Spílygy T ym oo, W arm Springs, O regon
A p ril 17, 2013
Page 9
Horse policy; Tribes respond, detailing consequences
(Continued from page 1)
Smith is knowledgeable
when it comes to horses: He
has worked and been around
them all his life, he owns sev
eral, and leads the top Wild
Horse Race team in the na
tion. As president o f the
National Tribal H orse Coa
lition, Smith was prompted
to write the Secretary o f Ag
riculture due to the follow
ing situation:
Congress in 2007 effec
tively b a n n e d d o m estic
equine slaughter by cutting
funding for federal inspec
tion o f such operations.
O ver the ensuing years,
the num ber o f unclaim ed
horses increased significantly
across reservations and other
rangeland areas. T he ban
also resulted in increased
horse abuse and abandon
m ent on tribal, state and fed
eral lands.
The animals cause serious
damage to streams, destroy
ing fish habitat. They graze
across rangeland, depleting
the resource used by live
stock and wildlife. Indian res
ervation land is especially af
fected, as people use these
lands for horse abandon
ment.
The Confederated Tribes
o f Warm Springs supported
the Obama administration in
2011, when he signed legis
lation that would again allow
USDA horse m eat inspec
tions.
The legislation would al
low sale o f horse m eat to
countries in Europe and Asia
w here it is, consum ed the
same as livestock meat. In
France they raise horses as
livestock for the purpose of
human consumption.
Recent change
Earlier this year, follow
ing the 2011 legislation, the
USDA was close to approv
ing a horse meat processing
facility in New Mexico.
Then, unexpectedly, word
came that a D epartm ent of
A griculture spokesperson
was urging Congress to con
tinue the ban on horse-meat
inspections.
T his p ro m p te d Ja s o n
Smith to write to the Secre
tary o f Agriculture. O ther
tribal leaders from the N a
tional Tribal H orse Coalition
also wrote to the Secretary.
T ribal C ouncil C hairm an
S tanley B uck S m ith a d
dressed the topic in a letter
to President Obama.
Yvonne iverson/bpilyay
Horse can range at will across the reservation.
In his letter Tribal Coun
cil Chairman Smith writes:
“To reinstate the ban on
USDA inspectors for horse
meat for human consumption
will not only continue a pe
riod o f nearly seven years o f
unnecessary suffering and
abuse o f horses,- but will also
have severe econom ic and
detrim ental environm ental
effects on Tribal communi
ties across this land,”
Such an action warrants
trib al co n su ltatio n befo re
im plem entation, C hairm an
Smith said.
Letter to USDA
Jason Smith’s letter to Secre
tary Vilsack., providing the best
summary of the issue, is worth
reprinting here in its entirety:
Dear Mr. Secretary,
The National Tribal Horse
Coalition (NTHC) is aware
that a spokesman from your
agency is now “urging Con
gress to reinstate the ban on
production o f horse meat for
hum an consum ption.” The
N TH C strongly opposes re
instatement o f a policy that
will have such severe detri
mental consequences to our
Tribal economies and fragile
ecosystems. Tribes participat
ing in. our organization Occupy
trust lands o f nearly 20 mil
lion acres.
Those who are advocating
renew ing the 2007 A ppro
priations Budget ban on horse
meat inspections ignore the
real world consequences o f
that ban. These are the find
ings o f a G overnm ent A c
countability O ffice (GAO)
inquiry into H orse Welfare in
relation to the termination o f
USDA horse meat inspectors,
June 2011.
T h e G A O re p o r t Con
cluded: Clearly the cessation
o f dom estic slaughter has
h ad u n in te n d e d c o n s e
quences, m ost im portantly,
perhaps, the decline in horse
welfare in the United States.
I f that policy is reinstated,
Guilty plea in federal
domestic assault case
Casey M arcus Lillie,. 26, bruising to the victim’s face.
o f W arm Springs, pleaded The defendant battered the
guilty last w eek in federaL victim so severely that one o f
Court to one count o f domes h er eyes was tem p o rarily
tic assault by an habitual of swollen shut. The victim’s in-
fender. The maximum sen juries re q u ire d h er to be
tence for domestic assault by tran sp o rted to St: Charles
an habitual offender is ten Hospital Madras for medical
years in p riso n , a fine o f attention.
O n two separate prior oc
$250,000, and three years of
casions, in N ovem ber 2011
supervised release.
Sentencing is scheduled for and March 2012, the defen
June 20. Lillie is currently in dant was previously convicted
the custody o f the U nited in the Warm Springs Tribal
Court for assault and battery,
States Marshals Service.
A cc o rd in g
to
the as well as abduction, against
p ro secu to r’s statem ents in the same victim.
B oth o f those prior as
c o u rt, on D e c e m b e r 12,
2012, L illie a ssau lted a saults also resulted in the vic
wom an with w hom he had tim being transported to St.
been cohabitating as an inti Charles Madras for treatment
o f her. injuries.
mate partner.
The case was investigated
Lillie struck the victim with
his hands and kicked her in by the Warm Springs Police
the face w ith his feet. The D ep artm en t and the F B I’s
assau lt cau sed extensive Bend office.
i_,
. '
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?
' ,
' »
Our reason fo r
stepping into this
rather unpopular
fight is that the
U.S. policy could be
taking another
wrong turn o f
historic significance...
th e co n seq u en ces are no
longer “unintended.” Propo
nents o f an inspection ban do
this knowing that it will inflict
greater suffering to horses,
and economic and environ
mental hardship to Tribal na
tions? „
We in In d ia n C o u n try
know that our ability to af
fect Congressional action is
o ften restricted w hen o u r
voice is overridden in popu
list, popular and special inter
est forums o f the majority
culture. The emotional fervor
o f groups advocating for a
ban on equine slaughter is a
current case o f this phenom
ena.
O ur reason for stepping
into this rather unpopular
fight is that the U.S. policy
could be taking another wrong
turn o f historic significance
for the trust lands in much
o f Indian C ountry. Indian
Country has long been sub
jected t o the whims o f the
C on g ress o f th e U n ited
States. Federal law m akers
make policy in law that has
far reaching impacts on the
lands held in tru st fo r the
benefit o f the Indian owners
(Tribes and individuals): For
example, the General Allot
m ent A ct (and related acts)
had far reaching impaçts for
both the U.S. Treasury and to
the Indian Country. Many o f
these Indian Country lands
have recently seen the settlè-
m ent of long-standing dis
putes o f both policy and man
ag em en t issu es w ith th e
United States (i.e. Cobell and
Keepseagle) w here federal
E x ecu tiv e A g encies have
settled Tribal and individual
Indian claims stemming from
both bad policy made by Con-
gress and poorly executed
managem ent and policy on
the part o f the departments
and agencies o f the United
States.
The March 21, 2013 article
posted in “Foodsafety.com”
reflect policy advocacy in a
quote from you referring to
a “third way” o f “dealing with
the nation’s liorse problem”
other than “slaughtering the
animals for human consump
tion.”
Mr. Secretary, we want to
emphasize that the arguments
around horse slaughter are all
about imposing cultural mo
res o f special interest groups
from majority American cul
ture on others. We have ex
perienced this often in the
past. Though w’e have always
highly valued the horse in our
cultures, we also understand
the lands we live on. We also
are subject to the economics
o f the society we must par
ticipate in. We cannot afford
to ignore the role o f the horse
as livestock that needs man
agement. We own hotses we
value highly and honor but
we know ultimately that na
ture will destroy our herds if
we cannot manage them. Our
children’s children will be left
with a greatly diminished fu
ture?
We in Indian Country do
n o t relish th e co n cep t o f
slaughtering horses; however,
the scope o f the overgrazing
impacts to our lands are de
grees o f magnitude greater
than for the owners o f pri
vate lands in thè rest o f the
U.S.
Private landow ners can
simply chase dum ped live
sto ck o u t o f th e gates o f
their pastures,, with little ef
fort or consequence. We, ori
the other hand, control large
stretches o f (often arid) lands
that we rély on for subsis
tence use, ecoriomic use, and
cultural practices where ille
gally dum ped horses are, in
many cases already threaten
ing watershed and ecosystem
Stability on our trust lands.
O ther than shipping horses to
Canada or M exico (which
some are already forced to do
at an economic loss) or try
ing to sell locally (on a mar
ket that is so depressed that
roundup costs exceed sale
proceeds and supply over
whelms demand). Some have
tried adoption, to little avail.
Demand is always swamped
by the reproductive capacity
o f the herds. We do not have
funding available to sterilize
large numbers o f horses and
if we did, they would still be
overgrazing for another hu
man generation until the ster
ilized horses died. We do not
have the 25-plus years to wait
around and see if a failed
“third party” alternative will
solve the nation’s problem.
The trust responsibility of
the whole United States gov
ernment must be lived up to.
Badly inform ed policy (i.e.
the 2007 inspections ban) has
had “u n in te n d e d c o n s e
quences” and must not be re
peated.
We look forward to dia
loguing with you further on
this issue. We are engaging
our m em ber tribal govern
m ents to request that they
demand government-to-gov-
ernment consultation on this
issue.
Sincerely, Jason Smith,
President, National Tribal
Horse Coalition.
Around the Region
Rancher slams wild
horse impact study
Federal biologists have
concluded that the manage
m ent o f wild horses in a
portion o f Oregon Malheur
National Forest doesn’t jeop
ardize threatened steelhead.
H ow ever, th e rancher
who sued the government to
study the horses’ environ
m ent impact said the study
minimizes their detrimental
effects on fish.
Rancher Loren Stout of
Dayville believes the horses
are cau sin g dam age to
stream banks that is blamed
on his cattle, preventing
them from being turned out
to graze.
T h e re c e n t biological
opinion, dow nplays the
harm that horses have had
on steelhead habitat to jus
tify the government’s man
ag em en t p lan , h e said.
“W hat they’re saying is it’s
different if it’s a horse. It’s
th e w o rk co v er-u p I ’ve
seen.’*
Wild horses may cause
injury to individual fish, but
this harm does not imperil
their continued existence,
according to a biological
opinion recently issued by the
N ational M arine Fisheries
Service.
To mitigate the impact on
steelhead habitat, the U.S.
F orest Service will be ex
p ecte d to rem ove ho rses
from the M urderers Creek
wild horse territory to main
tain the population at 50-140
animals,
The U.S. Bureau of Land
Management is in charge o f
delivering removed horses to
its holding facilities as well as
the adoption process.
The federal governm ent
estimates that horse popula
tions have hovered between
90 and 460 animals in the
past decade, with the current
num ber standing at 57 after
roughly’200 horses were re
moved in late 2012 and early
2013.
Stout said there’s actually
many more horses left in the
territory, which will be veri
fied by m ore recent aerial
surveys o f the area.
: (Note: T his article by
Mateus^ Perkowski is reprinted
from the '■ Capital Press.)
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