12/5/09 BF Living on the Edge AND President Shirley Gets a Dose of Box Springs

8/9/2019 12/5/09 BF Living on the Edge AND President Shirley Gets a Dose of Box Springs

1/9

,~ .

E aEN

FR.EZ

The Inaependenf-.-GallupNM.-8.atu day, December 5: 206

Bri an L edd y/ In de pendent

Oenise Almeida anct:her son Julio sit on 'the front steps of their small travel trailer that serves as their home on the outskirs of

Tuba City,Ariz. The family lives in an area that that some call No Man's Land because no one ~nows if jhe land is on Q~nR~t

Freeze land or not. Now that the freeze has been. lifted, Denise and'family hope to receive assistance with their challenging liv-

ing conditions.' . . ' ..

F a m i l i e s t r u g g l e t D s u r v i v e l n l N o M a n s L a n d

B y K athy

Helms

Dn~Bu re au c

]:

... ; ~~ACITY - Imagine nOfbeing

al lowe d

\ ; to illprove your home, make repairs or

~: build a new one -that is thep light of .

those who live

in

The Bennett Freeze. ~

, Just south~fTllba City, where the pavement

~ and the d irt roads begin, is an ar ea known

a s

. ~oMan's1.and. Residents say ids

par t

of th e '

:(0I?;Uerennett Freeze, but nobody really knows

fo~sure. r e s

on

the

frin ge, .an d

the Bennett Freeze

happened a long time ago..

:'~~ they know is ~ is a struggle.and help is ~

bas ica lly

nOD:existenL ,~ ~

, ;peruse Al~rieida,3.5~lives with her boyfri~~

an~~sevenchildren

in

a.7:by-19-foottravel trailer

on~efami1y,~Clmpoun4.Her

mother

and

fat he r':

f e S r r f u

in atwd-room housein the mi&ll~.Almei-

da 's ~ister,

S tev~

and her family live in a ' thin ~

'. B rian Le dd y/fndeperrd e nt

Julio Almeida, 8, an~

flis

'brother Nito, 11. chase each

other ~~ound the their g~andmother's cramped home

i n

The ennett reeze

O n M ay 8 , Pr ~ id e n t

O ba m a s igne d S ena te

BU I 3 9

into law , pe r m anent ly

res c lnd ln th e B en ne tt

F reeze a nd e nd in g m o re .:

tha n

40

years o f re st ric ti on s

fo r N ava jo N ation residen ts

livi ng on

1.6

mil lion ac res

in

th e w es tern po rtion o f th e ,

N avaj o N ation . ,

T h e fre eze , w hi ch w as

im po se d Ju ly 8 , 19 66 , b y

then -[')e lO lartme rt t o f th e Int e -

r r Secre ta ry R < >ber t B en-

n et t, resul ted fr o m

a

. decades-lon g la nd d isp trt e

b et w e en the N avaj o

Nat ion

an d th e H op i T rib e a nd p re-

ve nt ed

r e s i d e n ts fr o m m a k -

in g im pro ve m ent s or rep a irs

to the ir hom e s 'an d related

p ro p ert y .:' ~

O rilj{3 perce n t o f fam ilies

a ff ec ted

by

the B en nett '

F reeze h av e e lec tr ic ity a nd

.o~ I'.~O pe rce nt fl, ave ru nn in g


2/9

Leticia Zapeda,

2,

slurps on her bottl~ whije playing at her home just outside at

ly of'eight has beeniorpec/ to sleep in a smali-tra;vel trailer-after their mobile home-burned

lifts weightg.rheare~is-~hown~sa

N o

Mar.'fLancf'be~a~se no one really know is

it

is

kes room for everyon-eldl./J:'ltl9? birthday. party, {photosby Blan Leddyt ..~ . . . .~. '_

- - _ __ ._~ _~ ~ Z ; ~ -- .- __ --: . __ ._--_ -_~---- ---

Tuba City, Ariz~Zapeda ..od:herfal11 i1yare among Tuba City's most needy residents, The

down three years aqo.

ABOV i R IGHT

A_boy visiting the Almeida/Zapeda family in Tuba

on former Sennett Freeze. land or not.

BELOW

Despite cramped quarters, the family still

- _:.._-_._.

_ _

._


3/9


4/9

ontinued from page

p lyw oo d ho gan o n the o ther side.

W e had a tr ai le r h e re , a sing le -w id e , a nd it b urn t dow n . W e do n 't

h ave a ny w ay o f lik e, g etti n g a h o g an d on e fo r us, so w e'v e be en in

th is tra il e r fo r a lm o st th r ee years, A lme i da said . -

An o ran g e exte n sio n co rd run s fr om her p aren ts ' ho me to th e

tr a ile r, p ro v id in g e le ctr ic ity fo r a do rm- room -s iz e r ef ri ge ra to r; a

sm a ll h e a te r, a n d o c c as io n a l te le v is ion - fo r th e k id s. Th e ro o f o f the

tra iler is c o ve red in mu l tip le ta rp s to try to keep o ut th e ra in , The

w in d ow s w ere b ro ken o ut b y a to rn ado tha t to uch ed do w n in 2007

and a re d rap ed in b lan ke ts o r o the r m a te ria l, -

Th e la st w o od sto ve I h ad burn ed dow n m y traile r, so I'm sc a red

o f w o od s to v es an d I'm sc are d o f p ro pa ne , A l m e id a s aid. T h e e le c- _

tr ic h ea te r d o es n't p roduce m uc h h ea t, s o th e tra ile r s ta ys c old in

w in t e r .

S om etim es w hen it ra in s rea ll y h a rd , it lea ks f ro m th e c eilin g.

T he w a lls a re re ally b ad . Y ou c an h ea r th e m o use s run nin g a ro un d in

there . M y kid s g ot sic k fro m th e m o use d ro pp in gs. T he y a ll h av e

as thm a , she sa id , _ . >

At n ight, A lmeid a 's bo yf rien d, Edw a rd Z ep ed a , s le ep s o n th e

f loo r , s he s le ep s in a tw in bed w ith th e bab ies - Leo n and Le tic ia

T he bo ys sleep o n th e bunk bed s an d o n-the f loo r . Ac tua lly , w h e n

it's w arm eno ug h out he re , m y dau gh te r s le ep s o uts id e in 'th e Bl az - -

e r ' b ecause it' s to o c row ed in s id e , o r som etimes she s ta ys o ve r a t m y

m om 's ho use , Alm eida sa id .

W hen S tev en a and B rian mo v ed to th e fa m il y com p ound , th e ir

so n s, B ra n do n , 2, an d , Jayden , w ho turned a yea r o ld No v . 28 , had -

n 't been bo rn ye t. '

Befo r e I g ot p reg n an t w e used to live in m y m om 's B la ze r. W e.

s taye d th e re fo r m aybe li ke tw o m on ths . It w as g e ttin g to th e .w in t e r ,

It w as real ly co ld .

They m ov ed in to a ra t- in fe s te d tra ile r o n the fam il y com p o un d .

It w as rea lly bad . Th e c eil in g w a s d rip p in g a ll th e tim e , there w as

m o us es in th e re . W e h ad to use the outhou se. I st a rted g e tt in g s ick

a nd g etti n g in f ec tio n s, S te ve na sa id . One m orn in g she w en t to the

.o uth o us e a n d w hen sh e cam e b ack she w as f e e li n g r e a lly w eird ,

Brian sa id . 'W e to o k h er to the h osp ita l an d the do c to r sa id i t w a s a

b lack w id ow b ite .

'W hen w e liv ed in th a t l ittl e tr ail er w e used to h ave m ice a ll th e

tim e . W e ' dget th at s tic ky p ap er a nd w e 'd g e t like tw o o r th ree a

n i gh t, h e s aid. -

Even w here w e la id , th e re w ere m ous es g o in g o n to p o fus an d

a ro un d us . It w as kin d o f g ro ss, S te v en a add ed .

Th e Blazer , w h ic h r ea lly isn 't a B la ze r b ut a s im ilar-sty le v eh i-

c le , m ig ht n ot h ave been m uch , b ut a t lea s t it w as m ouse-fr ee . A ft e r

B ra nd on w a s b orn , th ey slep t there. W e 'd jus t th row ou r b l a nke ts

d ow n an d. p ut h im in the m id d le , Bri an sa id .

Tha t w as in the w inter , w h ile S teven a 's dad w as repai r in g a

h og an th a t had b een d am ag ed by fi re so they w o uld hav e a h om e. It

w as b urn ed from the sto ve a ll th e w ay dow n to the d oe r . The w a l ls

w ere kin d o f ap a rt an d it lo oked bad , sh e sa id .

T ho ug h th ere is a Na va jo ta bo o a ga in s t liv in g in b urn ed -out

structur es , 'W e had no cho ice because w e had now here e ls e to liv e .

M y dad w an ted so me so rt o f sh elte r fo r m y so n . I w as hap py th a t h e

w as build in g th is . W e don 't h ave n o m ice , but w e do h ave a lo t o f

bugs in he re , sh e -sa id . Th ey fi xed tha t by ta p in g a ll th e seam s

w h ere the w a ll s an d c eilin g c om e to g eth er w ith red p l as ti c t ap e .

L ik e D e n is e 's tr a iler , th e ho g an is p ow ere d by an exte n si o n co rd

un n in g f ro m S teven a 's p a ren ts ' hou s e.

I t's h ard to liv e like th is because so metimes w e h ave to use e le c -

tric ity an d th en som e tip le s exte ns i on co rd s burn out a rid it's h ard fo r

us to g et e xte nsio n c ord s to hav e lig h ts . .

Ne ithe r D en ise n or S tev en a hav e run n in g w a te r, so c oo kin g a nd

b a th i ng take s p lace a t th eir p a ren ts ' ho us e , T he w a te r hea te r w o r e

o ut a c oup le y ea rs ag o, S te ven a sa id , so the re isn o ho t w a te r .

'W e hav e to take turn s a t the s t ove-an d so m etim es m y m om run s

o ut o f p rop a n e an d w e end up usin g a sm a ll e lectri c s tove to to o k

o n. O nly o n e burn e r w o rks so w e a ll h ave to take turns co oki n g a t

di ffe re nt h ours , Den ise sa id ..

H er b oy frie nd has o n ly been ab le to fin d w ork o n e day a w ee k.

Th e .fa m il y basi ca lly subs is ts o n ju st o v e r 300 a m on th from TANF

an d Fo od S tam p s.

Desp i te the ha rdsh i p s, Den is e sa id he r c h il dr en a re do in g w ell in

sc h o o l; excep t fo r M is ae l, w h o c on tra cte d h eli co ba c te r p yh ri , a b ac -

te r iolog ica l d iseas e b e tte r kn ow n as H . py lo r i. He sp en t tw o m o n ths


5/9

in the ho~i~ ~ ~t~~h ic l;.

~ : .,i~ . . ;o;~.~ .

$ ;:: = . . .

~:~: ~-6*_,.he lp , Yo u n eed a b ette r liv in g

, . . ... ..' ;; .. ,.,:,,~ ,~ '. ~ -= .,.;, ,,-~ -i.:. :. '--, . :~~- .. ..: .. - ? - :~ - .- - :~ . s itu a tio n.' I sa id ; 'Well , h el p

TOP:Bbb 'J imBenf l~,ttW a~ches television wi. th J~y.d~riMeyers in the hom ~ o f Ir en e G~o rg e .n ie then . If y ou g uy s =c o n -

Georg e 's h om e serves-as th e cen te r o f family

ac t i v i t y .

BOVE TbeAlmeida/Zapeda sb oys cem ed abo ut it, h e lp m e .

p lay a g am e oUag fo o tba ll in th e d irt lo t in fro n t b f th e ir hom e . (Pho to s b y B rian Leddy) Tha t's w ha t I to ld he r. .


6/9

t H E TRUTH W EL L rO LD

en

n

THIR

~VOICESiHEAR

. ~ . -~-

.

, . . Diego Robfes/ForThe Iridep~ndE)rit

Thomas Cody, chapter president of t.eupp-Iocal residents and leaders of Black Falls, Ariz., listen to a speech by suspended

President Joe Shirley Jr. on Saturday. ' . .

The Independenf.....:. all N M . .

up . . - Tuesday, December 8, 2009 '


7/9

:s.--

~ S b i r l e y c g e t s a

a g S e o t B o I S p r i D g ~

President

Sandoval sitin onmeeting

. -. -

By Kathy Heims

D i n e Bureau

B

LACK FALLS,Ariz. --;-Pauline Lefthand,AOj heard-the-news ' '--

-.';'}hat Navajo Na~ion PresidentJoe Shirley Jr.~d hi~staffwe.re

., ',. , supposed to be mBox Spnng Dec.

5.

Yeah,'flght;'r':-'s)ie-, -:

thought Hes 'not going to have time for us way out here. , , -

She bad never met the president. ''I-just mew hisvoice.on the, radio.

I

was really happy and, surprised at the same time t o see.himi she said.

It didn't matter to her that lie was oil administrative leave or that Vice

President Ben Shelly had-just fired the president's chief of

staffPatrick .

Sandoval. -,

,When

I

walked in and he was sitting there,

right

away:ithifme:

'Oh, my gosh. what am

I

going to do if they tell me to speak? What do

I

say to him?' If really broke my heart when he said he didn't have time

for me, .Lefthand said. '

It

was not that the president didn't want to listen.

Hew ~s

pressed for

.time because he had to leave by-n oon to be at Upper Fruitland Chapter '

by 4 p . m . The Box Spring meeting started more-than' anhour late arid

introductions and welcoming remarks took nearly another' hour, Ie av in g

the president only 3'0minutes to pitch his government reform initiative

.and.listen to .comments. '

When he tried to leave, the president foundhims~lf a captive audi ..

ence as Lefthand - like many in attendance who-have-a list of iilnesses - ,

Diego Aobles/For TIle Independent

a mile long -decided to share herstory anyway: At least'nowhe ' '

knows there's.another one ofus out here that needs help, she said. , Af te r .hea r inq testimony from-the F o r g o t te n P eqp le c m d

. Leftband told the president that she had been a very healthy person local.residents who had n tch o ic e but to dr ink'a rs e n ic

until 2004 when her kidneys failed and she ended uIJon dialysis. I was

a n d

uranium-contaminated water from

Box, Spr ing

w ells , N av a jo P re s id en t J o e S hir le y J r 'o g lv ,.e s ) l s pe ec h

See Box Spring, PageS

,-Cc

~,~.:~~t~cj~y-.~,-~ ~.'.~:, ,',', ,.

,

Thelndependent-


8/9

,

: f

D ie go R ob le S F o r T h e In d e p en c ; len t

Myrtle Yellowhorse gives her husband Hubert a look during a speech by Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley .J rs ln Black

Falls, An z., on Saturday.' ', __~..___ _~, ..

c -- -- ..-

t.

If

1 1

:l

s

I

f

T he ln de p e n d e n t -G a l' NM - _ - - .

,, - IUp.

,-'-'-Saturday,

D e c e m b e r

5,2009-


9/9

~()~:'-REi ~f:;

ontinued from Page

there until 2007 when one of

my daughters gave up her kid-

n ey for me. From there I

thought things were goingto

be good, but it actually just

went downhill.

To th is day I'm fighting

kidney disease,

I

ave high

blood pressure. Anything that

you can name, Iave it, she

said - diabetes, liver prob-

lems, rheumatoid arthritis. She

. takes up to 30pills

it

day.

Without it,

I

on't think

I

will ever see my family again.

Itruggle day in, day out. It's

just like climbing a hill, not

knowing what's going to hap-

pen next.

She told the president she

needs a home and running

water on the reservation.

Because of her medical condi-

tions she currently resides in

Winslow where she has to pay

. rent and high utility bills

because she doesn't know

when she might have a

seizure. As it was, she ended

up in the hospital Sunday with

an infection.and was released

Monday.

I know you're in a hurry. I

heard you, she told the presi-

dent. And Iwas sitt ing here

going, 'Oh, no, somebody else

that doesn't want to hear my

story.' It would have hurt real- .

ly bad if you had walked out.

~ . . ---- --:

- .s .~ ;-; . ~

f--

.: 2._~- :-~ __ -,

Like many at the meeting,

Lefthand grew up in Box

Spring drinking the water

from the time she was born

until she went away-to school

in Utah at age 9. When she

came home on breaks she con-

tinued todrink the water. It

was only-recently that resi-

dents learned it was contami-

nated with uranium and

arsenic.

To date, she does not 'know

whether the water might have

caused or contributed to her

health problems because there

have not been any comprehen-

sive health studies.

Lefthand adopted her-niece,

Pamela Manygoats, 22, when

she was 3 months old, In

December 2007 Manygoats

donated a kidney so her

mom would no longer need

dialysis. -

She had

hyp er tens ion,

That made her kidneys fail

and they told her that she was

going to have to be on dialysis

for the rest of her life. She

~used to come home crying,

telling me how bad it was with

the needles and just sitting

there thinking about what's

'going to happen next, Many-

goats said.

Lefthand was approved for.

a transplant, but when she

asked one of her sisters, she

was turned down. She got

sicker and was in and out of

the hospital, Manygoats said.

. I was the one sitting by her

side, Imissed school for her. I

did anything Iould just to be

by her side. And oue day,

I

just said, 'You know what,

she's my mom.

Manygoats asked her what'

someone would have to do to

get approved for a transplant.

Lefthand said,

'W11y,

do you

have somebody?' Isaid, 'Yes,

I think I know s omebod y, ?

Lefthand told the clinic, they

se n t the papers to Manyg o a rs

and she signed

the papers

without letting her mom know.

I used to travelfrom here

to Phoenix tw o times a month

for tests to see

if

I was com-

patible w ith her. It took test

after test after test. Finally I

gar the news and they said,

'When do you want to come

in - both of you?'

I

was like,

'December. Iwant it to be a

surprise. '

At the clinic they told Left-

band they needed her paper-

w o rk in - case they h ad a donor,

She didn't think: an yo n e was

going to donate,

Manygoa ts

said. And then one day we

.told her. I said, 'I'm going to

have to

IlO

down to Phoenix.'

and she was like

' \ :> i 1 1 1 Y ? ' I . '

said. 'Because Im donating

my

kidney to you.' -

She got so excited. The

smile on her face was just joy-

ful. We all packed upwent

down there and went through .

the procedure, which Many-

goats descnbed as frightening.

But just to see her mom happy

and not going to dialysis three

times a week was worth it.

She didn't see my brother

grow up. She was in and out

ofthe

hospital. ... Jt was rough

tunes, up and down, And then

recently Igot sick.

She was seven months

pregnant

wh e n

she went to the

hospital Sept. 4 and was diag-

nosed 'with swine flu. I

remember going to Winslow

Memorial and two weeks later

Iwoke up in Phoenix. My

boyfriend was by my side. He

told me, 'You had the baby.

They took

h im

out because

your heart rate was going

down, his was going up, and .

you weren't going to make

it. ,,,

She suffered heart failure,

was on a ventilator, had 20

IV's including one in her

head. and is still under a doc-

tor's 'care, but she and her son

both made it. He was only 3

pounds, 2 ounces when he w as

born, Manygo a ts said. Satur-

day, he turned 3 months old.

We used to stay down here

with my grandma in Box

Spring. My whole family grew

up drinking this water.

The Indeperident-Gallup N.M.-Saturday,

i

)ecembe~Oe9-

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12/5/09 BF Living on the Edge AND President Shirley Gets a Dose of Box Springs

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