VOICES: Copper thieves at Coldwater
Coldwater Spring House and Reservoir by Susu Jeffrey
By Susu Jeffrey , TC Daily Planet
July 27, 2008
The abandoned Bureau of Mines buildings around Coldwater Spring have been a magnet for gang graffiti, homeless people seeking shelter, and after-hours adventurism since 1995. Homeless people get ushered out, unleashed dog walkers get tickets. So go the priorities at Hennepin County’s last natural spring, a mile south of Minnehaha Falls.
Since 1805 when Lt. Zebulon Pike signed a treaty for a fort on the Mississippi, Coldwater has been “federal.” Good thing, because our state allowed the powerful Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to carve up Fort Snelling’s river bluff with roads and freeways and the airport.
Of course the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, the “meeting of waters,” would traditionally be a place for the meeting of peoples—but the Mississippi is also the drinking water source for 18-million Americans.
MnDOT still plans to expand Highway 55 into a freeway from Interstate 94 south to the 62 Crosstown, further threatening the spring outflow. The other sacred spring in Hennepin County, the Great Medicine Spring (Theodore Wirth Park), was permanently dewatered with construction of Interstate 394 in the late 1980s.
Only federal level protection can force MnDOT to pay for protecting the spring’s source water because most freeway construction money is federal-with-strings.
Native Americans are only recognized at the federal, nation-to-nation, level. Native Americans have legally recognized sacred site rights at majestic landscapes like Bear Butte, or Coldwater. Coldwater still flows at 90-thousand gallons a day above the only true river gorge on the entire Mississippi River.
Coldwater has been flowing at least 10,000 years.
False Economy
Since 1995, the amount of federal money for contract security exceeds the $1.1 million estimated (2001) cost of removing/recycling all 11 buildings and roads inside the 27-acre Coldwater campus.
Early Friday, June 27, a federal security contractor noticed open doors to Building 9—the small, northern-most building closest to the Coldwater entrance. It is the former library for the Bureau of Mines complex where taconite was developed after World War 2. The library was built atop a wetland and is so infected with black mold a respirator is required.
Whoever stripped the copper tubing out of the moldy building could develop respiratory distress—sinus, allergy and asthma complications. Coldwater’s wildlife is probably sensitive enough to toxic odors to keep out.
One hawk got trapped behind a window pane in the Crusher Building, across from Coldwater Reservoir where the pigeons roost. Luckily the hawk was freed by a staffer from the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District during a site tour. The Crusher Building is the old Bureau of Mines most popular break-in location. Guards routinely catch bored kids looking to test their manhood inside with the dead pigeons and guano.
What is Security at Coldwater?
Since Coldwater is the last natural spring of size in Hennepin County and has been used as an emergency drinking water supply, protecting and maintaining the 90-thousand-gallon-a-day water source should be the priority.
But in our upside-down economy, abandoned buildings are the focus of security efforts at Coldwater. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul airport directs about 10 percent of all flights over the Main Building and spring. The old buildings get checked daily, sometimes broken windows get boarded. Three months after a solar battery panel was swiped from atop the Crusher Building, the theft was noticed. The panel supplied electricity to MnDOT’s flow measuring box, which has since been removed.
After construction ended on the Highway 55/62 interchange site, MnDOT was court-ordered to monitor the Coldwater reservoir discharge for 30 months. MnDOT’s numbers recorded a 27,500-gallon-a-day drop in the flow. Despite a state law mandating no “loss of flow to or from the spring,” MnDOT sunk the 55/62 interchange 6.5-feet down into the water table. Thirty percent of Coldwater’s flow came through the interchange area according to dye tests.
The 55 reroute was sold to the public for “safety” and as a three-minute time-savings on a trip to the airport from downtown Minneapolis. That’s as corny as mushroom clouds and WMDs in Iraq but information overload shorts out public memory in America.
Nevertheless, flying citizens are protected by a prohibition on tree planting at Coldwater due to height restrictions. Of course, someone with a shoulder mortar could easily bring down a flight, but don’t dare plant a tree. Now that we are in our second airline crisis since 9/11, phantom minute-savings on unaffordable flights seem—well, nostalgic.
The security subcontract at Coldwater is handled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Since 1995 there has been no landscape maintenance on the 27 acres, allowing invasive, exotic buckthorn and garlic mustard to shade out and overtake indigenous plants. Native plants that held the steep Mississippi bluff in place died back. The result has been massive erosion of the hillside behind the spring outflow, the west side of the reservoir.
Coldwater’s reservoir is silting up. Occasionally water cress grows in the shallows, which previously were five feet deep. Last fall, the National Park Service authorized FWS to destroy the labyrinth at Coldwater. FWS directed the destroyers to dump the rocks that outlined the labyrinth into the erosion gully behind and above the spring. Rocks, unlike plant roots, do not hold soil. Increased pressure on the west reservoir wall and freeze-and-thaw weather are toppling the old limestone.
In other words, neglect is causing the destruction of the historic 1880s Spring House and limestone reservoir that furnished water to Fort Snelling until 1920. Eric Evenson, of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, explained that stabilization of the hillside requires work at the bottom and the top of the incline and costs more as the damage wears on.
Bush’s Bureaucratic Do-Nothing Interior Department
Coldwater is a federal orphan left over from Congress’s 1995 dissolution of the US Bureau of Mines, part of the Department of the Interior (DOI). Under Bush-2 the DOI attempted to sell off millions of acres, about a quarter of all its land holdings, to profit from or to privatize America’s natural heritage.
For $6 million, the 27-acre Coldwater campus was scheduled to be sold to the Twin Cities airport for multi-level, off-site parking and storage. They almost “paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” But 9/11 happened and the financial collapse of the country’s airlines caused Northwest to pull out of the contract.
In 2003, former Congressman Martin Sabo won a $750,000 appropriation “to protect the Camp Coldwater Spring and restore the Bureau of Mines property to open green space.” This crashed the dreams of U.S. Fish and Wildlife to move its regional offices out of the Whipple Building to Coldwater’s park-like setting.
FWS handled the daily management of the property, a sort of yard work and handyman nuisance for staff in an office beside the airport in Fort Snelling’s Whipple Building. A hostile relationship developed between Coldwater supporters and the FWS, which landed in federal court with an 1805 Dakota treaty rights case. FWS blinked and the case was dismissed.
The process to determine “the future of former Bureau of Mines” was allotted to the National Park Service (NPS). This duty resulted in an 11-pound Environmental Impact Statement and thousands of hours and pieces of paper that came before and after. Coldwater is part of the Fort Snelling National Historic Landmark, the Fort Snelling National Register Historic District and is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. All the paperwork is in. It has been “in” for years.
Since Sabo’s retirement, no Minnesota champion has pushed for an urban wilderness, a Green Museum where the land is the museum.
While we wait, about 20 carp are circling in the Coldwater reservoir. Somebody dumped the carp last fall. Fish dumping is illegal. The carp didn’t die, they’re not indigenous, and who knows how many carp eggs flushed down the gorge into the Mississippi.
We are trying to figure out why Coldwater’s invisible status is a blessing. July is the time of the Blessing moon, probably an old agriculture reference to lush fruits and vegetables available in mid-summer. Are we waiting for a new federal administration to appoint a new secretary of Interior? Are we waiting for another spring melt to see how much hillside is left behind the spring outflow?
While the government vacillates, the landscape deteriorates.
Susu Jeffrey is the founder of Friends of Coldwater, which recommends National Park Service ownership of 50 acres of Mississippi bluffland from Minnehaha Park to Fort Snelling. Info: www.FriendsofColdwater.org.
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/12934#
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Trail to Livermore peak opposed by American Indians
Trail to Livermore peak opposed by American Indians
By Denis Cuff
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 07/30/2008 06:57:15 PM PDT
American Indians are appealing to two park agencies to cancel plans for a trail to the top of an East Bay landmark — Brushy Peak near Livermore — because it's a sacred place to them.
The area around the domed-shaped 1,700-feet-tall peak covered by oak trees has fascinated people for centuries. American Indians worshipped and traded there. Bohemian Club members in the early 1900s organized nature and bird-watching outings there. Cattle ranchers organized wedding and social events there.
The owners — the East Bay Regional Park District and Livermore Area Recreation and Park District — are preparing this summer to build a footpath to the peak in the heart of the 2,000-acre Brushy Peak Regional Park.
"Brushy Peak is one of the last undisturbed sacred sites in the Bay Area that hasn't been developed with a road or trail," said Jakii Kehl, an Ohlone from Stanislaus County. "Why disturb it? The park district has nearly 100,000 acres of land. People can hike elsewhere."
Bushy Peak and Mount Diablo are integral to several American Indian versions of creation stories. In these stories, the world is covered with water except at one rocky high spot where a condor roosts and begins a chain of events that leads to the creation of other animals and humans.
Ohlone and Miwok Indians plan to explain their request to a regional board committee meeting at 12:45 p.m. today at the park district headquarters in Oakland.
narrow footpath to the summit was approved by the East Bay Regional Park Board in 2002 as part of the land-use plan for the Brushy Peak Preserve, a $5 million joint project by the two park agencies
But it's taken years for the East Bay Park district to obtain permits from federal wildlife regulators to build the summit trail — as well as a loop trail at a lower elevation through the preserve.
Park officials were making plans to start construction when complaints by American Indians persuaded the park board to revisit the trail plan.
For their part, East Bay and Livermore park district managers said they believe the plan for a narrow path open only to people on foot — not bikes or horses — would provide public access to a publicly owned place, while showing respect to the Indians' reverence for the site.
Because the peak is such a prominent and steep place, curious people are bound to go to the top, said Brian Wiese, the park district's chief of planning and stewardship.
Park planners figured it is better to steer visitors onto a single narrow trail, rather than try to ban access and have visitors cut cross-country to create unauthorized paths to the summit, Wiese said.
The park district also agreed to put up trail signs saying "contemporary Native peoples still regard Brushy Peak as a special place and prefer that it not be visited."
Kehl dismissed the signs as inadequate.
"Mount Diablo is a sacred place, too, but it's already been damaged by a road and building at the top," Kehl said. "We shouldn't damage Brushy Peak."
While the Livermore park district owns the actual top of Brushy Peak, managers at both agencies agree any decision about the trail should be a joint decision.
Contact Denis Cuff at 925-943-8267 or dcuff@bayareanewsgroup.com
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10048581?nclick_check=1
By Denis Cuff
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 07/30/2008 06:57:15 PM PDT
American Indians are appealing to two park agencies to cancel plans for a trail to the top of an East Bay landmark — Brushy Peak near Livermore — because it's a sacred place to them.
The area around the domed-shaped 1,700-feet-tall peak covered by oak trees has fascinated people for centuries. American Indians worshipped and traded there. Bohemian Club members in the early 1900s organized nature and bird-watching outings there. Cattle ranchers organized wedding and social events there.
The owners — the East Bay Regional Park District and Livermore Area Recreation and Park District — are preparing this summer to build a footpath to the peak in the heart of the 2,000-acre Brushy Peak Regional Park.
"Brushy Peak is one of the last undisturbed sacred sites in the Bay Area that hasn't been developed with a road or trail," said Jakii Kehl, an Ohlone from Stanislaus County. "Why disturb it? The park district has nearly 100,000 acres of land. People can hike elsewhere."
Bushy Peak and Mount Diablo are integral to several American Indian versions of creation stories. In these stories, the world is covered with water except at one rocky high spot where a condor roosts and begins a chain of events that leads to the creation of other animals and humans.
Ohlone and Miwok Indians plan to explain their request to a regional board committee meeting at 12:45 p.m. today at the park district headquarters in Oakland.
narrow footpath to the summit was approved by the East Bay Regional Park Board in 2002 as part of the land-use plan for the Brushy Peak Preserve, a $5 million joint project by the two park agencies
But it's taken years for the East Bay Park district to obtain permits from federal wildlife regulators to build the summit trail — as well as a loop trail at a lower elevation through the preserve.
Park officials were making plans to start construction when complaints by American Indians persuaded the park board to revisit the trail plan.
For their part, East Bay and Livermore park district managers said they believe the plan for a narrow path open only to people on foot — not bikes or horses — would provide public access to a publicly owned place, while showing respect to the Indians' reverence for the site.
Because the peak is such a prominent and steep place, curious people are bound to go to the top, said Brian Wiese, the park district's chief of planning and stewardship.
Park planners figured it is better to steer visitors onto a single narrow trail, rather than try to ban access and have visitors cut cross-country to create unauthorized paths to the summit, Wiese said.
The park district also agreed to put up trail signs saying "contemporary Native peoples still regard Brushy Peak as a special place and prefer that it not be visited."
Kehl dismissed the signs as inadequate.
"Mount Diablo is a sacred place, too, but it's already been damaged by a road and building at the top," Kehl said. "We shouldn't damage Brushy Peak."
While the Livermore park district owns the actual top of Brushy Peak, managers at both agencies agree any decision about the trail should be a joint decision.
Contact Denis Cuff at 925-943-8267 or dcuff@bayareanewsgroup.com
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10048581?nclick_check=1
UCR gets grant to fund high-tech methods of classifying ancient artifacts
3:53 p.m. July 28, 2008
RIVERSIDE – Developing high-tech methods of recognizing and classifying ancient Native American artifacts will be the focus of a UC Riverside project financed by a National Science Foundation grant, it was announced Monday.
The NSF awarded the university $805,000 to cover three years of expenses connected with the project, officially titled “Tools to Mine and Index Trajectories of Physical Artifacts,” according to UCR.
UCR anthropology professor Sang Hee-Lee and UCR computer science and engineering professor Eamon Keogh will lead a team of researchers tasked with creating a program capable of quickly recognizing Indian artifacts by shape and quality.
University officials said the goal will be archiving data from one place to the next and seeing how it all compares.
“By taking advantage of recent advances in data-mining and indexing, a massive amount of useful information can potentially be extracted from the anthropological resources that abound in North America,” said Keogh.
Among the first challenges is documenting UCR's own collection of more than one million arrowheads, officials said. The roughly 20,000 petroglyphs in New Mexico's Petroglyph Park will also be recorded, according to UCR.
Keogh said building databases of early Native American images, beads and tools might yield clues about the development and spread of different cultural practices.
He cited the use of “spatiotemporal predicates” to solve unanswered questions, such as whether the curved style of an arrowhead found in Oklahoma indicates that the tool originated with the Caddo Indian Tribe and was later adopted by tribes farther south – 6,000 to 9,000 years ago.
The grant-funded research could also address some contemporary concerns, according to UCR. By archiving graffiti styles, law enforcement could use the UCR program to track the propagation of certain street gang “tags,” officials said.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/riverside/20080728-1553-ucrgrant.html
RIVERSIDE – Developing high-tech methods of recognizing and classifying ancient Native American artifacts will be the focus of a UC Riverside project financed by a National Science Foundation grant, it was announced Monday.
The NSF awarded the university $805,000 to cover three years of expenses connected with the project, officially titled “Tools to Mine and Index Trajectories of Physical Artifacts,” according to UCR.
UCR anthropology professor Sang Hee-Lee and UCR computer science and engineering professor Eamon Keogh will lead a team of researchers tasked with creating a program capable of quickly recognizing Indian artifacts by shape and quality.
University officials said the goal will be archiving data from one place to the next and seeing how it all compares.
“By taking advantage of recent advances in data-mining and indexing, a massive amount of useful information can potentially be extracted from the anthropological resources that abound in North America,” said Keogh.
Among the first challenges is documenting UCR's own collection of more than one million arrowheads, officials said. The roughly 20,000 petroglyphs in New Mexico's Petroglyph Park will also be recorded, according to UCR.
Keogh said building databases of early Native American images, beads and tools might yield clues about the development and spread of different cultural practices.
He cited the use of “spatiotemporal predicates” to solve unanswered questions, such as whether the curved style of an arrowhead found in Oklahoma indicates that the tool originated with the Caddo Indian Tribe and was later adopted by tribes farther south – 6,000 to 9,000 years ago.
The grant-funded research could also address some contemporary concerns, according to UCR. By archiving graffiti styles, law enforcement could use the UCR program to track the propagation of certain street gang “tags,” officials said.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/riverside/20080728-1553-ucrgrant.html
Some question whether burial grounds may be found
Applewood Pointe approved (07/30/2008)
By Sarah Elmquist
Some question whether burial grounds may be found
The Winona Planning Commission approved the final plat for Applewood Pointe, a senior housing cooperative on East Burns Valley Road. But the approval will be contingent on a ruling from the state archeologist to make a final determination on whether the site might be home to Native American burial grounds.
The cooperative, an effort of developer United Properties and Saint Anne, is a planned $6.5 million development to provide 42 units, of which 21 have been spoken for. The project has also been approved for an approximate $500,000 in Tax Increment Financing (TIF), or property tax revenue which will be filtered back into the project for certain development costs.
Although previous developers had already completed more than the required archeological studies on the area, concerns were raised that the site truly may contain remains.
In August 2006, a “Phase 1” archeological study was done on the site, which found some stone shavings that could indicate artifacts. A “Phase 2” study was done by Mississippi Valley Archeology Center, which concluded that there were no obvious burial sites at the location.
That study was then reviewed by the state archeologist’s office, and the city received a memo from him which reaffirmed the study’s findings. It said that the state archeologist would visit the site to ensure that the findings were correct before the area was excavated.
Planning Director Mark Moeller recommended that the plat be approved with the condition that the state archeologist office confirm that the site didn’t contain Native American remains. The Planning Commission concurred, but not before a feisty public hearing on the matter.
Retired Winona State professor and amateur archeologist Carol Jefferson said that earlier in the month, when officials from the Council of Indian Affairs and Chief Leonard Wabasha were visiting, they went on a tour with her to visit some local burial sites. She said that they had a “strong reaction to the site,” and thought that the area looked like such a site.
Jefferson said that there were many burial sites which were documented, but not documented by the State Archeology office. She cited various historical data which indicted that there were many burial mounds stretching from Chief Wabasha’s home site along Burns Creek, and that many of those had been farmed over or destroyed otherwise over the last several hundred years.
Rand Gettler, of Saint Anne, said that rumors that previous excavation at the site had turned up bones were completely unfounded. “That’s an outright lie,” he said. He said that the previous study had found no evidence of remains, and that the groundbreaking planned for August was “time critical.”
Spokeswoman for the project Lania Sacia said that the development had already jumped through many hoops presented by those who didn’t want the project to go through. She said that added archeological studies were done because developers wanted to be supportive of history and if anything had been found, the project would have “stopped dead.” She questioned the timing of the objections, which seemed to fall at the last hour.
Bill McNeil of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance said that no one questioning the possibility of burial mounds was “in a conspiracy” against the project, but the concerns were based on the knowledge that there were, indeed, burial sites in the area which had been farmed over. He said that if there were issues about getting the project started, developers could look about a half mile away to the cemetery on Homer Road. “Why not build there?” he asked.
“So much has been lost,” continued McNeil. “I don’t want to lose anymore.”
John Borman, also of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance, urged the Planning Commission to formalize the process and require that such archeological studies be done for developments elsewhere. He showed commissioners the state’s version of the federal Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act. That state statute exposes a landowner to felony charges if a grave site is disturbed after any knowledge of remains is noted. He said that such a requirement would also protect landowners from such charges.
Commissioner Pam Eyden said she spoke with the state archeologist, who confirmed that there was no evidence that the site contained remains.
The Planning Commission approved the final plat, requiring the state archeologist to sign off on the findings before excavation begins, as long as his visit could be made in a timely manner.
http://www.winonapost.com/stock/functions/VDG_Pub/detail.php?choice=25961&home_page=1&archives=
By Sarah Elmquist
Some question whether burial grounds may be found
The Winona Planning Commission approved the final plat for Applewood Pointe, a senior housing cooperative on East Burns Valley Road. But the approval will be contingent on a ruling from the state archeologist to make a final determination on whether the site might be home to Native American burial grounds.
The cooperative, an effort of developer United Properties and Saint Anne, is a planned $6.5 million development to provide 42 units, of which 21 have been spoken for. The project has also been approved for an approximate $500,000 in Tax Increment Financing (TIF), or property tax revenue which will be filtered back into the project for certain development costs.
Although previous developers had already completed more than the required archeological studies on the area, concerns were raised that the site truly may contain remains.
In August 2006, a “Phase 1” archeological study was done on the site, which found some stone shavings that could indicate artifacts. A “Phase 2” study was done by Mississippi Valley Archeology Center, which concluded that there were no obvious burial sites at the location.
That study was then reviewed by the state archeologist’s office, and the city received a memo from him which reaffirmed the study’s findings. It said that the state archeologist would visit the site to ensure that the findings were correct before the area was excavated.
Planning Director Mark Moeller recommended that the plat be approved with the condition that the state archeologist office confirm that the site didn’t contain Native American remains. The Planning Commission concurred, but not before a feisty public hearing on the matter.
Retired Winona State professor and amateur archeologist Carol Jefferson said that earlier in the month, when officials from the Council of Indian Affairs and Chief Leonard Wabasha were visiting, they went on a tour with her to visit some local burial sites. She said that they had a “strong reaction to the site,” and thought that the area looked like such a site.
Jefferson said that there were many burial sites which were documented, but not documented by the State Archeology office. She cited various historical data which indicted that there were many burial mounds stretching from Chief Wabasha’s home site along Burns Creek, and that many of those had been farmed over or destroyed otherwise over the last several hundred years.
Rand Gettler, of Saint Anne, said that rumors that previous excavation at the site had turned up bones were completely unfounded. “That’s an outright lie,” he said. He said that the previous study had found no evidence of remains, and that the groundbreaking planned for August was “time critical.”
Spokeswoman for the project Lania Sacia said that the development had already jumped through many hoops presented by those who didn’t want the project to go through. She said that added archeological studies were done because developers wanted to be supportive of history and if anything had been found, the project would have “stopped dead.” She questioned the timing of the objections, which seemed to fall at the last hour.
Bill McNeil of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance said that no one questioning the possibility of burial mounds was “in a conspiracy” against the project, but the concerns were based on the knowledge that there were, indeed, burial sites in the area which had been farmed over. He said that if there were issues about getting the project started, developers could look about a half mile away to the cemetery on Homer Road. “Why not build there?” he asked.
“So much has been lost,” continued McNeil. “I don’t want to lose anymore.”
John Borman, also of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance, urged the Planning Commission to formalize the process and require that such archeological studies be done for developments elsewhere. He showed commissioners the state’s version of the federal Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act. That state statute exposes a landowner to felony charges if a grave site is disturbed after any knowledge of remains is noted. He said that such a requirement would also protect landowners from such charges.
Commissioner Pam Eyden said she spoke with the state archeologist, who confirmed that there was no evidence that the site contained remains.
The Planning Commission approved the final plat, requiring the state archeologist to sign off on the findings before excavation begins, as long as his visit could be made in a timely manner.
http://www.winonapost.com/stock/functions/VDG_Pub/detail.php?choice=25961&home_page=1&archives=
Comanche Nation battling Fort Sill over rights to Medicine Bluff
Comanche Nation battling Fort Sill over rights to Medicine Bluff
Posted: July 30, 2008 04:41 PM MDT
Lawton_The Comanche Nation and Fort Sill are in a bit of a battle over Medicine Bluff - one of the post's most famous landmarks. But, Medicine Bluff is far more than a landmark to the Comanches - it's sacred. The tribe believes it is one of its last sites of true medicine. Now, Fort Sill plans to build a training service center at the bottom of the bluff, but tribal members believe that they have had an understanding with Fort Sill that the post would never build on the sacred land. Fort Sill officials say the post has done its part to consult with the tribe - but the Comanche Nation disagrees.
Perhaps the best way to describe what the site means to the Comanche people is to compare it to places that others call sacred - churches, cathedrals, synagogues. The primary difference is that this place of worship was created by nature, and to the Comanches, it's just as important and essential as any man-made structure where others pray.
For William Voelker and the rest of the Comanche tribe, Medicine Bluff is a place of healing power. "There are many sites on Fort Sill that have historic ties, but Medicine Bluff is the most sacred of the sites," he said. He explained that the land in question is an important part of the tribe members' healing process. "[It's] an area that would have been integral to how we approached - how we prepared - to go to this important Tubitsi Puha site, or special medicine site." Voelker says he can't understand why Fort Sill chose this particular site. "In all of these years since Fort Sill was established north of Randolph Road and West of Currie Road, this area has been left open and unencumbered," he said.
A statement from Fort Sill reads:
"The construction will have no adverse effect on Native American traditional, cultural, or religious sites...the Army has fulfilled its responsibility to make a reasonable and good faith effort to consult with the Comanche Nation."
Of this statement from Fort Sill, Voelker says, "This is not true," he said. "They have notified the tribe, there has been no consultation, until last Friday, on the actual site." He says that the tribe was not satisfied with the consultation. "Unfortunately it's gotten to the point our tribal lawyers are involved," he said.
Voelker says he can't understand why - with all the land Fort Sill owns - they have chosen the tribe's sacred ground. He says he hopes they will reconsider and choose another site. The statement from Fort Sill also states that the Comanche Nation did not respond to Fort Sill's letter within the allotted 30-days which is why they say they continued with their planning. The Comanche Nation says that notification is not consultation, and currently Fort Sill has not provided any evidence of any consultation they say they engaged in.
http://www.kswo.com:80/Global/story.asp?S=8763155
Posted: July 30, 2008 04:41 PM MDT
Lawton_The Comanche Nation and Fort Sill are in a bit of a battle over Medicine Bluff - one of the post's most famous landmarks. But, Medicine Bluff is far more than a landmark to the Comanches - it's sacred. The tribe believes it is one of its last sites of true medicine. Now, Fort Sill plans to build a training service center at the bottom of the bluff, but tribal members believe that they have had an understanding with Fort Sill that the post would never build on the sacred land. Fort Sill officials say the post has done its part to consult with the tribe - but the Comanche Nation disagrees.
Perhaps the best way to describe what the site means to the Comanche people is to compare it to places that others call sacred - churches, cathedrals, synagogues. The primary difference is that this place of worship was created by nature, and to the Comanches, it's just as important and essential as any man-made structure where others pray.
For William Voelker and the rest of the Comanche tribe, Medicine Bluff is a place of healing power. "There are many sites on Fort Sill that have historic ties, but Medicine Bluff is the most sacred of the sites," he said. He explained that the land in question is an important part of the tribe members' healing process. "[It's] an area that would have been integral to how we approached - how we prepared - to go to this important Tubitsi Puha site, or special medicine site." Voelker says he can't understand why Fort Sill chose this particular site. "In all of these years since Fort Sill was established north of Randolph Road and West of Currie Road, this area has been left open and unencumbered," he said.
A statement from Fort Sill reads:
"The construction will have no adverse effect on Native American traditional, cultural, or religious sites...the Army has fulfilled its responsibility to make a reasonable and good faith effort to consult with the Comanche Nation."
Of this statement from Fort Sill, Voelker says, "This is not true," he said. "They have notified the tribe, there has been no consultation, until last Friday, on the actual site." He says that the tribe was not satisfied with the consultation. "Unfortunately it's gotten to the point our tribal lawyers are involved," he said.
Voelker says he can't understand why - with all the land Fort Sill owns - they have chosen the tribe's sacred ground. He says he hopes they will reconsider and choose another site. The statement from Fort Sill also states that the Comanche Nation did not respond to Fort Sill's letter within the allotted 30-days which is why they say they continued with their planning. The Comanche Nation says that notification is not consultation, and currently Fort Sill has not provided any evidence of any consultation they say they engaged in.
http://www.kswo.com:80/Global/story.asp?S=8763155
Friday, July 25, 2008
Zuni leader talks about Mt. Taylor
Zuni leader talks about Mt. Taylor
By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau
ACOMA — Leaders of the five tribes nominating Mount Taylor for listing as a Traditional Cultural Property earlier this year met with media representatives last month to commend Cultural Properties Review Committee’s reaffirmed vote make the mountain a TCP for one year.
On June 19, speakers from Hopi, Zuni, Laguna, Acoma, and the Navajo Nation gave details on tribal perspectives behind the nomination.
Norman J. Cooeyate, governor for the Zuni Tribe, said he was born into the Turkey Clan and is a child of the Dogwood-Parrot Clan. He spoke as a representative of the tribe, its membership and the non-Zuni people who choose to live within tribal lands.
The governor recapped the process the tribes followed in getting Mount Taylor, or Dewankwi Kyabachu Yalanne, listed on a temporary basis and explained the within the one year of the listing the tribes must apply for permanent listing.
Like the other speakers at the meeting, Cooeyate said the mountain was important as an origin, cultural and pilgrimage site for tribal members. Dewankwi Kyabachu Yalanne is important in maintaining Zuni cultural identity and is significant in the community’s historically rooted beliefs, practices and customs, he said. The mountain is home to sacred beings, waters, trails and shrines, he added.
“For the Zunis, Dewankwi Kyabachu Yalanne is considered to be one of the places mentioned in our oral history, contains many symbolic markers, prehistoric ruins, artifacts, ancestral remains and cultural sites, as referenced in our migration legends. The sacred cultural sites act as an umbilical cord between Zuni ancestors and the present day Zunis,” Cooeyate said.
“These properties are imbued with life and spiritual forces that have been blessed by our creator since time immemorial before their use, and once blessed, the are blessed in perpetuity. These markers and cultural sites are still visited today on a regular basis by the Zuni religious leaders, for the collection of water, plants, feathers and minerals, which are important elements in our cultural and religious activities and beliefs,” he explained.
Cooeyate stressed that the mountain has historical importance in teaching the tribes children and future generations where they came from, who they are now and where they are going in the future.
Each tribe produced information that explains why and how the mountain is historically critical in maintaining their cultural identity when requesting the listing, the governor said. He stated that the nominating tribes feel they have met at least one of the criteria for an emergency listing.
“The listing of the peak of Mount Taylor ... provides a layer of protection so that potential impacts from development projects can be eliminated or minimized. Listing on the state register does not automatically stop development projects; it does mean that consultation with the nominating tribes must occur and that adverse effects that may result from a development project must be considered.
Listing will not affect any recreational activities that New Mexicans have enjoyed on Mount Taylor,” the governor said. He added that all privately owned land within the TCP boundaries is expressly omitted from the TCP designation — unless the owner provides a written statement that the land should be included.
“By listing the peak on the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties, the tribes are in a better position to protect the peak for all to enjoy and use,” Cooeyate said.
He closed with a message for the nominating tribes and other community members: “And although we celebrate our collective success, we must continue the unified effort to ensure that Mount Taylor is protected and preserved for generations to come, for Native American and non-Native American, as well as for all living and non-living entities of Mount Taylor. E’lah’kwa, Don yadon k’koshi sunnahk’yanapdu.”
http://www.gallupindependent.com:80/2008/07july/072408zunileader.html
By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau
ACOMA — Leaders of the five tribes nominating Mount Taylor for listing as a Traditional Cultural Property earlier this year met with media representatives last month to commend Cultural Properties Review Committee’s reaffirmed vote make the mountain a TCP for one year.
On June 19, speakers from Hopi, Zuni, Laguna, Acoma, and the Navajo Nation gave details on tribal perspectives behind the nomination.
Norman J. Cooeyate, governor for the Zuni Tribe, said he was born into the Turkey Clan and is a child of the Dogwood-Parrot Clan. He spoke as a representative of the tribe, its membership and the non-Zuni people who choose to live within tribal lands.
The governor recapped the process the tribes followed in getting Mount Taylor, or Dewankwi Kyabachu Yalanne, listed on a temporary basis and explained the within the one year of the listing the tribes must apply for permanent listing.
Like the other speakers at the meeting, Cooeyate said the mountain was important as an origin, cultural and pilgrimage site for tribal members. Dewankwi Kyabachu Yalanne is important in maintaining Zuni cultural identity and is significant in the community’s historically rooted beliefs, practices and customs, he said. The mountain is home to sacred beings, waters, trails and shrines, he added.
“For the Zunis, Dewankwi Kyabachu Yalanne is considered to be one of the places mentioned in our oral history, contains many symbolic markers, prehistoric ruins, artifacts, ancestral remains and cultural sites, as referenced in our migration legends. The sacred cultural sites act as an umbilical cord between Zuni ancestors and the present day Zunis,” Cooeyate said.
“These properties are imbued with life and spiritual forces that have been blessed by our creator since time immemorial before their use, and once blessed, the are blessed in perpetuity. These markers and cultural sites are still visited today on a regular basis by the Zuni religious leaders, for the collection of water, plants, feathers and minerals, which are important elements in our cultural and religious activities and beliefs,” he explained.
Cooeyate stressed that the mountain has historical importance in teaching the tribes children and future generations where they came from, who they are now and where they are going in the future.
Each tribe produced information that explains why and how the mountain is historically critical in maintaining their cultural identity when requesting the listing, the governor said. He stated that the nominating tribes feel they have met at least one of the criteria for an emergency listing.
“The listing of the peak of Mount Taylor ... provides a layer of protection so that potential impacts from development projects can be eliminated or minimized. Listing on the state register does not automatically stop development projects; it does mean that consultation with the nominating tribes must occur and that adverse effects that may result from a development project must be considered.
Listing will not affect any recreational activities that New Mexicans have enjoyed on Mount Taylor,” the governor said. He added that all privately owned land within the TCP boundaries is expressly omitted from the TCP designation — unless the owner provides a written statement that the land should be included.
“By listing the peak on the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties, the tribes are in a better position to protect the peak for all to enjoy and use,” Cooeyate said.
He closed with a message for the nominating tribes and other community members: “And although we celebrate our collective success, we must continue the unified effort to ensure that Mount Taylor is protected and preserved for generations to come, for Native American and non-Native American, as well as for all living and non-living entities of Mount Taylor. E’lah’kwa, Don yadon k’koshi sunnahk’yanapdu.”
http://www.gallupindependent.com:80/2008/07july/072408zunileader.html
Monday, July 21, 2008
Bluff protection supporters rally
Bluff protection supporters rally (07/20/2008)
By Sarah Elmquist
The first formal public hearing on the county’s new zoning ordinance drew over 100 people Thursday night, many sporting neon green stickers which reiterated what nearly all their comments demanded: protect our bluffs.
The County Planning Commission, which will review the comments and the draft ordinance next week, will make a recommendation on any changes to the County Board. The County Board will hold the final public hearing on the ordinance on August 26 at 7 p.m.
Thursday night’s testimony from the public was met with no reaction from the Planning Commission, which chose to hold off on discussions until its next meeting.
And although chair Garth Zenke urged those at the meeting to refrain from repeating one another, and that commissioners were looking for “quality, not quantity,” from the comments, organized bluff advocates didn’t hold back. “When this many people show up, they deserve to be heard, and counted,” said Todd Paddock.
Paddock said that the value of the bluffs was like that of the wetlands, the lakes and streams -- important to everybody. “That value is greater than the right of a single individual to ruin that value,” he said. Paddock suggested that the bluff protection ordinance require viewshed analysis for development, which can show whether a structure might be visible from the valley below. “That’s what we need in our ordinance. The technology is there,” he said. “I think it would help us a great deal.”
Don Evanson of Minnesota City spoke on behalf of property owners’ rights, one of few who spoke out at the meeting. “If you want to protect the bluffs, buy them,” he told the audience.
“I appreciate the beauty of Winona County, too,” Evanson continued. But, he said, there are others who’d like to live out in the rural parts of the county, and farmers who’d like to sell bits of their land for extra money or to retire.
Steven J. Frank, a junior at WSU, said that the bluffs were great. “When I look up there, I want to count my blessings,” he said. “I don’t want to count the developments.”
Sadie Newman, WSU student, told the commission that younger people, “really do care, too.” She shared an example of what can happen when a community isn’t engaged in future planning. In her hometown of Stillwater, Minn., the historic downtown jail burned down and was replaced by condos. She said that now, Stillwater’s skyline includes tall buildings with satellites. “It breaks our hearts to see it now,” she said, urging the commissioners to, “think about the consequences of building up there.”
Many who asked for stronger bluff protection measures had specifics in mind. Rather than the draft ordinance’s suggested 25 percent slope limit, they asked that the limit be set at 18 percent. And rather than the 100-foot setback from the top of the bluff, they asked for 300.
“Nobody’s saying you can’t build on the bluff,” said Joe Morse. They’d just like a stronger setback, he said.
Many of the stronger bluff protection measures that the audience was asking for were part of a previous draft of the ordinance. The ordinance was watered down after the Task Force reviewed all of the sensitive lands protection standards, and, very generally, questioned them as too restrictive.
Tom Harbinson offered another reason to strengthen the bluff protection standards. The draft version suggests that development could occur with a Conditional Use Permit in areas with an average slope between 18 and 25 percent. But Harbinson said that such nonspecific language would result in decisions that were less black and white, and could prompt lawsuits. Putting a firm limit at 18 percent, he said, could limit liability of the county and ultimately the taxpayers.
Steve Jacob brought up just that -- litigation against the county’s planning department, during the meeting. Although interrupted several times by Planning Director Brian Bender, Jacob told the audience that he’d obtained a ruling against the Planning Department in February, when he said Judge Jeffrey Thompson ruled that the department had failed to enforce the zoning ordinance and had inconsistently applied the ordinance, placing what Jacob called “arbitrary burden” on him.
Jacob said that there was other pending litigation against the department and questioned its competency in writing the zoning ordinance. He said that the department should be overseen in its ordinance update, and that the process should be delayed until the winter when farmers have more time to weigh in.
“The citizens of Winona County deserve better than this,” he said.
Native American burial sites
Many also urged the commission to consider measures to protect Native American burial sites, both those that have been recorded, and those undiscovered.
Ken McCullough, vice president of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance, told the commission how important it is to protect the burial mounds.
And those burial mounds are somewhat linked to bluff protection, with blufftops used as scenic burial sites.
Jon Borman, also of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance, showed the commission Minnesota law that suggests that archeological survey costs could be placed on the state, suggesting that archeological surveys should be done on developments to check for burial sites not recorded on state archeological maps, like northern Cass County requires.
http://www.winonapost.com/stock/functions/VDG_Pub/detail.php?choice=25829&home_page=1&archives=
By Sarah Elmquist
The first formal public hearing on the county’s new zoning ordinance drew over 100 people Thursday night, many sporting neon green stickers which reiterated what nearly all their comments demanded: protect our bluffs.
The County Planning Commission, which will review the comments and the draft ordinance next week, will make a recommendation on any changes to the County Board. The County Board will hold the final public hearing on the ordinance on August 26 at 7 p.m.
Thursday night’s testimony from the public was met with no reaction from the Planning Commission, which chose to hold off on discussions until its next meeting.
And although chair Garth Zenke urged those at the meeting to refrain from repeating one another, and that commissioners were looking for “quality, not quantity,” from the comments, organized bluff advocates didn’t hold back. “When this many people show up, they deserve to be heard, and counted,” said Todd Paddock.
Paddock said that the value of the bluffs was like that of the wetlands, the lakes and streams -- important to everybody. “That value is greater than the right of a single individual to ruin that value,” he said. Paddock suggested that the bluff protection ordinance require viewshed analysis for development, which can show whether a structure might be visible from the valley below. “That’s what we need in our ordinance. The technology is there,” he said. “I think it would help us a great deal.”
Don Evanson of Minnesota City spoke on behalf of property owners’ rights, one of few who spoke out at the meeting. “If you want to protect the bluffs, buy them,” he told the audience.
“I appreciate the beauty of Winona County, too,” Evanson continued. But, he said, there are others who’d like to live out in the rural parts of the county, and farmers who’d like to sell bits of their land for extra money or to retire.
Steven J. Frank, a junior at WSU, said that the bluffs were great. “When I look up there, I want to count my blessings,” he said. “I don’t want to count the developments.”
Sadie Newman, WSU student, told the commission that younger people, “really do care, too.” She shared an example of what can happen when a community isn’t engaged in future planning. In her hometown of Stillwater, Minn., the historic downtown jail burned down and was replaced by condos. She said that now, Stillwater’s skyline includes tall buildings with satellites. “It breaks our hearts to see it now,” she said, urging the commissioners to, “think about the consequences of building up there.”
Many who asked for stronger bluff protection measures had specifics in mind. Rather than the draft ordinance’s suggested 25 percent slope limit, they asked that the limit be set at 18 percent. And rather than the 100-foot setback from the top of the bluff, they asked for 300.
“Nobody’s saying you can’t build on the bluff,” said Joe Morse. They’d just like a stronger setback, he said.
Many of the stronger bluff protection measures that the audience was asking for were part of a previous draft of the ordinance. The ordinance was watered down after the Task Force reviewed all of the sensitive lands protection standards, and, very generally, questioned them as too restrictive.
Tom Harbinson offered another reason to strengthen the bluff protection standards. The draft version suggests that development could occur with a Conditional Use Permit in areas with an average slope between 18 and 25 percent. But Harbinson said that such nonspecific language would result in decisions that were less black and white, and could prompt lawsuits. Putting a firm limit at 18 percent, he said, could limit liability of the county and ultimately the taxpayers.
Steve Jacob brought up just that -- litigation against the county’s planning department, during the meeting. Although interrupted several times by Planning Director Brian Bender, Jacob told the audience that he’d obtained a ruling against the Planning Department in February, when he said Judge Jeffrey Thompson ruled that the department had failed to enforce the zoning ordinance and had inconsistently applied the ordinance, placing what Jacob called “arbitrary burden” on him.
Jacob said that there was other pending litigation against the department and questioned its competency in writing the zoning ordinance. He said that the department should be overseen in its ordinance update, and that the process should be delayed until the winter when farmers have more time to weigh in.
“The citizens of Winona County deserve better than this,” he said.
Native American burial sites
Many also urged the commission to consider measures to protect Native American burial sites, both those that have been recorded, and those undiscovered.
Ken McCullough, vice president of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance, told the commission how important it is to protect the burial mounds.
And those burial mounds are somewhat linked to bluff protection, with blufftops used as scenic burial sites.
Jon Borman, also of the Winona-Dakota Unity Alliance, showed the commission Minnesota law that suggests that archeological survey costs could be placed on the state, suggesting that archeological surveys should be done on developments to check for burial sites not recorded on state archeological maps, like northern Cass County requires.
http://www.winonapost.com/stock/functions/VDG_Pub/detail.php?choice=25829&home_page=1&archives=
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