"The Hopi Tribe is struggling to protect its homeland and sovereignty against attacks by local and national environmental groups seeking to force their political agendas on the tribe. In opposing these groups' efforts to undermine the Hopi government, the tribe is protecting not just its sovereignty and economy; it is in a fight for the very survival of Hopi culture and religion.

Aided by a small, but vocal, group of Hopis, these outsiders have pitted Hopi against Hopi in a divide-and-conquer strategy aimed at destroying the tribe's ability to develop its natural resources and function as a sovereign government.

Calling the Hopi Tribal Council "illegal," these groups belittle and marginalize the tribal government and its authority to decide the tribe's economic future. The Hopi Tribal Council is the tribe's governing body.

The voluntary resignation of former council Chairman Ben Nuvamsa last December did not make the council illegal. The government of the Hopi Tribe, like the government of the United States or of any state, does not become non-functional or illegitimate because one of its members quits."

Get the Story:
Phillip R. Quochytewa: Hopi council protecting its tribe (The Arizona Republic 11/7)

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