Saving Black Mesa :: Argumentative Persuasive Papers

Saving Black Mesa Works Cited Missing To the northeast part of Arizona lay a conflict between two indigenous groups from the surrounding area and the world’s largest coal company formerly known as Peabody Coal (now Peabody Energy). The Hopi and Navajo reservations surround a region known as Black Mesa. Black Mesa is located on both the Navajo and Hopi Reservations which is a target source for underground water called the N-aquifer. The N-aquifer contains a great amount of pristine Ice Age water. As time drew on, many indigenous people were alarmed that the water was carelessly being depleted from their land. Mining on Black Mesa should be stopped because the inhabitants are affected by Peabody, livestock in the area must depend on the local springs, groundwater is being depleted at an average of 3.3 million gallons per day, and the water is being contaminated (SBMW Online par 1). In the beginning, the Black Mesa region expanded from the Hopi Reservation in to Navajo borders. On the borderline between the Navajo and Hopi two were at constant disagreements over the claim of territory. Based on three Arizonan judges, the land was to be proclaimed as â€Å"Joint Use Area† which lasted 15 years from 1962 to 1977, between the two tribes. Still not content the two groups had bitter political feelings towards one another. In 1977 the land was divided by giving the Hopi tribe 900,000 acres, accounting for most of the land. Both tribes shared the mineral deposits and as little land as the Navajo tribe had acquired from the settlement, Hopi land in all is an island reservation surrounded by the Navajo Nation. Although having the Hopi at a major disadvantage, many of the Navajo people that lived all their lives in the present Hopi reservation had moved out (LUHNACP Online par 8). Although many people would insist that the Navajo and Hopi people had agreed to let Peabody mine their land, the problem is a little more complicated than what seems obvious. In 1966 a lawyer for the Hopi tribe by the name of John Boyden convinced several members of the Navajo tribe to start a council.