The day dawned bright, promising a quick rise to the predicted 108-degree high
in the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation’s (FMYN) community, located
35 miles northeast of Phoenix. Overhead, we spotted a flock of red-tailed
hawks cavorting in the clear cerulean sky. In my own California Indian
tribe, hawks are regarded as messengers from the Creator. Today’s
message seemed to be that the Yavapai, or “People of the Red Mountain,” were
welcoming the Voices of Civil Rights team to their upper Sonoran Desert
home.
Today’s stop wasn’t planned in advance. However, the tiny tribe—there’s
just over 1,000 members living on a 24,000-acre reservation—has played
such a pivotal role in securing and guarding civil rights for American Indians,
we knew we needed to stop here. The Fort McDowell Yavapai people share a
common bond—they exemplify the iron will of a people determined to
realize the same American dream shared by all.
FMYN President Raphael Bear welcomed us to Fort McDowell, where the sacrifices
and struggles of Yavapai elders past and present paved the way for the tribe’s
current prosperity. Yavapai people have learned that “we can’t
count on anyone but ourselves,” said Bear. “We have had to fight
for our land and our right to vote.”
And fight they have. Starting with the first attempt to strip the tribe’s
water rights in 1913, Fort McDowell Yavapais have stood their ground: “Without
the land, we are nothing” has been the rallying cry for generations.
Today, tribal members honor heroes such as:
· Carlos “Wassaja” Montezuma, the first Native American
physician and Native rights activist, who waged a war of words with the U.S.
government to preserve Fort McDowell’s water rights in the 1910s.
· Frank Harrison and FMYN Chairman Harry Austin, who in 1948 successfully
sued to overturn laws barring American Indians from voting in state and local
elections.
· Hiawatha Hood, tribal chairman during the decade-long struggle
to prevent two-thirds of the tribe’s pristine land from being flooded
by Orme Dam, planned for the confluence of the Verde and Salt Rivers during
the 1970s.
· Former FMYN President Clinton Pattea, who led the tribe in a peaceful
18-day standoff with armed FBI agents, who confiscated the tribe’s
slot machines in May 1992 after the state of Arizona resisted efforts to
negotiate a gaming compact.
But there are far more heroes here in this community of neat homes, small
ranches, farms, orchards, unspoiled desert lands, and a million-dollar view
of the McDowell Mountains and the sacred WeKoPa, or Four Peaks.
Heroes like Gilbert Jones, Jr., a former Marine who organized unarmed men,
women, and children to stand against armed federal agents during the 1992
standoff.
Heroes like Irene McLevain, who walked the 35 miles from Fort McDowell
to the Arizona State Capitol in 1976 to protest the government’s plans
to build Orme Dam.
Heroes like Berni Boyd, Fort McDowell’s current vice president, who
grew up in a shack with no electricity, little water, and no indoor plumbing,
but who alongside the other Fort McDowell tribal council members willingly
works seven days a week to build a bright, sustainable future for her children
and grandchildren.
Heroes like Sarah Hunter and Denise Hosay, young Yavapai women who are
planning to attend law school and continue Fort McDowell’s commitment
to the rule of law.
And the fight goes on—unlike other communities we’ve visited,
Fort McDowell’s youths understand well the need to become educated
in both the deeds of the past and the skills to govern their community in
the future. The Fort McDowell Youth Council even produced a documentary on
the Orme Dam fight, which is now winning awards at film festivals.
From the oldest grandmother down to the tiniest baby, Fort McDowell Yavapais
sense to the depths of their souls where their prosperity comes from: the
unswerving determination to remain on the soil their ancestors fought and
oftentimes died for.
A friend of mine calls the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation “one tough
little tribe.” My friend is right.
