Hopi chairman says he will resign Dec. 31

 

A fter yet another tumultuous tribal council meeting had to be recessed early, Hopi Chairman Benjamin Nuvamsa on Tuesday announced his intention to resign his post effective Dec. 31.

He challenged Vice Chairman Todd Honyaoma, with whom he has been at odds almost since taking office, to do the same.

Honyaoma did not answer his office phone Tuesday.

Some of Nuvamsa's supporters pointed out the resignation didn't come during the meeting and the council hasn't accepted the resignation. They said they hoped to persuade the embattled chairman to reconsider.

Nuvamsa had crafted a memorandum to the council announcing his resignation, but never got a chance to read it. The meeting immediately hit a stalemate over the Dec. 3 seating of Sipaulovi's elected representatives to replace representatives appointed by representatives of the Bear Clan.

Supporters of the Bear Clan appointees challenged the elected councilmen, saying they were seated without a quorum. Nuvamsa had decided at the Dec. 3 meeting that, as the selection of representatives was a village matter and the council had turned the matter over to Sipaulovi Village to resolve, a quorum wasn't needed.

The elected representatives had been certified by a member of the One Horn Society, which traditionally has the right to appoint a Sipaulovi representative to the council, although members of the Bear Clan are also considered spiritual leaders in Sipaulovi.

When the matter grew heated and there appeared to be no immediate solution, Nuvamsa recessed the meeting indefinitely just an hour after it started.

He then met with his supporters in his office and handed them the memorandum that was intended for the council.

In the statement, Nuvamsa says he is stepping down to settle the "turmoil in the past two years that affected every member of this tribe."

The meeting with his supporters had to be moved to the Hopi Cultural Center as tribal police gathered in front of the council chambers, trying to decide whether they should arrest the chairman for violating a restraining order.

Tribal secretary Mary Felter had filed for the order, requiring Nuvamsa to stay at least 100 yards away from her. It is in connection with an assault charge pending against the chairman for allegedly yelling at the secretary and leaning toward her during a break in the Dec. 2 council meeting.

Felter had not attended Tuesday's meeting, but reportedly was in her office, less than 100 yards from Nuvamsa's.

Since Nuvamsa was elected in February 2007 to serve out the remaining term of ousted chairman Ivan Sidney, a faction of the council has continually tried to oust him, first for allegedly not residing on the reservation and then for seating First Mesa council delegates who weren't approved by their village kikmongwi (religious leader) as specified in the Hopi Constitution.

Nuvamsa challenged the council in court and won on the residency issue. A court challenge to a Sept. 22 council resolution suspending him is still pending, but meanwhile the council has removed all three Hopi Appellate Court justices.

After the meeting, several Nuvamsa supporters begged Hopi Agency BIA Superintendent Wendell Honahni to step in, but Honahni said he didn't see a way the BIA could intervene without taking sides.

"There's two sides to every story, and the other side is telling me they're making positive changes," he said.

He did promise to confer with his staff on possible ways to "stabilize the government."

In his written statement, Nuvamsa urged the Hopi and Tewa people to look at the current impasse as "an opportunity to reshape our tribal government to one that can be accountable to the people."

He called for an immediate revision of the Hopi Constitution to restore "checks and balances."

He told his supporters he didn't want to let them down, but resignation seems the only option at this point.

"We're dealing with lawless people who just do whatever they want," he said. "We've exhausted all our remedies."

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