In 1974, Congress settled a 16-year lawsuit between the Navajo and Hopi nations over which tribe owned nearly 1.8 million acres of land long shared by both groups.

The federal government apportioned the contested land and ordered members of each tribe to leave what was now considered the other tribe’s land. The vast majority of those relocated were Navajos deemed to be living on Hopi land.

 

What resulted was one of the largest and most expensive relocation projects in U.S. history. Over the past four decades, the government has spent at least $575 million relocating more than 3,500 Navajo families.

The largest concentration of relocatees — about 400 families — moved to an area in northeastern Arizona they called the New Lands.

Government officials promised that Navajos moving to the New Lands would have modern houses along with jobs, a hospital, a grocery store and plenty of land to graze sheep and cattle. But residents of the New Lands say the reality has been quite different.

 

Alcohol and drugs became a poisonous salve for some relocatees who were overwhelmed by the stress of moving, paying bills and joblessness. Residents say the preponderance of liquor stores in the area -- and the lack of other businesses -- has been a curse on the New Lands.

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Elders tell stories of their own adult children beating them, of being afraid to leave their houses for fear of being robbed, of being raped. They recount stories of friends being beaten, dumped and left for dead. They tell of relatives who’ve frozen to death while passed out drunk in a culvert under the highway and scores of loved ones taken by drunk drivers.

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In January 2014, tension over alcohol and drugs in the New Lands came to a head. Gary McDonald, the owner of three area liquor stores was arrested for the second time on drug and weapons charges. Even though they feared retribution, a group of senior citizens has mobilized a campaign to close the liquor stores and take back their community.