Posts Tagged ‘Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’

14
Jul

Native American groups call for reversal of Cape Wind decision

   Posted by: admin    in Ceremonial Life, National Congress of American Indians, United South and Eastern Tribes, Wampanoag

In this Oct. 30, 2010 file photo, the sun rises over Nantucket Sound as seen from Popponesset Beach in Mashpee, Mass., on Cape Cod. Sunrise ceremonies are important to the Wampanoag tribes, who say a planned wind farm will disrupt those. (AP Photo/Julia Cumes, File)

In this Oct. 30, 2010 file photo, the sun rises over Nantucket Sound as seen from Popponesset Beach in Mashpee, Mass., on Cape Cod. Sunrise ceremonies are important to the Wampanoag tribes, who say a planned wind farm will disrupt those. (AP Photo/Julia Cumes, File)

The United South and Eastern Tribes and the National Congress of American Indians are seeking a reversal of the Obama administration’s approval of the Cape Wind project that would bring giant wind turbines to Nantucket Sound.

The site is sacred to the Aquinnah Wampanoag and Mashpee Wampanoag tribes, whose sunrise ceremonies would be disrupted by the planned 130 turbines.

As Indian Country Today’s Gale Courey Toensing writes here:

    Both tribes vigorously opposed the project. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made a well-publicized visit to the area in February, inviting the press to accompany him on a Coast Guard ship to the wind factory site in the middle of Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound.

    Salazar’s task was to weigh the value the Obama administration places on respecting an irreplaceable and immovable American Indian sacred site against the worth and importance of a privately-owned for-profit renewable energy plant that could be built elsewhere.

    On April 28, Salazar gave his stamp of approval to the plant. The project is still in the permitting process with local and federal agencies.

USET, which represents 25 tribes from Maine to Florida, passed a resolution last month seeking a reversal, while NCAI’s resolution asks that the decision be reconsidered.

Gwen Florio

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26
Jun

One more crushing delay for Native Americans awaiting money from $3.4 billion Cobell settlement

   Posted by: admin    in Blackfeet, Cobell vs. Salazar, Elouise Cobell, Indian trust funds, Interior Department

Marietta Green works at the Blackfeet Eagle Shields Center for elders. The government, she says, “should not have committed fraud against my ancestors.” (Gwen Florio/Missoulian)

Marietta Green works at the Blackfeet Eagle Shields Center for elders. The government, she says, “should not have committed fraud against my ancestors.” (Gwen Florio/Missoulian)

I went up to the Blackfeet Reservation this week to talk to people there about the Cobell case settlement. When I went, on Wednesday, the Senate was preparing to debate a jobs bill that contained approval for the $3.4 billion settlement for Indian people defrauded by the U.S. government of royalties on their land. It seemed that, after generations of being shorted, people might finally get some of the money owed them. A day later, the jobs bill seemed dead and the settlement was once again up in the air – all of which underscored the resignation voiced by the people with whom I spoke for this story:

    BROWNING, Mont. – Frank Still Smoking is 76, an age where he’s seen a lot of his contemporaries pass on.

    They died, he believes, without receiving justice – in the form of money due them from the U.S. government for mismanaging royalty payments on tribal lands to the tune of billions of dollars over several generations.

    This particular injustice might have been added to the seemingly endless list of offenses by the government against Indian people had it not been for the work of Elouise Cobell, who, like Still Smoking, is a member of the Blackfeet Nation.

    Fourteen years ago, Cobell sued the government, demanding compensation for the hundreds of thousands of Native Americans defrauded of their money.

    In December, after repeated setbacks, a $3.4 billion settlement in Cobell v. Salazar was announced. It was described as one of the largest class-action lawsuits in history. Indian Country celebrated.

    And then – nothing.

    The settlement, which needs congresssional approval before the money can be distributed, has faced one delay after another, most recently on Thursday night, when Senate Republicans used a filibuster to kill the jobs bill to which the settlement was attached.

    “It’s just a wait-and-see game now,” a weary-sounding Cobell said in a telephone interview Friday. “We were so disappointed and disheartened this didn’t get approved because it affects so many people’s lives.”

    In Browning, 2,200 miles away from the political power games in Washington, Still Smoking wonders if he’ll end up like his friends, dead before he ever sees a penny of the money due him.

As always, we’ll keep posting updates as the settlement progresses – or not. Someday, someday soon, we hope to write that people are actually getting their money. In the meantime, we’ll try to be patient, too.

Gwen Florio

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22
Jun

National Congress of American Indians – U.S. must support UN stance on indigenous peoples

   Posted by: admin    in Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior Department, National Congress of American Indians, U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) President Jefferson Keel welcomes speaker Rodney Bordeaux, President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, at the NCAI Conference at the Civic Center in Rapid City on Monday. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Rapid City Journal)

National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) President Jefferson Keel welcomes speaker Rodney Bordeaux, President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, at the NCAI Conference at the Civic Center in Rapid City on Monday. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Rapid City Journal)

The National Congress of American Indians is meeting this week in Rapid City, S.D., and high on their agenda is concern for indigenous people worldwide.

That manifested itself in a push to urge the United States to support of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The United States is among only a handful of countries continuing to refuse to sign the document that supports self-determination and opposes discrimination.

“The U.S. must step up and sign the declaration,” says Ron Allen, chairman and chief executive officer of the Jamestown S’klallam Tribe, according to this Rapid City Journal story.

Adds Juana Majel Dixon of the Pauma Tribe and secretary of the NCAI, “We continue to face grave violations of our rights every day. The U.S. is isolated by not endorsing the declaration.”

As the Journal’s Ruth Brown recounts:

    Other topics discussed Monday at the conference included processing land-into-trust applications, which allow tribes to acquire additional land. Most often this land is purchased by the tribe or acquired from federal surplus lands

    Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said he was working on a strategy for empowering Native nations to build a future of their choosing. According to representatives from the Department of Interior, Salazar said taking land into trust is one of the most important functions the department undertakes on behalf of tribes.

    “This is a result of a sustained effort on our part,” said Donald Laverdure, deputy assistant secretary for Indian Affairs. “Our ultimate goal is to rebuild and restore our homelands …we will use whatever resources we have to do that.”


Gwen Florio

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11
Jun

Legal Times – Cobell case showdown!

   Posted by: admin    in Cobell vs. Salazar, Elouise Cobell, Indian trust funds, Interior Department

That’s how Legal Times describes what’s at stake in the historic Indian trust class-action case, which still awaits approval by the U.S. Senate of a $3.4 billion settlement.

The court-mandated congressional approval has been repeatedly delayed, with the latest deadline set for next week. It looks as though Senate approval could hinge on legal fees. As Legal Times summarizes it, here:

Elouise Cobell (AP photo)

Elouise Cobell (AP photo)

    Lawyers in the case, named for lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell, agreed to cap fees at $100 million. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is proposing to set the cap at $50 million, and he introduced an amendment (PDF) this week to do so.

    Senators could vote on the amendment as soon as next week, or they might not consider it at all. A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said today that no agreement has been reached.

    In a statement, Barrasso said his amendment would benefit the plaintiffs, who lost royalty funds they were entitled to from the use of natural resources on Indian land. “After hearing from both sides to the lawsuit and Indian country, I believe the agreement can be strengthened in a way that benefits individuals, Indian Country, and taxpayers,” he said.

Both Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder have written to oppose Barrasso’s move. And Cobell, who is Blackfeet from Montana, supports the $100 million cap.

Gwen Florio

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9
Jun

Obama administration to Senate: Don’t mess with Cobell settlement

   Posted by: admin    in Cobell vs. Salazar, Elouise Cobell, Indian trust funds, Interior Department

Whew. Lots of news at the end of the day today. Here’s another that merits a full posting. It’s from Matt Volz, based in Montana for the Associated Press:

Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe from Montana who was the lead plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit regarding the U.S. government’s trust management and accounting of more than 300,000 individual American Indian trust accounts, left, is greeted by Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar following an announcement on the settlement of the Cobell lawsuit at the Interior Department in Washington, Dec. 8. Attorney General Eric Holder is seen on the right. (AP photo)

Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe from Montana who was the lead plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit regarding the U.S. government’s trust management and accounting of more than 300,000 individual American Indian trust accounts, left, is greeted by Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar following an announcement on the settlement of the Cobell lawsuit at the Interior Department in Washington, Dec. 8. Attorney General Eric Holder is seen on the right. (AP photo)

HELENA – The Obama administration cautioned Senate leaders Wednesday not to meddle with a proposed $3.4 billion settlement in a 14-year class-action lawsuit that accuses the government of mismanaging Indian trust funds.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar wrote letters to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asking the Senate to pass the settlement without amendments, saying any changes could nullify the deal.

“We hope to turn the page on an unfortunate chapter in our history, usher in a new era of reform, and bring renewed attention to the needs of our First Americans,” Holder and Salazar’s letter read.

The Senate faces a June 15 deadline to vote on the settlement mandated by a federal court. The House approved the settlement last month as part of a package of tax cuts and benefit extensions, and the parties agreed then to extend an earlier deadline to allow the Senate time to vote.

The proposed agreement calls for the Interior Department to distribute $1.4 billion to the plaintiffs, some 300,000 to 500,000 Indians with land held in trust by the federal government.

The settlement also requires the government to spend $2 billion to buy back and consolidate tribal land broken up in previous generations, and create a $60 million Indian Education Scholarship fund.

The vice chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee has said he believes some revisions are needed and has proposed several amendments, including capping attorney fees at $50 million.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., also has suggested limiting any incentive awards to the lawsuit's named plaintiffs to unreimbursed expenses and setting aside $50 million of the settlement money for certain lawsuit participants who receive "insufficient or unfair" amounts under the settlement's payment formula, among other changes.

Holder and Salazar say such amendments would be a material change which, under the settlement agreement, would make the deal null and void.

"Due to the difficulty and complexity of the negotiations, we believe that the proposed changes will negate the agreement, and thus, the resolution of 14 years of acrimonious litigation," their letter read.

Reid spokesman Jim Manley acknowledged his office had received the letter but said he had no comment on it. The Senate is working to get the bill done as soon as possible, Manley said.

Barrasso's and McConnell's offices did not return calls for comment on Wednesday.

The lead plaintiff in the case, Browning, Mont.-native Elouise Cobell, has said that any changes in the carefully negotiated agreement could mean the collapse of the deal and the onset of more costly litigation. Her spokesman, Bill McAllister, said the administration has reinforced that position with its message to the Senate leaders.

"These letters forcefully state what the plaintiffs have said: any material change to the agreement will void it," McAllister said.

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1
May

New Bureau of Indian Affairs leader – Agency needs to serve tribes, not the other way around

   Posted by: admin    in Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service, Interior Department, Montana Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council, Oglala Lakota

Mike Black new head of the BIA talks to area tribal leaders in Billings, Mont., yesterday. (Bob Zellar/Billings Gazette)

Mike Black new head of the BIA talks to area tribal leaders in Billings, Mont., yesterday. (Bob Zellar/Billings Gazette)

Mike Black, the newly appointed director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, was in Montana this week to deliver a message:

“I’ve met with my staff and emphasized the fact that the central office works for the regions, works for the tribes and works for the individuals,” Black told members of the Montana Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council. “It’s not vice versa.”

Black traveled to Billings, Mont., just days after his Monday appointment was announced by Larry Echo Hawk, assistant secretary of Indian Affairs. As Susan Olp of the Billings Gazette writes here, it was familiar territory for Black: He worked in Billings for 16 of his 23 years with the BIA.

Black, who is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, told tribal leaders that he is sure of is the commitment on the part of Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Echo Hawk to improving services to tribes:

    That commitment starts with the president, Black said.

    “We have a prime opportunity under President Obama’s administration,” he said. “He’s brought to light Indian issues more so than I think any president has in a long time, and that’s permeating down through the organization. We need to jump on that opportunity.”

    Black touched on issues of interest to the leaders, including the reservation roads program, restoring land back to the tribes and coordinating with other agencies, such as the Indian Health Service, when interests overlap.

He says, the agency is full of public servants who take their mission seriously.

“They’re helping their brothers, their cousins, their moms, their dads and we have some of the most dedicated workforce,” he said. “And I want to be able to improve on that, to give people the tools they need to do their jobs the way they want to do that.”

Gwen Florio

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8
Apr

Judge sets final delay for congressional approval of $3.4 billion Cobell settlement

   Posted by: admin    in Cobell vs. Salazar, Elouise Cobell, Indian trust funds, Interior Department


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Here’s the entire story from the Associated Press:

Home 032310 cobell 1 Linda Thompson/Missoulian 032310 cobell 1 Elouise Cobell and attorney David Smith explain details of the $3.4 billion Indian trust settlement at a public meeting held on the Salish and Kootenai College campus in Montana recently. Approval of the settlement funding by Congress has been delayed to April 16. “You need to weigh in now,” says lead plaintiff Cobell. “We need help in Congress.” (LINDA THOMPSON/Missoulian)

Elouise Cobell and attorney David Smith explain details of the $3.4 billion Indian trust settlement at a public meeting held on the Salish and Kootenai College campus in Montana recently. Approval of the settlement funding by Congress has been delayed again, to mid-May. “You need to weigh in now,” says lead plaintiff Cobell. “We need help in Congress.” (LINDA THOMPSON/Missoulian)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge has granted more time for Congress to approve a $3.4 billion settlement against the government for swindling Indian tribes out of royalties for oil, gas and grazing leases.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson says the delay is the last he will approve. It’s the third delay since the lawsuit settlement was announced in December.

The proposed settlement calls for the Interior Department to distribute $1.4 billion to more than 300,000 Indian tribe members. It would also have to spend $2 billion to buy back and consolidate tribal land broken up in previous generations.

If Congress does not confirm the settlement by mid-May, Robertson says he will order Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to appear before him to explain why.

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19
Feb

Tribes, others ink agreement to remove four Klamath River dams and let salmon swim free

   Posted by: admin    in Interior Department, Karuk Tribe, Klamath Tribe, Uncategorized, Yurok Tribe, environment

Jeff Mitchell, councilman and lead negotiator for the Klamath tribes, right, speaks during a ceremony at the state capitol in Salem, Ore. on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 for the signing of final agreements for the Klamath River Basin Restoration project. (AP Photo/Statesman-Journal, Danielle Peterson)

Jeff Mitchell, councilman and lead negotiator for the Klamath tribes, right, speaks during a ceremony at the state capitol in Salem, Ore. on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 for the signing of final agreements for the Klamath River Basin Restoration project. (AP Photo/Statesman-Journal, Danielle Peterson)


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Arnold Nova, of the Yurok Tribe, searches the banks of the Klamath River for tagged salmon during the 2002 salmon die-off that helped spur the dam removal. (AP photo)

Arnold Nova, of the Yurok Tribe, searches the banks of the Klamath River for tagged salmon during the 2002 salmon die-off that helped spur the dam removal. (AP photo)

Four hydroelectric dams along the Klamath River will be removed under a bitterly fought agreement that was finally signed yesterday. Here’s one of numerous accounts of the signing ceremony.

The Oregonian, in this editorial, calls it “a remarkable agreement” and “a day of hope.”

Those who pushed for the dams’ removal included three tribes who said the dams prevented the migration of the salmon upon which they depend. Members of the Klamath, Yurok and Karok tribes joined Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for yesterday’s signing.

The push to take the dams down gained momentum in 2002 after a federally ordered change in water flow led to the death of 33,000 salmon in the river.

Chinook once swam all the way up to Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon, providing crucial sustenance to American Indians, including the Yurok, Karuk, Klamath and Hoopa Valley tribes. The agreement launches a years-long process – the first dam won’t be removed until 2020 – that will culminate in the dams’ removal.

Now, says Merkie Oliver, one of the Yurok elders who attended yesterday’s ceremony, ”I hope I live long enough to see the dams come down.”

Gwen Florio

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13
Jan

UPDATE: Salazar sets April decision for Cape Cod wind project near Wampanoag site

   Posted by: admin    in Interior Department, Wampanoag, environment

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, left, accompanied by Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes, discusses the Cape Wind Project in Massachusetts during a news conference today in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, left, accompanied by Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes, discusses the Cape Wind Project in Massachusetts during a news conference today in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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Here’s the updated story from Andrew Miga of the Associated Press:


WASHINGTON (AP) — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday he will decide by the end of April whether to approve a proposed wind farm off Cape Cod that has sparked a bitter, nine-year public fight.

Salazar’s comments came after meetings with key players in Cape Wind’s plan to build 130 turbines, each over 400 feet tall, in Nantucket Sound. The project would be located several miles from the Cape Cod shore, across a 25-square-mile swath of federal waters.

“To have it continuing to face a future of uncertainty is bad for everybody that is involved. … We are moving it forward with clarity,” Salazar said at a news conference after the meetings.

Opponents say it would be a hazard to aviation, harm the environment and mar historic vistas. Supporters say the project will provide cheaper energy, reduce pollution and create green jobs.

“This gives the Obama administration and Secretary Salazar the opportunity to move this project forward and jump start the offshore wind industry in the United States,” said Cape Wind President Jim Gordon.

A major hurdle remaining is finding a way to protect Indian tribes’ spiritual traditions amid the construction of the turbines.

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4
Jan

Feds side with tribes in Cape Cod wind farm case

   Posted by: admin    in Wampanoag, environment

In this Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, file photo, the sun begins to rise over Nantucket Sound as seen from Popponesset Beach in Mashpee, Mass. The sacred rituals of the Wampanoags require an unblocked view of the sunrise, and they object to the proposed construction of turbines from the 25-square mile Cape Wind project. (AP photo)

In this Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, file photo, the sun begins to rise over Nantucket Sound as seen from Popponesset Beach in Mashpee, Mass. The sacred rituals of the Wampanoags require an unblocked view of the sunrise, and they object to the proposed construction of turbines from the 25-square mile Cape Wind project. (AP photo)

Here’s the entire text of today’s story from the Associated Press:

By ANDREW MIGA of the Associated Press

WASHINGTON  – Federal officials on Monday agreed to a request by two Indian tribes for special protections for Nantucket Sound, a move that could delay construction of a proposed wind farm off Cape Cod.

The National Park Service said the sound is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places due to its significance as a traditional cultural, historic and archaeological property.

The Mashpee and Aquinnah Wampanoag tribes say the designation, which would come with new regulations for activity on the sound, is needed to preserve the tribe’s sacred rituals.

The Wampanoag — the tribe that welcomed the Pilgrims in the 17th century and is known as “the people of the first light” — practice sacred rituals requiring an unblocked view of the sunrise. That view won’t exist if the Cape Wind project’s turbines, each over 400 feet tall, are built several miles from the Cape Cod shore. The turbines would be visible to Wampanoag in Mashpee and on Martha’s Vineyard.

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