Friday, March 29, 2024

2008 Beauty Way Tour Big Mountain Benefit

October 28, 2008 by  
Filed under Action Alerts

2008 Beauty Way Tour, Big Mountain Benefit
In Support of the Annual Thanks Giving Food Run to Big Mountain

When: Starting 6 PM, Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
Where:  Seaman’s Lodge, Pioneer Park, Nimrod Street, Nevada City, CA
Who: Clan Dyken, Warcry, all nations drum group, Somer Moon, Kimberly Bass, Earth Rhythm Dancers and Drummers, and George Scroeder, silent auction and raffle
Admission:  Suggested Donation, Salmon and vegetarian Dinner, $8.00, Music $10, No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Information: Local Benefit, Darlene Markey 530-265-8561, 292-9000  popeye859@yahoo.com, www.clandyken.com

Clan Dyken
2008 Beauty Way Tour
Seamen’s: Lodge, Pioneer Park, Nevada City, CA, 2008
In Support of The Annual Thanks Giving Support Run to Big Mountain

Funky folk activist group,  Clan Dyken, playing their self-styled brand of “world rebel music” from California’s Calaveras County is pleased to perform at the Annual Big Mountain Benefit at Seamen’s Lodge, Nevada City.  The Big Mountain Benefit is part of the Beauty Way tour, which  raises funds for the annual Thanksgiving food, firewood and supply run to the Dineh People of Arizona.

Members of the band, and supporters from around the world, travel to the Big Mountain Region of North East Arizona to support the mostly elderly and traditional Dineh-Navajo folks who have been facing forced relocation from ancestral homelands since the passage of the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974.   For 17 years, Clan Dyken has actively supported the Dineh by bringing food and supplies, fire wood and labor to the high desert plateau.  The Beauty Way concerts raise funds and awareness of the issue and help to recruit volunteers to make the journey.

Big Mountain is a sacred mountain in Northern Arizona inhabited by the Dineh (Navajo) and the Hopi peoples. In the past, the land was lived on side by side by the Hopi and Navajo. In 1974, much of this region was granted to the Hopi tribe by the U.S. Government. This act was called the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974 and was influenced by Peabody Coal Company, who needed an entity to pay mining royalties to. This act called for the relocation of approximately 10,000 Dineh from all Northern Arizona lands destined to be mined or affected by coal mining. Many people relocated. Some remained on what is now called, “Hopi Partition Lands.” Then, in the year 2000, after a long legal battle, and faced with eminent and forced relocation, some Dineh signed an “Accommodation Agreement.” This agreement allowed the Dineh to live, with conditions, on Hopi Partition Lands. For many, those conditions have been difficult.

Currently, only about 100 Dineh families and elders remain in the Big Mountain Area. The Dineh that are left do not receive assistance from the US govt. They primarily live off their sheep, small garden plots, and income sent by family members. They are mostly traditional elders, who speak the native language and maintain the culture with stories, songs, ceremonies and a lifestyle that is tied to the land.  They simply do not want to leave their ancestral homes. The Dineh do not live in villages, like their Hopi neighbors.  They prefer wide open spaces with distance between homesteads.  This makes delivery and visiting with the people important and difficult. The journey is bittersweet, fun, heartfelt hard work with a severe reminder of how our native cultures are disappearing.

Tsi Akim Maidu Chairmen Don Ryburg, uplifting Earth Rhythm Dancers and Drummers, Folk singer George Schroder, Melodic Kimberly Bass, Big Mountain supporter and songwriter, Somer Moon, and an all nations drum group from Chico, Warcry, will join Clan Dyken in this spirited evening of fun, food and dance.

For in depth information, interviews or concert scheduling contact:  Mark Dyken 209-736-6736 or mark@clandyken.com Check out the following websites, www.clandyken.com. www.supportblackmesa.org, www.aic.org, www.voicesofthepeople.org

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