Hopi, Navajo nations vote to end compact

A decades-old land dispute between the Hopi and Navajo nations appears near an end after both nations' tribal councils voted in favor of an agreement to end the Bennett Freeze Intergovernmental Compact.

"This is a watershed moment and it portents good things for both tribes," said Navajo Nation Attorney General Louis Denetsosie in a statement. "It's an era of cooperation from here on out, and only good things can happen from this moment. We will have cooperative efforts to rehabilitate the land on the Bennett Freeze."

The next step is for Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr., Hopi Vice Chairman Todd Honyaoma Sr. and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to sign the agreement. Then, a federal district judge must sign the order, Denetsosie said.

The Bennett Freeze Area is about 700,000 acres in the western portion of the Navajo Nation where construction and development has generally been prohibited. The freeze was put in place by an administrative order in 1966 amid a land dispute, in which the Hopi claimed ancestral and religious ties to the land.

The agreement would allow the 20,000 people who live there to develop their land and allow Hopi access to sacred sites.