North Point
Wednesday, July 3, 2002
http://www.yankton.net/stories/070302/com_20020703024.shtml
Corps Begins Notification On Indian Remains
Public Meeting Set For July 25 In Wagner
BY RANDY DOCKENDORF
P&D Regional Editor
PICKSTOWN -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold a public meeting later this month to discuss American Indian remains recovered at the North Point State Recreation Area near Fort Randall Dam.
The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. July 25 at the National Guard Armory in Wagner. The meeting will be held to consult with interested parties and to consider the Corps' proposed excavation and disposition of the human remains.
The Corps began Tuesday its official notification procedures required by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
"We want to handle this as expeditiously and respectfully as possible," said Larry Janis, Omaha District Cultural Resources program manager.
Federal Judge Lawrence Piersol of Sioux Falls issued a preliminary injunction Friday against further excavation at the North Point site. Workers were moving dirt from the site to be used as fill when the remains of a woman, two children and funerary objects were discovered.
Officials said they were uncertain of the origin of the remains, which were taken to Rapid City for identification and further testing.
In his ruling, Piersol said a work stoppage would produce no harm at the site. He also ordered the Corps, state and Yankton Sioux Tribe to enter into negotiations to reach an agreement. In addition, tribal members were to be allowed access to the site.
On another issue, Piersol denied a tribal request for the state to continue providing security at the burial site.
A notice is being posted in local and regional newspapers to inform interested parties that, based on the evidence, the Corps believes the burial site is affiliated with the Yankton Sioux Tribe.
"We did not find enough evidence to prove lineal descent, but we were able to determine the remains and artifacts were of Sioux descent, Yankton in particular," Janis said.
The July 25 meeting marks the next step in returning the remains to their rightful place, Janis said.
"By notifying the public of the affiliation determination that has been made, we can get closer to the point where the Corps can work with the affiliated Tribes or individuals to transfer custody of the items as required by law," Janis said. "It is important that we allow for the respectful protection and disposition of the remains."
The discovery at North Point marks the second time in recent years that American Indian remains were discovered along the Missouri River.
Ramona O'Connor, a descendant of Chief White Swan, served on a negotiating team when remains were previously discovered along the river. She was also a presenter on White Swan history at last Friday's American Indian Institute at the University of South Dakota.
O'Connor said her history of the White Swan community, or tiospaye, comes from three sources.
a.. She was born at White Swan village and learned about the area firsthand. "I knew where everyone lived and the roads a person traveled," she said.
a.. She spoke only the Dakota language until attending school and learned oral history from her parents, grandparents and other relatives who lived there. Dakota remains her first language.
a.. She has conducted her own research and has learned from other writings by missionaries such as the Rev. A Williamson, who met White Swan on a trip back along the river from Crow Creek.
"The Village of White Swan began in the early 1800s when Chief White Swan, Maga Ska,' brought his tiospaye -- Family, relatives and friends' into the area," O'Connor said. "The chief chose this site for his people because there was plenty of water, fishing and hunting, as well as protection from the elements."
The White Swan community begins in the east at North Point and extends along the river to the west, including the first sacred burial site discovered near St. Philip's Church, she said.
The July 25 meeting at Wagner will be open to the public, whereas the meetings conducting after the previous discovery of remains were limited to negotiation teams, O'Connor said.
Under law, the Corps must follow a specific process, directed by NAGPRA, when human remains are discovered, Janis said. The process involves notification to the lineal descendants and tribes, the recovery of items and proper disposition under law.
The notice also informs the public of the Corps' intent to excavate the remains, he said. The Corps is required under NAGPRA to notify all interested parties of the intent to excavate so public comment can be received.
"With the affiliation determination and the intent to excavate and transfer custody of the remains to the Yankton Sioux Tribe, we meet the NAGPRA notification requirements in one public notice," Janis said. "We believe this will help expedite the consultation and disposition process by not requiring additional delays after consultation is completed."
The Wagner meeting will continue Corps procedure, Janis said.
"Even though NAGPRA requires us to have a consultation meeting, we would do it anyway," Janis said. "It is the right way to communicate with all parties that want to be involved."
The North Point discovery represents the latest development since the dams were built, O'Connor said.
"The huge cultural change came with the Pick-Sloan Plan to build the Fort Randall Dam," she said. "In the early 1940s, the Corps began mapping the area, and eventually through the condemnation of our land in federal court, we were forced to move to whatever we could find."
The 21 families whose land was condemned saw it taken and then flooded where the reservoir is located and going west, O'Connor said.
"These people suffered losses beyond their homeland, they also lost a lifestyle and environmental change," she said. "They suffered a destruction of cultural sites and a destruction of their sacred burial sites, as is evident with the discovery (of such sites) today."
Thanks to Ann Bates
http://www.argusleader.com/editorial/Tuesdayfeature.shtml
Burial-site ruling contains hope for future discussion
Editorial Board
Argus Leader
Ordered talks will bring parties together
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol is thinking of more than just the law.
He also wants solutions.
Ruling in a lawsuit by the Yankton Sioux Tribe against the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over a burial ground, Piersol issued a preliminary injunction to keep construction stopped and ordered that tribal members be allowed access to the grounds in question.
Perhaps more important, though, he ordered the parties to start negotiating and suggested mediation - to agree on how such things should be handled.
So far, they've been handled badly by the state and the corps.
Digging fill dirt at the North Point Public Recreation Area near Pickstown, construction workers found bones.
Before the tribe was notified, bones and artifacts were whisked away. The tribe wanted the remains returned and construction stopped in an area they say has been known as burial grounds for years.
A corps archaeologist even admitted in court that the area - in fact all of what's known as the Missouri River Trench - is a rich site.
The corps and the state argued against the injunction, saying that construction already had stopped, so an order would serve no purpose.
Essentially, Piersol said that's fine. Then the order stands. No construction at three sites. Also, any time remains turn up at other sites, all provisions of the Native American Graves Repatriation Act must be complied with. That includes notifying the tribe.
But it's the order to negotiate that holds so much promise. Not just for the Pickstown dispute, but for others.
Not far away, in Mitchell, construction continues on a 16-unit apartment complex, even though human remains are visible in the excavated dirt.
That's private property, and it comes under state law, not the federal act. State law makes it a felony to knowingly disturb a burial site.
But there's no way for people to learn in advance if there's a burial site where they plan to dig. And once they find out, if it's OK'd by the state, they can go ahead.
Attention to Mitchell and Pickstown comes as the chairman of the national Advisory Council on Historic Preservation heard from South Dakota Indians of the problems.
"These are not just historic sites, but sacred sites ... that transcend being history," said John L. Nau III after a meeting in Pierre. "I, for one, learned a great deal."
Nau says his organization will recommend to the Secretary of the Army ways the corps can do a better job of historic preservation.
That's fine, as long as those recommendations take Native American views into consideration. That's been the problem all along.
The laws are written by whites and administered by whites - to determine how to handle what amounts to a Native American religious issue.
Of course, it's more complicated than that. The Yankton Sioux, for instance, also are arguing that the corps
shouldn't have turned over federal land to the state, as it did with numerous sites along the Missouri River.
And we will find cases in which there are valid archaeological reasons for study that might conflict with Native American desires.
The first step, though, is to talk about conflicts and find common ground, common sense ways of handling these situations.
That's why Piersol's order holds so much promise. So far, there's been too much confrontation and too little talk.
Thanks to Ann Bates
http://www.argusleader.com/news/Saturdayarticle1.shtml
Judge halts North Point
work
John-John Williams IV
Argus Leader
State, tribe, corps must enter mediation over site of remains
A Sioux Falls federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Friday that
stopped construction at three locations in the North Point Public Recreation
Area near Picks-town.
The Yankton Sioux Tribe had filed a lawsuit against the state and the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers earlier this month, asking the courts to stop work in the
area, where remains of two children and a woman and funerary objects had been
unearthed. The tribe wants the remains returned to the site. The lawsuit also
asks the courts to find the transfer of land from the corps to the state
unconstitutional.
Workers were moving dirt from that site to be used as fill at a campground
registration area and a sewage dump station when the remains were found.
In his ruling Friday, Judge Lawrence Piersol said stopping work at the area
would not be detrimental.
"The North Point Public Recreation Area has existed for a long time without the
expanded facilities, and there will not be any major impact if the project is
slowed down for a period of time," he said in court documents.
He also ordered that the Yankton Sioux Tribe, the state and the corps enter
into mediation to resolve the dispute and that none of the tribal members be
barred from accessing the locations in question.
Piersol denied the tribe's request to have the state continue to provide
security at the site where the remains were found.
The preliminary injunction protects the site from further excavation until the
trial is completed. No date has been set for that.
Mary Wynne, lawyer for the tribe, was relieved by the decision. "I was getting
ready to deal with a bunch of clients who deeply feel that the site should be
protected," Wynne said.
She said the tribe was "ecstatic. The response that I heard over and over again
was that their prayers were answered."
Members of the tribe declined comment Friday.
Neither John Guhin, lawyer for the state, nor Bonnie Ulrich, who represented
the U.S. Corps of Engineers, was available for comment. Piersol also was
unavailable.
Four factors could alter the preliminary injunction. They are:
¤ If the remains and funerary objects discovered are properly buried.
¤ If the court decides further construction will not damage the site, and the
fill dirt does not contain any Native American cultural items.
¤ If the parties negotiate an alternative to the preliminary injunction and
have it approved by the court.
¤ If the court issues a decision on the merits of the tribe's request for a
permanent injunction.
Tribal members have said it was commonly known that the North Point site
included a burial ground. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers transferred the
property to the state Feb. 19.
When the items were discovered, the state sent them to Rapid City for
identification. Tribal officials had said moving the remains without first
contacting the tribe violated the Native American Graves Repatriation Act, or
NAGPRA.
In a brief filed this week, Wynne also said Indians who went to the site to
pray were told to leave. The state's actions violated the religious and
cultural values of the Indian tribe, according to Wynne's brief. According to
tribal religious beliefs, if the remains of the ancestors are not protected and
treated with dignity, "the path of the afterlives of the ancestors is eternally
jeopardized, and the fabric of the cultural and spiritual integrity of the
tribe is compromised."
In his ruling, Piersol issued guidelines for future discoveries, including that
those doing construction at North Point must comply with NAGPRA when remains or
cultural items are found. The ruling also said the act applies to the North
Point site.
Wynne said that the case will set a national precedent because it will test
whether culturally significant or sacred sites can be transferred out of
federal protection.
The ruling comes four days after lawyers representing the state, the corps and
the tribe filed briefs about the issue.
Guhin argued in a brief filed June 24 that the Yankton Sioux Tribe had planned
to build a $10.7 million resort and marina on the site.
During the mid- to late 1990s, the tribe proposed expanding the North Point
Recreation Area near Pickstown into a resort with a guest lodge, restaurant and
marina. Tribal officials obtained a lease for "commercial concession purposes"
there, according to Guhin's document.
Tribal officials estimated the recreational resort could generate more than $5
million a year in revenue after five years and could attract an additional
250,000 tourists to the area by gathering one percent of the visitors going to
the Black Hills each year, according to the document.
The state's brief says the tribe signed the lease in 1996. It also says the
25-year lease "was cancelled in 1998 for nondevelopment."
Thanks to Ann Bates
http://www.argusleader.com/news/Tuesdayfeature.shtml
Tribe planned resort on
disputed land, state says
John-John Williams IV
Argus Leader
Brief argues Yankton Sioux never mentioned remains in proposal
The Yankton Sioux Tribe had planned to build a $10.7 million resort and marina
on the same Missouri River land they say contains sacred Native American burial
grounds, lawyers for the state said in court documents filed Monday.
In the legal brief, South Dakota Deputy Attorney General John Guhin said that
during the mid- to late 1990s, the tribe proposed greatly expanding the North
Point Recreation Area near Pickstown into a resort with a guest lodge,
restaurant and marina. Tribal officials went as far as to obtain a lease for
"commercial concession purposes" at the same location they now are trying to
stop the state from improving, according to the document.
Tribal members have said it was commonly known that the North Point site
included a burial ground. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers transferred the
property to the state on Feb. 19. In May, when human remains were discovered at
the site and transported to Rapid City, tribal officials filed a lawsuit
against the corps and the state. The tribe also has asked the judge to declare
the transfer of the land to the state unconstitutional.
Judge Larry Piersol issued a temporary restraining order protecting the North
Point site from further excavation pending his decision on a permanent
injunction. That decision is expected this week.
In the brief, the state said that the planned recreational resort goes against
the tribe's claims that their oral history told them that the area in question
was a known burial site.
"Clearly the tribe developed and sold to the Corps of Engineers the concept of
a highly concentrated, very busy, very profitable recreation and lodging area,"
the brief said. "The tribe in submitting its proposal did not, apparently
evidence concern with regard to the issue now before this court."
The state's brief says the tribe signed the lease in 1996. It also says the
25-year lease "was cancelled in 1998 for nondevelopment."
Mary Wynne, Yankton Sioux tribal attorney, declined to comment on the state's
claims, and other tribal officers were not available for comment.
But Ellsworth Chytka, the tribe's contact person for cultural and historical
site discussions, said he's familiar with the original plan to develop the
area. He said that the proposal was devised by some tribal members who were not
familiar with the oral history that indicates that the North Point area
contains a large Native American burial site.
"We traditional people did not let anything happen," Chytka said. "The proof is
in the pudding. It (the land) was left as was.
"We did not go dig up anything, did not desecrate anything, yet we are on
trial. I don't understand this system."
In the tribe's brief, also filed on Monday, Wynne noted specific parts of the
Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) that tribal members
believe the state is violating at North Point.
She claims the state removed the remains and transported them without notifying
the tribe. In addition, she said, tribal members who had gone to the site to
pray were told to leave. The tribe wants the remains returned to the site.
"We have a very strong likelihood for success on those points," Wynne said.
"They are just as clear as the nose on your face."
The state's actions violated the religious and cultural values of the Indian
tribe, and its handling of the remains demonstrates the need for continuing the
restraining order in a preliminary injunction, according to Wynne's brief.
She said assurances by the state that it will comply with the order are
"rendered nearly meaningless by their continued disregard for NAGPRA and the
spiritual and cultural values" of tribal members in regard to the remains for
their ancestors.
According to tribal religious beliefs, if the remains of the ancestors are not
protected and treated with dignity, "the path of the afterlives of the
ancestors is eternally jeopardized, and the fabric of the cultural and
spiritual integrity of the tribe is compromised."
The state brief includes the tribe's proposed timeline for the resort area.
Construction was to begin in August 1996. Included in that phase were parking
lots for more than 600 vehicles, a rustic 70-room lodge, a restaurant, office
and store.
The second phase of the plan, to be completed in 1998, included the addition of
cabins. In 1999, an orientation center, a 40-seat theater and a gift shop were
to be added, and finally, in 2000 and 2001, a marina, docks, additional guest
rooms and cabins were to be built.
Tribal officials estimated the recreational resort could generate more than $5
million a year in revenue after five years and could attract an additional
250,000 tourists to the area by gathering one percent of the visitors going to
the Black Hills each year, according to the document.
Guhin was not available for further comment.
The restraining order is in effect until Friday, when Piersol is expected to
rule on a preliminary injunction that could stop all work at the site until the
lawsuit is settled.
"It is not just about the land," Chytka said. "It's about the history and the
culture of a people that will literally be destroyed. When it comes to Indian
remains, no one cares about them."
Thanks to Ann Bates
State and corps need sensitivity about remains
Editorial Staff
Argus Leader
published: 6/17/02
Discovery of burial grounds was badly mishandled by both
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol finally is making some sense out of the
Pickstown Native American remains debacle.
What needs to happen now - outside of court - is for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and state officials to establish solid, common-sense procedures in an
effort to make sure this doesn't happen again.
Last week, Piersol granted a temporary restraining order, stopping the movement
of any soil where human remains were found and prohibiting workers from moving
dirt already taken from that site to be used for fill at a campground
registration area and sewage dump station.
The order lasts until June 28, when he could rule on a preliminary injunction
that would stop all work until a broader issue is resolved - whether the corps'
transfer of the land along the Missouri River to the state is unconstitutional.
That, really, is a side issue to the mess that began in May, when workers hired
by the state to remove fill dirt at the North Point State Recreation Area
uncovered funerary objects and human bones.
State and corps officials got involved and whisked the objects away to Rapid
City, so they could be protected and studied.
But they did so without notifying the nearby Yankton Sioux Tribe, which claims
the area as historic burial grounds.
Why? No way to tell if the remains were Native American or not, said corps
archaeologist Sandra Barnum. In fact, they even could be remains of people
stationed at the nearby frontier Army post, Fort Randall.
Really. And white soldiers or others were buried so far away from the fort?
With traditional Native American funerary objects, such as beads and shells and
- as some Yankton Sioux allege - a sacred pipe?
Well, Barnum finally conceded in court, they're probably Native American
remains. Good guess.
And why were workers even digging in the area without adequate preparation for
the likelihood of finding remains? Seems the state and the corps had no idea
whatsoever that remains might be found in the area.
The Yankton Sioux say the corps was told before the land transfer took place
that the area was filled with burial grounds. And even if that
hadn't been done, archaeologists all over the country know that the so-called
Missouri River Trench is one of the richest areas in the entire country - not
only for artifacts but also for human remains.
No, here's what really happened. Neither the state nor the corps gave a rip for
burial grounds - or at least displayed incompetence in the face of evidence
that they were there.
When remains were found, both the state and the corps ignored the religious
significance - again, through incompetence or lack of caring - and removed the
bones and artifacts without notifying the closest tribe, the Yankton Sioux.
And it is a religious issue. According to tribal beliefs, only someone who has
taken part in cleansing and prayer ceremonies can touch human remains.
And despite the obvious wrongs done, both the state and the corps had the
arrogance to fight the temporary restraining order. No need, they said, because
work already had stopped. Well, that means it wouldn't have any impact on work
being done - if it was stopped - so why fight? Even the argument perpetuates
the belief that Native American rights and beliefs would be ignored without the
court order.
Through all this, both the corps and the state hide behind the wholly
inadequate and poorly written Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act.
But they fail to mention that nothing in the act prevents them from acting with
common sense and sensitivity.
Both government groups need to join with all tribes in South Dakota and come up
with some procedures that protect remains and display sensitivity to Native
American religious beliefs.
That's not tough.
All it involves is respect and talk - with tribes before digging begins and
with tribes when remains are found and with tribes before remains are removed.
That doesn't take a court order from Piersol.
All it takes is a desire to do what's right. That would be a welcome change.
Thanks to Ann Bates
http://www.argusleader.com/news/Saturdayarticle4.shtml
Return of bones to site
upsets Yankton Sioux
By LEE WILLIAMS
Argus Leader
published: 6/15/02
State workers say they returned some bone fragments scattered during an
excavation back to their original site to protect them.
But Yankton Sioux tribal members are angered and say the move violates a
federal court order issued this week halting any activity at the North Point
Recreation Area near Pickstown.
Larry Janis, an Omaha-based archeologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
said he asked Mike Fosha, the assistant state archeologist, to move the remains
to the main site, where park employees are maintaining security as part of the
temporary restraining order. North Point Park Manager John Corey was present
during the move late Thursday. He declined comment.
Bob Mercer, Gov. Bill Janklow's press secretary, called the move a "judgment
call" and said the attorney general's office advised Fosha that the move would
not conflict with the judge's order.
"They felt he was complying with the spirit of the judge's order. They didn't
take the remains off-site," Mercer said.
Ellsworth Chytka, the tribal member who represents the tribe's interests at the
site, said 10 to 15 skull fragments were moved. He talked with Janis beforehand
and opposed the move, he said.
"I told Janis by court order there was to be no further excavation of anything,
and that it would be his neck if anything happens," Chytka said. "Janis called
me back and said they were going to move the skull fragments."
Judge Lawrence Piersol granted a temporary restraining order to the tribe
halting further excavation at the site. The tribe also wants Piersol to declare
unconstitutional the recent transfer of shoreline property from the federal
government to the state.
Piersol also stopped workers from moving dirt taken from that site to be used
for fill at a campground registration area and a sewage dump station.
The restraining order is in effect until June 28, at which time Piersol is
expected to rule on a preliminary injunction. The injunction could stop all
work at the site until the lawsuit is settled.
Janis doesn't think moving the remains violated Piersol's order.
"I don't believe it does. I haven't seen the order, but we feel this was part
of the protection requirement under NAGPRA (Native American Grave Protection
and Repatriation Act)," Janis said. "We feel we had to move them to the 24-hour
protection area."
Yankton Sioux tribal members are furious. They want U.S. marshals sent to the
site to enforce the court order and to protect the remains.
"If the state is going to flagrantly violate the court's order, we need
somebody that's reliable down here," said Chytka.
John Whitelock, chief deputy U.S. marshal for the District of South Dakota,
said he needs a court order before he can send any marshals.
"To enforce an order of the court, we need the court's directive to act,"
Whitelock said.
Piersol said Friday evening that he couldn't comment about the ongoing case.
The remains of two children and a woman thought to date from the 1800s were
unearthed last month. Numerous funerary objects, glass beads, shells and a
sacred pipe were found near the graves.
State officials said they first thought the remains were not Native American
and moved them to Rapid City.
Tribal members were outraged that the state waited four days before contacting
the tribe about the discovery. Janklow said Friday that the delay happened
because state archaeologists needed time to determine that the remains were
Native American.
Chytka said the unscheduled move typifies the tribe's case against the state.
"It's procedure, just like we said in court," Chytka said. "There is their way
of doing this and the right way of doing this, with respect."
Chytka and other Yankton Sioux conducted a brief ceremony at the site for the
recently moved remains.
"When we went down there, we all felt so bad," he said. "There were a lot of
tears. I could feel the pain. It was like going to a funeral over and over and
over."
Thanks to Ann Bates
Burial sites 'transcend history'
By TERRY WOSTER
Argus Leader
published: 6/13/02
Advisory panel to recommend how to protect Indian graves
PIERRE - The importance of Native American cultural sites along the Missouri
River transcends the idea of historic sites, the chairman of a national
advisory panel on historic properties said Wednesday.
John L. Nau III said he and other members of the Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation may not have understood that had they not traveled to Pierre to
hold a hearing on the need for historic preservation along the upper Missouri
River.
"These are not just historic sites, but sacred sites ... that transcend being
history," Nau said after a three-hour public hearing. "I, for one, learned a
great deal today."
Nau hoped to receive recommendations from South Dakota tribes on how historic
sites can best be protected. But much of the testimony was about strained
relations with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Nau said tribes must work with
the corps to make changes. And a corps spokesman said it would need to spend
millions to preserve sites along the river.
At its August meeting, the panel will recommend to the Secretary of the Army
ways the corps can do a more effective job in its historic preservation
program.
Several Native American speakers Wednesday told how burial sites and other
riverbank locations of historic and cultural importance are being lost as water
levels on the river rise and fall and as unprotected stretches of shoreline
fall into the water.
"There are burial sites along the river that are falling into the water every
day," said Jerry Flute, a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe.
"It hurts to go down and see remains of your relatives floating around on the
riverbank," said Ellsworth Chytka, a Yankton Sioux tribal member. "Leave some
of these places sacred. Let us have our culture and our history."
The Yankton Sioux Tribe recently won a temporary restraining order in federal
court halting excavation at the North Point Recreation Area near Pickstown,
where remains of tribal members were unearthed last month. The order is
effective until June 28, when Judge Lawrence Piersol is expected to rule on an
injunction.
Much of the criticism by Native American speakers was directed at corps, which
is responsible for the system of reservoirs along the upper Missouri River.
Several speakers said the corps seems not to listen to concerns and fails to
make contacts with tribal members or Native American elders to discuss sites.
"I grew up on the banks of that river," said Michael Jandreau, chairman of the
Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. "It's hard to articulate what devastation has occurred
spiritually, economically and socially through mismanagement."
Altwin Grassrope, testifying with other Lower Brule elders, said: "The corps
flooded my people. It was something I never thought I would experience."
Gen. David Fastabend, commander for the Corps of Engineers' district that
includes the Missouri River, said part of his agency's responsibility includes
more than 6,000 miles of shoreline in seven states. Congress hasn't directly
provided any money for historic preservation, he said.
Fastabend estimated it could cost $77 million to completely take care of all
sites. In recent years the corps has had $500,000 to spend on the mission. The
general said he has used internal budget shifts to raise that to about $3
million a year.
"I can't sit here and tell you I can take care of an estimated $77 million
project within a year or five years or 10 years," he said.
The budget is disheartening, said Pemina Yellow Bird, cultural resources
specialist for three tribes in North Dakota. "One shoreline stabilization
project for one site alone can eat up $3 million," she said.
No tribe should have to suffer what the Yankton Sioux are experiencing with the
unearthing of remains of ancestors, she said.
"What we're asking for today is not unreasonable," Yellow Bird said. "We just
want our river to live. We just want a place for our children to pray."
Flute agreed: "Part of what we're talking about today is religious freedom, the
ability to pray at sites that were sacred to our ancestors and the ability to
protect those sites."
Scott Jones of the Lower Brule Tribe said federal laws governing cultural
preservation must be strengthened. "We have no way of holding these agencies
accountable," he said.
He also asked Nau's council not to make its report to the Corps of Engineers
but to give it to the president and Congress.
Nau said the report will go to the Department of Defense, but he said his panel
keeps the White House and Congress informed of developments in issues such as
the river controversy.
Jones also suggested that a small portion of the revenue from each corps'
project be set aside to pay for consultation with tribes on issues such as
historic preservation. "You're one of the remaining options we have," he told
the advisory council members.
Nau said he's pleased that Fastabend talked of raising his spending for
historic sites to $3 million but said that isn't a significant amount unless
there's also a shift in the agency's focus to make the issue more important. "I
would urge everyone to try to keep in focus the resource, the culture, the
river," Nau said. "You can't do that in an adversarial framework."
Thanks to Ann Bates
home : mission statement : contact : site map : search : store : links
DLN coalition : DLN issues : DLN nation : related issues Any reprints are under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law : See http://www.dlncoalition.org/fair_use.htm.
|
