More News from Inclian Country
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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