This Page and those linked to it are dedicated to the memory, bravery, and legacy of Dine'h Elder and spiritual leader Roberta Blackgoat and to the preservation of her memory and her home site for the rightful heirs to her legacy.

The pages in this series contain statements and photos of Roberta Blackgoat, as well as photos of Roberta's home site taken by SENAA members during what would prove to be our last visit with her. These are only a few of the statements made by Roberta Blackgoat regarding the human rights violations and attempted relocation of Dine'h from their rightful ancestral homes. It is not intended to be a comprehensive collection. 

It is the intention of this collection to offer some insight into the values and dedication that Roberta Blackgoat embodied. Hopefully it will also show the importance of preserving the home site of this beloved woman who has become an icon of spiritual strength to her fellow resisters and to countless people around the world who have stood in support of the Dine'h Big Mountain relocation resistance. Roberta Blackgoat's work is an inseparable part of the history of that resistance. Likewise, her home site is an historic and historical landmark that should be preserved as part of that area's history.

Included in this tribute are the opening statement of SENAA West councilman and former director Matt Davison, and that of present-day director Sara Hayes, both of which appear on SENAA West's home page. Their words are as pertinent now as when they were written. These statements and the resources of SENAA International we now rededicate to the memory of Roberta Blackgoat and to the support of the Dine'h resistance that inspired them. It has been with Roberta Blackgoat's guidance and with no less determination that SENAA International has entered into this battle against the Beast In America for the preservation of all Indigenous American cultures, life ways, human rights, and spiritual freedom.

The battle of the Dine'h resistance is the battle of every Indigenous American and First Nation. Its outcome will determine the outcome of future relocation attempts against other First Nations, communities, and families for the sake of corporate greed and the self-serving interests of the Beast In America.

Furthermore, if the Beast In America is allowed to get away with its human rights violations against even a small group of Indigenous Americans, it is only a matter of time until the human rights of every minority will be routinely and maliciously violated by other agencies of the government that claims to defend those rights.

The purpose behind the BIA-Peabody-owned Hopi Tribal Council's intentions to demolish Roberta Blackgoat's home site is nothing short of psychological warfare, an attempt to break the spirits of remaining Dine'h resisters by destroying every reminder of the woman who has become for them a cultural icon and a symbol of spiritual strength and perseverance against the Destroyer Of the Indigenous.

Moreover, the Beast's claim to the land is nothing less than government sanctioned armed robbery of Roberta Blackgoat's rightful heirs.

Based on the lie called the "Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute," a lie contrived by lawyers who were paid and instructed by Peabody Coal and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and presented to U.S. courts as truth, the Beast In America is proclaiming by its actions that its authority is superior to that of Creator. The Beast declares that it has the power to forcibly remove the People from the land that Creator entrusted to their care. As Creator passed the care for the land from Roberta Blackgoat's parents to her, the care for that land now rightfully belongs to Roberta's children and grandchildren. Through fraud, lies, and deceit, the Beast now claims that it is the new heir to the Blackgoat children's birthright. The Beast In America declares with both word and deed that it has taken authority away from Creator and that Creator's will is now inferior and subject to the will of the Beast In America.

SENAA International, like Roberta Blackgoat and Dine'h resisters, refuses to recognize the authority of the Beast In America to contradict the will of Creator. We will always recognize that Creator's authority is superior to any claims of authority that any government or government agency might presume to possess.

Roberta Blackgoat was the one person whom the Beast In America (BIA) could not defeat, the one voice the BIA could not silence. She had become, in every sense, the true Nemesis of the Beast In America: the voice of divine retribution holding the Beast responsible for its actions; the voice of reason, right, truth, and trust in Creator amid the BIA-Peabody greed, lies, deception, threats, and hypocrisy; the enemy that the Beast could not conquer. Because Roberta Blackgoat could not be defeated by the Beast, she gave hope, strength, inspiration, and direction to the other Big Mountain relocation resisters and to all who supported them. She showed that spiritual strength is the ultimate strength. Together the resisters have stood firm and immovable against the Beast and its minions largely because of the courage they drew from Roberta Blackgoat's example. For that reason, the Beast now feels the need to destroy the home site of its fiercest opponent, as if eradicating her home site can ever erase her memory or diminish the power of her influence.

Roberta Blackgoat's home site is an historically important site as it now stands, but it is also a holy place. As he did for the woman herself, Creator blessed that land and put his hand of protection upon it for as long as Roberta Blackgoat lived. She has done what Creator put her here to do and is now in her spiritual home. Her home site at Thin Rock Mesa is a memorial to her strength and a reminder that Creator will protect those who continue to seek and do his will until their tasks here are finished and they are called to their spiritual homeland. 

Roberta's home site reminds us that this battle against the Beast In America is ultimately a spiritual battle. We are not wrestling against men but against principalities and powers; against the spirits of darkness in high places. What happens on the spiritual plane is reflected in the physical world. Roberta Blackgoat would not allow the Beast to destroy her spirit or force her to compromise her spiritual values or her duty to Creator. In turn, Creator would not allow the Beast to destroy her earthly home or bring harm to her physical body. Creator took Roberta Blackgoat on His own terms, in a dignified way, and denied the Beast the satisfaction of claiming any victory whatsoever over her.

The Beast puts the Blackgoat home site on the same level as the Camp Anna Mae Sun Dance ground. Both are sites of intense spiritual energy. The Beast reasons that the destruction of the Blackgoat home site will have an impact toward breaking the will of Dine'h resisters that the destruction of Camp Anna Mae failed to achieve.

What the Beast failed to learn from its illegal destruction of Camp Anna Mae is that the destruction of the site, while greatly saddening and a blatant infringement of Dine'h rights to the free exercise of religion and to peaceably assemble, only served to temper Dine'h will rather than break it. Creator, in His wisdom, has structured this battle in such a way that no matter how the Beast In America tries to break the will of Dine'h and their supporters, it will only serve to strengthen our resolve and further the cause as long as we seek to do Creator's will with the same undoubting faith that Roberta Blackgoat demonstrated. 

Finally, what the Beast In America and its minions have neglected to take into account is that every soul involved in the destruction of our holy places will be held accountable by Creator. Their tactics certainly will not force the People to abandon their duty to Creator and bow before the Beast In America and the Destroyers Of the Indigenous. Roberta Blackgoat's memory and home site will serve as symbols of that resolve.

Roberta Blackgoat won her war with the Beast. So can we. That is Roberta Blackgoat's legacy to us all.

Al Swilling, Founder
SENAA International