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| Brenda Norrell Indian Country -- Arizona Indian Commissioner Cora Maxx-Phillips, Navajo, said at the recent Arizona Indian Town Hall meeting that hate crimes are on the rise in Arizona and this is part of the reality of life for Arizona Indians. |
''This is the reality for American Indians,'' Arizona Indian Commissioner Cora Maxx-Phillips, Navajo, said during the third day of the town hall - ''Preserving Arizona's Tribal Cultural Resources, Sites and Languages,'' held June 5 - 7.
Maxx-Phillips said hate crimes and attitudes of hate toward American Indians and other people of color are on the rise in Arizona. She said the rise in white supremacy and ''Republican attitudes'' has become a dark reality.
''It is all about hatred, racism and violence. It is very much alive and well,'' Maxx-Phillips said in an interview with Indian Country Today during the Town Hall.
''We are always being told that who we are as a people is all wrong,'' she said. ''There is always someone saying, 'Everything about you is all wrong, we're going to fix it.'''
Maxx-Phillips said the Creator had a purpose in creating all people in a unique manner.
''Why were we created differently, if He wanted us to be all the same?''
Indians in Arizona are surrounded by a ''junky culture,'' she said, and the pressure to assimilate.
''Some of us Native Americans have even lost sight of who we are. We have adopted a culture that is a very junky culture, with junky values: we have lost sight of our spiritual values and the value of human life is diminishing. Everything is about money.''
Pointing out the number of sacred sites in Arizona under attack by developers, she said of the sacred places, ''This is the essence of who we are.''
Navajos are among 13 Indian tribes in the Southwest fighting to protect San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff from Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort's plan to use wastewater to make artificial snow on the mountain. It is a place of prayer and ceremonies, where medicine men gather healing herbs.
''We are caught up and engaged in this war,'' Maxx-Phillips said.
The war, she said, is being fought by American Indians who remain true to their spiritual and ancestral way of life as corporations seek to seize the land for profit. On the Navajo Nation, this includes a plan for in situ uranium mining near Crownpoint, N.M., which is opposed by the Navajo Nation.
Speaking of the corporations focused on seizing the land for profit, she said, ''They have their own agenda. It is the money and the greed that is fueling the energy and the momentum to destroy the culture, to destroy the spiritual values and the very essence of who we are.''
The Arizona Commission on Indian Affairs hosted the Town Hall. ACIA Board President Paul Nosie Jr., San Carlos Apache, said Arizona tribes are fighting the onslaught of desecration of their sacred sites.
''Tribes have always recognized that the controversy with sacred sites has been an issue for many tribes, he said. ''Recently, tribes have experienced an emotional controversy with the planned expansion of the Snowbowl in Flagstaff.''
Nosie, whose family and fellow tribal members have long fought the University of Arizona and international consortium's massive telescope complex on sacred Mount Graham, said Arizona tribes are faced with rapid growth and loss.
Ceremonial artifacts and human remains discovered by non-Indians are being dispersed and sent to institutions across the United States. The rapid increase in development is exposing more tribal villages, cultural and burial sites. There is the continued theft of tribal artifacts by dealers and collectors.
Ak-Chin Chairman Delia Carlyle praised the Arizona Indian Commission for the focus this year of the preservation of languages and culture and the efforts to create policies to protect the sacred.
Carlyle said the Ak-Chin community, south of Phoenix, borders the town of Maricopa, which is experiencing extremely rapid growth due to inexpensive land and housing prices. Rapid growth is bringing a demand for schools and increased services rapidly to the once-isolated Sonoran Desert area.
''Unfortunately, we are becoming a metro area,'' Carlyle said in an interview with ICT.
Carlyle said Ak-Chin, with 760 tribal members, are related linguistically to other O'odham in Arizona, Tohono O'odham, Gila River Pima and Salt River Pima, descendants of the Hohokam. Ak-Chin is the O'odham word for ''where the wash loses itself in the sand or ground.'' It refers to the traditional manner of irrigating beans, corn and squash with runoff from rains and floodwaters.
Ak-Chin are struggling to preserve their language as young people are increasingly speaking English as their first language.
''It is part of our past and plays a role in our future.'' Carlyle added that the majority of Ak-Chin over the age of 55 speak their Native language.
Ak-Chin also struggle to keep traditions alive. Carlyle said elected tribal leaders consult Ak-Chin elders before making major decisions.
This year's Arizona Indian Town Hall Report 2006, now in the editing process, was preparing during the session and provides insights into the struggle to preserve American Indian culture and languages in Arizona.
ACIA Executive Director Kenneth Poocha said the Arizona Indian Town Hall is committed to the mission of developing practical solutions to state-tribal issues.
Previous Town Halls have brought together tribal, state, local and federal agencies and private-sector representatives to make recommendations on issues ranging from tourism and economic development to cultural preservation.
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