Part III

CONDITIONS ON THE WINSLOW TRACT

This portion is posted by Marsha Monestersky, Consultant

The condition of the Winslow tract that Carlos Begay describes is devastated.
This leased land is under the jurisdiction of the US Department of
Agriculture and is not land turned over to the Navajo tribe as trust lands.

Anna Begay says, "My calf was missing last time and this time. Last time my
cows udder was full and her calf was missing. This time her udder is smaller
and her calf is still missing. I am afraid that she is dead. A lot of
people are complaining about this place and many of us are missing our cows
and calves."

Mazzie Begay says, "I am missing a cow last time I came here and this time.
This place is short of water and there is not enough water in the earth dam."

Mae Tso says, "The animals are not used to the land here. They are skinny.
They even make us look for our own cows. They are supposed to be paid to do
this."

When Donna Carstens, the US Department of Agriculture officer was asked who
had jurisdiction over this land, she answered that she does, but her first
priority is ownership of the animals, then inspection of these animals for
hauling permits, not the condition of the animals. When she was asked about
the poor condition of the range, she said that this land is so poor because
it has suffered from years of drought. So why was this tract of land chosen
for the Dineh people's exiled animals? Anna Begay's step son, Andrew Yazzie
Sr., looking at the sick and starving cows said, "I think they just brought
these animals here to die."

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Please contact: Donna Carstens, Badge 75, US Department of Agriculture,
Animals Services Division, Livestock Department, 1688 W. Adams, Phoenix, AZ
85007. Phone: (1-800-294-0305). Tell her that the conditions of the range
is causing abuse to the animals. The US Department must either shut down the
Winslow tract or supplement the lack of forage and water by providing hay and
feed and water troughs for the animals.

Please contact: Wilbert Goy, Navajo Hopi Land Commission, Box 2549, Window
Rock, AZ 86515. Phone: (520) 871-6441 and (520) 853-1147. When elders
approached him, asking where their missing cows were, he said he didn't know.
When asked his name, he refused to provide the people with this information.
Ask him how this land devoid of vegetation was the site chosen for exiled
cows and how basic services like outhouses could not even be provided for use
by the Dineh that come to brand or visit their animals, forced to visit only
once a month, the gate locked at all other times.

Time is of the essence as cows are sick and dying, their calves missing and
presumed dead. The Winslow tract should be shut down because this land is
unfit for animals. The forage conditions on Black Mesa, green to the eye,
certainly call into question the real motive behind livestock reduction and
relocation of these cows to the tract by the BIA and the Hopi tribe. For how
much longer can the Navajo tribe knowingly assist in perpetuating abuse
against animals and the Dineh resisters?

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