Spilyay Tymoo, -Warm Springs, Oregon
Government rolls out $1.9 billion
Indian land buyback program
(AP) — U.S. governm ent
officials said last week they
are launching a $1.9 billion
N a tiv e A m erican lan d
buyback program now that a
nearly 17-year lawsuit over
more than a century’s worth
o f mismanaged trust royalties
is setded.
T he 10-year, $1.9 billion
buyback program is the larg
est p art o f the $3.4 billion
setfiem ent o f a class-action
lawsuit filed by Elouise Cobell
o f Browning, Mont., in 1996
and finalized last month.
Officials with the Interior
D epartm ent and Bureau o f
Indian Affairs laid o u t the
program ’s initial framework
in a new s co nference last
week in Washington, D.C.
The program aims to pur
chase individual allotm ents
from willing American Indi
ans and turn over the con
solidated parcels to tribes.
P rogram m anager J o h n
McClanahan said it could take
up to a year before the first
land sales are completed, but
the goal is to spend m ost o f
the money before President
Barack O bama’s second term
is up in 2017.
L an d fractio n atio n was
caused by the 1887 Dawes
Act, which split tribal lands
into individual allotments o f
80- to 160-acre parcels, in
m ost cases. T hose allotments
w ere inherited by m ultiple
heirs with each passing gen
eration, and there are now
more than 92,000 land tracts
with 2.9 million fractional in
terests.
O f th a t n u m b e r, m o re
than 21,200 land tracts have
100 o r m o re o w n ers an d
many parcels have thousands
o f owners, according to the
Interior Department.
I U sin g o r leasin g th o se
tracts requires approval o f all
the owners, so often they sit
w ithout being developed.
“The scope o f this prob
lem in In d ia n C o u n try is
amazing,” said Deputy Secre
tary o f th e In te rio r D avid
Hayes. “T h e buyback p ro
gram provides the opportu
nity to unlock the benefits o f
those lands for the tribes and
their members.”
McClanahan said 150 res
ervations are affected by this
fractionation, b ut m ost are in
the G reat Plains and Rocky
M ountains. N inety percent
o f th è fra c tio n a te d lands
available to purchase are in
40
lo c a tio n s ,
but
M cC lanahan said the p ro
gram will explore land sales
beyond those locations.
Government officials have
been consulting with Indian
leaders in preparation to roll
out the program once the U.S.
Supreme Court dismissed the
appeals in the Cobell settle
ment, which it did Nov. 24.
Besides the land buyback,
the Cobell setdement will pay
out $1.5 billion to two classes
o f beneficiaries. Each mem
ber o f the first class will be
paid $1,000. E ach m em ber
o f the second class would be
paid $800 plus a share o f the
b alance o f th e settlem en t
funds as calculated by a for
mula based on the activity in
their trust accounts.
U.S. District Judge Thomas
H ogan earlier this m onth au
thorized the first ro und o f
$1,000 ch eck s to a b o u t
350,000 beneficiaries.
Besides the cash buyouts
and land buybacks, an edu
cation scholarship o f up to
$60 million for young Indi
ans also will be established
under the settlement. Interior
Solicitor H ilary T om pkins
said a portion o f each land
tran sactio n will go to th e
scholarship fund.
C ongress ap p ro v ed the
Cobell settlement in Decem
b e r 2010 a n d H o g a n a p
proved it after a June 2011
hearing. Hogan said that while
the settlement may n ot be as
large as some wished, the deal
ended the legal deadlock and
provided some certainty for
the beneficiaries.
Cobell died last year o f
cancer.
Three consultations to so
licit tribal comments on the
b uyback p ro g ra m ’s in itial
framework will be held in the
com ing m onths: Jan. 31 in
Minneapolis; Feb. 6 in Rapid
City, S.D.; and Feb. 14 in Se
attle.
Hawaii’s Inouye, advocate and war hero, passes
(AP) - O n Dec. 7, 1941,
high school senior D aniel
Inouye knew he and other
Japanese-Am ericans w ould
face trouble w hen he saw
Japanese dive bombers, tor
pedo planes and fighters on
th e ir way to b o m b P earl
H arbor and other O ahu mili
tary bases.
H e and other Japanese-
Americans had wanted des
perately to be accepted, fie
said, and that m eant going to
war.
“I felt that there was a
need for us to demonstrate
that we’re just as good as any-
bo d y else,” In o u y e, w ho
eventually w ent on to serve
50 years as a U.S. senator
fro m H aw aii, o n ce said.
“The price was bloody and
expensive, but I felt we suc
ceeded.” ,
Inouye, 88, died Decem
ber 17 o f respiratory com
plications at a Washington-
area hospital. As a senator,
he became one o f the m ost
influential politicians in the
country, playing key roles in
congressional investigations
o f the Watergate and Iran-
Contra scandals. H e was the
longest serving current sena
tor and by far the m ost im
portant for his hom e state o f
Hawaii.
“Tonight, our country has
lost a true A m erican hero
w ith th e p assin g o f Sen.
D aniel Inouye,” President
B arack O b am a said in a
statem ent Monday. “ I t was
his incredible bravery during
World War II — including one
heroic effort that cost him his
a rm b u t e a rn e d h im th e
Medal o f H onor — that made
D anny h o t just a colleague
and a mentor, but someone
revered by all o f us lucky
enough to know him.”
Inouye turned toward life
as a p o litic ia n a fte r his
dreams , o f becpm ing ai,sur
geon becam e im possible in
World War II. H e lost his right
arm in a firefight with Ger
mans in Italy in 1945.
Inouye’s platoon came un
der fire and Inouye was shot
in the stomach as he tried to
draw a grenade. H e didn’t
stop, crawling up a hillside,
taking out two machine gun
emplacements and grabbing
a grenade to throw at a third.
T hat’s when an enemy rifle
grenade exploded near his'
right elbow, shot by a G er
man roughly 10 yards away.
H e searched for the gre
nade, then found it clenched
in his rig h t hand, his arm
shredded and dangling from
his body.
“T h e fingers so m eh o w
froze over the grenade, so I
just had to pry it out,” Inouye
said in recounting the m o
m ent in the 2004 book “Be
yond Glory: Medal o f H onor
Heroes in Their Own Words”
by Larry Smith.
‘W h en I pulled it out, the
lever sn ap p ed o p en and I
knew I had five seconds, so I
flipped it into the German's
Rush to cash checks
collapses S.D. hank floor
L O W E R B R U L E , S.D.
(AP) — Officials say the floor
o f a b a n k o n th e L o w er
Brule Indian Reservation in
central S outh D akota co l
lapsed after tribal mem bers
rushed to business to cash
about $6 million in trust setde
m ent checks.
T h e flo o r o f b an k
dropped 2 feet. N o one was
injured but the bank is closed
indefinitely.
T h e L ow er B rule Tribe
began issuing $750 checks to
about 3,800 members on as
part o f a setdem ent with the
federal governm ent over the
abuse and m ish an d lin g o f
tribal assets.
The Crow Creek Tribe in
n earb y F o r t T h o m p s o n
started issuing $800 checks to
about 4,000 tribal m em bers
on Monday.
Tribal officials say banks
in C ham berlain and Pierre
will have to be used until a
b a n k re su m e s serv ice in
Lower Brule.
Page 5
December 26, 2012
Bill would recognize
Native Hawaiians
(AP) — Retiring Hawaii
Sen. Daniel Akaka is urg
ing his colleagues to pass
legislation that would fed
erally recognize N ative
Hawaiians in h o nor o f the
late-Sen j Daniel Inouye.
F or years, Akaka and
Inouyp worked to pass the
bill, which would allow for
Native Hawaiians to form
a federally recognized gov
ernment. Efforts to get the
bill to the Senate floor for
a vote have consistently
been blocked. Akaka said
face as he was trying to re
load,” he said. “And it hit the
target.”
In 2000, w hen then-Presi-
den t Bill C linton belatedly
p re s e n te d In o u y e a n d 21
other Asian-American World
W ar II v ete ra n s w ith th e
Medal o f H onor, Clinton re
counted that Inouye’s father
believed their family owed an
unrepayable debt to America.
“I f I may say so, sir, more
th a n a h a lf c en tu ry later,
A m erica
ow es
an
unrepayable debt to you and
your colleagues,” Clinton said.
Inouye became a senator
in January 1963. As president
pro tem pore o f the Senate,
he was third in the line o f
presidential succession. H e
critics have mis-character-
ized what the bill would do.
H e says the measure is
about simple justice, fair
ness and doing the right
thing.
,,. Akaka.inyoked Inouye's
name Thursday in asking
his colleagues to pass the
bill. In o u y e w as in th e
midst o f serving his ninth
term in the Senate when
he died Monday.
A lask a Sen.
L isa
Murkowski also spoke in
favor o f the bill's passage.
broke racial barriers on Capi
tol Hill as the first Japanese-
American to serve in C on
gress.
Less th an an h o u r after
Inouye’s passing, Senate Ma
jority Leader Harry Reid an
nounced Inouye’s death to a
s tu n n e d ch am b er. “ O u r
frien d D an iel In o u y e has
died,” Reid said somberly.
S ho ck ed m em b ers o f th e
Senate stood in the aisles or
slumped in their chairs.
H e was elec ted to th e
H ouse in 1959, the year H a
waii became a state. H e won
election to th e Senate three
years later and served there
longer than anyone in Ameri
can h isto ry ex cep t R o b ert
Byrd o f West Virginia.
Judge denies Northern
Arapaho eagle request
C H E Y E N N E , Wyo.
(AP) — A federal judge has
denied a request from the
N o rth ern Arapaho Tribe
to reconsider his recent
ruling th at the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service acted
p ro p erly in b arrin g th e
trib e fro m k illin g b ald
eagles for religious p u r
poses on the W ind River
Indian Reservation.
Judge Alan B. Johnson
o f Cheyenne entered an
order denying the tribe’s
request to reconsider his N o
vem ber ruling. T he Fish and
W ddlife Service earlier this
year granted th e N o rth ern
A rapaho Tribe the nation’s
first perm it allowing the kill
ing o f up to two mature bald
eagles a year for use in the
tribe’s annual Sun Dance. The
perm it specified that the tribe
couldn’t kill the eagles on the
reservation it shares with the
Eastern Shoshone Tribe be
cause o f that tribe’s opposi
tion to killing eagles.
Tribal Council Agenda
Monday, Jan. 7
9 a.m. - Bureau of Indian
Affairs update with John
Halliday, BIA superinten
dent.
10 - Office of Special
Trustee update with
Charles Jackson, fiduciary
trust officer.
10:30 - Realty items with
Lyle Fox, Realty officer,
BIA.
1:30 p.m. - Legislative
update conference call.
2:30 - Tribal attorney up
date.
Thursday, Jan. 17 - Com
m u n ity
m e e tin g
in
Simnasho, starting at 6 p.m.
Topic: K-8 school design.
Tuesday, Jan. 8
9 a.m. - Telecom update
with Jeff Anspach, Ventures
manager.
1:30 p.m . - W arm
Springs Forest Products In
dustry board meeting with
W S F P I c h a ir M ich a e l
Clements and board. Pro
posed resolution and 10-
year plan.
Tuesday, Jan. 22
9 a.m. - Solar/wind power
discussion with S-T.
1:30 p.m. - Motor sports/
Raceway update with
Kahseuss Jackson, eco
nomic development coordi
nator.
3:30 - Travel Center up
date with Kahseuss Jack-
son.
Wednesday-Friday, Jan.
9-11 - Fish and W ildlife
Committee retreat at Kah-
Nee-Ta.
Wednesday, Jan. 23
9 a.m. - M inors’ Trust
Fund with S-T.
T h u rs d a y , J a n . 10 -
Sidwalter meeting. Dinner at
6 p.m., meeting at 7. Top
ics: M otor sports, senior
pension.
Monday, Jan. 14
9 a.m. - Appeals Court,
Judicial Nominating Com
mittee with S-T Calica.
1:30 p.m. - Legislative
update conference call.
2:30 - Minors’ trust with
S-T.
Tuesday, Jan. 15
9 a.m . - E n te rp ris e
boards, chairmen reports,
with S-T.
2:30 p.m. - George Miller,
Corps of Engineers, with S-
T.
M o n day and Tuesday,
Jan. 14-15-Oregon Tribes
M em orandum o f U nder
standing work group (drug
and alcohol abuse preven
tion).
Wednesday, Jan. 16 - Or
egon Gaming Alliance meet
ing.
Thursday-Friday, Jan. 17-
18 - Oregon Tribes meeting.
Monday, Jan. 21
9:30 a.m. - Secretary-
Treasurer update with S-T.
10 - Chief Operations Of
ficer update with COO Ur
bana Ross.
11 a.m. - Draft resolu
tions with S-T.
1:30 p.m. - Legislative
update conference call.
2 :3 0 -Enrollments.
Thursday-Friday, Jan. 24-
25. Tribal Council workshop
on 2013-14 tribal budgets.
Monday-Thursday, Jan.
28-31 - Affiliated Tribes of
Northwest Indians Confer
ence.
Monday-Tuesday, Jan. 28-
29 - National Native Ameri
can 8(a) Conference.
(Notes: Agenda subject
to change at Tribal Council
discretion.
All draft resolutions are
to be submitted to the Sec-
retary-Treasurer's Office for
review to ensure the lan
guage and format are cor
rect, and typos corrected,
before it is subm itted to
Tribal Council. This helps
with the process and turn
around time of the resolu
tions. Please cc a copy to
Laurain Hintsala, via email,
at the Tribal Council Office.
Presenters, please sub
mit 14 copies to the Tribal
Council Office two days prior
to your presentation. This
will allow the Tribal Council
mem bers tim e to review
your handout. Thank you.)
Council
(Continued from page 1)
A raceway update, and
travel center update, are
on the January 22 C oun
cil agenda. T he raceway
idea may be put to a ref
e re n d u m as early as
spring. T he travel center
is a p rio rity p ro je c t o f
tribal economic develop
m ent
c o o rd in a to r
K ahseuss Jackson. T he
center would be a source
o f new employment, and
revenue in the form o f
the state gas-tax rebate to
the tribes.
The Warm Springs For
est Products Industries is
on the January 8 Council
agenda. WSFPI presented
a 10-year plan o f opera
tion earlier this m onth,
b ut there are some ques
tions that remain. H ow to
fund the needed im prove
m ents is an issue, for in
stance.
Also, the future opera
tion o f the mill w ould re
quire tim ber from off-res-
e rv a tio n fo re s t lan d .
There has been no infor
m ation presented on how
this w ould be achieved,
said
C o u n cilm an
Raymond Tsumpti.
A p u b lic m eetin g at
Simnasho is planned for
the evening o f January 17.
This is for discussion o f
th e d esig n o f th e k-8
school.
A meeting at Sidwalter
on the evening o f Jan u
ary 10 is for discussion o f
the m otorsports park idea,
and the senior p ension
fund.
Tribal Council Chair
m an B uck S m ith su g
gested that Council needs
to evaluate the condition
o f the tribal enterprises.
Council should meet with
th e b o a rd ch airs fro m
Power and Water, Indian
H ead and K ah-N ee-T a,
and Warm Springs Forest
P ro d u c ts
In d u s trie s ,
C h a irm a n S m ith su g
gested. Council then set
January 15 for this m eet
ing
I f you are interested in advertising in the Spilyay Tymoo,
call Yvonne at 541-553-2210.
Or email her at yvonne.iverson@wstribes.org