LibGuides: Monument Project: Bennett Freeze

Bennett Freeze

Healing v Jones, US District Court, Arizona Decision, 1962
US District Court of Arizona decision that there should be a "Joint Use Area" for Hopi & Navajo tribes, but tensions continued, eventually leading to the 1966 Bennett Freeze.
Senate Floor Speech on April 21, 2009 advocating for repeal of the Bennett Freeze

Robert Bennett Speech 1966
White House News Release on Robert Bennett 1966
Navajo Nation Tribal Council Resolution on Boundaries, 1957
Issued in response to a proposal in the 1957-1957 congressional session (SB 962 and HR 3789). This bill did not pass.
Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-531)
To provide for final settlement of the conflicting rights and interests of the Hopi and Navajo Tribes to and in lands lying within the joint use area of the reservation established by the Executive order of December 16, 1882, and lands lying within the reservation created by the Act of June 14, 1934, and for other purposes.

Healing v Jones Federal Court Ruiling, 1962
*The court ruled that the Hopi and Navajo had joint, undivided use of the land outside of District 6, a smaller area within the reservation reserved for the Hopi.
*This decision became a foundation for later legislation, particularly the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974, which sought to resolve land use conflicts stemming from the shared occupancy ruling.