European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 24, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Mav of Jimmy Smith and Lorette store Tondin front of their dilapidated Home on disputed and in Arizona. Hop and Navajo indians stalemated in old Battle Over land and tradition by William f. Ravson the associated press Tea Begay walks to the nearest store a round trip of about eight Miles nearly every Day to buy ice for the two plastic picnic coolers that serve As her family s refrigerator. Like hundreds of other Navajo Indian families caught up in a land dispute Between their tribe and the neighbouring Hopes the Belays live without electricity or Telephone. They be been prevented by Federal Law for More than 25 years from repairing or improving their property near tuba qty ariz., without permission from both tribes. A110-year-old standoff has forced hundreds of navajos and scores of Hopes from their traditional Homes while More than 600 Navajo holdouts defiantly continue to live on land Congress has awarded the Hopes. Despite years of negotiations Legal Battles in the Federal courts and a series of congressional acts the dispute seems no closer to Resolution. A court order that would have ended the enforced squalor surrounding the Belays and their neighbors is on hold pending Appeal. And a mediated settlement that would have put millions of Federal dollars and thousands of acres of Public land into settling the Overall dispute collapsed this summer apparently sending the matter Back to court. The fight Over a slice of northeastern Arizona High country has its roots in an 1882 order by president Arthur that Drew a 2.5 million acre area on the map for the hopi and such other indians As tiie Secretary of the Interior May see fit to Settle  navajos Lay claim to part of the area which is an Island in their 14.8 million acre reservation that spreads across parts of Arizona new Mexico and Utah. Years of litigation Between the tribes reduced the size of the hopi reservation and created a joint use area of nearly 2 million acres which Congress partitioned Between the tribes in 1974. Approximately 2,000 Navajo families As Many As 8,000 individuals and about 160 Hopes found themselves on the wrong Side of the new boundaries. Relocation of the Hopes traditionally Village dwellers and Farmers was accomplished with relative ease. But for the navajos who made their meager living primarily by herding sheep and lived in far Flung family Camps the relocation would not be so easy. Almost 20 years after the land was partitioned hundreds of Navajo families still have not moved and Many say they will never leave the land voluntarily. A census completed in 1989 found 283 Navajo families or 615 people living full time on the hopi land. Another 317 families or 952 people were listed As part time residents. Both tribes claim Strong cultural an spiritual ties to the land where both have lived for Many generations. The Hopes have a covenant to keep this area sacred not Only for the hopi people but for All people says Vernon Masayesva the hopi tribal chairman. It is a spiritual a religious  the hopi tradition and religion Are tied to the land in a Way that s hard for non indians to understand. Our physical existence in t on the land says hopi rancher and businessman Ferrell Sekakuku a leading hard liner on the land dispute. But we still farm. We still go out and gather objects for religious ceremony purposes. The land is supposed to provide a Way for the  on the other Side Are people like Louise Benally one of Many traditional navajos who say religion including an abiding attachment to sacred ancestral continued on Page 21 Short subject tips and Cliff hangers for . Strap hangers by James Barron the new York times our Story so tar As seen in 6,000 new York. City subway cars above the windows and Between the advertisements Tor Hemo Rhoid hernia and foot doctors 4ulto and Marisol run into each other while visiting Raul Rodriguez who is in the Hospital with aids. They apologize for the big quarrel several episodes Back when Julio refused to use a condom and walked out. Their Romance rekindled they leave Raul s room to get som Coffee and talk things Over. Suddenly Rosa bursts in. I m scared she tells Raul. I a. I a. I m .  As Julio and Marisol return Raul asks Rosa have you told Julio coming soon to a subway near you the next episode of decision the new yory Cit health department s comic strip for. Strap hangers that is one part steamy soap opera one part language instruction and two parts aids education  appears in English and Spanish versions and translating the five episodes so far has become a regular assignment in som English programs for Spanish speaking people the strip s target  health department has also put the first four episodes in a comic Book that it gives free of charge to the Public and while it is riot exactly the Dallas or dynastyo1 the 1990s, decision does seem to have prompted its share of water cooler chitchat among other subway riders too. It does keep aids As an Issue top of mind said a decision ten Deborah Gaines of Manhattan. I think it s valuable for that reason for reminding people every morning on the Way to work that aids is an Issue in the heterosexual Community As Well As in the homosexual Community and that it crosses ethnic  distinguishes Julio from Superman and Marisol from say Lois Lane is the very Issue of. Vulnerability. The Man of steel survived armageddon like Battles with nary a rip in his Cape. Julio seems to think he is Invulnerable but aids May change his Outlook. That concern about a dark future overshadows the breathless questions that decision leaves its fans to wonder will Julio and Marisol finally go to bed together will they use a condom and who is Rosa anyway an what win Julio Tell Marisol about her the woman with the answers is an Stemberg a health department official who used to be an Abc news documentary producer. Now she presides Over Story conferences and worries about sustaining the strip s dramatic pacing while presenting a serious Public health message. Decision Iii and decision a got a Little heavy slow she said. They needed More action to sustain the interest. In decision a we be returned to slamming doors the Cliffhanger. I had to go Back and watch this stuff on to to get the intensity the drama the inspiration we  she also had to read the mail. The last Frame of decision invited readers to Send in their plot suggestions. More than 100 did. Most people were pretty  she said. They wanted reconciliation with  tin Stais and Stupe wednesday november 24, 1993 19