Hopi leader awaits ruling
Nuvamsa's future in court's hands

By Kathy Helms
Staff Writer

KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. — Whether newly elected, and also newly ousted, Hopi Tribal Chairman Benjamin Nuvamsa met the two-year residency requirement to run for the chairmanship is now in the hands of Hopi Tribal Court, where some say it should have been all along.

The Hopi Tribal Council met Monday to decide whether to rescind a March 27 action item which nullified the election.

However, Vice Chairman Todd Honyaoma Sr. informed Council representatives they had been served with a complaint filed by Nuvamsa in Hopi Tribal Court against members who voted to nullify the election, and it was his recommendation Council not continue the meeting, but rather let the court decide the residency matter.

Bacavi representatives left the session after delivering a letter stating they would not participate in the meeting because their village took the position that they must honor the court process.

Approximately 20 to 25 Nuvamsa supporters entered the Council chamber, armed with picket signs denouncing those not in support of Nuvamsa's reinstatement, a move which did not set well with the vice chairman.

Honyaoma said a similar protest occurred during the hearing to remove former Tribal Chairman Ivan Sidney, and advised that the pickets should not be allowed inside the chamber. He asked protesters to take the signs outside.

When protesters were slow to respond, Hopi-BIA Police showed up and escorted them from the chamber, telling them they could protest outside.

Phillip Quochytewa made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded by Clifford Qotsaquahu, after which the vice chairman declared a privileged motion and hit the gavel, declaring the session in recess. But that was just the beginning.

Several Council representatives, including those in support of Nuvamsa's reinstatement, asked that Council go into executive session to discuss the procedure for adjournment with the tribe's legal counsel. They remained in executive session the rest of the morning.

When they returned in the afternoon, representatives said tribal attorneys advised them that they should have taken a vote to go into adjournment and not declare the meeting adjourned based solely on a privileged motion.

Some councilmen objected, saying, "Why the change now? We've done that before and it was part of our procedure."

They took issue with Robert's Rules of Order, saying the parliamentary procedure is merely a guide and not set in concrete, because Hopi, as a sovereign nation, follows its own traditional practices, which is recognized by the Constitution.

Council proceeded with the discussion on the action item sponsored by Alph Secakuku, and though several members of the audience raised their hands in an attempt to address Council, they were not recognized by the vice chairman.

Instead, most of the afternoon was taken up by reading into the record letters from the Hopi-Tewa people, many of whom said their right to vote had been violated. Others stated that Nuvamsa should prove that he was qualified to run.

The 9-8 vote not to approve the action item to reinstate Nuvamsa came quickly after that, leaving the Hopi Tribe once again without a chairman, and the future of the chairmanship in the hands of tribal court, which also has yet to take action on Sidney's case.

Nuvamsa, who was elected March 1 and removed March 27, has sued Council representatives and other tribal members, both individually and in their official capacities, alleging that his removal from office was illegal and that Council's action has deprived tribal members of their right to vote.

Council's action Monday on the Nuvamsa issue, and the removal of Chief Judge Gary LaRance on Tuesday following his arrest on charges of disorderly conduct and assault and battery, appear to be moves in the right direction, according to representative Leon Koruh.

Koruh said Tuesday evening that after the special session ended, Hopiland received a good rain, a definite sign that Council did something right.

"The rain is usually to wash away the bad things that were there. Something must have happened pretty good. It s all been washed away now," he said.