Hopi Tribe Sues Navajos Over Access To Religious Sites

The Verde Independent reported yesterday on a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Arizona by the Hopi Indian Tribe against the Navajo Nation over access to Navajo land by Hopi religious practitioners.  A 2006 agreement between the two tribes purporting to settle a decades-old dispute permits members of one tribe to enter the land of the other without a permit for religious practices. In addition Hopis were given the right to collect 18 eaglets from Navajo land each year.  However now there is a dispute over whether Hopis may access religious shrines that are on specific "allotments"-- parcels held by the federal government for individual Navajos. The Hopis claim that the agreement allows them to access sites for the sacred gathering of golden eagles even if they are within allotments.  The Navajos say that allotments are off limits to the Hopis. The issue is complicated by the fact that the map that was part of the 2006 agreement is considered confidential and was filed with the court under seal.