History of a Dispute

Congress this fall passed a bill aimed at ending the century-old land dispute between the Navajo and Hopi in northern Arizona. The bill creates 75-year leases for Navajo families to sign in exchange for the right to stay on land now legally Hopi. Here is a chronology:

* 1868: As a result of a battle between the United States and the Navajo, the government decided to set aside land for the tribe, to keep them separate from white settlers moving West. The U.S. entered into a treaty with the Navajos, establishing the first borders they ever knew.

* 1882: A federal official in charge of keeping Indian children in government boarding schools complained he was unable to evict Mormons who helped Hopis oppose such schools. At his request, President Chester Arthur created a 2.5-million-acre square for the Hopis. Many Navajos lived in the area and would eventually outnumber the Hopi there.

* 1934: Congress expanded the Navajo reservation, including land the Hopi considered theirs. The Indian Reorganization Act created an area within the 1882 area exclusively for Hopi grazing, known as District 6.

* 1958: Congress passed a law allowing the tribes to sue one another over their land rights.

* 1962: The U.S. District Court of Arizona ruled in Healing vs. Jones that the Hopi have exclusive rights to District 6. It also said the two tribes have joint and equal rights to the 1882 area outside District 6. This shared area is known as the Joint Use Area.

* 1974: Congress passed a law authorizing the partitioning of the Joint Use Area and the relocation of tribal members living on the other tribe’s land. Thousands of Navajos and about 150 Hopi fall into this category. This is known as the Settlement Act.

* 1977: The U.S. District Court of Arizona partitions the former Joint Use Area into Navajo Partitioned Lands (NPL) and Hopi Partitioned Lands (HPL).

* 1988: Navajo families on HPL filed a federal lawsuit claiming the 1974 Settlement Act violates their First Amendment right to worship. The case is known as Manybeads vs. United States.

* 1991: The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the two sides to mediate the issue of Navajos living on HPL.

* 1992: An agreement in principle was signed by representatives of the Navajo Nation, the Navajo families living on HPL, the United States and the Hopi tribe.

* 1996: Congress passed a law known as the Navajo-Hopi Accommodation Agreement. Under the law, the Hopi agree to drop lawsuits against the federal government in exchange for $50.2 million the tribe may use to buy land to expand its reservation. The act creates 75-year leases that Navajo families must sign if they want to remain on the HPL. The remaining 250 Navajo families have until March 31, 1997, to sign or be evicted.