The Navajo Nation is asking tribal members to sign over their land rights to make way for a $2 billion power plant and coal mine operation, The Farmington Daily Times reports.
The tribe's Din� Power Authority has already obtained consent from elderly Navajos who don't speak English. But some haven't even seen the contracts, the paper said.
The Navajos have surface grazing rights on the lands in question but there are valuable coal deposits underneath. While the Navajos don't own these sub-surface rights, they could be receiving long-term and more lucrative compensation if they held onto the land.
Get the Story:
Navajos asked to sell for power plant, mine
(The Farmington Daily Times 8/13)
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Elderly Navajos asked to sign away land rights
Friday, August 13, 2004
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