Nuvamsa supporters disrupt Hopi tribal session

By Kathy Helms
Staff writer

KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. — The Hopi Tribal Council convened at 9 a.m. Monday to hear reports from tribal programs, when the session was disrupted by supporters of Hopi Tribal Chairman Benjamin Nuvamsa.

“We were hearing a report from the Veteran’s program,” said Caleb Johnson, a representative from Kykotsmovi. “At about 10:20, the demonstrators — I’d say about 20 or less — rolled a pickup to the door of the chamber and were calling for us to come out, with a loudspeaker, which made the presenter awful hard to hear.

“They just persisted through the presentation, and about 10:30, Mr. Nuvamsa called for a break because, obviously, it wasn’t productive to go on with them using a loudspeaker to speak over any presenter that was talking to the council. We couldn’t hear ourselves either,” he said.

Council took a break and the chairman, vice chairman and several representatives went outside to listen to the demonstrators on the west side of the chamber.

“At about 10:50 we got back in and Mr. Nuvamsa said that he had invited them to come into the chamber to speak to the tribal council, which they did. In our Constitution, it specifies that nobody can address the council unless the council gives them permission,” Johnson said.

A motion was made to open the floor to the demonstrators, which passed 9-8.

“Dorothy Denet was the leader of that group. She presented a petition which consisted of about 13 items. Some of the items wanted our General Counsel Scott Canty to be terminated. They wanted the vice chairman and Mary Felter to be terminated because they had been arrested and put in jail,” Johnson said.

Demonstrators asked that council immediately withdraw the resolution to appeal the court ruling in Nuvamsa v. Honyaoma Sr. et al; recognize Nuvamsa as chairman of the Hopi Tribe; remove any council members who challenge his authorities and powers; immediately terminate General Counsel Scott Canty and end the contract with attorney Erin Byrnes, who is representing council members who were sued individually for supporting the resolution to nullify Nuvamsa’s election.

The protesters also called for tribal council members who voted in favor of nullifying the election and pursuing an appeal to resign immediately and be forever barred from holding public office on the Hopi Reservation.

They called for the termination of Tribal Treasurer Russell Mockta and an investigation of funds paid to Canty on the nullification lawsuit as well as an investigation into travel expenses for Honyaoma, Felter, task teams and council members traveling during the months of May through August.

Johnson said they also wanted the resolution introduced by him and Phillip Quochyetwa Sr., which would strip the chairman of his responsibilities, taken off the agenda. “The fact of the matter is it’s not on the agenda yet. It’s still pending before the tribal council to put that on the agenda,” he said.

“They wanted that to be pulled, which I’m certainly not going to do because I’m the author of that resolution and I don’t have any intention of pulling that from consideration. It’s just a matter of time before it’s put on the agenda and then council will vote on whether to do that or not,” he said.

“The security and the Rangers, they just stood by and let the whole thing go on. I think the reason why it was handled like this is because Mr. Nuvamsa was moderating the council and these people that were raising all kinds of Cain were his supporters. It was to his advantage.

“I’ve never seen such an unruly kind of an action in my 12 years on the tribal council. ... That is something totally new — just a total collapse of discipline and security. This is kind of a sad chapter in the affairs of the tribal council,” he said.