Its operations, besides diminishing the underground water table and polluting streams, have given no consideration to Dineh groups and sacred sites, according to tribal leaders. The Begay family, whose home was the site of the Feb. 2-3 meeting, lives on lands affected by Peabody's mining. Because the homes are on Hopi Partition Lands, the Begays said they are frequently harassed by Hopi rangers. During their meeting with Amor, the Dineh and several traditional Hopi individuals recounted their spiritual ties to the land, the destruction wreaked by Peabody Coal, partitioning of the area and the relocation policies. Every square inch of land is sacred to us.
Land is our flesh and body.
We don't claim that this is our land. We belong to the Mother Earth. We are children of the land. This is our way of life. Dew and Butcher accompanied other members of the delegation on a tour of several sacred sites and the areas mined by Peabody, and listened to testimony.