Black Mesa Solidarity T-Shirt
Last year marked 50 years of an ongoing
Native resistance at Black Mesa/Big Mountain.
This year sheep camp is around the corner. Shearing season is here and lasts all through May. This is also a time of planting, washing and wool working, repair and other ongoing tasks such as sheep herding
Your purchase acknowledges this ongoing 50-year-long struggle against relocation and Peabody's now defunct mines. All proceeds from these shirts will go directly to Dine people continuing to resist relocation.
PLEASE SELECT YOUR PRICE AND SIZE. You can buy a shirt for the base price of $30, or you can pay *more* for the same shirt but make an additional monetary donation by doing so.
WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
Elders and families of Big Mountain / Black Mesa continue to sustain their traditional Diné life ways in the face of the devastating effects of colonial land theft and coal mining. The 1974 Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act redrew the boundaries of the Hopi and Navajo Reservations, which displaced hundreds of Hopi and 10,000 - 15,000 Dine. These borders reflected the colonial government's collusion with massive resource extraction.
However, hundreds families refused to leave their ancestral lands, which span 900,000 acres and 20 Diné communities. More than 50 years later, the coal mines are defunct, but the pressure to relocate remains.
These pressures include: livestock restrictions, threats and intimidation from law enforcement and government agencies, lack of running water and impacts of climate change.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
A portion of funds raised will go toward camp expenses, primarily shears and shearing related supplies. The majority of funds raised will go directly to families who are resisting relocation, in the form of cash or supplies to be distributed during this season.
We also use these funds to buy raw wool from our hosts. We then resell this wool (mostly raw), and all funds from resale go back into our ongoing mutual aid fund that supports families year round. Any funds not used during this camp will also move to our mutual aid fund.
