Dine CARE 30TH anniversary at Dillcon, Az, Southwest Fairgrounds

NAVAJO NATION SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE EMERITISS HERB YAZZIE SPEAKS ABOUT 1868 TREATY
(Note – As Chief Justice speaks, he refers to Dine’ people)
They went to kinds and queens and issued charters to soldiers, you r to go and conquer, by conquest get possession of land and bring back assets of the land to enrich ur pipe back home. That is basis of dine he.

Then Mexicans and finally Europeans

We have this perspective of who these pple are. Why they there. Took uptime to realize wat going on cuz not in our nature to go into warfare w strangers. Go into ceremony and explain this awful thing going to do but have to poet our way of life. Not in our nature. But may get wrong idea if look at western movies.

Now when they came they said they conquored. 1864 and 1847, 48, 49 when Americans first came. We rose in defense of our society, our way.its based on a law set by our authority, the holy pple. They gave use instructions, when blessed us and put us here, theydesignatedlaw . Ultimate law is ur duty and responsibility to not ever forget the matters that we have bless edu with – language culture value system. U must never forget that. I if u do there will b consequences.

Now that is a law from our respective and we have duty to do that. But we will not go on war fare to gain lands and other pipe. We r here to protect our homeland.

To say, we don’t have missionaries. That is who we are. And when the American solider came w their weapons and their churches, they came to conquor and they did by inhuman measures, they did w scorched earth policy. They went after pple w what they need to survive. They starved them into submission and out front killing. That is our perspective.

So when treaty entered into after the pple taken to concentration camp, after suffering for four years, the pple never lost faith. They. Never lost sense they have duty to survive, go back to land, to teachings so had ceremonies.

Many bands of pple who didn’t go, who escaped and continued fighting. They were always performing ceremonies. From our perspective, it was that belief that convinced soldiers and pple not to take us to foreign.

That is spiritual nature of pple that helped us survive.

When we returned after treaty, we began to notice the devil in the details, language of treaty. For example it said you will allow us to build schools on ur land, force ur kids to come to these schools, so we can teach them how to be civilized.

U will not do certain things and u will allow wagon trains, railroad and development of ur lands for our benefit.

The treaty itself, language always has to be interpreted. What did they agree. Lot of dine said. We didn’t agree. We didn’t write. It wasn’t in our language but by force of might that was what they were forced to sign to return to homeland.

Our purpose today, I hope is realize that the perspective of the Navajo, the laws they must live by is just as impt as laws they have. From our presenting evidence, we will not survive if not live by those laws.

So honorable thing for foreigners is understand that their laws caused harm and destroying societies across world and my hunger,conception is destroying he work. To realize that other laws that other pple have that is totally. Distinct and treats environment as Mother Earth.

Mother Earth is a living entity. It is not inanimate. It has its mission. Cuz living being, cuz our mother, we must treat w that respect, dignity. It is not something that wealth, assets of Mother Earth not there for utility or consultion of human being..

There was balance by gods and if u don’t consequences with ar easily observe able today. We have to listen to those that study Mother Earth. There is no balance.

There are consequences when u pollute Mother Earth. Because you r attacking living entity. That is dine perspective. It is time for the conquor or invader to sit back and reflect. What have we done, where r we going. My need for swimming pool in desert has to be assed.

My need for gas gushlling monster to get food down road.

For us, we are blessed w brain to look at world, study it and come up answers and solutions. And it is being done but has to be implemented. Implementation not happen if continue to believe what doing continues.

So at stage for basis of conquering world, exploring resources, ur comfort has to be assessed. We realize that these laws talking about are hard to express.

We understand words and how was to be interpreted. But understand when come time to interpret, it I’d done in foreign system by judges not from our court system.

Now a days, some say system rigged but system rigged 1800s and must change if survive.

Baasaani is Navajo word and descriptive. It says literally, it is because of it it exists cuz of the law. If u undo this law, misinterpret, misspply for own human greed then there r coneuencs. When I try to explain, think of as ball of yarn, break off piece and it will unravel, it will not stay intact.

These laws r immutable by humans then consequences, pollution and exploitation of resources, methods using are distortion of need to survive.

My perspective, these other laws based on the desire for wealth, the desire tousle that wealth for comfort and that is a really big difference from dine perspective. Cuz u don’t get rich at the expense of Mother Earth.

So I’m trying to explain perspective of invaders, foreigners. They did not listen and we are seeing consequences. But this convention, where we try to educate one another, hopefully lessons catch ears of those we call leaders.

Hopefully my leaders in window rock and DC, will one day say climate change is not. Hoax. It is here. We have to change our ways listen to the native pple. Listen to their value systems. I thing they have something there.

There is an element of our perspective that is essential to our existence, English it is sovereignty.

We have our laws, ways, land, language and again we were instructed by holy pple that u r not to ever forget this, protect what we have blessed w u and why gave u brain and gave u this beautiful land, stories, lesson. Not merely stories and sometimes pple forget that.

More than lessons, if u listen close enough there will be embed in that a law or laws that must be obeyed. So we have our concepts of laws.

From our perspective those laws is what most important. Human made law not take presence over natural laws. We must not be arrogant to say human laws is what we must live by. That is our sense of sovereignty.

There was this notion that they came w their weapons, religious leaders, built schools and planned to change us into sometime else. But story as returning and got closer, they developed song, in English language – I am here, I am standing, I still exist, I am returning to Mother Earth the way I was born.

Pple coming back in rags w no possession, coming back. With pride and outsourced to what experienced. All nations that way.