Page 2 ~The Indopencent — Gatup. WM. — Money, Moron 10, 2094 LocAL Cayia Nimmafoapandant Marsha Monesirsky poSé8 for & poitrait at her home in Flagstaff Thursday afternoon. Marsha Monestersky no stranger to controversy By Katy Holes Dine Beau ‘navao1 @gallupindeeendent.com WINDOW ROCK — Love her or hate her, but Misha’ Mon esters isard to ignore. ‘Bom on Christmas Day, the Jewish dssvendent ofthe Levi Thibe first vied the Neva and Hopi reservations in 1974 wit ber identical miimor image twin, Rita Monesersky.Sehastin, In 1992, Monestersky packed up her computer and printer and trav cedex {fom New York to focus her eneries on Peaboey Coal Co, ad the Navajo- Hop relocation ise, Her political activism has won her the dubous honor ofBeing exec ed! fom the Hopi Reservation for Hs, and nearly excluded from the Navajo Reservation as well. None of tat has stopped her foun trying to assis elders living on Hopi Partitioned Lands or ‘iets of the forme: Bennett Freeze. cenified paralegal, Mon- sstersky is program Girector forthe grassroots group, Forgotten Peaple ine She is adopre! Naka ine’ and Ty aheecliit (The ‘Water Flows Tose). 90 eae Se ‘A: When I fst came, my entry as actually through the’ ea! Hops nice Tease Dard Meneene i eae leader at Hotevills, and] got to know Tour generations ofthe ‘Monon family. When I came back in 1992 fall me, there was «« Dinche#lopiAiance that was created and so the traditional Hpopis in Hotevila alongwith Thomas Banyacya of Kykotsmovd had mostings in Hopi. ‘accompanied traiiGnal Hopi, carrying a support statement froma them fo tho Unitéd Nations “Cry ofthe Earth” prophecy ses ‘sion held of Nav, 22/1993. Cry ofthe Earth was when ste rations came from the four directions to speak prophecy and _wam work leaders ofthe time we are in with climate change and environmental degradation. Grace Suit Yellowhemaser from te Star Mountain‘ Teesto area vas there and she presente the tiie ‘onal Hop statement to support the Navaio people 'Q: You were banned from Hopi how did that come about?” A: Hopi Chairman Ferrel Secakul had two reasons for want= ig ty bs ne ope tote tall” tad pas or rege ‘ng the United Nations ost anc getting the investigation bythe UN. ofthe US. and for getting hundreds of animals out ofthe BIA impouncdeneat vied. [went 10 Hopi Teibal Coust and ther 1 weal to Appellais Court, chard with unauthorized practice of lave Thad to atiomeys when | went to Hopi Tribal Court. We told the court that they were not the proper Yeas fr @ hearing on ‘my exclusion. According tthe Hopi Consiiton, istates that villages that so partcipate in the Hopi Trial Council are soy reign villages ad lave eontrol over village maftes, chiding ns 1996-nher John MoCain pushed the “Fina! Solon” RL. ‘104-301 thet authorizes the Accommodation Agreement, we eee ea Notions= es 2 ‘Wher Special Rapporteur i fis ee ence __Q:What abot your work the Bennet! reéae and got Serra fing houses butt for people? “968 forthe oy onsite ssn ‘A: When the free was fret ite we thought there were ane ‘going to be a ot of hammers flying inthe a, # ot of houses ‘people's lands, the Hop ‘beng bull, and nothing happened So Fongoten People built Sr ee aere te oe house fora veteran in Tub City Junta Riggs. The VA had piven eee hher materials nd she wisn able fo do anything wah tan she Feeney ewe. ‘ame tous and said the VA told her she had to build a house HPL. They brow thelr they were going to tke back the materials. The next day we were 2 having Project Pueblo, a consoctiam of univers throughout SE aeahe Califia, come ou, Overthe course of thre tps, the house ‘Dan} of Hotevilla, Mastin Gash esta eae ee meen ‘We'sc had hundreds of students came out aod welve fixed aes ee houses; fined m0, broken windows, and dane home makeovers Pee te a aa ‘yi he help of th-based groups lke Mesa Grande Academy in ‘hat here was nota dispar, eas rate hoger a "Abe was bin Cameron foe Thomas, single mother artes Osler ymin swith seven chiles. The octagon was a collaboration between ‘order for thems to investigate — UC Berkley and Mess Grande Academy, They hd 50 kids come ye a cence: ont fom the High school and over Thaksgiving week, the put in fot botyeen the Hopi and the 2 foundation andl built the shel, Then Project Pueblo came out ‘Navajo, bu was engineered by and putin te insulation and sheetrock and panied the walls, ted ie ed Sues Ree the floor, an putin a Joy Depp water sistem and Fagle Ener ead an J ay lish Bessie Wilson in Bodaway-Gp i the third house that we ‘helped uid, and that is thanks in Operation 29:11, T believe tis the beat house we've built yet in terns of fixtures, rt ‘Q: What kind of projects do yom see yourself involved in, Tor energy resource exition. jn the future? ‘Q: How dial you help get the animals out of the BIA. "A: We're working with Engineers Without Borders as teie first g Ae loess projet here nthe United Sues for water A: Wl teen thy were zl pounds le (per orgele con aaleyedanr aie ‘Gm ofthe CERs — the Code af Federal Re Sometimes sya. So we're working with favo diferent chapters with. Engi= thay woul eome io ikea horse that was side a eora cx Sheep ‘neers Without Borders. They're designing main catchment systems thal were inside w coral. On ime eay on, thers Here 100 done fer people's homes that will help, beeasé Most ofthe money they ‘keys that were ilk Seized. Well, everything that was seized ‘spend is on vehicle repairs water over these ‘that day was ‘seized because they didn’ gave five-day ‘that are never maintained. An tices of intent to impound. So j49 be resumed by chapter is designing a the BIA ais own expense, and thet eum of he Jets really ste ofthe a 100 donkeys iio Ccuus alleys ae S a ‘O: Your activism has crossed a lot of pails from Peabody ins ning tradition isues to hefping per ‘Which issue was the most 1 “A: Relocation aod the Bureatyof in pmpousd Saal in Sa wr el id Fal a a lve hte OF enw an she wre @ et an th Ts ‘eeretinny Sess scenes ary hl