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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2008)
News from Incji^n Country P^ge 8 Montana tribe wants to exploit coal CROW AGENCY, M ontana (AP)— They tried casinos on the Crow Indian reservation. The one designed to bring in the big gest, crowds, Res-a-Vegas, w ent bro k e w ithin a year and has been converted to a fireworks stand. B ut now the Crow are con vinced a really big jackpot lies below the surface: coal. W ith energy prices soaring, the poverty-stricken Crow w ant to. tap the vast deposits under n e a th th e ir 2 m illio n acres (810,000 hectares) o f land. The tribe estimates the ground con tains 9 billion tons (8.16 billion metric tons) o f extractable coal, or enough to m eet the nation’s needs for almost a decade. “We’re not just trying to help ourselves today,” said Joanie R o w lan d , w h o d ire c ts th e 12,000-member tribe’s nascent energy program . “We w ant to set up the reservation so that it will prosper and help the future generations.” Federal red tape, turbulent tribal politics that can scare o ff big business, and environmen tal worries have prevented some o f the West’s tribes from fully exploiting their oil, gas and coal deposits. But now, rising demand for energy— along with new fed eral laws giving Indians m ore say over their mineral resources— could help the Crow and other tribes get their way.1 “T h e re ’s a m isc o n c e p tio n about Indian tribes that they all have big gam ing revenues. We d o n ’t have th a t,” said trib al Chairm an Carl Venne. “B ut we do have v ast reso u rces.” H e added: “T he window o f o p p o r tunity is open.” T h e C row reserv atio n lies about 60 miles (100 kilometers) fro m th e n earest city o f any consequence, Billings. It is on the rem o te n o rth e rn edge o f the Powder River Basin, which p ro duces nearly h alf the n ation’s coal and hundreds o f billions o f cubic feet (cubic m eters) o f natural gas annually. Life on the reservation, how ever, is defined by a different set o f numbers: 47 percent un employment; a per capita income o f ju st $7,400 (o n e-th ird the national average); and federal health care subsidies that run dry six m onths into the year. M uch o f the land on the res ervation is used to grow wheat and sugar beets and to raise cattle. The tribe is looking to extract the coal and build a multibillion- dollar, coal-to-liquids plant that would process the rock into die sel and other fuels. Tribal lead ers say if they could tap their underground riches, they could expand their clinic and upgrade the reservation’s aging roads and water system. N o t all the tribe’s coal re mains buried. A n outside com pany has been extracting coal since 1974 from a m ine just o ff the reservation. Since the tribe owns the mineral rights, it has been receiving royalties-r- a b o u t $10 m illio n la st year alone. * B ut tribal leaders say that is n o t e n o u g h to re lie v e th e re s e rv a tio n ’s p o v erty . A n d rather than just leasing land and collectihg royalties, they w ant to becom e an actual p artn er in such projects. T h e re s e rv a tio n also has natural gas and oil deposits, and the tribe is working to exploit those, too, b u t the coal is be lieved to h old a m uch bigger potential. A round the country, at least a dozen Indian tribes are push ing for agreements with the gov ernm ent that would help them exploit their oil, gas and coal, said R obert Middleton, director o f the In terio r D ep artm en t’s O ffice o f Indian E nergy and Econom ic Development. Nationwide, energy royalties paid to tribes have doubled over the past five years, to $475 mil lion in 2007, according to the governm ent’s Minerals Manage m ent Service. T he increase was driven primarily by rising oil and gas prices, n o t by new projects. A ctu al p ro d u c tio n rem ained flat. Two million acres o f tribal land have so far been developed for oil, gas and coal, according to the governm ent. Estim ates show an additional 15 million acres have the same potential. SpilyQy Tyrooo July 17, 2008 Effort to save Indian burial mound bits snag DULAC, La. (AP)— An American Indian tribe lost a $45,800 grant that mem bers had hoped w ould aid their efforts to buy D ulac land t h a t’s h o m e to a large earthen m ound built centu ries ago by their ancestors. T he T errebonne Parish Council decided in a 7-2 vote this m onth to redirect the state-government grant to im provem ents at a hurricane- supply warehouse in Houma. Council mem bers Alvin T illm an and Teri Cavalier voted agaipst the move, say ing' they w ant the grant to rem ain dedicated to p u r chasing the Indian mound. B ut now that one door is closed, another could open for the U nited H oum a N a tion, w hose m em bers say they may be eligible for other grants and programs. “To be honest, it’s almost a blessing,” said M ichael * Billiot, a tribal m em ber and attorney. “We may be able to find a grant that doesn’t re q u ire th e (local) governm ent’s involvement.” F o r sev eral m o n th s , H oum a tribal m em bers had talked w ith' th e p ro p e rty ’s ow ners b u t th e tw o sides could n o t agree on a price for the Shrimpers Row lot. Ques tions also surfaced about how to use the grant, w hich re q u ire d th a t th e la n d w as owned by a public body. A t a June 5 m eeting be tween parish officials, tribal leaders and one o f the prop erty owners, developer and landowner S.P. LaRussa, an n o u n ced the p ro p erty was being taken o ff the market. LaRussa said he did n o t w ant to w ork w ith parish govern m ent any longer. Considering these develop m en ts, C ouncil C h airm an Clayton Voisin, whose district includes Dulac, said he began looking for other uses for the grant money. The Council on Aging had asked council mem bers for help with its new ware house, he said. The grant now will be used to ramp up security at the one- story building, which also needs more dirt on the property, said Diana Edmonson, Council on Aging director. Choctaws negotiating sale of Blue Ribbon Downs SALLISAW, Okla. (AP)— The sale o f Oklahoma’s first p ari-m u tu e l h o rse racin g track appears imminent, al though the potential buyer o f Blue R ibbon D ow ns has n o t been publicly revealed; T h e C h o ctaw N a tio n , w hich bought the track in 2003 for $4.25 million, has been trying to sell Blue Rib b o n D ow ns, tribal spokes wom an Judy Allen said. As o f Wednesday, no deal to sell the track 2 1 /2 miles w est o f S allisaw h a d b e e n c o m pleted. Allen said the American Indian tribe wants to focus on other gaming and business en terprises. Blaine Story, the track’s gen eral m a n a g e r o f o p e ra tio n , asked the Oklahoma H orse Rac ing Commission in May for an extension for a racing license for 2009, citing negotiations b e tween the Choctaw N ation and a prospective buyer. Story said in a letter to the commission that he thought “an executed agreement will be pre sented for O H R C approval in the very near future.” The deadline to apply for a racing license was June 1, b u t the com m ission approved the extension and will consider the m atter at its meeting on Aug. 14, said C o n sta n tin R ieger, th e commission’s executive director. R ieger said if th e track is sold, the new owner would have to apply for a racing license. “W hoever the new suitor is w ould have to go through the same scrutiny and v ettin g as anybody else does,” Rieger said. Allen’said if the saletis n o t negotiated before Aug. 14, the tribe is “prepared to do the pe titions for race days next year.” T he track gained pari-mutuel status in 1984. It is one o f four Tribe celebrates woman's 108th birthday ♦ O K M U LG EE, Okla. (AP)— The Muscogee (Creek) N ation is celeb ratin g th e u p co m in g 1 0 8 th b irth d a y o f M a rth a Berryhill, the last o f the tribe’s original allottees and one o f the oldest people in the state. M ore th an a cen tu ry ago, B erryhill w as one o f 18,712 tribal citizens to be listed as a C reek In d ia n o n th e D aw es C om m ission Rolls. She turns 108 on Saturday. As the last original allottee, she is the only remaining hum an connection to the trib e’s p re statehood and tribal m em ber ship roots. T he Creek N ation bases tribal mem bership on the 1906 Final D aw es Rolls, and each current citizen is descended from at least one p erso n on those rolls. To celebrate h er birthday, more than 100 people attended a party for Berryhill on Thursday, w here children sang “H appy Birthday” to her in Creek and presented her with gifts and cards. “I will see you at the 109th b irth d a y ,” said M u sco g ee (Creek) N ation Speaker o f the H ouse Thom as Yahola. Ruby Mauk, B erryhill’s 87- y e a r- o ld d a u g h te r , sa id B erryhill loves to shop, and does so w henever possible. In h e r y o u n g er days, B erry h ill used to bring her elders fo o d and clothing, M auk said. A church group also sang C reek hym ns to m ark the oc casion. Before the last song, the Rev. N ew m an F rank told Berryhill the group planned to sing the Creek hym n, “Hallelujah,” to thank G od for Berryhill’s long life. “T h at’s why we came here to sing today, to celebrate, to thank G o d fo r th e life o f S ister M artha and the longevity h e’s given her,” Frank said. “T h at’s the greatest blessing the L ord can give us is a new day.” As the song came to an end, each o f the singers, still main ta in in g th e tu n e , p a ss e d Berryhill, shaking her hand and offering well wishes. In a sm all voice, B erryhill began to sing along. Park complex honors Code Talkers RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP)— A sp o rts com plex p la n n ed fo r Mission will honor the Lakota Code Talkers o f World War II, university and Rosebud Sioux tribal officials say. Plans for Code Talkers Me morial Park call for a baseball field, playgrounds and picnic areas. Also, the complex could of fer su m m e r re c re a tio n an d wellness program s through an agreem ent betw een the trib e and South D akota State Univer sity, a c c o rd in g to R u ssell Stubbles, an SDSU professor in the D ep artm en t o f H o rticu l ture, Forestry, Landscape and Parks. T he project is an example 6 f “upstream thinking” in a soci ety that too often reacts to prob lems w ith jail o r punishm ent, Stubbles said. T he idea began in 2006 when tribal officials asked SDSU to h elp p ro v id e re c re a tio n , an d parks d ev elo p m en t an d p ro grams for the reservation. “The secret is n o t to build the prisons, b u t to build and p ro m ote social wellness programs,” Stubbles said. “O u r total pack age w ith the Reservation Rec reation Project recognizes this. We aim to bring recreation pro grams to the youth out in the little com m unities all sum m er long. T h at is where the hope will have to be planted.” The park is named for a little- know n piece o f American In dian history. Code talkers used A m erican Indian languages to baffle the Japanese and help win the w ar in the Pacific. The park is to contain a grove m ade up o f trees taken from the various reservation com m u nities o f the 11 m en w ho served the U.S. A rm y as Lakota Code Talkers during World War II. T h e p ro ject could co st $1 million and take three years to complete. horse racing tracks in Okla homa, along with Remington Park in O klahom a City, Fair Meadows in Tulsa and Will Rogers Downs in Claremore. B e fo re B lu e R ib b o n D ow ns was b o u g h t by the C h o c ta w N a tio n , it w as scheduled to be p u t up for sale at a sheriff’s auction. 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