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. The
track’s previous owner, Race
H orses Inc., filed for bank
ru p tc y in 1997 a n d th e
Sallisaw Municipal Authority
was foreclosing on the track
because th e com pany had
failed to pay on a $2.5 mil
lion loan from the city.
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