Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Documents
Collection
Identifier: MSS-442-BC
Scope and Content
The Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Documents, 1854-1984, are not a comprehensive body of material dealing with the land problem and relocation. Rather, they are composed of items collected by, and generated by, Jim Wright and Merlene DuBre in the course of documenting the plight of the refugees created by P.L. 93-531, the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974. For one thing, the chronological span is not nearly as broad as the title suggests; although the history of the dispute is well covered, the bulk of the collection dates from the 1970s and early 1980s. Most important of all, the user should be aware that the Navajo and Hopi viewpoints are not equally represented here. For several reasons, including the greater cooperation given by the Navajo Tribe, the disproportionately large number of Navajos affected by compulsory relocation, and the investigators' personal sentiments, this collection deals more with the Navajos than the Hopis.
The material in the collection is quite diverse, and has been arranged in five series on the basis of either subject or format. The first series deals with relocation, a fate in store for as many as 9,000 Navajos and Hopis living on land partitioned to the other tribe. Included here is information about the Navajos' unsuccessful attempt to acquire the House Rock Valley-Paria Plateau area in compensation for land lost to the Hopis; correspondence from central figures such as Peter MacDonald, Abbott Sekaquaptewa, Sam Steiger, Barry Goldwater, and James Abourezk; and various publications of the Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation Commission. Among the odds and ends is a certain amount of propaganda reflecting both the Navajo and Hopi points of view about relocation and the land dispute.
Most of the information about the land dispute, the progenitor of compulsory relocation, may be found in series 2. The newspaper files contain copies of articles printed by regional and national newspapers from 1854 to 1984. Important legal landmarks appear in the legal files, including the crucial Healing.v. Jones, 1962. From the legislative files, it is possible to get some idea of the complex background to P.L. 93-531 and P.L. 96-305. And finally, the unpublished reports present an interesting potpourri of articles on many facets of Navajo life and the impact of relocation.
The third series documents the grants and the behind-the-scenes work which supported the project of gathering information on relocation. Correspondence related to the grant is included, as are proposals, reports, financial records, travel vouchers, and other housekeeping details. Most important in this series is Folder 22, a three-ring binder containing transcriptions or descriptions of about half of the taped interviews with relocatees and other participants in the land dispute.
Series 4 consists entirely of tapes, mostly in cassette but with some reel-to reel as well. About 200 tapes may be found here, the vast majority devoted to interviews with federal and tribal officials, congressmen, lawyers, and Navajo and Hopi people affected by the land dispute and relocation. These tapes are unique, presenting a picture of the controversy which is surely unavailable anywhere else.
The fifth and final seriescontains posters, most of which protest relocation.
The material in the collection is quite diverse, and has been arranged in five series on the basis of either subject or format. The first series deals with relocation, a fate in store for as many as 9,000 Navajos and Hopis living on land partitioned to the other tribe. Included here is information about the Navajos' unsuccessful attempt to acquire the House Rock Valley-Paria Plateau area in compensation for land lost to the Hopis; correspondence from central figures such as Peter MacDonald, Abbott Sekaquaptewa, Sam Steiger, Barry Goldwater, and James Abourezk; and various publications of the Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation Commission. Among the odds and ends is a certain amount of propaganda reflecting both the Navajo and Hopi points of view about relocation and the land dispute.
Most of the information about the land dispute, the progenitor of compulsory relocation, may be found in series 2. The newspaper files contain copies of articles printed by regional and national newspapers from 1854 to 1984. Important legal landmarks appear in the legal files, including the crucial Healing.v. Jones, 1962. From the legislative files, it is possible to get some idea of the complex background to P.L. 93-531 and P.L. 96-305. And finally, the unpublished reports present an interesting potpourri of articles on many facets of Navajo life and the impact of relocation.
The third series documents the grants and the behind-the-scenes work which supported the project of gathering information on relocation. Correspondence related to the grant is included, as are proposals, reports, financial records, travel vouchers, and other housekeeping details. Most important in this series is Folder 22, a three-ring binder containing transcriptions or descriptions of about half of the taped interviews with relocatees and other participants in the land dispute.
Series 4 consists entirely of tapes, mostly in cassette but with some reel-to reel as well. About 200 tapes may be found here, the vast majority devoted to interviews with federal and tribal officials, congressmen, lawyers, and Navajo and Hopi people affected by the land dispute and relocation. These tapes are unique, presenting a picture of the controversy which is surely unavailable anywhere else.
The fifth and final seriescontains posters, most of which protest relocation.
Dates
- 1854-1984
Creator
- Wright, James B. (Person)
Language of Materials
English.
Access Restrictions
All material except that in Box 5 may be used for educational purposes and nonprofit publishing. The Tapes in Box 5 are restricted until 2025. Until that time, permission of James Wright or Merlene DuBre is required to access them.
Copy Restrictions
Limited duplication of CSWR material is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for compliance with all copyright, privacy, and libel laws. Permission is required for publication or distribution.
Project History
In March 1979, James Wright, Head of UNM's Fine Arts Library and Director of the Archive of Southwestern Music, was given a grant by the University's Research Allocations Committee. Its purpose was to support Wright's efforts to record the musical culture of the Southwest, especially the ceremonies of the Navajo in the area of White Cone, Arizona. But this project soon grew into something quite different--the documentation of the forced relocation of many Navajos and some Hopis as a result of the Congressionally-imposed resolution of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute in 1974.
Wright originally focused on White Cone because of the ties that his assistant, Merlene DuBre, had there. Her father, Francis Powell, had run the White Cone Trading Post for many years, and was eventually adopted into the Navajo Tribe; DuBre herself was raised on the reservation, and still had many friends in the area. As it happened, White Cone was located in the Joint Use Area, a huge and long-disputed tract which, according to the provisions of Public Law 93-531, would soon be partitioned equally between the Navajos and the Hopis.
Wright and DuBre, impressed by the grief and suffering that forced relocation was bringing to the affected Navajos and Hopis, decided to shelve the recording of Navajo ceremonies, and to concentrate instead on documenting the land dispute and collecting the oral histories of the relocatees. The end product was to be two programs for public radio, explaining the land dispute and its result, the relocation of perhaps 9,000 Indians with a traditional lifestyle, virtually all of them Navajos.
By late 1979, Wright was applying for grants to support the larger project, which was eventually funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. After dozens of trips to the reservations, hundreds of interviews, and the collection of a large body of documentary material, the project was completed in 1982.
Wright originally focused on White Cone because of the ties that his assistant, Merlene DuBre, had there. Her father, Francis Powell, had run the White Cone Trading Post for many years, and was eventually adopted into the Navajo Tribe; DuBre herself was raised on the reservation, and still had many friends in the area. As it happened, White Cone was located in the Joint Use Area, a huge and long-disputed tract which, according to the provisions of Public Law 93-531, would soon be partitioned equally between the Navajos and the Hopis.
Wright and DuBre, impressed by the grief and suffering that forced relocation was bringing to the affected Navajos and Hopis, decided to shelve the recording of Navajo ceremonies, and to concentrate instead on documenting the land dispute and collecting the oral histories of the relocatees. The end product was to be two programs for public radio, explaining the land dispute and its result, the relocation of perhaps 9,000 Indians with a traditional lifestyle, virtually all of them Navajos.
By late 1979, Wright was applying for grants to support the larger project, which was eventually funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. After dozens of trips to the reservations, hundreds of interviews, and the collection of a large body of documentary material, the project was completed in 1982.
Extent
7 boxes (6 cu. ft.), plus oversize folder
Separated Material
County Road Map San Juan County. 1:190 080. New Mexico State Highway Department and U.S. Department of Transportation. No date. Located at the University of New Mexico, Centennial Science and Engineering Library, MAGIC
Hopi-Navajo Dispute Area Map. No scale. No agency. No. date (3 copies). Located at the University of New Mexico, Centennial Science and Engineering Library, MAGIC.
Archival cds and restricted tapes stored in B3.
Hopi-Navajo Dispute Area Map. No scale. No agency. No. date (3 copies). Located at the University of New Mexico, Centennial Science and Engineering Library, MAGIC.
Archival cds and restricted tapes stored in B3.
Processing Information
Audio reformatted to CD, February 2012.
Creator
- Wright, James B. (Person)
- Title
- Finding aid of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Documents, 1854-1984
- Status
- Approved
- Author
- Processed by CSWR Staff
- Date
- ©2000
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English
Revision Statements
- June 28, 2004: PUBLIC "-//University of New Mexico::Center for Southwest Research//TEXT (US::NmU::MSS 442 BC::Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Documents)//EN" "nmu1mss442bc.sgml" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
- Monday, 20210524: Attribute normal is missing or blank.
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451