he land. The Navajo have migrated from Canada all over the US for centuries. They can practice their religion anywhere."Once again in 1996 the US government tried to permanently end the 117-year-long dispute with S.1973; also known as the "Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act of 1996," signed into law by President Clinton. Once again, the rights of the Dineh seemed to be overlooked. While the act claims to acknowledge and respect the sincerity of the traditional beliefs of the Dineh still residing on the HPL, it authorizes the Hopi to establish a 75-year lease with the Dineh and the forcible removal of those who have neither voluntarily relocated nor entered into the lease by February 1, 2000. The natives, who have lived on the same lands successfully for several millennia prior to the formation of the US government, were again pitted against one another by the terms set forth in S.1993. The act creates a $25 million incentive to Hopis if they get 85 percent of the remaining heads of households to sign the leases. Many Navajo refuse to sign the leases, which require fees paid to the Hopis, and would signify acknowledgement of Hopi control over their land. The situation has led to a bitter relationship between the Dineh who claim undue harassment and the Hopi who claim to only be carrying out their legal obligations set forth in P.L. 93-531 and S.1993.Tensions are again dominating the former JUA as the Dineh struggle to make their plight known in a desperate plea for help in hopes of circumventing their inevitable eviction after the February 1st deadline. While many of the Dineh elders hold the Hopi accountable for their quandary, and many traditional Hopi view the resisting Dineh as the trespassers, a new attitude of community is emerging. From the elders who always remembered a peaceful relationship of trade within the JUA prior to 1974 to many of the younger generation who have been schooled in US universities and trained ...
