The Bennett Freeze facts for kids
The Bennett Freeze was a special rule that stopped building and fixing homes on a large area of land (about 1.5 million acres) belonging to the Navajo people in the United States. This rule was put in place by the US government in 1966 and lasted for 43 years, until 2009. It was named after Robert L. Bennett, who was in charge of Indian Affairs at the time. The main reason for the Freeze was to help solve a land disagreement between the Navajo and Hopi tribes. During this time, people in the "frozen" area couldn't build new houses, fix their roofs, or even get new water or gas lines. Roads also couldn't be repaired.
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The story of the Bennett Freeze goes back to a treaty signed in 1868 called the Treaty of Bear Springs. This treaty created a special area of land, called a reservation, for many Navajo people. Before this, the Navajo tribe was in a conflict with the United States Army. During this time, the US Army used a "scorched earth policy," which meant they destroyed crops and homes to make it hard for the Navajo to live on their land. Because of this, many Navajo people had to go on a difficult journey known as the Long Walk of the Navajo to a place called Fort Sumner in New Mexico.
In 1868, the Navajo signed a treaty with the US government. This treaty set up their reservation on part of their traditional lands. More land was added to the Navajo reservation in 1878 and 1880.
Then, in 1882, President Chester A. Arthur created a separate area of land for the Hopi tribe. This Hopi land was shaped like a rectangle. However, it left out an important Hopi village called Moenkopi. It also included some areas that Navajo people were already using.
Even with these overlapping land areas and unclear ownership, the Navajo and Hopi tribes lived together peacefully for many years. The land was not very crowded, and the two tribes had different ways of life, so they didn't often fight over resources.
The History of the Bennett Freeze
The Bennett Freeze began in 1966 after a court case about land claims between the Hopi and Navajo. Robert L. Bennett, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, created the development ban. The idea was to reduce problems by encouraging Navajo families to move out of the disputed area. However, many Navajo families continued to live there.
Valuable Resources Underground
The land in the Navajo Reservation has valuable deposits of coal and uranium hidden underground. When the Navajo Reservation was first created, and later when the Hopi Reservation was set up, people didn't fully know how much mineral wealth was in the ground.
In 1919, mining companies became interested in the large amounts of coal in the western part of the Navajo Nation. The unclear ownership of the land became a big problem for the Hopi, Navajo, and these mining companies. Competition for the land grew, especially over areas with a lot of coal under a place called Black Mesa.
During World War II and the Cold War, uranium was also mined on Navajo land and later in the Joint Use Area.
The Joint Use Area
In 1962, the Supreme Court made a decision in a case called Healing v. Jones. The court said that there should be a "Joint Use Area" where both tribes could use the land. But even with this decision, tensions continued. The Bennett Freeze was supposed to be a temporary rule to make the two tribes talk and agree on the land. However, they never reached an agreement. Under the Freeze, both Hopi and Navajo tribes had to agree on any new building or economic activity before it could happen. This caused many difficulties for thousands of Navajo and Hopi people because it stopped all new building and business in the area. There were also ongoing disagreements about access to sacred sites.
In 1966, a coal company called Peabody Coal started mining on Black Mesa.
Changes to the Joint Use Area
In 1972, a government official named Harrison Loesch tried to make the situation better by "unfreezing" some parts of the area. But these areas were mostly Hopi land, so the Hopi tribe still had the power to stop almost any building projects. Recognizing this problem, another official, Morris Thomson, gave his office the power to approve projects even if the Hopi had said no in 1976. The Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974 was another attempt to reduce tensions. This law forced 6,000 Navajo people to leave their homes, and it still didn't reduce the disagreements. Some people believe that the main ones who benefited from this law were actually coal companies, especially Peabody Coal, because they gained access to more land. They also suggest that the conflict between the Hopi and Navajo was made to seem worse than it was, just to get access to these valuable resources.
In 1980, the US government tried to help again. However, the government itself admitted in a report that "the result [of past US actions] has been that the Native Americans living in the Bennett Freeze region reside in conditions that have not changed since 1966 and need to be improved."
In 2005, Senator John McCain introduced a bill to help with the Navajo-Hopi land settlements. This bill passed the Senate and included changes to the "Joint Use Area."
Finally, in 2009, President Obama officially lifted the development ban.
In 2010, Representative Ann Kirkpatrick tried to pass a law to give more money to the area that was once under the Bennett Freeze, but that bill has not yet passed.
Impact of the Bennett Freeze
The ban, which lasted for 43 years, greatly affected the lives of nearly 10,000 Navajo people who lived in the affected area. Today, about 20,000 people live in this area. Even though the building freeze was lifted in 2009, people in the area still face many challenges. Only about a quarter of the houses in the area are in good condition to live in. Almost 60% of homes do not have electricity, and most do not have access to clean, running water. The effects of the Bennett Freeze are still felt today and deeply impact the daily lives of the people living there. Nelson Gorman, Jr., who was the Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, once told Congress that the living conditions were very difficult.
When the Atomic Age began in the 1940s and the Cold War started, uranium mining began on the Navajo Nation. This mining has caused lasting health problems for people, including higher rates of illness. It has also led to polluted water wells and underground water sources. The mines took huge amounts of water from the Navajo aquifer, which is an underground water supply. This has had a long-term impact on the environment and the health of the residents.
