed. In August, nearly nine

months after the deadline, the Justice and Interior departments announced they wanted to start finding members for the commission.

Savanna’s Act directs the Justice Department to review, revise and develop law enforcement and justice

protocols to address missing or murdered Indigenous

people.

Some of the requirements from Savanna’s Act include

having the attorney general, in cooperation with the secretary of interior, consult with tribes on how to improve

tribal data relevance and access to databases.

The Justice Department also needs to provide training to law enforcement agencies on how to record tribal enrollment or victims in federal databases as well as

develop and implement a strategy to educate the public

on NamUs.

GAO reported that, as of June, the Justice Department

is in the planning stage for meeting this data collection

and reporting requirements and is considering using

data from two federal databases to satisfy it.

The GAO reported that the Justice Department had

until April to conduct a strategy to educate the public

about NamUs, but as of June, there was still no plan or

time frame for its implementation.

The GAO stated that the Justice and Interior departments developing plans to meet the joint commission

and other unfulfilled statutory requirements would provide more confidence that they are working to meet their

legal responsibilities, as well as support tribal partners

in reducing violent crime.

“Implementation of data-related requirements in new

laws and ongoing data analysis present opportunities to

increase understanding of the scope of the MMIW crisis,” the GAO report states.

The GAO report made four recommendations on addressing the MMIW crisis in the US, three for the Justice Department and one for the Interior Department.

Stars align to celebrate Indigenous

film artists, Cont.

film and in real life. Her speech was

met with boos and cheers.

Bill Kramer, director and president of

the Academy Museum, said in a statement that the museum wants to tell stories of the industry.

“We are living in changing and ever-evolving times, and now more than

ever we need to come together to share

our stories, learn from one another, and

bond over being entertained and delighted,” Kramer said. “This is what movies

do, and we are thrilled to be opening such

a dynamic, diverse and welcoming institution devoted to this beloved art form.”

Jacqueline Stewart, chief artistic and

programming officer of the Academy

Museum, said officials want to engage

visitors in conversations about the history of films and the impact that cinema

can have.

“We hope visitors will learn more

about films they know and love, make

new cinematic discoveries, and feel inspired to share their own stories,” Stewart said in a statement.

A walk-through of the multi-storied

building is a movie-lovers dream. Rotating galleries have displays focused on

sets and props from the Wizard of Oz,

and costumes from the silent era of the

1920s to contemporary outfits from recent hit movies. The shark from Jaws,

named Bruce, hangs in the atrium.

The roof has a grand view of down-

town Los Angeles and the Hollywood

Hills. A 2.600-square-foot gift shop sells

everything from miniature Oscar statues

to T-shirts and other memorabilia. A café

on the lower level called Fanny’s, named

after Fanny Brice, serves up coffee and

sandwiches.

One of the most popular museum activities is The Oscars Experience in the

East West Bank Gallery, an immersive

simulation that allows visitors to step virtually onto the stage of the Dolby Theatre

to accept an Academy Award.

You tell them your name, step onto

a film stage and pick up a real Oscar

(it weighs about 8 pounds and is solid bronze, plated in 24K gold) and give

your acceptance speech while they film

it. A few minutes later they email you a

professional-looking, edited video with

the Academy logo announcing you as a

winner. I bet it will fool your friends.

The museum will be presenting a

roster of screenings — including Oscar

Sundays and Family Matinees — in the

1,000-seat David Geffen Theater and the

288-seat Ted Mann Theater on the property.

The museum is on the same block as

the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,

filled with some of the best art in the

world, and the La Brea Tar Pits, a prehistoric oddity of a real tar pit surrounded by

a natural history museum and a park with

excavation sites.

Ortiz said GAO’s recommendations are more about

making sure that there are plans for follow-through for

work that has already been started by the Justice and

Interior Department under the Not Invisible Act and Savanna’s act.

“When GAO issues recommendations, we have a

very robust follow-up process. We will be periodically checking in with those agencies,” Goodwin said, and

both departments did agree to follow through with the

recommendations the GAO produced.

“They agreed to the recommendation and we know

that they are starting efforts to implement these recs,”

Goodwin added.

Arizona’s MMIW Study Committee on Hiatus

Arizona’s missing and murdered Indigenous women

and girls study committee is mentioned in the GAO report as one of the few local initiatives working to gather

comprehensive data on the MMIW crisis at a local level.

“It’s a good outline of what some of the issues are,”

state Rep. Jennifer Jermaine, the chair of the study committee, said of the GAO report. “It doesn’t go that into

depth on some of the issues. It’s good touchpoints for

other research to spin off it.”

The Arizona study committee launched in 2019 in an

effort to gather more information about the issue within the state. The committee published its first report in

2020.

“There is a nationwide epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and Arizona, with

22 federally recognized tribes, is at the epicenter,” Jermaine, a Chandler Democrat, said.

“Murders of Indigenous women and girls have been

steadily increasing over the past 40 years,” the study

committee’s report states. The study committee found

that only 160 murders of Indigenous females were recorded in Arizona from 1976 to 2018. An Arizona Mirror analysis of the sparse available data on MMIWG

cases found that more than 25 percent of murders involving Indigenous women in Arizona go unsolved.

Additionally, the Murder Accountability Project

found that one in three murders of Native Americans in

Arizona go unreported to the FBI.

A 2017 study from the Urban Indian Health Institute found that Arizona has the third-highest number of

missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in

the country.

That study reported a total of 506 known cases in 71

urban cities across the country and 54 cases were identified in Arizona, including 31 in Tucson.

Jermaine said the study committee is on an unplanned

hiatus because the proposed changes made to the committee were among the dozens of new state laws that the

Arizona Supreme court struck down because they were

unconstitutionally added to the state budget earlier this

year.

But Jermaine said the committee’s partnership with

Arizona State University is ongoing, and research of

missing and murdered Indigenous people in the state of

Arizona continues even though the law amending the

committee was struck down.

Those researchers helped the committee with the original report and are not bound by legislation, allowing

them to move forward with the changes they’ve made

to the study.

Jermaine said the study committee is aiming to have

another report published about missing and murdered

Indigenous peoples by November 2022, but how the

committee’s work evolves will depend on what the legislature does next year.

AZ Mirror - Arizona Mirror

This story was originally published in the Arizona

Mirror.

Keams Canyon elementary school

PO Box 397●keams canyon, az 86034

Phone: 928.738.2385 Fax: 928.738.5519

Website: kceseagles.org

“Home of tHe eagles”

Certified positions

Position title

Contract

School year

closing date

General Education Teacher

10 Month

SY 2021-2022

OUF

Physical Education Teacher

10 Month

SY 2021-2022

OUF

Substitute Teacher

On-Call

SY 2021-2022

OUF

Classified positions

Position title

Contract

School year

closing date

Bus Driver

10 Month

SY 2021-2022

OUF

General Ed. Teaching Assistant

10 Month

SY 2021-2022

OUF

Facilities Supervisor

12 Month

SY 2021-2022

OUF

Parent Liaison

10 Month

SY 2021-2022

OUF

IT Technician

12 Month

SY 2021-2022

OUF

If interested please submit the following:



Application - Online access: kceseagles.net



Copy of Certificate of Indian Blood (If Applicable)



Resume



AZ DPS Fingerprint Clearance Card (IVP Card)



Letter of interest



First Aid/CPR

Copy of current degree(s), certificate(s), teaching license(s)



Valid Driver’s License



- Official Transcripts will be required upon hiring

Full –time employment benefits

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance and 401K retirement plan

More information

Jarrahlyn Begaye, Human Resources ● jbegaye@kceseagles.org ● 928.738.2385 Ext.2312

In accordance to P.L. 101-630, P.L. 101-647 & 25 CFR 63, all applicants are required to complete and pass a criminal background

check and character investigation (includes education, employment and reference verification) prior to hiring which includes a

favorable local jurisdiction, federal and state/county background check

Posted 12/03/2021

Free wrapping paper

Hopi Tutuveni December 15, 2021

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.