Water Dispute

* Southern California Edison’s explanation that Navajo elders are attempting to use the water issue to gain leverage in a decades-old land dispute with the Hopi (May 2) is pure Hollywood, another way of saying “those pesky savages are on the warpath with each other again and we white folks are innocent bystanders.”

For decades, Navajo and Hopi lived well enough together on what marginal land was allotted to them. Then Peabody Coal Co. needed legal authorization to mine on the reservation. What followed were Byzantine wheelings and dealings guided by non-Native Americans that fractured tribal loyalties and undermined traditional practices. More than 10,000 Navajo have been relocated, their aquifer is being drained, and sacred lands have been devastated by strip mining.

Traditional Navajo are now left fighting for scraps. Meanwhile, Peabody and Edison shareholders are cashing their dividend checks. Who are the bloody savages?

SARAH S. FORTH

Los Angeles