Tribes demand respect for peaks

CROWNPOINT — Navajo, Hopi and surrounding tribes are asking the U.S. government to stop persecuting them and start respecting their First Amendment guarantee to Freedom of Religion by reversing a recent Forest Service decision affecting one of the Four Sacred Mountains, Dook'o'osliid, the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff.

On March 8, Coconino National Forest Supervisor Nora Rasure authorized the use of reclaimed wastewater from the City of Flagstaff to make artificial snow at the Arizona Snowbowl located on the Peaks. The Snowbowl consists of 777 acres of national forest lands and operates under a special use permit issued by the forest service.

This decision left the tribes, the Navajo Nation in particular, feeling very much disrespected. As a result, members of the Navajo Nation Council's Resources Committee and Lloyd Thompson of Diné Medicine Men's Association tried Tuesday at a committee meeting in Crownpoint to craft get-tough legislation the federal government will better understand regarding their opposition to the forest service decision.

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http://www.gallupindependent.com/2005/mar/032405peaks.html

and hold on for dear life until they get what they want. Amazing isn't it. they were ready to upturn our courts, laws and constitution to grant the fundie wishes re: Schaivo, yet here they thumb their noses at Navajo beliefs. So I guess it's not faith In general that gets respect, just the "state" religion.

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