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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2009)
News from Inchon Country Indian tribes buy back thousands of acres of land By Timberly Ross Associated Press Waiter OM AHA, Nebraska — N a tive A m erican tribes tired o f waiting for the U.S. government to honor centuries-old treaties are buying back land where their ancestors lived and putting it in federal trust. N ative A m ericans say the purchases will help protect their culture and way o f life by pre serving burial grounds and ar eas where sacred rituals are held. They also provide land for farm ing, timber and other efforts to make the tribes self-sustaining. Tribes put more than 840,000 acres— or roughly the equivalent o f the state o f Rhode Island— into trust from 1998 to 2007, according to inform ation The Associated Press obtained from the federal Bureau o f Indian Af fairs under the Freedom o f In form ation A c t Those buying back land in clude the Winnebago, w ho have put more than 700 acres in east ern Nebraska in federal trust in the past five years, and the Paw nee, w ho have 1,600 acres o f trust land in Oklahoma. Land held in federal trust is exempt from local and state laws and taxes, but subject to m ost fed eral laws. T h ree tribes have b o u g h t land around Bear Butte in South Dakota’s Black Hills to keep it from developers eager to cater to the bikers w ho ro a r in to Sturgis every year for a raucous road rally. A bout 17 tribes from the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyo ming, M ontana and Oklahoma still use the m ountain for reli gious ceremonies. Emily White H at, a m em ber o f S outh D a k o ta ’s R osebud Sioux, said the struggle to pro tect the land is about “preserva tion o f our culture, our way o f life and our traditions.” “All o f it is connected,” she said. “W ith your land, you have that relationship to the culture.” O ther members o f the Rose bud Sioux, such as president Rodney Bordeaux, believe the tribes shouldn’t have to buy the land back because it was illegally taken. B ut they also recognize that without such purchases, the land won’t be protected. N o one knows how m uch land the federal governm ent p ro m is e d N a tiv e A m e ric an tribes in treaties dating to the late 1700s, said G ary G arrison, a spokesman for the federal Bu reau o f Indian Affairs. T he gov ernm ent changed the term s o f the treaties over the centuries to make property available to set tlers and give rights-of-way to railroads and telegraph compa nies. President Barack O bam a’s adm inistration has pro p o sed spending $2 billion to buy back and consolidate tribal land bro ken up in previous generations. T he program would pay indi vidual members for land inter ests divided among their relatives and return the land to tribal con trol. But it w ould not buy land from people outside the tribes. Today, 562 federally recog nized tribes have m ore than 55 million acres held in trust, ac cording to the bureau. Several states and local governments are fighting efforts to add to that number, saying the federal gov ernm ent doesn’t have the au u thority to take land— and tax rev enue— from states. In N ew York, for example, the state and two counties filed a federal lawsuit in 2008 to block the U.S. D epartm ent o f Interior from putting about 13,000 acres into trust for the Oneida Tribe. In September, a judge threw out their claims. Putting land in trust creates a burden for local governm ents because they m ust still provide services such as sewer and water even though they can’t collect taxes on the property, said Elaine Willmah, a m em ber o f the Citi zens Equal Rights Alliance and administrator for H obart, a sub urb o f G reen Bay, Wisconsin. H obart relies mostly on property taxes to pay for police, water and other services, but the village o f about 5,900 lost about a third o f its land to a trust set up for the state’s O neida Tribe, W illman said. So far, H obart has been able Nevada court OKs removing mother’s rights in custody case C A R S O N C IT Y , N ev. (A P) — T h e N e v a d a S u prem e C ourt has u pheld the te rm in a tio n o f a m o th e r’s parental rights to a 4-year-old daughter w ho is p a rt A m eri can Indian. Justices ruled on D ec. 24 th at term inating the rights o f the girl’s n on-Indian m other, D aw n McKay, did n o t violate the federal Indian Child Wel fare A ct and E xisting Indian Fam ily D octrine. T h e law and doctrine re quire courts to use a beyond- a-reasonable-doubt standard before rem oving an Indian child from parents. T he court said the m other was fo u n d to be a chronic m arijuana and m etham phet am ine user. Additionally, the N evada D ivision o f Child and Fam ily Service couldn’t find the A m erican Indian father. Justices said the child had b o n d ed w ith foster parents, w ho plan to adopt h e r and teach h e r Indian heritage. Page 9 Spilyay Tymoo December 31, 2 0 0 9 N EED CA SH ? BARGAIN HUNTERS OLDEST PAWNSHOP IN JEFFERSON COUNTY LOCATED DOWNTOWN MADRAS \ r . CASH LOANS - BEADED BAGS, BASKETS, POW WOW OUTFITS STIHL & HUSQVARNA CHAINSAWS DIGITAL CAMERAS, GAME SYSTEMS GOLD JEWLERY, SCRAP GOLD OPEN TUES THRU FRI. 9:30 - 5:00 SATURDAY 9:30 - 3:00 FOR SALE: GUITARS, TOOLS, KNIVES, GAMES, STERLING SILVER & GOLD JEWELRY 175 SE 5TH ST..DOWNTON MADRAS (541)475-3745 License number PB0338 On the Net: Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs: www.bia.gov White Earth Land Recovery Project: http:/ nativeharvest.com/ Indian Land Tenure Foundation: www.indianlandtenure.org/ Citizens Equal Rights Alliance: www.citizensalliance.org/ to control spending and avoid cuts in services or raising taxes, W illman said. Village leaders hope taxes on a planned 603- acre commercial developm ent will eventually help make up for the lost money. T he nonprofit W hite E arth L an d R ecovery P ro je c t has bought back or been gifted hun dreds o f acres in northwestern Minnesota since it was created in the late 1980s. T h e W hite E arth tribe uses the land to har vest rice, farm and p roduce m aple syrup. M em bers have hope o f one day being self-sus taining again. W inona LaDuke, who started the W hite E arth project, said buying property is expensive, but it’s the quickest and easiest way for tribes to regain control o f their land. Tribal membership has been growing thanks to higher birth rates, longer life spans and m ore relaxed qualifications for m em bership, and that has created a greater need for land for hous ing, com m unity services and economic development. “I f the tribes were to pursue return o f the land in the courts it would be years before any ac tion could result in m ore tribal land ... and the people simply c a n n o t w a it,” said C ris Stainbrook, o f the Little Canada, M innesota-based Indian Land Tenure Foundation. Thirty to 40 tribes are mak ing enough money from casinos to buy back land, but they also have to put money into social programs, education and health care fo r their m em bers, said Robert J. Miller, a professor at the Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, w ho spe cializes in tribal issues. “Tribes just have so m any things on their plate,” he said. Growing healthy families together. Connect with WIC. Investing in Oregon’s future with nutrition education and healthy foods. Learn more about how the Oregon WIC Program helps families: www.wic.oregon.gov 1-800-SAFENET (1-800-723-3628) WIC is an equal opportunity provider and employer. w O re g o n wic / (O H S k y "\ [«Jl L J g l d l I I Oregon Department o f Human Services
