P
the James Bay region to be dammed or diverted.
As a result, the lands of Cree Indians and Inuit
in the area will be flooded. When the Cree and
Inuit object to the plan, the provincial govern-
ment ignores them and maintains that they have
no claims to the territory that they have occupied
for centuries. To make their grievances heard, the
Natives will turn to the courts to uphold their rights
to their ancestral lands (see entry for NOVEMBER
1972).
May 15
Hopi traditionalists file suit to stop
strip-mining.
In 1966 the Hopi Tribal Council signed a con-
tract with the Peabody Coal Company permitting
it to strip-mine for coal in the Joint Use Area, an
area shared by the Hopi and the Navajo (Dineh)
(see entry for 1962). Four years later mining began
on Black Mesa, prompting traditionalists to band
together to object to the desecration of this sacred
area. With the support of non-Indian conserva-
tionists and the Native American Rights Fund (see
entry for 1970), 64 traditional Hopi file a lawsuit,
Lomayaktewa v. Morton, to stop the mining on the
grounds that it violates their religious freedom.
“The white man’s desire for
material possessions and power
has blinded him to the pain he
has caused Mother Earth by his
quest for what he calls natural
resources.... Today the sacred
lands where the Hopi live are
being desecrated by men who
seek coal and water from our
soil that they may create more
power for the white man’s cit-
ies. This must not be allowed tocontinue for if it does, Mother
Nature will react in such a way
that almost all men will suf-
fer the end of life as they now
know it.”
—Hopi religious leaders in a
letter to President Richard M.
Nixon protesting the strip-mining
of Black MesaMay 16American Indian Movement members take
over an abandoned naval station.
American Indian Movement protesters seize an
abandoned naval station near Minneapolis, Minne-
sota. Claiming their right to the area by the Treaty
of Fort Laramie (see entry for NOVEMBER 7, 1868),
they announce that they want to make the station
into an Indian school and cultural center. The pro-
testers are forcibly removed on May 21, when U.S.
marshals storm the site.June 11The Indian occupation of Alcatraz ends.
Twenty armed federal marshals arrive on Alcatraz,
forcing the less than 30 Indian protesters remain-
ing on the island to leave. The event ends the
Indian occupation of Alcatraz, which had begun 19
months earlier (see entry for NOVEMBER 20, 1969).
The number of protesters fluctuated throughout
that period, but at its height more than 400 peo-
ple occupied the island, while many others on the
mainland gathered supplies for the protesters and
focused media attention on the event.
In the end, no Indian policies will be changed
as a direct result of the protest. The occupation
will, however, heighten international awareness of
a wide variety of Indian issues. It will also prove to
young Indian activists the power of collective pro-
test and therefore lead to similar multitribal actions,