SENAA International

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," or Extreme Fakeover: Home Perdition?

2009-01-18T15:48:00.002-05:00

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," or Extreme Fakeover: Home Perdition?

This is the Yazzie Family's house. It is essentially two connected hogans. It was built by the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" TV team and various contractors. The program is produced by ABC TV network, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. Read the latest blog entries for the details.

When contractors installed the plumbing, these pipes were not insulated. Consequently, they froze and burst the first winter, flooding the crawlspace. They were finally insulated when the pipes were replaced.

The original cork flooring, shown here, soon began to warp and peel. Cork is a bad idea in the high desert. ABC eventually sent new flooring of a different type - but no one to install it.

The decorative veneer for this support beam is pulling away from the wall. It is much worse now than it was when this photo was made.

The greywater irrigation system installed by ABC to water the landscaping and keep it alive malfunctioned. A leak in the system resulted in a smelly cesspool in the front yard. That, in turn led to an eroded drainage path across the drive.

Greywater is sewage water from the kitchen sink, lavatory, shower/bathtub, dishwasher, and clothes washer. It contains no human waste.

Read the story in the four blog entries below and please consider joining SENAA International in persuading Disney, ABC, and Lock & Key Productions to do the right thing and make the necessary repairs to the Yazzie house, so they can finally call it home.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," or Extreme Fakeover: Home Perdition?

2009-01-18T15:39:00.001-05:00

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," or Extreme Fakeover: Home Perdition?

Al Swilling, Founder, SENAA International

NOTE:
See accompanying photos in the photo gallery titled, "Extreme Fakeover: Home Perdition," on this blog.

On the second day of January, a SENAA International member posted to our discussion group an article from the Navajo Times dated 25 September 2008, titled "Problems Plague 'Extreme Makeover' House," by Cindy Yurth.
(See: http://www.navajotimes.com/news/2008/0908/092508makeover.php for the full article.)

The article is about a Dineh (Navajo) family living at Pinon, Arizona, Georgia Yazzie and her family, who were the recipients of a new house built by the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" TV program that airs on ABC network, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The house was built in May 2007, and the program aired on 28 October 2007.

The article tells of a host of problems with the new house that began to show up even before the program aired, and the non-response of the show's producers and the network, even though the house was under a one-year warranty.

When SENAA International contacted Cindy Yurth, the article's author, to ask about the present status of the house, her response was that the only thing that ABC had done was to send a representative to Georgia Yazzie's house to get her to sign a release form that would release ABC and the show's producers from any responsibility or obligation to honor the warranty. When she refused to sign the release, the ABC representative became abusive, saying that Georgia was ungrateful and talking as if the shoddy workmanship and ABC's failure to honor its own warranty were her fault.

When SENAA asked Georgia Yazzie, in a phone conversation, about the incident, she said that she understood his being upset, because he had come to her house to get her signature on the release form and was upset because he had to go back to the network empty handed.

For several months before the warranty period ended, Georgia tried to contact ABC and Lock & Key Productions, the producers of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", on several occasions. Each time she phoned Lock & Key Productions, she was told that everyone was out on a new home project, but someone would be in touch with her very soon. No one ever returned her call. The calls to and excuses by the production company went on until the warranty expired. That isn't surprising. That ruse has been used by businesses since there have been warranties. The company will stonewall the customer until the warranty expires, then it will use the expiration date to try to refuse to do anything.

To add insult to injury, one of the contractors who worked on the Yazzie house was told by ABC that he didn't have to redo his shoddy workmanship on the Yazzie house if he would do another home makeover project for free. The contractor accepted, leaving the Yazzie family on its own.

The "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" project was scheduled on at the request of Georgia Yazzie's son, Garrett, who invented a machine that would bring water and electricity to the Yazzie home. He has been living off the reservation with his legal guardian, Kathleen Pierz, where he can get a better education than the reservation schools can provide. He said that he agreed to the "Extreme Makeover" project so his family would have a warm home and he wouldn't have to worry about them. Now he is considering abandoning his educational dreams to move back onto the reservation with his family. He says that, because of the way ABC has treated his family, he is more worried about them now than he was before they got the new house.

On top of the way ABC and Lock & Key Productions are treating the Yazzie family, the utility company, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA), is not giving the Yazzie family credit for the surplus electricity that the Yazzie family's photovoltaic solar panels are producing.

Federal law requires that the utility company pay for all generated electricity that goes onto the utility company's grid. For the first few months, the Yazzie family was getting credit, which was applied to the family's winter utility bills, when the solar panels did not produce as much power and the house was pulling power off the grid. As suddenly it started, credit to her utility account stopped. The utility company is no longer giving credit for the Yazzie family's surplus electricity. Consequently, because of the problems with the house and failure to give winter credit that was accumulated during the spring and summer months, the family's winter utility bills are topping $400.00 per month.

It has now been 19 months since the home was built, and the flaws in construction still have not been repaired by ABC or Lock & Key Productions. NTUA is still not giving the Yazzie family credit for the surplus electricity being generated. The Yazzie family is still having to suffer 40-degree room temperatures, and Garrett is still worried about his family and considering putting his education on hold.

SENAA International is asking for public participation to contact the Walt Disney Company, ABC, and Lock & Key Productions and demand that they do right by the Yazzie family by doing the necessary repairs. We also ask that the public contact NTUA and demand that the Yazzie family be given credit for the electricity that the family's solar system is putting onto the grid.

The Yazzie family is aware of SENAA International's efforts to help resolve this issue.

The contact information for Walt Disney Company, ABC, Lock & Key Productions, and the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) is provided below.

Your letters will be very much appreciated.

On Saturday evening, 17 January 2009, after sundown Eastern Time, SENAA International will post letter guidelines and documents that enumerate and photos that show the problems that have cropped up in the Yazzie house since it was turned over to the family.

If letters to the three entities do not induce them to repair the Yazzie family's home, then we will do a media blitz, contacting every major news network and as many local TV, radio, and newspaper offices as we can in order to inform the world that in Disneyland (Disney, ABC, and Lock & Key) dreams may come true if you wish upon a star, there is no guarantee that the dream will last or for how long. Apparently some dreams only last about five months before they begin to crumble like dried out sand castles.

Robert A. Iger, CEO
The Walt Disney Company
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521-9722

ABC, Inc.
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521-4551

Note: Send letters to BOTH Lock & Key addresses

Lock & Key Productions
1149 South Gower Street, Suite 10
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Lock & Key Productions
c/o Family Casting
P.O. Box 38670
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA)
P.O. Box 170
Fort Defiance, AZ 86504
Phone: 928-729-5721
Web Site: http://www.ntua.com/

Yazzie House: Problems Plague "Extreme Makeover" House

2009-01-18T15:36:00.001-05:00

Problems Plague "Extreme Makeover" House
http://www.navajotimes.com/news/2008/0908/092508makeover.php
by Cindy Yurth, The Navajo Times
Used with permission from the author

PINON, Ariz., Sept. 25, 2008

There is reality TV, and then there is reality. The difference is, reality keeps going after the cameras stop rolling.

The "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" episode featuring the Georgia Yazzie family of Piñon ended happily.

The family oohed and aahed as they were led through their new hogan-style home, and rejoiced at the thought of never having to pay another electric bill, thanks to the home's solar collectors and wind generator.

But even as the show aired last October, five months after the home was completed, reality was seeping through the cracks.

Problems had started to surface with the air conditioner, water was draining from the roof right into the foundation, and the greywater irrigation system was malfunctioning, creating a stinky cesspool in the yard.

Without water, the landscaping was dying.

By midwinter it was evident this extreme makeover had some extreme glitches. The house was freezing. For days on end, the Yazzies could not get the indoor temperature above 40 degrees, even with the thermostats cranked all the way up.

Georgia's daughter Geralene and her children, who live in an attached smaller hogan, moved into the main hogan because their side was even colder.

In their brand-new solar-heated house, the Yazzies lived like traditional Navajos, huddling around a decorative wood-burning fireplace to keep warm.

ABC, which airs "Extreme Makeover," installed electric baseboard heaters, shooting the family's electric bills up to $400 a month.

The wind turbine, which was supposed to supplement the solar collectors, especially during the winter, stopped working after the first few months.

Desperate for help, the Yazzies called Mark Snyder, the electrician who had installed the solar collectors and heating system. Snyder made a trip from his home in Los Angeles and found his system was working fine.

However, when the drywall was peeled back, the problem became clear: the insulation in the home's walls had settled, leaving the upper third of the walls completely without insulation. The thermal wrap that was supposed to help seal the house had huge gaps in the corners.

"Our systems are designed to work with houses that are like a Thermos," Snyder explained. "That house is more like a barn."

On hot days, in contrast, the house is uncomfortably warm. It had been designed in traditional Navajo style, with an east-facing door. The problem is, the door is made of black metal.

"That morning sun would hit it and the whole front entrance would be like a furnace," Snyder said.

That problem was alleviated somewhat by painting the door white, but it still transmits a lot of heat.

Beams may fall

Meanwhile, there were cosmetic problems: the cork flooring was peeling up, tiles were falling off the shower walls, and two huge pine beams were pulling away from the walls.

"I'm afraid to have someone sit under them in the living room," Yazzie said. "I keep thinking one of these days one of them is going to fall."

A light fixture did fall.

"It could have hit one of the grandkids,'" Yazzie said.

This spring, a water pipe burst, flooding the crawl space. At 3 a.m., the family was desperately searching for the main water valve so they could shut it off - "Nobody ever gave me a blueprint to the house," she said.

Now winter is coming again, and Yazzie is hoping the situation won't repeat itself. ABC did send someone to blow foam insulation into the floor and attic, but Snyder said that without insulating the walls, it won't be much help.

ABC commissioned an energy audit by a Flagstaff firm, which shows huge heat leaks at various places in the home.

According to E3 Energy, the company that performed the audit, "This leakage is equivalent to over an 18-inch (by) 18-inch hole in the envelope of the home."

Meanwhile, Snyder had to hire a local handyman to carve the foam insulation out of the night ventilation system his company had installed in the attic.

"ABC is trying to cheap it, and it's not going to work," he said. "They need to send someone in here and get this taken care of."

Not ungrateful

Yazzie said she's been reluctant to complain for fear of looking ungrateful.

"When you look at where we were a year ago and where we are now, it's much better," she said. "I have a house with running water and electricity and a room for everyone."

But "happily ever after" is still in the works.

"Now winter's around the corner again, and I'm worried," Yazzie said. "I don't want my grandkids getting sick from living in a cold house."

Yazzie is also worried for her youngest daughter Gwen, who has asthma. Gwen's health had improved considerably after the family moved into the home, thanks to a state-of-the-art air filtration system, but that was removed along with the malfunctioning air conditioner.

Kirk Sullivan of IQAir, the system's manufacturer, said his company will be glad to reinstall the filter if someone will just tell him where it is. Yazzie says she has no idea.

Yazzie said she and her son Garrett Yazzie, whose award-winning science project was the impetus for the green-built house, have fixed some of the defects with the help of Snyder, local handyman Danny Begay, and donations from Garrett's friends in Orchard Lake, Mich., where he attends a college prep school.

ABC replaced the cork floor with a wood floor that seems to be holding up.

"Most of the stuff I can deal with if I have to, but I want the house to be warm," Yazzie said. "If they would just fix the insulation I would be happy."

Yazzie has been battling illness and mobility problems stemming from an automobile crash two years ago, and hasn't been able to go back to her job as a heavy equipment operator.

She's living on her disability check, and says if she has another winter of $400-a-month electric bills, it's going to break her.

In a previous interview, Garrett said his main motivation in accepting the house was so he wouldn't have to worry about his family while he was away at school.

"Now I worry about them more than I did when they were in the trailer" that was torn down to make way for the house, he said.

The warranty on the house is up, but Georgia said she brought most of the problems to ABC's attention before it expired.

Lance Guest of HomeLife Communities, which built the house, said he has been apprised of the problems and was told by ABC that the corporation would take care of them.

"For a while they were calling me to consult about various problems with the house, but I haven't heard from them in three or four months," Guest said.

Extreme quiet

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" executive producer Diane Korman referred this reporter to ABC's public relations department.

An employee there requested an e-mailed list of the problems at the house. As of Monday there had been no reply to that e-mail.

Lindsey Burgess, a spokeswoman for Flagstaff-based Southwest Windpower, which manufactured the wind turbine, said the company was unaware the windmill is malfunctioning and would send someone to look at it.

Yazzie said she's a traditional Navajo and tries to maintain hózhó, so she's keeping a positive attitude and trusting ABC to come through.

"I don't want this to come out negative," she said. "They've done a lot for us."

But Snyder, who has made several trips to the home and spent thousands of dollars helping the Yazzies correct its defects, said he's angry with the broadcasting company for capitalizing on the Yazzies' story without giving them the happy ending they were promised.

"They Cinderella someone and then abandon them," he said. "How mean is that?"

Yazzie House: Energy Analysis Report

2009-01-18T15:34:00.002-05:00

Energy Analysis Report

Homeowner: Georgia Yazzie
Date: April 1, 2008
Analysis Address: Piñon, AZ 86510

Services provided: General Energy Evaluation, Blower Door Test, IR Imaging

HVAC Inspection: When we inspected the hydronic forced hot air system we discovered two disconnected 14 inch trunk ducts, (which supplied both ends of the home) one on each of the units. There were some duct connections at the forced hot air units that are missing a water-based mastic seal which allows the duct system to perform to its true potential. We recommend having a reliable HVAC contractor inspect the system and perform any additional remediations that may be necessary.
Insulation Inspection: The additional installation of spray foam to the attic was a good idea as it helps remediate any deficiencies in the attic, however there are certain areas that have been sealed that should not have been. When originally designed, the house should have had 12 square feet of ventilation into the attic to provide for cooling in the summer. These vents have been plugged with expanding foam. In order for the house to reach its true zero net energy potential these vents must be cleared otherwise in the summer, the house will require additional cooling.
Crawl Space: The crawl space in the home currently has a plastic liner laid on the ground however there are some areas where the liner has been disturbed. This could be causing the seams on the cork flooring to expand in the kitchen area due to increased moisture content in the sub-flooring. Additionally there is no insulation installed against the bottom side of the floor which is causing the floor temperature to drop to 40°F in the winter months. E3 Energy always recommends having R-30 fiberglass insulation installed in direct contact with the floor. The reason insulation must be in contact with the floor is because if it is not, convective loops will form reducing the efficiency of the insulation.
Blower Door Test: It has been estimated that 25%-30% of heating and cooling costs are due to conditioned air leakage. The blower door test result was 3463 CFM at 50 pascals. This leakage is equivalent to over an 18 inch x 18 inch hole in the envelope of the home. We found several areas where there was significant air infiltration. One major problem area is where the log posts have shrunk and pulled away from the wall. This should be remediated with an expanding foam seal and a piece of finish trim. Another problem area is over the wood burning stove where the glu-lam beams enter the wall. This could be resolved by either caulking where the beam meets the wall, or foaming the gap on the backside of the wall. Additionally, the base trim throughout the house allows significant air infiltration, thus cooling the house in the winter, and warming it in the summer. The base trim should be removed, and the gap sealed with expanding spray foam before reinstalling the trim.
Thermal Bypass Issues: The front door is currently entirely metal as well as having several air leaks. While aesthetically pleasing, this is not energy efficient. This door should be replaced with a more efficient, Energy Star Rated, wood or fiberglass model.
Attic Access: There is currently no attic access panel in the linen closet. After an access panel is installed, we recommend adhering foam rubber weather stripping to the attic access panel which will prevent drafts. All attic and crawlspace access panels should have this foam gasket as well. Installing a rigid foam board product to the back side of the access door would help create a thermal break between the conditioned and non-conditioned areas.
Wood Stove Heating: Over the existing wood burning stove, there should be a ceiling fan installed. In the winter time this will force the hot air that rises to the ceiling, down to the floor where it is needed. Also, on both ends of the home, there should be a thermostatically controlled wood burning stove. This permits non-solar heating in the winter time, especially at night, allowing the home to generate heat without using the hydronic solar system. This conserves power during the winter when there is less solar energy collected.

Yazzie House: Unresolved Issues

2009-01-18T15:30:00.001-05:00

MARK SNYDER ELECTRIC
Electrical Contracting, Service & Repair, Energy Services, Solar Photovoltaic
MEMBER BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU
POWAY, CA 92064

C10395602, C10HIC
May 7, 2008

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
Project 425

Dear Herb, Dave, and Diane,

Thank you again for coming out to the Yazzies and making the repairs. The young man from Flagstaff re-did the duct testing and found the broken ducts that we suspected were hidden in the attic. This and the extra insulation has made a 50% improvement in the heat getting into and staying in the house.

Georgia sent me the latest electric bill. It reflects the great improvement. NTUA is still not crediting the solar production.

Meter # 97019574 has a surplus from solar production of 2,283 kW (+)
Meter # 97019573 has a surplus from solar production of 842 kW (=)
4,125 kW total solar production

The consumption is the power being used at night.

Meter # 97019574: 231 kWh.
Meter # 97019573: 243 kWh.

Subtracting the consumption there is still a credit of 3,651 kWh.

In September of 2007, NTUA removed the original meters that had a credit on them. From my calculations there should have been 6,000 to 7,000 kWh of credit going into the winter in September. The production of the two solar PV systems since they were put into operation a year ago is 15,472 to date, a total of 4,543 hours of solar production from the inverter internal production meters.

The wind generator production has been an average of 100 kWh per month production. This makes a total of 16,472 kWh of power production. The credit from last fall and the credit now would have gone a long ways toward the electric bills from winter.

What would be fair in my thinking would be for NTUA to give the Yazzies a 11,000 kWh credit now and offset the current bill then all summer they can accumulate a banked credit for next winter.

I called NTUA in Chinle and I asked for a manager to try to get Georgia credit. I was told they would call me right back. No call!

Georgia said Cindy Yurth from The Navajo Times is a friend with their Alternative Energy and Energy Efficiency consultant. I called Cindy I had met her during the build and I asked her for her assistance. She is going to see if she can help get the net metering set up and get the man out to the house.

Georgia said she has received the replacement flooring but no-one has contacted her to install the floor. She is preparing for Gerrilyn’s and McKensie’s wedding. Can you update Georgia with a schedule?

Georgia shared with me the balance of the efficiency and house repairs that are to be done. Can a timetable be setup for this week before the wedding?

I have contacted the provider of the windmill, Sacred Power, and we are working on removing the windmill, selling it and installing one or two more solar trackers. We want to build up a large surplus of power over the summer for the winter.

I spoke to Dave at Sacred Power. He said that the windmill was donated by Southwest Wind Power. It was a very cheap windmill and is only worth $2,000 to $3,000. There is a woodstove program at low cost from Navajo Housing. We will contact them and get donations for the project.

To accomplish this we have to minimize the summer cooling expense. The young lady that came out from the east did not understand that it gets up to 104 degrees F in the summer (see records and averages).

Pinon is high desert not just a cold Mesa in the winter. For three moths it is very hot and dry in the daytime. At night fortunately it is cool to cold. We need to have the attic vents that were covered over with insulation opened. That will allow Georgia to use our night ventilation, which is very economical, instead of the conventional air conditioning that requires 20 times the energy.

We don’t want ABC to have to pay any more bills.

I do not believe it is fair or reasonable to have to fix what your consultant and insulating people did after I begged them not to. I have been back to the home 6 times in a year to help the family at my expense. I have also paid the young Navajo contractor Danny over $2,500.00 to make repairs that were not my responsibility. I don’t know why she did not find the broken ductwork with her duct testing?

Fortunately the more experienced man from Flagstaff tested the ductwork and found the broken ducts and other problems she missed.

I had recommended that closeable shutters be installed at each of the vents, bimetallic vents can be used on the smaller roof vents that close fully on their own at 35°F and open fully at 45°F. On the larger vents the family will close them seasonally.

Georgia and the family are very motivated to keep their costs low. When the balance of work is done, please fix the damage that was done to the Night Ventilation System. Danny, the local carpenter will provide a bid for this work. He has been a big help identifying the problems with the house.

I know your intentions are good but a seven-day build without intense commitment does not create a quality home that fits into our net zero energy model. I made a personal commitment to ABC, Homelife, and the Yazzie family and I will see it through.

I know you were to be done with it. Can we work together to help Georgia have the house finished in time for one of the most important events in her and her daughter’s life?

Please put together a schedule and get it done. You build houses all the time in seven days. This is not that hard. Please help Georgia and Gerrilyn have their dream. Thanks!

Sincerely,
Mark E. Snyder
> Master Electrician
> Alternative Energy Expert
> Energy Systems Consultant
> Energy Efficiency Expert
> Fire Investigation Expert
> Forensic Electrical Expert

What Is SENAA International?

2007-08-26T09:35:00.001-04:00

"SENAA" is an anagram that stands for Southeastern (SE) Native American (NA) Alliance (A). "International" indicates that, while the organization was created by and for Indigenous Americans, it also has membership and support among other races and cultures in other nations of the world.

SENAA International was founded on 12 September 1995 as a local, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting burial and sacred sites outside tribal lands from destruction by developers. Another goal was to raise awareness among and educate non-Indigenous people about the various cultures among the First Nations indigenous to North America and emphasize that there is no such thing as a generic "Indian," that the term "Indian" is a misnomer, and that each First Nation is a sovereign entity.

One of our first victories was the preservation of an ancient walled village site covering approximately 12 acres at the crest of a hill on the outskirts of Cleveland, Tennessee, in the Hopewell community. The site was slated for a housing development by local developer Jim Sharp. Through negotiations and reasoning, we persuaded Mr. Sharp to preserve the entire site and set it aside as green space. Streets slated to cross the site were rerouted to encircle the site, leaving the entire site intact. Grass was planted on the site, which contains more than 200 burials. At our request, no marker or plaque was placed on the site in order to keep looters (artifact hunters) from desecrating the graves of those buried there.

When the U.S. government's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) imposed a 01 February 2000 deadline for eviction of a certain group of Dine'h (dee-NEH) (Navajo) from their ancestral homes at Black Mesa to allow Peabody Coal to expand its mining endeavors and issued the statement that the resisters would be forcibly relocated "by any means necessary," SENAA got involved and raised a loud protest against the government's actions. As our involvement in the Dine'h Relocation Resistance became more pronounced and more aggressive, Indigenous American supporters from around the world joined SENAA in the protest against the BIA and Peabody's eviction attempts. Many were existing organizations, and many were individuals who became SENAA members. When many Europeans became involved in the protests and joined SENAA, we changed our name from SENAA to SENAA International and formed the SENAA Europe division, headed by Fred Buma in Amsterdam; and the SENAA Sweden chapter SENAA Europe, headed by Carina Gustafsson of Tidaholm. Others joined our organization and efforts from Austria, Greece, Germany, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Japan, England, Wales, and other locations around the world.

It was once said that the sun never set on the British Empire. At the time when the Dine'h relocation deadline loomed, the sun never set on SENAA International--and consequently on the Dine'h Relocation Resistance. SENAA International was certainly not the first organization to become involved in the Dine'h Relocation Resistance; but we were perhaps the loudest. SENAA members are firm believers that, indeed, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." With that in mind, we wasted no time trying to raise public awareness of the U.S. government's actions and rallying support for the cause and the Dine'h, who were the victims of the human rights violations.

Part of the BIA and U.S. government's efforts to evict the Black Mesa area Dine'h was the "Bennett Freeze," a section of the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute Settlement Act, which stripped the affected Dine'h of all civil, constitutional, and human rights. It forbade them to make any improvements or repairs to their homes, to gather firewood for heat or cooking, to have electricity or running water, and even capped their wells to cut off their water supply. BIA agents raided Dine'h homesteads on a regular basis, impounding livestock and destroying vegetable gardens, then imposed ridiculously high ransoms on the impounded livestock. At times, Dine'h individuals would no more than get the ransomed livestock home before the BIA would again raid the homestead and impound the animals again.

As supporters of the Dine'h resistance began going to Black Mesa to help the resisters and bring food, supplies, and support to the affected Dine'h families, the BIA owned and operated Hopi Tribal Council (HTC) began issuing "Exclusion Orders," forbidding Dine'h from having visitors and attempting to evict supporters already on the land. The resisters refused to recognize the BIA run puppet government as legitimate (as did many of the Hopi people), and ignored the Exclusion Orders.

As the deadline drew near, SENAA stepped up its efforts and organized protest demonstrations in the capital cities of the countries mentioned earlier. In Japan, a Black Mesa Dine'h support group marched in Tokyo, delivering a letter of protest to the U.S. embassy. At every protest in every participating country, each protest group delivered letters to their respective U.S. embassy; all saying essentially the same thing (paraphrasing):

"We know what you are doing to the Dine'h at Black Mesa, Arizona. We know about the human, civil, and constitutional rights violations you are committing against them. The eyes of the world are watching the United States and what it does to the Dine'h. If any harm comes to anyone as a result of the BIA's relocation efforts, the U.S. government will be held accountable for its human rights violations as well as its violation of its own civil rights and constitutional rights laws. The world will not tolerate such injustices!"

The 01 February 2000 deadline came and went without incident. On 04 February 2000, the BIA issued a statement that it never had any intention of forcibly removing Dine'h from their land, that it had all been a misunderstanding.

On the heels of that statement, its puppet government, the HTC, now calling itself "The Hopi Tribe," stepped up its efforts to evict Dine'h from their land through litigation. Meanwhile the Bennett Freeze remained in effect.

Most legal efforts had no effect, and Dine'h resisters remained on their land. They all had the same attitude as Roberta Blackgoat, a resister and Grandmother (Elder) who became their spiritual and political leader. Roberta made two notable protest signs during her participation in the resistance.

One read, "The Creator is the Only One Who's Going to Relocate Me."

The other sign she placed in front of her house, on the ground so the BIA surveillance helicopters could see it. It read, "If You Want Me to Move, First You Must SUE THE CREATOR."

On 17 February 2000, the European Parliament issued an Urgency Resolution that condemned the forced relocation, and the ongoing violations of human, religious and land rights of the Dine'h at Big Mountain.

Gathering at Black Mesa on the deadline date, with other supporters from around the world, prepared to stand as human shields between federal marshals and BIA thugs, was a group of young Japanese men and women who supported the Dine'h Relocation Resistance.

The group had joined Europe and the U.S. during the demonstrations by doing a protest demonstration that marched through Tokyo to the U.S. embassy, where the embassy officials were handed a letter of protest virtually identical to those received in the European nations.

To get to the Dine'h resisters' homes, the Japanese group marched overland several miles to emphasize their commitment to helping protect the Dine'h from harm.

After the forced relocation efforts were thwarted by worldwide public outcry, the HTC subsequently demolished Camp Anna Mae, a sundance arbor, and therefore a holy place; and arrested a teenage Dine'h boy at the door of his family's Hogan for taking photos of the BIA desecrating the holy place and destroying holy shrines and artifacts connected with the sacred ceremony.

SENAA International, and the Weavers for Life and Land's founder, Carol Halberstadt, raised the funds to pay the young man's legal and attorney fees.

Immediately after the arbor was destroyed, SENAA International and Roberta Blackgoat organized and held a Worldwide Prayer Gathering (WPG), where people around the world began praying simultaneously for a resolution to the problems faced by the Dine'h resisters. A month later, we held a second WPG.

Roberta Blackgoat passed away in California from heart failure while attending the funeral of a dear friend, fellow weaver, Dine'h supporter, and warrior, Arlene Hamilton.

Since Roberta Blackgoat's passing, the Mohave Generating Station, the only customer for Peabody's Black Mesa and Kayenta coal mines, was shut down. There are proposals by various business interests for the construction of other power plants; but so far, nothing is definite. Meanwile, electricity and running water are slowly making their way toward the resisters' homes--or so says the Navajo Tribal Council, another BIA creation.

Though the dreaded deadline is long past, Dine'h are a long way from victory. The BIA continues to harass the resisters in various petty but cruel ways; and the BIA and U.S. government still want to relocate them to lands contaminated by uranium tailings measuring more than 50 times the government's established "safe" limit for radiation.

SENAA remains committed to doing its part in helping to put an end to government mistreatment of our peoples and the violation of our human rights, sovereignty, and religious freedom.

Enough for now.