Our Belief…Our Science…Our Challenge

In the Beginning was water, Paatuuwaqatsi…next land, Tuuvaqatsi… with help of Father Sun, Taawa, all life came to be.

Black Mesa deserves special protection. It deserves our utmost reverence. It is our sacred homeland…a learning plaza for all.

We are taught that our ancestors (moti sinom) journeyed through three worlds. We believe Black Mesa is the final destination of our migrating ancestors. Here, on the fingertips of Black Mesa, our ancestors met Ma’saw and agreed to help steward the land in return for permission to remain here.

They were shown three simple things; an ear of corn, a gourd of water, and a planting stick. They were then instructed and challenged to create a truly sustainable society using these three things as cornerstones. This, we believe, was the beginning of the Fourth World of the Hopi.

We believe Black Mesa represents the earth center, (Tuuwanasavi). Underneath lies untold wealth, which if used creatively with corn (mother), water (lifeblood), and planting stick (technology), will sustain future generations of our children forever.

We believe Black Mesa handprint represents the spirit of Poqanghoya, (a weaver). Together with his twin brother, Paloqaawhoya (echoer), they work to keep the earth in balance.

We believe all waters: the aquifers, the springs, the lakes, the rivers, the oceans, the rain, the snow are joined together. All work in harmony to sustain life.

We believe the aquifer breathes. They breathe in the rain and snow and breathe it out. The springs are breathing holes…passageways to Paatuuwaqatsi. Over 30 years of groundwater pumping by Peabody has weakened the water pressure and weakened its breathing, causing many of our springs and washes to dry up.

We believe humankind is a participant in water-life, Paatuuwaqatsi. We are of clouds and the clouds are of us. How we behave influences rain, snow and hence the “hydraulic cycle and balance”. If our thoughts are bad, only the wind will come when we dance. If our hearts come together, rain will come.

We believe it is time for every Hopi to Unite in defense of sacred waters. Our ultimate punishment, if we fail to protect our land and waters, is prophesied in an ancient Wuuchim prophecy song:

One day you will sell rain water
Springs will dry up, then
Your exodus will begin
With “tin-cups” in hand
Looking for water where springs once ran healthy
Now dead.

We believe time has come for ALL Hopis to begin learning and trusting the wisdom of our ancestors…to be challenged by the knowledge (Navoti), and to challenge peoples of the world to unite in weaving the next world prophesied to come. It is our hope that the Fifth world will be fashioned by harmonic blending of ancient knowledge and modern sciences.

Black Mesa deserves special protection. It deserves our utmost reverence. It is our sacred homeland…a learning plaza for all.

The Mission of the Black Mesa Trust is to safeguard, preserve and honor the land and waters of Black Mesa. We work toward creating a region where generations of Hopi and Dineh people can live and thrive in harmony with all of nature.

Black Mesa Trust is an organization born out of concern for the depleting water supply and it’s long range implications for the health and viability of the Black Mesa ecosystem and native people. We are dedicated to bringing back the traditional water ethics that have sustained our people for millenniums and creating new ways of caring for and healing the water…the lifeblood of all living things.

At its essence, the Black Mesa Trust is about harnessing the lessons of traditional knowledge with western science and technology to create a permanent homeland for generations of children yet to come. It is our hope that our families will always enjoy the wide and open spaces, deep canyons, majestic mesas and clear air and waters that characterize our sacred homeland.

BECOME A SÍPÀAPU DEFENDER by donating to Black Mesa Trust today!

 BLACK MESA TRUST NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT TO JOIN SÍPÀAPU DEFENDERS

We, the descendants of ancient people, came here thousands of years ago to a safe place to raise children and to start a new way of life.

Our ancestors followed the Colorado River all the way up through the Grand Canyon and the Little Colorado River. There, they came upon a huge mound shaped like an anthill. Water was coming in and out of the mound. Some say, others followed the Rio Grande River all the way to Mesa Verde, then turned back and came to the Hopi mesas.

Here they came out of the Canyon and came to the Hopi mesas, and met Màasau, a farmer in a dry barren land. The ancestors received his permission to stay with him on the condition they take good care of Mother Earth and to follow his way of life.

This is why Sípàapu is called an umbilical cord to the Old World. A place of Emergence from the Third to the present Fourth World, a passageway to the spiritual world.

Sípàapu is the heart of Mother Earth some call Tuwanasavi, now known as the Colorado Plateau. The heartbeat is weakening. Water no longer comes in and out of the mound. It is dying.

The reason is caused by overuse of the Little Colorado River Basin water system by non-Indians, corporations, towns and cities in Coconino, Navajo, Apache Counties, and the State and Federal Governments.

Our right to carry on our religion, guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, is being violated. We must now unite and act to defend Sípàapu. Without Sípàapu our civilization could die. Religious ceremonies, which are tied to Sípàapu will become meaningless.

You can act now by supporting a Proclamation to Save Sípàapu. The Proclamation will mandate the Federal Government to set aside Sípàapu as a Traditional Hopi Cultural Protected area.

Copies of the Proclamation and Petition to Save Sípàapu is available at our Village Community Administration Office. It is also available on the internet at www.blackmesatrust.org or our Facebook page. Please sign on to the Petition to “Save Sípàapu” and share this information with others.

Thank you,

Vernon Masayesva

Black Mesa Trust, Executive Director

PROCLAMATION TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE SÍPÀAPU  

WHEREAS, we, members of independent self-governing villages of Lower Moencopi, Upper Moencopi, Hotevilla, Bacavi, Oraivi, Kykotsmovi, Shungopavy, Shipaulovi, Mishongnovi, Walpi, Sichomovi, Tewa, and Spider Mound hereby call upon the National Historic Landmark Program (NHLP) to officially designate Sípàapu as a Traditional Cultural Place (TCP); and

WHEREAS, it is the responsibility of all people, societies and communities living on the Colorado Plateau to protect the rich ecological, cultural landscape for foreseeable time; and

WHEREAS, the Colorado Plateau is facing industrial-governmental degradation and genocidal destruction of Native American historic sites, graves, and artifacts so that they may profit from vast coal, water uranium and oil resources; and

WHEREAS, Colorado Plateau is home to Hopi and twenty-two (22) different tribal groups who have cultural, historical ties to the region: and

WHEREAS, Sípàapu is central to Hopi religious beliefs and practices which are protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and other relevant acts of U.S. Congress; and

WHEREAS, Sípàapu is crucial to the repository of our memories, and serves as living knowledge that provides comfort and reassurance as a rooted place between past and future and as a seedbed for historical insight and knowledge and as a catalyst of hope for the preservation and revitalization of Hopi civilization; and

WHEREAS, Sípàapu, the heart of Colorado Plateau— birthplace of the Fourth World of the Hopi nation—is dying due to the impounding of waters in the Little Colorado River Basin by corporations, The State of Arizona, northern Arizona county governments and towns; and

WHEREAS, the Arizona State court ruling in Re: The General adjudication of “All rights to Use Water in the Little Colorado River System and Source” could be disastrous to the health of  Sípàapu; and

WHEREAS, it is essential that the U.S. government, which serves as trustee of natural resources of all tribal nations, affirms the continuity of Hopi heritage and memories by protecting and preserving Sípàapu as a living component of Hopi culture and a living symbol of our right to carry on our religion; and

WHEREAS, Orayvi, a thousand year-old village, considered to be the oldest continuously occupied community in north America is listed on the registry of NHL and is historically and culturally connected to Sípàapu; and

WHEREAS, the office of NHLP is responsible for nominating, conducting studies designating and coordinating landmark monitoring; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Hopi Tribal Council expeditiously support the Peoples’ Proclamation by enacting a resolution; and

NOW THEREFOR BE IT RESOLVED, we, members of the Hopi tribe and independent villages, respectfully request NHLP to act expeditiously to protect Sípàapu the ancient shrine as a traditional Hopi cultural place using the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the American Antiquities Act of 1978, the International Treaty agreement between United State and Republic of Mexico (the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848) and the U. N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that this Proclamation is made in memory and honor of the ancestors who brought us here to a safe place, and created a sanctuary for all mankind; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that we call upon the United Nations to adopt The Declaration of Right to Historic Cultural Memory to the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948

 

 

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