State to consider charge that developer mishandled Indian remains
On Nov. 13, Hearthside Homes' officials will defend its development permit for a 300-home project in Huntington Beach.
The Hearthside Homes building site where 174 pieces of human remains were found.
HUNTINGTON BEACH — State officials will consider revoking a housing development permit after a group of American Indians complained that the developer mishandled their ancestor's remains and failed to report 6,000 bags of artifacts and 10 boxes holding fragments of ancient human remains.
On Nov. 13, the California Coastal Commission will hear a request that they revoke the permit for the 300-home Brightwater Hearthside Homes project, which sits atop what is believed to be an ancient burial ground and village once shared by the Gabrielino-Tongva and Juaneño band of Mission Indians.
The commission's staff, however, is recommending the commissioners vote against revoking the developer's permit, according to a staff report.
"The revocation request fails to demonstrate intentional inclusion of inaccurate, erroneous or incomplete information in connection with the subject coastal development permit application, where accurate and complete information would have caused the Commission to require additional or different conditions on the permit or deny the application," the report states.
Hearthside Homes Senior Vice President Ed Mountford said he's not surprised by the staff recommendation.
"Well, because the allegations are completely bogus," said Hearthside Homes Senior Vice President Ed Mountford. "I'm confident that we did not withhold any information from the commission or falsify any information, which would be grounds for revoking our permit. We didn't do anything like that so I'm confident the commission will come to that conclusion, as well."
Over the past 30 years, archaeologists hired by the developer discovered 174 sets of ancient human remains, half of them unearthed in the past 21 months. Human remains can mean a full skeleton or fragments.
The Hearthside project in Bolsa Chica Mesa has come under fire recently by the state's Native American Heritage Commission, which has accused the developer of not documenting appropriately all grave items found on the site.
Since the 1970s, activists and tribal members have pushed for preservation of the site. After lawsuits and disputes over a plan to develop the site, Hearthside Homes won permission to build in 2005. A condition on the project was that any discovered remains would be reinterred elsewhere in the area and appropriately documented.
Earlier this month, commissioners granted the revocation hearing after tribal members, environmentalists and preservationists joined forces, staged protests and signed a petition asking the commission to revoke the developer's permit.
The groups allege that the developer has been less than forthcoming about human remains and artifacts found at the site – disrespecting their ancestors.
After the petition was sent, Paul Moreno, an American Indian who helped spearhead the petition, said more discoveries came to light.
Anthony Morales, who is appointed by the state's Native American Heritage Commission as a "most likely descendant" for the Hearthside site, told commissioners that more than 6,000 bags of unsorted and unidentified material remained at the location.
In addition, Morales said there were an additional 10 boxes believed to be as unidentified human remains at the site. These boxes, Morales added, had also not been cataloged and have gone unreported to the Orange County Coroner as required by law.
"This is a whole different incident that just shows us again that this guy is doing whatever he wants, in a sense," Moreno said of the developer. "Who knows what he's done behind closed doors. It's just about him getting caught."
Mountford has said that the developer has followed every regulation and condition for the permit. He said he believes the Bolsa Chica Land Trust is behind the protests and revocation petition. The Land Trust, he added, tried unsuccessfully before to get a revocation hearing.
The revocation hearing is Nov. 13 in City Council Chambers at Long Beach City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd. The meeting begins at 8 a.m. but the exact time of this particular hearing is still unclear. For more information, go to www.coastal.ca.gov/mtgcurr.html or call 562-590-5071. The meeting will also broadcast live at www.coastal.ca.gov.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/permit-commission-developer-2216348-remains-site
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Maui Family Rejects Apology from Maui Electric
Maui Family Rejects Apology from Maui Electric
Written by KGMB9 News - news@kgmb9.com
November 02, 2008 05:56 PM
A Maui family who's sacred heiau was trashed by sub-contractors hired by Maui Electric are publicly rejecting the company's apology.
The Kaleo and Kahaialii family says they were filming a documentary at the site in west Maui. When they found two MECO vehicles parked on the sacred land and toilet paper on the ground, MECO officials say one of the workers admitted defecating on the site. The family says their trust has been shamefully violated.
"In their claims to move forward, they have taken the giant step backwards. For these reasons, their attempt for an apology is unacceptable to the family at this time," Wilmont Kahaialii said.
The family says it plans to a file a lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric Industries, parent company of Maui Electric.
http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/11012/40/
Written by KGMB9 News - news@kgmb9.com
November 02, 2008 05:56 PM
A Maui family who's sacred heiau was trashed by sub-contractors hired by Maui Electric are publicly rejecting the company's apology.
The Kaleo and Kahaialii family says they were filming a documentary at the site in west Maui. When they found two MECO vehicles parked on the sacred land and toilet paper on the ground, MECO officials say one of the workers admitted defecating on the site. The family says their trust has been shamefully violated.
"In their claims to move forward, they have taken the giant step backwards. For these reasons, their attempt for an apology is unacceptable to the family at this time," Wilmont Kahaialii said.
The family says it plans to a file a lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric Industries, parent company of Maui Electric.
http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/11012/40/
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Trimble: Joy, sorrow and pride at a Pawnee reburial
Trimble: Joy, sorrow and pride at a Pawnee reburial
By Charles E. Trimble
Story Published: Oct 30, 2008
Story Updated: Oct 29, 2008
“Old Ones, I want to speak to you. I am Pawnee. My grandparents were Pawnees. I am Skidi and Chaui. I speak for the Pawnee people. We’re glad that you are home. We are sorry that you have had to be gone so long. It hurt us to know that you were in museums. It hurt us to know that you were away from the Pawnees.
“We don’t live here anymore. We live in Oklahoma. All our people are there. We are well. It is a good home. But this is Pawnee land. This is our home, too. Our people walked here a long time ago. We walk here again. We look and see our people. We listen and hear them speaking. This is our home.
“We want you to rest here. You won’t be disturbed anymore. God has brought you here. Old Ones, you are home. It is good. We are happy.”
The above prayer was given in the Pawnee tongue by a young man named Warren Pratt, grandson of Adam Pratt and Lawrence Good Fox, both much-respected elders of the Pawnee Nation, as he stood over the large grave prepared for the reburial of Pawnee remains. The remains were returned from museums and other collections pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The reburial took place Oct. 18 at a location in east-central Nebraska, on ancestral homelands recently repatriated to the Pawnee Tribe.
Pawnee holy man Ronnie Good Eagle performed the traditional blessing and cedaring, and from the large pan holding the embers the smoke flowed into the grave, then up into the sky like the spirits rising to freedom. The delegation from the tribe included tribal elder and repatriation officer Francis Morris and tribal President George Howell.
At the graveside, several people spoke of their feelings of sorrow for those whose spirits were held captive by researchers and curious collectors, and joy at seeing and participating in a solemn ceremony to bring them home and free their spirits. Pat Leading Fox, head of the Chiefs Council and chief of the Skidi, spoke his feelings. He is a large man, a police chief who directed the events surrounding the ceremony. He spoke haltingly as he told of helping prepare the remains for burial the night before, and of holding the skull of a child. I was privileged to witness the ceremony and to speak on behalf of Lakota people in sharing the joy at the freeing of the spirits of those people whom the remains represented.
I was privileged to witness the ceremony and, being the only Lakota there, to speak on behalf of Lakota people in sharing the joy at the freeing of the spirits of those people whom the remains represented. It was a moving ceremony, one I shall never forget.
Later, at a meal following the ceremony, my Ho-Chunk brother, Louie LaRose, told of preparing other repatriated Pawnee remains for reburial several years before. Those remains were from a museum and were in plastic bags numbered with codes that would tell a researcher the gender, age and other facts that could be discerned, as well as the geographic coordinates of the location where the bones were unearthed. Very movingly, Louie told of his feelings at the time, of deep sorrow that those individuals had names, loving names that told of exploits, of lineage and of endearment; and those names were obliterated and replaced by cold numbers.
I found myself drained and exhausted when I returned home that evening, as did my wife, Anne, who attended with me. But I felt a sense of joy, gratitude and pride over a certain element of the reburial ceremony – the fact that the 26 acres of earth made sacred by the remains of their ancestors were repatriated to the Pawnee Tribe by Roger Welsch and his wife, Linda.
The acreage is part of the territory of the Pawnee Nation before they were removed to Oklahoma in the late 1800s. It is the first time in 135 years that the Pawnee are back in their ancestral homelands. This acreage and modest farmstead where they live was the Welsch’s entire estate, given to the Pawnee with the only provision being that he and Linda be permitted to live out their lives there.
Roger Welsch, some might recall, appeared regularly in his “Postcards from Nebraska” segment of CBS’ Sunday Morning show with the late Charles Kuralt. Roger is a noted folklorist, an establishment in Nebraska, and noted beyond its border for his many books and magazine features.
I first met him while I served on the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs in the early 1990s, at the height of the Pawnee struggle to secure the remains of their ancestors and associated burial goods from the Nebraska State Historical Society. Roger resigned from the NSHS board in protest – or, as he might say, “in disgust,” at their refusal to deal honorably or even discuss the issues with the tribe’s representatives. The tribe was ultimately successful in its legal and political fight, and with much public opinion on their side. With the help of the Native American Rights Fund, their victory set the tone for the larger movement that resulted in NAGPRA.
Roger is a noted humorist much in demand in Nebraska’s answer to the East’s Borscht Belt circuit – the “Corn Belt,” we might call it, for various reasons. His humor is a sharp weapon that he uses against bigotry.
In 2005, at the feast and give-away marking the end of the year of mourning of the death of my sister, Shirley Plume, I brought Roger into our family, along with Louie LaRose of the Winnebago and Nancy Gillis of the Cherokee. In the hunkapi (making of relatives) ceremony that day, I said this of Roger:
“In Lakota culture, as in many Native American societies, the clown is an important member of the clan or band. He brings happiness, and sometimes his humor brings ridicule on anyone who tries to seize power and bully the people.
“The heyoka is the Lakota clown, a holy man of sorts. Because Roger Welsch uses his humor to give joy and laughter, but also uses it as a weapon in defense of the Indian people and their tribes, and all oppressed people, I give him the name, Heyoka ta Pejuta, Clown Medicine.”
Roger Welsch’s medicine is powerful, indeed, and his heart is big.
Charles E. Trimble is Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was principal founder of the American Indian Press Association in 1970 and served as executive director of the National Congress of American Indians from 1972 – 78. He is retired and lives in Omaha, Neb. He may be reached at cchuktrim@aol.com.
By Charles E. Trimble
Story Published: Oct 30, 2008
Story Updated: Oct 29, 2008
“Old Ones, I want to speak to you. I am Pawnee. My grandparents were Pawnees. I am Skidi and Chaui. I speak for the Pawnee people. We’re glad that you are home. We are sorry that you have had to be gone so long. It hurt us to know that you were in museums. It hurt us to know that you were away from the Pawnees.
“We don’t live here anymore. We live in Oklahoma. All our people are there. We are well. It is a good home. But this is Pawnee land. This is our home, too. Our people walked here a long time ago. We walk here again. We look and see our people. We listen and hear them speaking. This is our home.
“We want you to rest here. You won’t be disturbed anymore. God has brought you here. Old Ones, you are home. It is good. We are happy.”
The above prayer was given in the Pawnee tongue by a young man named Warren Pratt, grandson of Adam Pratt and Lawrence Good Fox, both much-respected elders of the Pawnee Nation, as he stood over the large grave prepared for the reburial of Pawnee remains. The remains were returned from museums and other collections pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The reburial took place Oct. 18 at a location in east-central Nebraska, on ancestral homelands recently repatriated to the Pawnee Tribe.
Pawnee holy man Ronnie Good Eagle performed the traditional blessing and cedaring, and from the large pan holding the embers the smoke flowed into the grave, then up into the sky like the spirits rising to freedom. The delegation from the tribe included tribal elder and repatriation officer Francis Morris and tribal President George Howell.
At the graveside, several people spoke of their feelings of sorrow for those whose spirits were held captive by researchers and curious collectors, and joy at seeing and participating in a solemn ceremony to bring them home and free their spirits. Pat Leading Fox, head of the Chiefs Council and chief of the Skidi, spoke his feelings. He is a large man, a police chief who directed the events surrounding the ceremony. He spoke haltingly as he told of helping prepare the remains for burial the night before, and of holding the skull of a child. I was privileged to witness the ceremony and to speak on behalf of Lakota people in sharing the joy at the freeing of the spirits of those people whom the remains represented.
I was privileged to witness the ceremony and, being the only Lakota there, to speak on behalf of Lakota people in sharing the joy at the freeing of the spirits of those people whom the remains represented. It was a moving ceremony, one I shall never forget.
Later, at a meal following the ceremony, my Ho-Chunk brother, Louie LaRose, told of preparing other repatriated Pawnee remains for reburial several years before. Those remains were from a museum and were in plastic bags numbered with codes that would tell a researcher the gender, age and other facts that could be discerned, as well as the geographic coordinates of the location where the bones were unearthed. Very movingly, Louie told of his feelings at the time, of deep sorrow that those individuals had names, loving names that told of exploits, of lineage and of endearment; and those names were obliterated and replaced by cold numbers.
I found myself drained and exhausted when I returned home that evening, as did my wife, Anne, who attended with me. But I felt a sense of joy, gratitude and pride over a certain element of the reburial ceremony – the fact that the 26 acres of earth made sacred by the remains of their ancestors were repatriated to the Pawnee Tribe by Roger Welsch and his wife, Linda.
The acreage is part of the territory of the Pawnee Nation before they were removed to Oklahoma in the late 1800s. It is the first time in 135 years that the Pawnee are back in their ancestral homelands. This acreage and modest farmstead where they live was the Welsch’s entire estate, given to the Pawnee with the only provision being that he and Linda be permitted to live out their lives there.
Roger Welsch, some might recall, appeared regularly in his “Postcards from Nebraska” segment of CBS’ Sunday Morning show with the late Charles Kuralt. Roger is a noted folklorist, an establishment in Nebraska, and noted beyond its border for his many books and magazine features.
I first met him while I served on the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs in the early 1990s, at the height of the Pawnee struggle to secure the remains of their ancestors and associated burial goods from the Nebraska State Historical Society. Roger resigned from the NSHS board in protest – or, as he might say, “in disgust,” at their refusal to deal honorably or even discuss the issues with the tribe’s representatives. The tribe was ultimately successful in its legal and political fight, and with much public opinion on their side. With the help of the Native American Rights Fund, their victory set the tone for the larger movement that resulted in NAGPRA.
Roger is a noted humorist much in demand in Nebraska’s answer to the East’s Borscht Belt circuit – the “Corn Belt,” we might call it, for various reasons. His humor is a sharp weapon that he uses against bigotry.
In 2005, at the feast and give-away marking the end of the year of mourning of the death of my sister, Shirley Plume, I brought Roger into our family, along with Louie LaRose of the Winnebago and Nancy Gillis of the Cherokee. In the hunkapi (making of relatives) ceremony that day, I said this of Roger:
“In Lakota culture, as in many Native American societies, the clown is an important member of the clan or band. He brings happiness, and sometimes his humor brings ridicule on anyone who tries to seize power and bully the people.
“The heyoka is the Lakota clown, a holy man of sorts. Because Roger Welsch uses his humor to give joy and laughter, but also uses it as a weapon in defense of the Indian people and their tribes, and all oppressed people, I give him the name, Heyoka ta Pejuta, Clown Medicine.”
Roger Welsch’s medicine is powerful, indeed, and his heart is big.
Charles E. Trimble is Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was principal founder of the American Indian Press Association in 1970 and served as executive director of the National Congress of American Indians from 1972 – 78. He is retired and lives in Omaha, Neb. He may be reached at cchuktrim@aol.com.
Tribe concerned about license renewal
10/30/2008 9:50:39 AM
By Laura Gossman
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
RED WING -- An attorney for the Prairie Island Indian Community voiced the community's concerns regarding the renewal license for the nearby Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant during a hearing on Wednesday in Hastings, Minn., in front of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's atomic safety and licensing board.
Northern States Power Co. manages Xcel Energy Services, which owns the nuclear plant and hopes to extend operations at the Prairie Island plant for another 20 years and increase the number of on-site storage containers for nuclear waste.
Tribal attorney Philip Mahowald cited environmental and health-related concerns about the plant's application. He also said the report doesn't address historic or archeological properties that could be affected.
"When two cooling towers were erected, it destroyed six burial mounds," Mahowald said.
The power company's attorney, David Lewis, said the company hired an archeologist to investigate before construction started. The same archeologist has returned before more construction was done, and more sites were found in the 1980s.
"Three of the six mounds had already been leveled from decades of farming and plowing," Lewis said. Two mounds were excavated to see if they were resources that need to be protected, and no remains were found. He said the two mounds were designated as earthworks, not burial mounds.
Mahowald said the community wants a study to determine whether the nuclear plant has increased tribe members' chances of getting cancer. The community is about 600 yards from the storage containers at the nuclear plant.
In the past, tribal leaders have said they favor removal of the plant's nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Members of the tribal council said in a statement they appreciated the opportunity to express their concerns.
"We know this is a step in the larger process, and we look forward to working with the NRC and Xcel Energy to come to a solution that addresses our community's many concerns," the statement said.
Nonetheless, the community remains opposed to the re-licensing.
"We will continue to participate at every possible venue to ensure our voice is heard," the statement said. "The entire history of the plant demonstrates a complete disregard of our community and the rights and interests of our members, and we are committed to finding resolution to our concerns."
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=368801
By Laura Gossman
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
RED WING -- An attorney for the Prairie Island Indian Community voiced the community's concerns regarding the renewal license for the nearby Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant during a hearing on Wednesday in Hastings, Minn., in front of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's atomic safety and licensing board.
Northern States Power Co. manages Xcel Energy Services, which owns the nuclear plant and hopes to extend operations at the Prairie Island plant for another 20 years and increase the number of on-site storage containers for nuclear waste.
Tribal attorney Philip Mahowald cited environmental and health-related concerns about the plant's application. He also said the report doesn't address historic or archeological properties that could be affected.
"When two cooling towers were erected, it destroyed six burial mounds," Mahowald said.
The power company's attorney, David Lewis, said the company hired an archeologist to investigate before construction started. The same archeologist has returned before more construction was done, and more sites were found in the 1980s.
"Three of the six mounds had already been leveled from decades of farming and plowing," Lewis said. Two mounds were excavated to see if they were resources that need to be protected, and no remains were found. He said the two mounds were designated as earthworks, not burial mounds.
Mahowald said the community wants a study to determine whether the nuclear plant has increased tribe members' chances of getting cancer. The community is about 600 yards from the storage containers at the nuclear plant.
In the past, tribal leaders have said they favor removal of the plant's nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Members of the tribal council said in a statement they appreciated the opportunity to express their concerns.
"We know this is a step in the larger process, and we look forward to working with the NRC and Xcel Energy to come to a solution that addresses our community's many concerns," the statement said.
Nonetheless, the community remains opposed to the re-licensing.
"We will continue to participate at every possible venue to ensure our voice is heard," the statement said. "The entire history of the plant demonstrates a complete disregard of our community and the rights and interests of our members, and we are committed to finding resolution to our concerns."
http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=368801
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tribes say NAGPRA grant money could be better spent
Tribes say NAGPRA grant money could be better spent
By Rob Capriccioso
Story Published: Oct 31, 2008
Story Updated: Oct 31, 2008
WASHINGTON – Each year, the office responsible for administrating the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act offers grant money to tribes to help them work to get back human remains and artifacts, as mandated by the law. Tribes have sometimes complained that there isn’t enough money to do this work, but this year there was actually money left over in the funds allocated by Congress.
Now, questions have arisen over the appropriateness of how the national NAGPRA office is spending the unused funds – especially considering that some tribes were denied funding this year.
Sherry Hutt, the national NAGPRA program manager, made note of the extra monies at a September meeting of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers in Washington.
“This year, we had fewer amounts of request for money in proposals than we had grant money allocated from Congress,” Hutt said. “That’s not good.”
The amount of money appropriated from Congress for grants for fiscal year 2008 was $2.4 million, according to the national NAGPRA FY ’08 final report. The total amount of monies awarded to tribes ended up being just under $1.1 million, out of total requests adding up to about $1.7 million. Museums received approximately $500,000 in grants out of total requests adding up to $560,000.
Hutt said that her office placed a portion of the leftover money into a cooperative agreement with the National Preservation Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Virginia that has a track record of bringing training to tribes. Under the agreement, the organization will be responsible for offering scholarships to tribes for NAGPRA grant training courses.
With the other leftover grant funds, the NAGPRA office directed an intern and other staffers to create what Hutt called “NAGPRA: The Video, a 12 Part Series.” Part of the series will focus on providing education to tribes on how to properly apply for and receive NAGPRA funding.
D. Bambi Kraus, president of NATHPO, said at the meeting at which Hutt spoke that some tribal leaders have asked why the extra grant monies weren’t put into a second cycle of funding.
“It’s surprising for me to hear that you’re going to do a video and you’re going to have the National Preservation Institute, a nonprofit – not NATHPO – that’s going to be doing training for tribes.” Kraus said in remarks to Hutt.
Hutt said in a follow-up interview with Indian Country Today that the grants are competitive and based on advertised dates for submissions.
“To begin to mount a new competitive grants cycle in June and complete it in July would have been impossible for applicants to contend with. Tribes would not have been well served by a short cycle.”
Adding to tribal concerns, there are some tribes that applied for the funds this year but were not granted awards. Out of the 33 grant proposals received by the National Park Service focused on consultation and documentation, 23 were approved for an award.
Some tribal leaders who had their requests for grant monies rejected were especially displeased to learn that leftover monies existed and would be provided to a nonprofit and to an intern, rather than to tribes that applied for the funds.
In a letter dated Oct. 2 sent to Hutt, Ronnie Lupe, chairman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, said the tribe has “deep concern and disappointment” over the way the NAGPRA office handled the unused funding situation.
Lupe believes the activities described in the tribe’s application for a grant “were worthy of funding and vital to the Apache Tribes’ successful implementation of NAGPRA in the most responsible manner possible.”
“I also believe that the merits of our proposal outweigh the technicalities [used to deny us] and that your program’s decision to fund a nonprofit organization over our tribe, and perhaps other tribes, was less than pleasing,” Lupe wrote.
Some tribal preservation officials who have reviewed the application agree with Lupe, and say the tribe’s application was denied on what appear to be technicalities that, with a little leeway, could have easily been corrected.
The NAGPRA office did not give the tribe the opportunity to make corrections; instead, it offered suggestions on how its proposal could be improved in future years if the tribe wishes to apply again.
The grant application was submitted by the White Mountain Apache Tribe on behalf of the Western Apache NAGPRA Working Group. Members of the group include the White Mountain Apache, the San Carlos Apache, the Yavapai-Apache, the Tonto Apache, the Mescalero Apache, the Jicarilla Apache, the Fort Sill Apache and the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma.
It requested money to cover the planning, travel and lodging costs for tribal officials to attend an all-Apache NAGPRA summit. The summit’s aim was to partially address problems Apaches have experienced under the law, as well as how changes in the NAGPRA process or future legislation could help their situation.
As a result of the denied grant, the summit could not take place this fall. Tribal leaders are now in the process of cobbling together funds to try to make something happen this spring.
The grant also requested funds for Western Apaches to travel to the Denver Art Museum to view newly acquired and potentially sensitive Apache objects.
Seth Pilsk, an official who focuses on NAGPRA-related issues involving the San Carlos Apache Nation, said it is crucial that tribal cultural experts be able to examine the artifacts, which has not been able to happen yet due to limited funding.
“The Apaches view these types of items as alive and filled with a holy power. They have to be treated in a particular way by certain people. If they’re not treated that way, there could be really serious consequences, not only for Apaches, but for everybody.”
Sangita Chari, a grants program officer with the NAGPRA program, wrote in a letter to the tribe that one of the major concerns the office had with the application involved budget miscalculations. She also said the tribe failed to list items on a specific form.
Hutt noted, too, that her office’s grants panel must follow established guidelines when making award decisions.
“There are federal standards for grants, which the panel must abide by,” Hutt said. “National NAGPRA does not add technicalities to the federal grant requirements. The panel must make their selections based on the documents provided and are not in a position to revise budgets or make assumptions beyond what is presented.
“We certainly hope that the White Mountain Apache Tribe will revise their documents and resubmit in the next cycle.”
Despite reasoned explanations coming from the national NAGPRA office, tribal concerns about the implementation of the law have been growing in recent months. As of late September, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., planned to call for a report and study by the U.S. government Accountability Office to explore federal government compliance and enforcement of the law.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/33635349.html
By Rob Capriccioso
Story Published: Oct 31, 2008
Story Updated: Oct 31, 2008
WASHINGTON – Each year, the office responsible for administrating the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act offers grant money to tribes to help them work to get back human remains and artifacts, as mandated by the law. Tribes have sometimes complained that there isn’t enough money to do this work, but this year there was actually money left over in the funds allocated by Congress.
Now, questions have arisen over the appropriateness of how the national NAGPRA office is spending the unused funds – especially considering that some tribes were denied funding this year.
Sherry Hutt, the national NAGPRA program manager, made note of the extra monies at a September meeting of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers in Washington.
“This year, we had fewer amounts of request for money in proposals than we had grant money allocated from Congress,” Hutt said. “That’s not good.”
The amount of money appropriated from Congress for grants for fiscal year 2008 was $2.4 million, according to the national NAGPRA FY ’08 final report. The total amount of monies awarded to tribes ended up being just under $1.1 million, out of total requests adding up to about $1.7 million. Museums received approximately $500,000 in grants out of total requests adding up to $560,000.
Hutt said that her office placed a portion of the leftover money into a cooperative agreement with the National Preservation Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Virginia that has a track record of bringing training to tribes. Under the agreement, the organization will be responsible for offering scholarships to tribes for NAGPRA grant training courses.
With the other leftover grant funds, the NAGPRA office directed an intern and other staffers to create what Hutt called “NAGPRA: The Video, a 12 Part Series.” Part of the series will focus on providing education to tribes on how to properly apply for and receive NAGPRA funding.
D. Bambi Kraus, president of NATHPO, said at the meeting at which Hutt spoke that some tribal leaders have asked why the extra grant monies weren’t put into a second cycle of funding.
“It’s surprising for me to hear that you’re going to do a video and you’re going to have the National Preservation Institute, a nonprofit – not NATHPO – that’s going to be doing training for tribes.” Kraus said in remarks to Hutt.
Hutt said in a follow-up interview with Indian Country Today that the grants are competitive and based on advertised dates for submissions.
“To begin to mount a new competitive grants cycle in June and complete it in July would have been impossible for applicants to contend with. Tribes would not have been well served by a short cycle.”
Adding to tribal concerns, there are some tribes that applied for the funds this year but were not granted awards. Out of the 33 grant proposals received by the National Park Service focused on consultation and documentation, 23 were approved for an award.
Some tribal leaders who had their requests for grant monies rejected were especially displeased to learn that leftover monies existed and would be provided to a nonprofit and to an intern, rather than to tribes that applied for the funds.
In a letter dated Oct. 2 sent to Hutt, Ronnie Lupe, chairman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, said the tribe has “deep concern and disappointment” over the way the NAGPRA office handled the unused funding situation.
Lupe believes the activities described in the tribe’s application for a grant “were worthy of funding and vital to the Apache Tribes’ successful implementation of NAGPRA in the most responsible manner possible.”
“I also believe that the merits of our proposal outweigh the technicalities [used to deny us] and that your program’s decision to fund a nonprofit organization over our tribe, and perhaps other tribes, was less than pleasing,” Lupe wrote.
Some tribal preservation officials who have reviewed the application agree with Lupe, and say the tribe’s application was denied on what appear to be technicalities that, with a little leeway, could have easily been corrected.
The NAGPRA office did not give the tribe the opportunity to make corrections; instead, it offered suggestions on how its proposal could be improved in future years if the tribe wishes to apply again.
The grant application was submitted by the White Mountain Apache Tribe on behalf of the Western Apache NAGPRA Working Group. Members of the group include the White Mountain Apache, the San Carlos Apache, the Yavapai-Apache, the Tonto Apache, the Mescalero Apache, the Jicarilla Apache, the Fort Sill Apache and the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma.
It requested money to cover the planning, travel and lodging costs for tribal officials to attend an all-Apache NAGPRA summit. The summit’s aim was to partially address problems Apaches have experienced under the law, as well as how changes in the NAGPRA process or future legislation could help their situation.
As a result of the denied grant, the summit could not take place this fall. Tribal leaders are now in the process of cobbling together funds to try to make something happen this spring.
The grant also requested funds for Western Apaches to travel to the Denver Art Museum to view newly acquired and potentially sensitive Apache objects.
Seth Pilsk, an official who focuses on NAGPRA-related issues involving the San Carlos Apache Nation, said it is crucial that tribal cultural experts be able to examine the artifacts, which has not been able to happen yet due to limited funding.
“The Apaches view these types of items as alive and filled with a holy power. They have to be treated in a particular way by certain people. If they’re not treated that way, there could be really serious consequences, not only for Apaches, but for everybody.”
Sangita Chari, a grants program officer with the NAGPRA program, wrote in a letter to the tribe that one of the major concerns the office had with the application involved budget miscalculations. She also said the tribe failed to list items on a specific form.
Hutt noted, too, that her office’s grants panel must follow established guidelines when making award decisions.
“There are federal standards for grants, which the panel must abide by,” Hutt said. “National NAGPRA does not add technicalities to the federal grant requirements. The panel must make their selections based on the documents provided and are not in a position to revise budgets or make assumptions beyond what is presented.
“We certainly hope that the White Mountain Apache Tribe will revise their documents and resubmit in the next cycle.”
Despite reasoned explanations coming from the national NAGPRA office, tribal concerns about the implementation of the law have been growing in recent months. As of late September, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., planned to call for a report and study by the U.S. government Accountability Office to explore federal government compliance and enforcement of the law.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/33635349.html
Thursday, October 30, 2008
2008 Bioneers Conference hosts first indigenous tent
2008 Bioneers Conference hosts first indigenous tent
By Shadi Rahimi, Today correspondent
Story Published: Oct 31, 2008
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – After 19 years of hosting a “green” festival, the 2008 Bioneers Conference hosted its first-ever “indigenous tent” this year.
Bioneers founders Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons referred to indigenous peoples as “the world’s original bioneers” in the program and said they were “deeply honored” to collaborate with the Indigenous Environmental Network and Cultural Conservancy to host the tent.
“We’ve got to fight for a new environmental paradigm,” said IEN Director Tom Goldtooth during a panel on climate change. “The machine continues. They’re ‘green-washing’ ourselves.”
Organic foods, herbal remedies and natural fibers were the norm Oct. 17 – 19, and the tent was the one space where Native people could be found networking and speaking to the mostly white Bioneers crowd about environmental struggles in Indian country.
“We’re here to invite you to join us,” said Radley Davis, Pit River, during a panel on sacred sites. “We’re all facing the same issues. We need to address them as one.”
Photo courtesy Shadi Rahimi
Manny Pino spoke about the pain of being forced to share spiritual practices in courtrooms “just to defend our case,” at the 2008 Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, Calif.
Conference attendees, took in the shade beneath three traditional tule huts at the tent and speakers shared California basket making, tule hut and bird dance and song demonstrations, and insight on environmental issues.
During a youth panel, five speakers shared thoughts about cultural conservation “As a Tool for Social Justice,” including the preservation of languages in Canada, northern California and South Dakota, and the legacy of boarding schools on their families and their knowledge.
“The steps we are taking now are not only about contemporary times, but solutions to the trauma in the past,” said panel facilitator Dallas Goldtooth.
Attendees filled the tent during a panel on sacred sites. Manny Pino, Acoma Pueblo, spoke about how Native people must fight in the courts for the same religious rights granted to all others because “indigenous peoples are always an afterthought.”
Pino spoke about the pain of being forced to share spiritual practices in courtrooms “just to defend our case.” But that’s necessary when arguing cases like the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, Ariz., a sacred mountain where a ski resort uses recycled wastewater to create fake snow, he said.
Photo courtesy Shadi Rahimi
Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk-Franco declared that now “coal miners have turned to blue gold” at a panel discussion on “The Sacredness of Water” at the 2008 Bioneers Conference.
In response to protests, the Bureau of Land Management has been asking how to best oversee a sacred site, said Navajo Kelvin Long of the nonprofit E.C.H.O.E.S.
“We tell them you can’t ‘manage’ a sacred site. We can’t wait until science catches up to us; you have to listen to the people of this land.”
Pino spoke about how Native struggles to protect sacred sites become interpreted as “obstacles to economic progress,” citing the Zuni in western New Mexico and their battle to preserve the salt water from SRP’s 18,000-acre coal mine that for 50 years sucked 85 gallons of water a minute from the river. After a “long, tedious effort” by Zuni spiritual leaders, the river was spared in 2003 upon being placed in national trust, he said. But SRP has moved on to waterways in Wyoming.
Matthew Leivas Sr., Chemehuevi from southern California, spoke of the desecration of sacred springs and sites in his region. Shrapnel from World War II still litter the desert, and now off-road vehicles raze the landscape. Tailings from uranium mining in the Colorado Plateau in the late 19th century continue to contaminate Lake Mead, the Colorado River and other waterways, he said.
With gaming money from its casino, his tribe has begun buying back some of the land it lost upon contact with European settlers. And through a project called the Salt Song Trail, they and 12 other Southern Paiute bands from California, Arizona and Nevada are reviving traditional songs and honoring those who never came home from the Sherman Indian School, a boarding school in Riverside.
Davis spoke about how the 9th Circuit court had ruled in favor of protecting the Medicine Lake highlands from a proposed geothermal plant. But “we knew we could not celebrate too soon,” he said. This past summer, the BLM and Calpine Corp. began pushing again for drilling.
“We do not consider geothermal ‘green energy’ because the impact on our area would be irreparable. It would be damaged forever.”
The push against harmful development and the revival of lands was a major theme among speakers, and Native audience members brought up new concerns.
An Oneida woman almost cried as she spoke about biofuels: “To have our corn burned for the purpose of gas in cars goes against the belief of my people. Corn is sacred and corn is food.”
At a panel on “The Sacredness of Water,” Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk-Franco declared that now “coal miners have turned to blue gold.”
She puffed smoke from a pipe onto a California water basket woven by Kathy Wallace, which was passed to each panelist to “speak over the water.” Tia Oros Peters, a Zuni who works for the Seventh Generation Fund, spoke about how villages once thrived along the Zuni River.
Today, the region is joked as being only “dust and dogs,” a result of dams built by Mormon missionaries “hungry for souls,” she said. The river was strangled. Her husband’s people, the Yurok, now face similar threats from seven dams on the Klamath River.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com:80/national/33539024.html
By Shadi Rahimi, Today correspondent
Story Published: Oct 31, 2008
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – After 19 years of hosting a “green” festival, the 2008 Bioneers Conference hosted its first-ever “indigenous tent” this year.
Bioneers founders Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons referred to indigenous peoples as “the world’s original bioneers” in the program and said they were “deeply honored” to collaborate with the Indigenous Environmental Network and Cultural Conservancy to host the tent.
“We’ve got to fight for a new environmental paradigm,” said IEN Director Tom Goldtooth during a panel on climate change. “The machine continues. They’re ‘green-washing’ ourselves.”
Organic foods, herbal remedies and natural fibers were the norm Oct. 17 – 19, and the tent was the one space where Native people could be found networking and speaking to the mostly white Bioneers crowd about environmental struggles in Indian country.
“We’re here to invite you to join us,” said Radley Davis, Pit River, during a panel on sacred sites. “We’re all facing the same issues. We need to address them as one.”
Photo courtesy Shadi Rahimi
Manny Pino spoke about the pain of being forced to share spiritual practices in courtrooms “just to defend our case,” at the 2008 Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, Calif.
Conference attendees, took in the shade beneath three traditional tule huts at the tent and speakers shared California basket making, tule hut and bird dance and song demonstrations, and insight on environmental issues.
During a youth panel, five speakers shared thoughts about cultural conservation “As a Tool for Social Justice,” including the preservation of languages in Canada, northern California and South Dakota, and the legacy of boarding schools on their families and their knowledge.
“The steps we are taking now are not only about contemporary times, but solutions to the trauma in the past,” said panel facilitator Dallas Goldtooth.
Attendees filled the tent during a panel on sacred sites. Manny Pino, Acoma Pueblo, spoke about how Native people must fight in the courts for the same religious rights granted to all others because “indigenous peoples are always an afterthought.”
Pino spoke about the pain of being forced to share spiritual practices in courtrooms “just to defend our case.” But that’s necessary when arguing cases like the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, Ariz., a sacred mountain where a ski resort uses recycled wastewater to create fake snow, he said.
Photo courtesy Shadi Rahimi
Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk-Franco declared that now “coal miners have turned to blue gold” at a panel discussion on “The Sacredness of Water” at the 2008 Bioneers Conference.
In response to protests, the Bureau of Land Management has been asking how to best oversee a sacred site, said Navajo Kelvin Long of the nonprofit E.C.H.O.E.S.
“We tell them you can’t ‘manage’ a sacred site. We can’t wait until science catches up to us; you have to listen to the people of this land.”
Pino spoke about how Native struggles to protect sacred sites become interpreted as “obstacles to economic progress,” citing the Zuni in western New Mexico and their battle to preserve the salt water from SRP’s 18,000-acre coal mine that for 50 years sucked 85 gallons of water a minute from the river. After a “long, tedious effort” by Zuni spiritual leaders, the river was spared in 2003 upon being placed in national trust, he said. But SRP has moved on to waterways in Wyoming.
Matthew Leivas Sr., Chemehuevi from southern California, spoke of the desecration of sacred springs and sites in his region. Shrapnel from World War II still litter the desert, and now off-road vehicles raze the landscape. Tailings from uranium mining in the Colorado Plateau in the late 19th century continue to contaminate Lake Mead, the Colorado River and other waterways, he said.
With gaming money from its casino, his tribe has begun buying back some of the land it lost upon contact with European settlers. And through a project called the Salt Song Trail, they and 12 other Southern Paiute bands from California, Arizona and Nevada are reviving traditional songs and honoring those who never came home from the Sherman Indian School, a boarding school in Riverside.
Davis spoke about how the 9th Circuit court had ruled in favor of protecting the Medicine Lake highlands from a proposed geothermal plant. But “we knew we could not celebrate too soon,” he said. This past summer, the BLM and Calpine Corp. began pushing again for drilling.
“We do not consider geothermal ‘green energy’ because the impact on our area would be irreparable. It would be damaged forever.”
The push against harmful development and the revival of lands was a major theme among speakers, and Native audience members brought up new concerns.
An Oneida woman almost cried as she spoke about biofuels: “To have our corn burned for the purpose of gas in cars goes against the belief of my people. Corn is sacred and corn is food.”
At a panel on “The Sacredness of Water,” Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk-Franco declared that now “coal miners have turned to blue gold.”
She puffed smoke from a pipe onto a California water basket woven by Kathy Wallace, which was passed to each panelist to “speak over the water.” Tia Oros Peters, a Zuni who works for the Seventh Generation Fund, spoke about how villages once thrived along the Zuni River.
Today, the region is joked as being only “dust and dogs,” a result of dams built by Mormon missionaries “hungry for souls,” she said. The river was strangled. Her husband’s people, the Yurok, now face similar threats from seven dams on the Klamath River.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com:80/national/33539024.html
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Snowbowl case might reach Supreme Court
Snowbowl case might reach Supreme Court
October 23rd, 2008 by Joey Chenoweth
The Agassiz chairlift stands still in the fall colors, awaiting the arrival of the oncoming winter. - Jacki Philleo/ The Lumberjack
A lawsuit filed by various tribes against the Arizona Snowbowl might be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court after several contradictory rulings by more local courts have left the case under dispute.
In March 2005, the U.S. Forest Service granted permission to the Snowbowl to expand its infrastructure to allow artificial snowmaking using reclaimed water. Supporters say this is needed due to the inconsistency in snowfall over the past few years. In response, the Navajo, Hopi, Yavapai-Apache, White Mountain, Havasupai and Hualapai tribes filed a lawsuit saying the reclamation project threatens the environment and religious freedoms.
The case was taken to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-person panel ruled in favor of the tribes in March 2007. However, a ruling made on Aug. 8, 2008 concerning the religious right of the tribes gave favor to the Snowbowl. The tribes are currently deciding whether to appeal to the Supreme Court on the grounds of religious freedom.
Since the District Court did not rule on the merits of the environmental aspect of the lawsuit, the tribes may still appeal to the District Court for a separate ruling. Until a future ruling, the court has ordered a stay on production.
Due to the ongoing nature of the case, Snowbowl declined to comment.
Julie Pastrick, president and CEO of the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, said Snowbowl’s expansion plan will benefit Flagstaff’s economy.
“We live in a very desirable mountain area, and a healthy ski season would be a boon for our economy,” Pastrick said. “A healthy business economy is good for everybody. That’s just an economic reality.”
Save the Peaks (STP) is an organization formed in 2004 that focuses on opposing the Snowbowl’s plan. They cite the contamination that the project would have on the watershed in the peaks, along with other environmental damage that would result from reclaimed water.
The Agassiz chairlift disappears into the first snow of the season on Oct. 4. Although that snow has since melted off, the Arizona Snowbowl is getting ready for the oncoming winter. - Jacki Philleo/ The Lumberjack
Rachel Tso, a graduate student majoring in arts and sustainable communities, is a volunteer with STP. She said studies have shown that the chemicals, such as endocrines, that would be in the sewage water used to make the snow have altered the sexual development of frogs. She said this is a sign that the Snowbowl’s plan will damage more than just the watershed.
“What’s it going to do to people who face-plant in it?” Tso said. “What’s it going to do to the kids that eat it? There’s an environmental aspect to it. There’s a health aspect to it.”
Catherine Propper, professor of behavioral, environmental and reproductive endocrinology, has been involved in conducting some of these studies.
“Throughout the world, investigators have found endocrine disrupting compounds in wastewater effluent, and many studies have found that exposure to wastewater impacts sexual development in aquatic vertebrates,” Propper said. “Results of these studies demonstrate that low levels of the micro-contaminants in wastewater effluent have significant biological effects when organisms are exposed in their natural environments.”
However, Propper said these studies do not necessarily show what will happen should the Snowbowl’s plan be put into effect.
“We do not know what the impact of using wastewater on the San Francisco Peaks will be, as no one has conducted a study that evaluates the use of wastewater once it is sprayed, frozen and thawed, and exposed to UV,” Propper said. “The issue of low-level contamination of complex chemical mixes is very difficult to evaluate because of the complicated nature of the chemistry and biology of exposure. There is an urgent need for studies to evaluate the biological impacts of reclaimed water reuse.”
Due to the environmental concerns this case raises, the Sierra Club has also become involved in aiding the tribes. Robert Tohey is the Environmental Justice Program organizer for the Plateau Chapter of the Sierra Club and has been helping in the case since its conception.
“We think appropriate use of the land would not be to use reclaimed water for recreation,” Tohey said. “There would be major disruption to habitats and ecosystems. We’re talking about a mountain that’s already been disturbed.”
Brady Smith, public affairs officer for Coconino National Forest Service, said he disagrees that the project would harm the environment. He said the plan was approved by the Forest Service after it was deemed the best option amongst a variety of choices.
“If we thought it would be damaging to the forest, we wouldn’t be going through with it,” Smith said. “The forest in general is here for the people. They come to the forest for many different reasons, and one of those reasons is to recreate. This is just another opportunity for them to use the national forest in every way we have to offer.”
The Forest Service also cited many studies they say contradict the theory that the chemicals in the reclaimed water would harm sexual development.
The tribes’ main focus, however, has been on the religious aspect of the case. To these tribes, the San Francisco Peaks are a holy site, as important as any other. Thus, the possible contamination of the waters on this site have been met with much disapproval.
“It’s not just sacred, it’s holy,” Tso said. “It’s a place that’s been holy long before anybody of European descent came here.”
Tso said tribal medicine men go to the peaks of the mountain in order to gain herbs used for medicinal purposes.
“What type of thing is that to do to our neighbor?” Tso said. “You’re going to spray poisoned water on their pharmacy.”
Ruling for the majority in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Carlos Bea wrote, “Each citizen would hold an individual veto to prohibit the government action solely because it offends his religious beliefs, sensibilities or tastes, or fails to satisfy his religious desires. Further, giving one religious sect a veto over the use of public park land would deprive others of the right to use what is, by definition, land that belongs to everyone.”
According to Tso, this ruling means that Native American religion is considered subjective to the courts, which would never happen to religions such as Christianity or Islam.
“We’ve been contacted by nearly every Native American nation in the country, because if we lose, it sets a bad precedent,” Tso said. “If we lose, all Native Americans lose.”
Tso said she thinks the division caused by this case could wind up damaging Flagstaff’s economy. She said a study done by the City of Flagstaff showed that the Snowbowl provided less than 1 percent of Flagstaff’s economy, and the amount of business stores receive from Native Americans far outweighs that.
“There’s talk of boycott,” Tso said. “(The Native Americans) going to shop in Winslow or somewhere else. If Snowbowl closed down, it would have no (economic) impact. But if the Natives stopped shopping here, it would all come to a grinding halt.”
The Chamber of Commerce declined to comment on the religious issue, but President Pastrick said she strongly disagrees that the Snowbowl has little impact on the economy.
“During snowy season, we have plenty of people coming into town,” Pastrick said. “Because of that, many other businesses prosper, and therefore families prosper. This is not just about one business, this is about people. You’re talking about payroll to 300 to 350 people, and that money gets recycled into the economy. It’s tens of millions of dollars every year that goes into the economy from the Snowbowl.”
Mark Lamberson owns Mountains Sports Downtown, one of the businesses that receives income as a result of the Snowbowl.
“We just finished a great snow season last year, and so the Snowbowl received a lot of holiday business,” Lamberson said. “We received business like we hadn’t seen in years.”
Lamberson said the busy season created a 20 percent growth in business last year, and he hopes for that trend to continue.
“Because we came off a good snow season last year, people are more excited for this season,” Lamberson said. “Pre-sales for season tickets to the Snowbowl are up 85 percent.”
With the stay in effect, the future of this case remains uncertain. Supporters of the Snowbowl said they are confident they will be able to resume building the infrastructure soon. However, Tso said she still keeps some optimism.
“I’m optimistic when I’m on campus and I see all the Save the Peak stickers,” Tso said. “I’m optimistic when I talk to the younger generation. But the younger generation doesn’t run the Supreme Court
http://www.jackcentral.com:80/news/2008/10/snowbowl-case-might-reach-supreme-court/
October 23rd, 2008 by Joey Chenoweth
The Agassiz chairlift stands still in the fall colors, awaiting the arrival of the oncoming winter. - Jacki Philleo/ The Lumberjack
A lawsuit filed by various tribes against the Arizona Snowbowl might be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court after several contradictory rulings by more local courts have left the case under dispute.
In March 2005, the U.S. Forest Service granted permission to the Snowbowl to expand its infrastructure to allow artificial snowmaking using reclaimed water. Supporters say this is needed due to the inconsistency in snowfall over the past few years. In response, the Navajo, Hopi, Yavapai-Apache, White Mountain, Havasupai and Hualapai tribes filed a lawsuit saying the reclamation project threatens the environment and religious freedoms.
The case was taken to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-person panel ruled in favor of the tribes in March 2007. However, a ruling made on Aug. 8, 2008 concerning the religious right of the tribes gave favor to the Snowbowl. The tribes are currently deciding whether to appeal to the Supreme Court on the grounds of religious freedom.
Since the District Court did not rule on the merits of the environmental aspect of the lawsuit, the tribes may still appeal to the District Court for a separate ruling. Until a future ruling, the court has ordered a stay on production.
Due to the ongoing nature of the case, Snowbowl declined to comment.
Julie Pastrick, president and CEO of the Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, said Snowbowl’s expansion plan will benefit Flagstaff’s economy.
“We live in a very desirable mountain area, and a healthy ski season would be a boon for our economy,” Pastrick said. “A healthy business economy is good for everybody. That’s just an economic reality.”
Save the Peaks (STP) is an organization formed in 2004 that focuses on opposing the Snowbowl’s plan. They cite the contamination that the project would have on the watershed in the peaks, along with other environmental damage that would result from reclaimed water.
The Agassiz chairlift disappears into the first snow of the season on Oct. 4. Although that snow has since melted off, the Arizona Snowbowl is getting ready for the oncoming winter. - Jacki Philleo/ The Lumberjack
Rachel Tso, a graduate student majoring in arts and sustainable communities, is a volunteer with STP. She said studies have shown that the chemicals, such as endocrines, that would be in the sewage water used to make the snow have altered the sexual development of frogs. She said this is a sign that the Snowbowl’s plan will damage more than just the watershed.
“What’s it going to do to people who face-plant in it?” Tso said. “What’s it going to do to the kids that eat it? There’s an environmental aspect to it. There’s a health aspect to it.”
Catherine Propper, professor of behavioral, environmental and reproductive endocrinology, has been involved in conducting some of these studies.
“Throughout the world, investigators have found endocrine disrupting compounds in wastewater effluent, and many studies have found that exposure to wastewater impacts sexual development in aquatic vertebrates,” Propper said. “Results of these studies demonstrate that low levels of the micro-contaminants in wastewater effluent have significant biological effects when organisms are exposed in their natural environments.”
However, Propper said these studies do not necessarily show what will happen should the Snowbowl’s plan be put into effect.
“We do not know what the impact of using wastewater on the San Francisco Peaks will be, as no one has conducted a study that evaluates the use of wastewater once it is sprayed, frozen and thawed, and exposed to UV,” Propper said. “The issue of low-level contamination of complex chemical mixes is very difficult to evaluate because of the complicated nature of the chemistry and biology of exposure. There is an urgent need for studies to evaluate the biological impacts of reclaimed water reuse.”
Due to the environmental concerns this case raises, the Sierra Club has also become involved in aiding the tribes. Robert Tohey is the Environmental Justice Program organizer for the Plateau Chapter of the Sierra Club and has been helping in the case since its conception.
“We think appropriate use of the land would not be to use reclaimed water for recreation,” Tohey said. “There would be major disruption to habitats and ecosystems. We’re talking about a mountain that’s already been disturbed.”
Brady Smith, public affairs officer for Coconino National Forest Service, said he disagrees that the project would harm the environment. He said the plan was approved by the Forest Service after it was deemed the best option amongst a variety of choices.
“If we thought it would be damaging to the forest, we wouldn’t be going through with it,” Smith said. “The forest in general is here for the people. They come to the forest for many different reasons, and one of those reasons is to recreate. This is just another opportunity for them to use the national forest in every way we have to offer.”
The Forest Service also cited many studies they say contradict the theory that the chemicals in the reclaimed water would harm sexual development.
The tribes’ main focus, however, has been on the religious aspect of the case. To these tribes, the San Francisco Peaks are a holy site, as important as any other. Thus, the possible contamination of the waters on this site have been met with much disapproval.
“It’s not just sacred, it’s holy,” Tso said. “It’s a place that’s been holy long before anybody of European descent came here.”
Tso said tribal medicine men go to the peaks of the mountain in order to gain herbs used for medicinal purposes.
“What type of thing is that to do to our neighbor?” Tso said. “You’re going to spray poisoned water on their pharmacy.”
Ruling for the majority in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Carlos Bea wrote, “Each citizen would hold an individual veto to prohibit the government action solely because it offends his religious beliefs, sensibilities or tastes, or fails to satisfy his religious desires. Further, giving one religious sect a veto over the use of public park land would deprive others of the right to use what is, by definition, land that belongs to everyone.”
According to Tso, this ruling means that Native American religion is considered subjective to the courts, which would never happen to religions such as Christianity or Islam.
“We’ve been contacted by nearly every Native American nation in the country, because if we lose, it sets a bad precedent,” Tso said. “If we lose, all Native Americans lose.”
Tso said she thinks the division caused by this case could wind up damaging Flagstaff’s economy. She said a study done by the City of Flagstaff showed that the Snowbowl provided less than 1 percent of Flagstaff’s economy, and the amount of business stores receive from Native Americans far outweighs that.
“There’s talk of boycott,” Tso said. “(The Native Americans) going to shop in Winslow or somewhere else. If Snowbowl closed down, it would have no (economic) impact. But if the Natives stopped shopping here, it would all come to a grinding halt.”
The Chamber of Commerce declined to comment on the religious issue, but President Pastrick said she strongly disagrees that the Snowbowl has little impact on the economy.
“During snowy season, we have plenty of people coming into town,” Pastrick said. “Because of that, many other businesses prosper, and therefore families prosper. This is not just about one business, this is about people. You’re talking about payroll to 300 to 350 people, and that money gets recycled into the economy. It’s tens of millions of dollars every year that goes into the economy from the Snowbowl.”
Mark Lamberson owns Mountains Sports Downtown, one of the businesses that receives income as a result of the Snowbowl.
“We just finished a great snow season last year, and so the Snowbowl received a lot of holiday business,” Lamberson said. “We received business like we hadn’t seen in years.”
Lamberson said the busy season created a 20 percent growth in business last year, and he hopes for that trend to continue.
“Because we came off a good snow season last year, people are more excited for this season,” Lamberson said. “Pre-sales for season tickets to the Snowbowl are up 85 percent.”
With the stay in effect, the future of this case remains uncertain. Supporters of the Snowbowl said they are confident they will be able to resume building the infrastructure soon. However, Tso said she still keeps some optimism.
“I’m optimistic when I’m on campus and I see all the Save the Peak stickers,” Tso said. “I’m optimistic when I talk to the younger generation. But the younger generation doesn’t run the Supreme Court
http://www.jackcentral.com:80/news/2008/10/snowbowl-case-might-reach-supreme-court/
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