NAP's current focus involves the land conflict at Big Mountain, in north eastern Arizona. Big Mountain
lies in a high desert area which straddles Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado. This land includes the
traditional territory of the Dineh, also known as the Navajo, and the Hopi people. The historical
relationship between the Hopi and Dineh people are subject to various interpretations, ranging from
outright hostility and conflict, to peaceful interdependence.
After the US government claimed the area from Mexico in 1848, it proceeded to relocate the Dineh who already occupied the land but apparently obstructed the government's plans of settlement and development. The relocation was a financial disaster for the government, and the Dineh were returned and placed in a reserve which eventually enclosed the already established Hopi reservation.