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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2011)
More News from Inclian Country n Page 9 Spilyay Tymoo October 19, 2011 Tribe, company revise lopsided coal swap BILLIN G S, Mont. (AP) — Backers o f a proposed coal swap involving a Mon tana Indian tribe say they have reduced the amount o f fuel the g ov ern m en t would turn over to a Texas company as part o f the ex change, after federal offi cials criticized the arrange ment as lopsided. L eg islatio n from M ontana’s congressional delegation originally called for Houston-based Great Northern Properties to gain control over about 150 mil lion tons o f publicly owned, recoverable coal in the deal, from locations in central and southeastern Montana. In turn, the com pany would have transferred 110 million tons o f coal it con trols on the Northern Chey enne Indian Reservation to the impoverished tribe. But the com pany and tribe now say they have re vised the terms so that both sides would receive 110 million tons. “We’re now more on a level playing field,” said Tracey Robinson, a mem ber o f the Northern Chey enne Tribal Council. The three-way exchange is m eant to address a lo n g stan d in g griev ance over an expansion o f the tribe’s southeastern M on tana reservation in 1900. The expansion left the un derlying coal reserves in private hands, a result that has been described as a mis take on the part o f federal offi cials at the time. Great Northern Properties acquired the rights to that coal from previous ow ner G reat Northern Railroad in 1992. O fficials with the federal Bureau o f Land Management still are analyzing the revised terms and have not determined if the deal is an even exchange. Even if the volumes are iden tical, that does not necessarily mean the coal is o f equal mar ket value because o f differences in quality and mining costs. Also, the federal government stands to lose tens o f millions o f dol lars in potential royalties — pos sibly a tough sell given the ris ing angst on Capitol Hill over the massive federal deficit. But backers say the exchange is the right thing to do, and that the new terms should make the deal more palatable by address ing directly concerns that Great Northern Properties would reap the greatest benefit. Robinson said the tribe’s pri mary interest is “to ensure that our land is in tact and stays whole.” “The government made this error. We’re asking the govern ment to fix it,” he added. The original arrangement ran into criticism from Interior D e partment officials and Rep. Ed ward Markey o f Massachusetts, ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee. They said they supported the tribe’s goals but were concerned with whether the deal was equi table. Jamie Connell, BLM director for Montana and the Dakotas, indicated the revisions to the deal were encouraging: “I f the num bers are getting closer, that’s a good thing,” she said. A spokesman for the Interior Department, which oversees the BLM, declined comment. G reat N orthern president Chuck Kerr said the focus on the benefits to his company had clouded perceptions o f a deal primarily meant to help the tribe. The deal is supported by min ing company Signal Peak Energy, which hopes to extract some o f the coal that Great Northern would receive near Signal Peak's B u ll M ou ntain m ine near Roundup. Another revision to the deal would prohibit surface mining on the Bull Mountain tracts, a scenario that has raised concerns among local landowners, said tribal attorney Steve Chestnut. Still in the deal is a provision for the tribe to receive 40 percent o f royalties on future sales o f the coal acquired by G reat Northern. As for the coal the Northern Cheyenne would receive, tribal officials said no decisions have been made on whether it will be developed. There are no mines on the reservation. Despite an unem ployment rate topping 60 per cent the N orthern Cheyenne historically have opposed natu ral resource extraction. But development pressures have increased since the nearby Otter Creek coal reserves were leased last year to mining giant Arch Coal Inc. by the Montana Land Board. Great Northern also has leased tracts at O t ter Creek to Arch, and the St. Louis coal company has partnered with B N SF Rail way Co. on a proposed rail line that could be used to ship the coal to Midwestern or Asian markets. Northern Cheyenne Tribal President Leroy Spang is a former coal industry worker who advocates mining as a means to generate jobs and inject new revenues into the tribe’s coffers. He said he in tends to negotiate future leases with companies inter ested in m ining the reservation's coal, but that no agreements would be final ized until members o f the tribe vote on it through a ref erendum. Chestnut said meetings with one mining company have been scheduled for the near future. He would not offer specifics. “It doesn’t mean they’re going to develop, but we’re trying to do it the right way,” he said. On Wednesday, the BLM announced that 35 million tons o f coal that would go to G reat N orth ern under the deal will be subject to a public lease auction on Nov. 16. I f those leases at Bull M ountain are sold before Congress acts on the pend ing legislation, it could com plicate the exchange but not preclude it, accord in g to BLM officials. how much I paid for it,” she said. “I just have everything here in my mind.” Bottorff started the museum ab o u t five years back and moved it to the K-Beach area about three years ago. After re tiring from her post as director o f the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s housing program, she said she had a simple reason for pulling the items from her crawl space, dusting them o ff and opening her doors to strangers. “I wanted to do something to keep busy,” she said. “I don’t spend too much time here, only when I get a call.” Many o f the items on display at the museum were either made or worn by B o tto rff or a family m em b er or pu rchased and passed down through the years taking on a highly personal sig nificance. “I see it as all kinds o f good stuff when I walk in here,” she A L B U Q U E R Q U E , N .M . (AP) - The Navajo Nation and the state o f New Mexico have been awarded nearly $7 million dollars for new buses and other rural transit projects. U.S. Senator Je ff Bingaman said the Navajo Nation will get $5 million from the Department o f Transportation to replace old buses in its fleet with electric buses. T he New M exico D epart ment o f Transportation, mean while, will receive $1.75 million for new vehicles and equipment for rural transit agencies across the state. Bingaman says the grants will help maintain essential transit initiatives at a time when fund ing is tight. Skull at Lake Georgetown could be prehistoric G E O R G E T O W N , T exas (AP) — A skull found at the edge o f Lake Georgetown has drawn the attention o f anthropologists at Texas State University over its age. A ssistan t p ro fesso r K ate Spradley says the skull, appar ently o f a N ative A m erican man, could be from hundreds to th ou sand s o f years old. Spradley said the skull is likely prehistoric because o f certain features, including three molars that are worn down, possibly due to a gritty diet. The Texas drought has led to lower lake levels. The Austin American-States- man reports some people who were fishing discovered the skull early last week near Russell Park. Spradley says the skull is well preserved and she thinks it was embedded in the bank o f the lake. TSU experts were contacted as police sought to rule out foul play. Grant to address teen pregnancy SIO U X FALLS, S.D. (AP) - The University o f South Dakota and the nonprofit Sanford Re search have been awarded a $1.5 million grant to address teen pregnancy rates among American Indians. Teen pregnancy rates among N ativ e A m erican s are fo u r times higher than those for the rest o f the state’s population. The grant from the National Institute o f Minority Health and Health Disparities will be used to research the reasons why and develop a prevention program. Hopis sue over groundwater Kenai museum filled with personal treasures K E N A I, Alaska (AP) - Mary Lou B o tto rff’s museum is alive. Unlike other museums, the items in B o tto r ff’s collection aren’t untouchable and locked up tight under glass in a sterile environment. T he items breathe and live out in the open, on counters, on shelves and in places where one can get closer to its history and meaning. The arraignment is in no par ticu lar ord er, e x ce p t in B o tto rff’s mind. But nothing is unfamiliar to the 71-year-old Inupiaq Alaska Native. I t’s a shop o f memo ries - a collection o f personal and family history proudly dis played. “Everything has a story,” she said standing near the doorway o f the museum located at mile 14.5 o f K a lifo rn sk y B ea ch Road. “I can tell you where I got the piece, who gave it to me, Navajo N ation, NM get m illions for electric buses T U BA C ITY, Ariz. (AP) _ T he Hopi Tribe has sued the federal governm ent over its management o f an open dump in Tuba City. The lawsuit filed last week in tribal court alleges that the U.S. Bureau o f Indian Affairs failed to ensure that waste at the 30- acre site did not contaminate the land or groundwater. The BIA operated the dump for nearly 50 years before it was closed in 1997, and part o f it was cov ered up and fenced off. B IA spokesw om an Nedra Darling said Tuesday that the agency does not comment on pending litigation. The lawsuit seeks enforce ment o f an order the tribe is sued to the BIA in August de manding that the federal agency take immediate action to halt the spread o f contamination. The dump is on Hopi and Navajo land. r Memorial and Stone Setting Saturday, October 22, 2011 ~ 8:30 a.m. --------- Simnasho, Oregon --------- Laritta Maeann Greene Now Ish Tunmi Duran Bobb/Spilyay The Wasqu Dance Group perform at the opening of the Museum at Warm Springs Tribal Member Art Show. said. AIM member suspected, not charged in killing dies S IO U X F A L L S , S.D. (AP) — An 87 -y ea r-o ld woman suspected o f being involved but never charged in the 1975 killing o f a fel low American Indian Move ment activist in South D a kota has died in a western Nebraska nursing home, a funeral home said last week. Theda Clarke, an Oglala Sioux Tribe mem ber, had been suffering from the ef fects o f a stroke, dementia, diabetes and other ailments, according to court records. She passed away Oct. 8, ac cording to the Sioux Funeral Home. Prosecutors said Clarke re peatedly refused to cooperate as they investigated the death o f 30-year-old Annie Mae Pictou Aquash, who was fatally shot and left in a ravine on western South Dakota's Pine Ridge In dian R eserv a tio n . T h e case tainted the legacy o f the Ameri can Indian Movement, and it was nearly three decades before criminal charges were filed. Investig ators alleged that Clarke, John Graham and Arlo Looking Cloud drove Aquash in Clarke's Ford Pinto from D en ver to Rapid City, where Aquash was held against her will and questioned about whether she was a government informant. In D ecem ber, Clarke was ruled com petent to testify in G ra h a m ’s m urder trial and briefly spoke about her back ground when jurors weren’t in the courtroom. But she exercised her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself in front o f the jury and refused immu nity, prosecutors said. Graham, the accused gun man, was convicted o f murder, while Looking Cloud was con victed in 2004. Both are serv ing prison sentences. Clarke re fused to talk about the case with an Associated Press reporter in February 2003, two months be- fore Looking Cloud was ar rested. Clarke graduated from St. Francis Indian School in the early 1940s, then began a nursing career at St. Mary's School for Nursing in Kan sas City. She later worked on the Pine Ridge Indian Res ervation. She is survived by a son, Edward ‘C hip’ Clarke, o f G illette, Wyo.; a brother, Jo h n N elson o f Portland, Ore.; and two sisters, Norma W illiam s o f D en v er and Vivian Locust o f Pine Ridge. Her family members couldn’t immediately be reached. 8:30 a.m. ~ Stone Unveiling at the Simnasho Cemetery Washut, Rejoicing, Giveaway & Dinner Immediately Following the Stone Setting At the Simnasho Longhouse v______ ________ J
