Bill Text: AZ HCR2029 | 2014 | Fifty-first Legislature 2nd Regular | Engrossed


Bill Title: Wupatki; wilderness area; opposition

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-7)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-03-21 - Referred to Senate NRRA Committee [HCR2029 Detail]

Download: Arizona-2014-HCR2029-Engrossed.html

 

 

 

House Engrossed

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-first Legislature

Second Regular Session

2014

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 2029

 

 

 

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 

PROMOTING DISCUSSIONS AND EFFORTS TO HELP THE PESHLAKAI FAMILY AND OTHERS REGARDING ANCESTORAL LANDS IN WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Whereas, Wupatki National Monument has been home to numerous groups of people over thousands of years, including Navajo herders, farmers, ranchers and caretakers; and

Whereas, Wupatki National Monument was established by Presidential Proclamation No. 1721 on December 9, 1924.  It was enlarged by Presidential Proclamation No. 2243.  Wupatki was then reduced by Presidential Proclamation No. 2454 on January 22, 1941.  Public Law 87-134 enlarged the area again with the purpose of preserving additional archeological resources.  Public Law 104‑33, the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996, revised the boundaries again.  The monument now comprises 35,423.59 acres adjacent to the Coconino National Forest, the Navajo Indian Reservation, Arizona state lands and private lands; and

Whereas, in 1864, the Peshlakai family was among many other Navajo families that were forced on the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo, which is near Fort Sumner in eastern New Mexico; and

Whereas, in 1870, the Peshlakai family returned to Wupatki to resettle; and

Whereas, Stella Peshlakai Smith was born on November 14, 1924.  She was raised by her grandfather and his wife in the Wupatki area where she currently resides. Stella's grandfather, Peshlakai Etsidi, passed away in 1939 and is buried in a hogan in the Wupatki National Monument near the visitor's center; and

Whereas, Stella's father, Clyde Peshlakai, was the acting custodian at Wupatki throughout the 1930s and 1940s.  He is credited with discovering the blowhole of 1956, one of the unique geological features of Wupatki National Monument.  Clyde Peshlakai died in 1970 and is buried in a stone house in Wupatki National Monument near the visitor's center; and

Whereas, Stella Peshlakai Smith is the only family member currently living within the Wupatki National Park boundaries.  In September of 1980, she received a ten-year special use permit, which allowed her to live in Wupatki for a ten-year period.  In April of 1991, she received another permit that granted her "continued residence and grazing privileges, for life, in Wupatki National Monument"; and

Whereas, after Stella Peshlakai Smith's death, her property and rights will revert back to the National Park Service because the 1991 agreement and permit cannot be transferred to a living heir or relative; and

Whereas, Clyde Peshlakai's grandchildren, Helen Davis and Jamescita Peshlakai, along with his great-grandson, Anthony Davis, now desire to return to and live in Wupatki; and

Whereas, because Stella Peshlakai Smith holds a lifetime special use permit for residence, the National Park Service must wait for its expiration. On Stella Peshlakai Smith's death, her ancestral home site will be rehabilitated to restore it to natural conditions; and

Whereas, the National Park Service appears to be uncooperative with the Peshlakai family's request to make Stella Peshlakai Smith's temporary permit more permanent and transferrable.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring:

1.  That the Members of the Legislature ask the National Park Service to facilitate discussions and efforts to help the Peshlakai family and other families who have been displaced to resolve the severing of rights to ancestral lands in Wupatki National Monument.

2.  That the Members of the Legislature support any congressional effort to help the members of the Peshlakai family retain their residence and grazing rights throughout the Wupatki National Monument.

feedback