Native Americans

Today's News about Native Americans

CONGRESSMAN DAVID SCHWEIKERT SUPPORTS TRIBAL COMMUNITIES IN OPPORTUNITY ZONE REGULATIONS
Source: David Schweikert (R-AZ, 6th)
April 29, 2019
“I am pleased to see tribal lands will be included in the economic success opportunity zones will bring to local communities. Tribal communities have long supported local businesses by leasing their land to community members. Now, they will be able participate in the benefits that opportunity zones provide. Thank you to the IRS and Treasury for working to include tribal communities during the comment period for these zones.” said Congressman David Schweikert

Read more...

Legislation to Enhance Tribal Road Safety Introduced

The Ponder would like to thank the following business for sending quality traffic our way!

======Need quality Website Traffic? Sign up!======

by: Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ)

Washington, D.C. - April 12, 2019 - (The Ponder News) -- Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, introduced, S. 1211, the Addressing Underdeveloped and Tribally Operated Streets (AUTOS) Act. The legislation, which is co-sponsored by Senators Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), would enhance the safety of roads on Indian lands by streamlining existing federal procedures and funding mechanisms used to repair roads and bridges in Indian country.

“With a backlog of at least $280 million of deferred maintenance, many tribal roads are in dire condition and need to be improved in a timely manner,” said Hoeven. “That’s why we’ve introduced this legislation, which would help accelerate repairs for the many communities that use these roads and bridges on a daily basis. As Congress considers legislation to reauthorize America’s surface transportation programs, we will work to ensure this priority is addressed.”

“Native Americans’ tribal infrastructure has been stifled under the red tape of the bureaucracy for too long,” said McSally. “I am proud to join the effort to streamline the process for tribal road repairs, increase safety, and provide additional funding for backlogged projects.”

“Enhancing infrastructure is an important part of improving life on tribal lands,” said Cramer. “This legislation streamlines the approval process for improving tribal roads and authorizes funding for these much needed improvements. Better infrastructure means more economic opportunity.”

The AUTOS Act does the following:

Permits certain traffic safety projects that are identified by the Secretary of the Interior to be eligible for categorical exclusion. The Department of Transportation already allows these categorical exclusions for safety projects.

Authorizes $46 million for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Road Maintenance Program, with increases of $2 million per year.

Reinstates the Tribal Transportation Bridge Program as a standalone program instead of a 2 percent carve out in the Tribal Transportation Program.

Directs the Secretaries of the Interior and Transportation to work with Indian Tribes in developing a standard and uniform crash report form.

Directs BIA law enforcement to use one standard crash report form.

Increases funding available for the Tribal Safety Transportation Program Safety Fund from 2 percent to 4 percent.

The bill, S. 1211, text can be found here.

The BIA, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) coordinate programs to address transportation issues in Indian country. The largest share of federal funding for highways on Indian lands is provided through the Tribal Transportation Program (TTP), which is jointly administered by the FHWA and the BIA. Resources for these tribal transportation programs is mostly derived from the Highway Trust Fund.

Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites Improvement Act Passes Senate

Washington, D.C. - December 4, 2017  (The Ponder News) -- With unanimous support, the U.S. Senate has passed the Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites Improvement Act. The legislation, which is sponsored by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), would enable the Bureau of Indian Affairs to make important safety and sanitation improvements at the tribal treaty fishing access sites along the Columbia River, which are on lands held by the United States for the benefit of the four Columbia River Treaty tribes.

The next step would be for the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the legislation, before being sent to the President for his signature.

“This is a positive step on our long road to properly honor our obligations to the Columbia River Treaty Tribes,” said Senator Murray. “It’s so important that we continue to make progress to provide safe, sanitary housing and infrastructure at these fishing access sites, so tribal members can exercise their protected rights.”

“These Tribal members’ way of life was washed away when the Bonneville dam went up. Since then, few steps have been taken to right this wrong,” said Senator Cantwell. “By improving housing conditions for these Tribes, we can begin to fulfill long-overdue promises. I encourage our House colleagues to quickly take up this bill so we can begin to improve conditions at existing sites”

Beginning in the 1930s, the construction of the three lower Columbia River dams displaced members of the four Columbia River Treaty tribes: Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Nez Perce Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. These tribes have a treaty-protected right to fish along the Columbia River in their usual and accustomed places.

The Senators have been fighting to address the urgent need for adequate housing and infrastructure at tribal fishing access sites constructed by the Army Corps following construction of The Dalles, Bonneville, and John Day dams. The Army Corps designed the sites to be used primarily for daily, in-season fishing access and temporary camping; however, in many cases tribal members now use the areas as longer-term or even permanent residences. In fact, many people at these sites are living in extremely distressed, unsafe, and unsanitary conditions, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs has not committed the resources necessary to ensure the basic necessities of clean and safe living conditions at these sites.

While the Senators have been working to move forward with a plan that would fulfill the federal government’s unmet obligation to provide permanent replacement housing for tribal members living at the fishing sites, the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently halted work on that plan. The Senators have pushed OMB to reverse its decision. In the meantime, the delay makes improving conditions at existing sites all the more critical.  

The Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites Improvement Act  would address the urgent need for improved conditions by:

Calling on the Bureau of Indian Affairs to conduct a much-needed assessment of current safety and sanitation conditions at the sites, in coordination with the affected Columbia River Treaty Tribes; and

Authorizing the Bureau to work on improving sanitation and safety conditions in several key areas such as structural improvements (restrooms, washrooms, and other buildings); safety improvements (wells and infrastructure to address fire concerns, and more); electrical infrastructure to ensure safe electrical hookups; and basic sewer and septic infrastructure.

The legislation is supported by the four Columbia River Treaty tribes—Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Nez Perce Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation—as well as the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

See more headlines at The Ponder News Web Site

Federal court to decide fate of Native American sacred site

Source: Becket Fund for Religious Liberty

Washington, D.C. - October 24, 2017 (The Ponder News) -- Members of the Klickitat and Cascade Tribes went to court this morning, asking for justice after the government needlessly bulldozed their sacred burial grounds for a highway widening project (watch video). Following years of failed negotiations in Slockish v. U.S. Federal Highway Administration, the government refuses to return the Tribes’ sacred artifacts or allow the tribes to return and rededicate the site. Today in court, the tribes argued that enough is enough.

The highway project, begun in 2008, destroyed a sacred site located off Highway 26 near Mount Hood that included a stone altar, ancient burial grounds, a campground, and trees and medicine plants used for religious rituals. The tribes argued in court today that the Government could have widened the highway and simultaneously protected the sacred site by widening the opposite side of the road or using a retaining wall—as it did to protect nearby wetlands and a tattoo parlor.

“The government has been destroying sacred Native American land for far too long,” said Carol Logan, elder of the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde. “All we want is to practice our faith as our tribes have for centuries. We are hopeful that justice will be served and that our sacred spaces will at least be given the same protection as tattoo parlors.”

Native Americans have lived in the areas surrounding Mount Hood for centuries. It has been the center of tribal quests, spiritual rituals, and sacred burial ceremonies long before this nation was founded. In 2006 the Oregon Department of Transportation announced a project to expand U.S. Highway 26, which follows portions of a traditional Native American trading route from Portland to Mount Hood. Tribal members alerted officials to the importance of the burial grounds as tribal members had done prior to previous government expansion plans. Yet this time the government refused to listen and approved the project, which bulldozed the ancestral burial grounds. Although the government left the other side of the highway untouched, the highway expansion covered the Natives’ ancestral grave sites, destroyed sacred stone markers, and removed safe access to the sites.

The tribes are seeking justice under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the same law relied on by the Supreme Court to protect the Green family of Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor, to ensure that sacred places are respected for people of all faiths.

“The saddest thing about this case is that this destruction never had to happen. The government had numerous alternatives for widening the highway without harming the sacred site,” said Stephanie Barclay, counsel at Becket. “The court did not seem to take kindly to the government’s extreme argument that it can destroy Native American sacred spaces with impunity.”

Wilbur Slockish, Johnny Jackson, and Carol Logan are joined in their lawsuit by the Cascade Geographic Society and the Mount Hood Sacred Lands Preservation Alliance. They are represented by Becket, together with Seattle-based law firm Patterson Buchanan Fobes & Leitch and Oregon City attorney James Nicita.