Hopi officials did not return calls seeking comment on the proposal.

The relocation office has its roots in a long-running land dispute between the two tribes that resulted in litigation and legislation. In 1974, Congress passed the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act, which set up a process for the tribes to work out boundaries between themselves. When they were unable to do so, a federal court stepped in and drew boundaries in 1978, ordering members of each tribe to move if tey had been drawn into the other tribe’s territory.

Congress created the Navajo Hopi Land Commission in 1981 to resettle those families. It was later replaced by the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation, which was originally expected to wrap up its work in five years.

“When Congress created the Office of Navajo and Hopi Relocation in 1988, they did not envision that it would still be operating 28 years later and that families would still be awaiting relocation,” said Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minnesota, at Thursday’s House Appropriations subcommittee hearing.

Bavasi agreed that the program “was intended to be over much more quickly,” but he noted that the office has resettled more than 3,800 families, well over the original estimate of about 1,000 families that might need relocation.