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<br />0961
<br />
<br />Session I: Western Water Trends and Directions
<br />
<br />environment: the land itself, the wind, the river and the fire. These are very
<br />sacred to all of us-to the Apaches, particularly, since we live up on a high
<br />mountain that becomes frozen solid sometimes in the wintertime. In the
<br />summertime, it grows trees. .
<br />
<br />Why do we do that? For lack of better words. But in our mind, as we are
<br />thinking, why do we pray in that way? Very little has been said about the
<br />groundwater that recharges the streams that we use up on top. It grows just
<br />about everything that we can think of, even ourselves.
<br />
<br />An old man was talking to me many years ago. He probably was about my
<br />age at that time, and he said to me: "You know, when I walk, there are vast
<br />trees, sixteen million acres. About half of that is yellow pine" (The mainstay
<br />of our economy is the timber operation on our land) He said, "So those trees
<br />can talk to you, they can speak to you, if you come up close. They will call
<br />you. They will tell you, 'Do that again.' You ask, 'Do what again?' 'Throw it
<br />in a different direction, four different directions, and he will appreciate that.'
<br />'Why?'" "Because not too long ago this tree was that big. Look at how big it .
<br />is now. It's a gift that was given to each and every one of us, to respect, to
<br />respect what we use ourselves. Even the stars, they are replenished also."
<br />
<br />So we talked very deep, in an area I have rarely traveled. The philosophy
<br />that he brought to me at that time still sticks with me, and what David said
<br />about conservation, about economy reminds me of so many of those times.
<br />
<br />Yes, we are energetic, as Apaches, of course, but other tribes are, too. There
<br />are heros in every tribe, well-known chiefs, and we take their words, their
<br />thoughts with us today. It still lives with us. It's alive with us.
<br />
<br />We wanted to use water. It's nobody's business but ours. In 1957, which was
<br />not too long ago, we decided to put a dam on a little stream up on the highest
<br />mountain called Holly Lake. Some of you might have been there in recent
<br />times. The Salt River water users and other water interests tried to put a
<br />stop to that. They did everything in the world to stop us. They hauled us
<br />into court, but we continued to work and plan. We hired a construction firm,
<br />who was a friend of ours by the way, and we said at that time, "You may get
<br />into trouble. They may haul you off into court. They may put you in jail,"
<br />because the State of Arizona was pretty hot, and we were determined to
<br />build that Holly Lake, determined to impound that little stream.
<br />
<br />Why? Because of what you see there, survival into the future. The future
<br />was very much on our mind, our children, economy. So at the very last
<br />moment, I was one of the ones who was building that dam. I was not on the
<br />council at that time. My dad was, who no longer lives. The governing body
<br />who initiated it all are no longer alive.
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