By Cindy Yurth
Tséyi' Bureau


(Times photo - Cindy Yurth)

Martin Vosseler, 59, a retired doctor from Switzerland, is walking across the United States to promote renewable energy and climate change awareness. Vosseler will be at the Day's Inn in St. Michaels, Ariz., until Saturday, when he will start walking toward Gallup.

DEFIANCE PLATEAU, Ariz., Feb. 21, 2008

That wiry bilagáana you saw pulling the little wheeled cart along Route 264 the past few days is not a homeless person.

Meet Martin Vosseler: retired physician, Guinness Book record-holder, climate crusader.

Meet him, please - that's what he's here for. Or at least check out his Web site, www.martinvosseler.ch.

Vosseler is walking across the United States- and, at the moment, the Navajo Nation - to promote awareness of climate protection, renewable energy and energy efficiency.

But don't worry, he's not preaching doom. He wholeheartedly believes the earth's people will rally to reverse global warming, led, he hopes, by the Americans.

"We will make it," he says, his smile fracturing his weathered 59- year-old face into pleasant ravines. "I am sure we can do it. We can do it together."

Vosseler is not just some pie-in-the-sky guy either. When he says, "We can make it," it's because he's already shown the way.

A few years ago, Vosseler and four buddies crossed the Atlantic in a boat powered entirely by solar panels. They were the first humans to do so, landing a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The secret, he says, is very, very efficient motors.

"We crossed the Atlantic on 1,700 watts," he said. "That's about the power of a hairdryer."

Vosseler is counting on American engineers - whom he considers the world's most innovative - to come up with ultra-efficient engines to harness the wind and the sun.

"If we could get every engine to 90 percent efficiency," he maintains, "there would be more than enough renewable energy to power the world."

The only reason it hasn't happened yet, he said, is because all the world's energy is in the hands of a few giant corporations, and Planet Earth has yet to become an "energy democracy."

"It's understandable that those who hold the monopoly don't want to let go of that," he shrugged. "But they'll have too. We're almost out of oil."

Vosseler practices what he preaches. He got to the U.S. from Switzerland on a cargo ship - much more energy-efficient than flying, he says, although the rough crossing occasionally made him wish he were miles above the Atlantic instead of right on its surface.

From Boston, he made his way to California by train - a 68-hour ride that was "just beautiful."

It's taken him seven weeks to walk from Los Angeles through the Mohave Desert to the Grand Canyon, Tuba City, through Hopi just in time for the Bean Dance, and now into Diné Bikéyah.

From here he goes to Gallup, south to Texas, on to Tennessee where he'll walk a few miles with former vice president Al Gore, then on the Washington, D.C., and ultimately Boston - "my second home." He did a fellowship at Harvard back in the '80s.

Every so often, Vosseler stops for a few days to update his blog and download a few pictures. At the moment, for example, he's at the Day's Inn in St. Michaels, Ariz., so if you live in the area and would like to invite him to speak to your group, this is your chance.

He can be reached by email at vosolar@gmx.net.

Vosseler says he's been overwhelmed by American hospitality - "I could have 30 rides a day," he says, but of course he politely declines. He will accept offers to pitch his tent in your yard for the night.

But if you see a tanned, lean bilagáana walking and singing a tune, do wave to him.

"I wave to everyone, and four out of five people wave back," he said. "It gives me a little boost to keep going."

Talk about renewable energy.

Uranium monsters once again approach

Have the monsters returned? The monsters from the stories of our ancestors who tried to destroy the people are once again approaching Diné Bi Keyah.

Recent news of a mining company that has applied for permits to dig on Navajoland for uranium has surfaced. The monsters are lurking, be advised, be aware.

It's funny how we find things out. As a great admirer of the printed news across the United States, I am always amazed on what the world outside the Navajo Reservation knows about us. I was searching the Internet and came across a Feb. 12, 2008, editorial letter on the online version of the New York Times. The letter was titled, "The Cold War Threat to the Navajo."

Before I even read the article I knew my previous suspicions were correct: the uranium hungry monsters are once again making their way toward our precious Dinétah.

On several occasions I have had conversations with people about the state of the global community and specifically about the ways that war is terrorizing the homelands of the world's people.

In the Middle East the ancestral people are witness to the ravaging of their sacred lands to weapons made to destroy. In Africa the tribal people can only stand and watch their lands being blown up and destroyed all in the name of war.

And here, on the sovereign Navajo lands, our keyah is being sold and mutilated for America's hunger for coal.

Our Navajo ancestors, who suffered great heartbreak and cried many tears of homesickness when they were taken from their homeland, always maintained great reverence for Dinétah. They continually prayed for their return to their birthplace because they understood the need for keeping the connection strong, the people + the land = balance, wholeness to the people.

In the 21st century the thought of our Navajo leaders is quite different. I feel they only see the ways the land is just another "thing" to use, to profit from. I feel our Navajo leaders have forgotten how to pray and be respectful to the land, the creation of God.

As a child of modern times, I know that we need money to live, but as a Navajo I know too that money is just paper that can be exchanged, but the land is in my heart.

So, to the Navajo leaders, I say remember where you came from, remember those ancestors who suffered to keep their land intact and un-desecrated, they are the reason we have the land to live on today.

The sad fact is the world outside Diné Bi Keyah wants our land. If we are truly a sovereign nation of people, we need to stay informed and aware of what conversations are taking place that concern us. Choose not to be ignorant about our status in the global community beyond our Navajo Reservation borders.

Take a break from the shiny, air-conditioned floors of Wal-Mart and McDonald's, step outside and take a good look at your land, our land and think about how you can protect it from the monsters.

What part can you play to keep it intact? What can you do to keep it out of the hands of money hungry monsters that would exploit it?

I do not know what the future holds for the Navajo or our precious land, but if the hunger pangs of those uranium hungry monsters outside our rez keep bringing them closer and closer to our borders, be aware that you and I may lose it.

Venaya Yazzie
Farmington, N.M.
(Hometown: Huerfano, N.M.)

_______________________

Darkest days in Navajo history
We are living in one of the darkest days in Navajo history. Our Navajo Nation continues to decline into the midst of a cultural depression and political arrogance.

The nation is deprived of its vision for economic and political progress. Our young and elderly people alike suffer the effects of tribal government socialism.

This tribal government serves at the wish of an administration that has the complete disregard of the Navajo spirit. Many of the Navajo people continue to depend on government social programs, which disenfranchise the ideas of economic progress through capitalism.

Our tribal leaders spend the people's money with a carte blanche mentality. The sovereignty of the Navajo Nation will continue to decline unless we curb the size of government and share a passion for the Navajo constitution.

Our desire and dream to change government is the last beacon of hope. The people's constitution will remove the shackles of government from its citizens.

Today, the Navajo people want leadership and are cautious of their own leaders in Window Rock. The tribal capital personifies the center of corruption and tribal bankruptcy.

The council and the administration speak of cowardly rumors of federal financial mistreatments on a daily basis when they are the ones who misappropriate federal tax dollars. Our tribal leadership continues to illustrate the blame game on Washington when they are to blame as well for neglecting their responsibility to the people.

We seek higher leadership for securing our land, water, minerals, and culture. We hold our family at heart to continue our tribal existence and self-identity. Our land, within the four sacred mountains, holds all elements for maintaining our way of life.

Our elected leaders have a great responsibility for maintaining our sovereignty and we lose a bit of this every day, especially when water rights diminish, state and federal governments trample on Navajo land, Navajo workers fear retaliation in the workplace for questioning their superiors, and when the ordinary person is deprived of economic progress and to petition their government.

My fellow Navajos, we hold a great deal of responsibility to take back our government and constitute a republic of democracy. The people's desire and ambition to liberate their own nation from a welfare state is the key to global success for our nation.

The future of our tribe is in the hands of every Navajo citizen and we must hold the entire burden for the coming struggles of revolutionizing our form of governance.

A transformation to a constitutional democracy will not be easy, but be assured that we can act on such a move together with optimism and faith.

As one nation, we can promote greater change, but as a divided nation we will fall through the endless pit among pessimistic hell.

Ramsey Tohannie
Scottsdale, Ariz.
(Hometown: Tonalea, Ariz.)

_____________________

Where is our tribe headed?
I would like to see the list of councilmen who approved liquor sales at the casinos.

So when I hear them saying, "Listen to the medicine people. Stay alcohol and drug free. Follow our traditional ways. Respect the elders," I'll know their words are not true.

Imagine how confused tribal members are now, especially the younger generation. It is like telling them all that negativity is OK as long as the tribe is making money off it.

Young Jeff Tom states he represents Church Rock Chapter. Well, he does not represent me. He did not come to my house and ask my opinion on the issue. He only comes around during election time.

If I can't make it to his office or to the chapter meeting, suddenly my vote does not count anymore. I'm sure he listens to and visits people who will give him their assurance. Plus, he has the gall to show up at a sobriety powwow.

Another thing, Moreen Kelly also approved it at the chapter level. Isn't she supposed to be on the board of Diné Council of Elders for Peace. That is some type of domestic violence diversion program. Talk about job security.

Doesn't she realize alcohol has direct correlation to domestic violence? Are these types of people running our nation? Wake up people!

However, that is not the point. Many years ago, they came to annihilate us. Our medicine is too strong. They wanted our land and resources. They wanted to change our way of life. We are still here.

With current laws, they can no longer deliberately pursue this. But, every time we do something like this to ourselves, they celebrate a little bit more.

Why spend all that energy on us? We are doing all the work for them. I believe, if we work together, we'll still be here long after they are gone.

Ervin Tsosie
Gallup, N.M.