|
|
The Nation |
|
|
|
Tribal Report of the Northern Cheyenne Nation (October 2006 Vol. I No. 10) |
|||
|
Page 2 |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|
||
|
■ This year’s November decisions
on Coal and CBM development has made headlines throughout Indian country and
the David Melmer [Indian Country Today, October 24, 2006] LAME DEER, The Northern
Cheyenne Tribal Council approved a letter of intent between the tribe and the
Great Bear Corporation of The letter
stated the two parties agreed that the GBC, in addition to the plan to
develop the coal fields, would introduce a construction-based education
program for the In addition,
the tribe would be required to become a Super 8(a) entity. As a further
incentive, the company agreed to build a Dollar Store, a laundry facility and
a water bottling plant, according to the letter. The letter was
approved on Chairman Eugene Little Coyote's tie-breaking vote; the next day,
however, Little Coyote rescinded the letter of intent because, as he stated
in his letter of disapproval, the districts did not have enough input or
information. Two resolutions
to put the matter to a vote of the people were approved in August of this
year and the letter of intent approved on Oct. 1. Both sides of
the issue have brought in outsiders to provide information at various public
gatherings. Winona LaDuke, Ojibwe director of the
White Earth Land Recovery Project on the White Earth Reservation, held a
press conference and met with people on the reservation. ''I feel like a
community should not have to trade an ecosystem for an economy,'' she said.
''For years they fought coal development off. There is a much better plan
than using fossil fuels and destroying land and water.'' A local
organization, the Association for the Advancement of Indigenous Resources,
headed by Northern Cheyenne member Terry Bear Tusk, brought in hydrologists
from Bear Tusk said
representatives from the Southern Ute Growth Fund and Red Willow Gathering
Co. will come to the reservation to talk about how the Ute Tribe of Colorado
developed gas reserves without any damage to the air, water or cultural base.
LaDuke promotes biofuels and
wind energy as an alternative to the potential destruction of the land to
develop fossil fuel energy. ''We are
addicted to energy, and Halliburton is driving the decision making in these
states. Water is a human right and a private corporation does not have the
right to destroy the water of a people,'' LaDuke
said. Halliburton Corporation
is a major player in the oil, gas and coal industry of To extract coal
bed methane from the crevices in the coal beds, water must be removed from
the coal and the gas extracted from it. The water has a large saline content
and, in some soils, has the potential to destroy vegetation. The water that
would be extracted from the coal beds on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation
would be dumped into the The Tongue is a
tributary of the Some vegetation
for cattle - a large industry in ''On a worldwide scale, water is scarce and
a lot of people are dying for lack of water: and the companies are saying allow
them to destroy it,'' LaDuke said. The northern
portions of the It is estimated
that 1.85 billion gallons of water are pumped to the surface daily to extract
coal bed methane in Anti-coal
development sentiment has reached the young people of the reservation, and
they have expressed themselves on the sides of building with graffiti.
Anti-coal development graffiti can be seen on buildings throughout the
communities, and even on a funeral home. Cultural
preservation is paramount to any consideration of coal development, according
to Phillip Whiteman Jr. ''I'm upset
because our ancestors fought and fought and died so we could be able to have
a homeland,'' he said. ''There are
human issues and changes to the mother earth; people have to be concerned
with all the changes of mother earth. I would like to send a message to the
people; be careful, the land that we leave for our children and grandchildren
will be affected. We don't want to leave them with black water and grey skies
and grey land,'' Whiteman said. He suggested
that some people are convinced that this development will mean new jobs, new
stores and economic development. The ''These farmers
and ranchers went into this and thought they would make some money. They
don't have wells, they have tumors,'' he said. A ceremony, the
Arrow Worship Ceremony, was conducted when ARCO came to the reservation to
stop coal development. It asked for prayers for the people to reconnect,
Whiteman said. ''That ceremony
is still there; if we go against it we go against ourselves,'' he said. Advocates for
the development argue that full reclamation would leave the land in as good
or better shape than before. The economic potential is also a major talking
point, since the reservation has a very high rate of unemployment. Bear Tusk said
his purpose is to provide a middle of the road approach to the information.
He is a supporter of the development, but also said the tribe should proceed
carefully. AAIR supports total tribal
control over the operation that would leave the tribe the owner and manager
of the development and not contract with an outside company Tribal
Report of the |
|||
|
Lame
Duck, Continued from page 1 What about the “lame duck”
politics at the local level? On the Northern
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, tribal politics is currently experiencing its
own outcomes of the staggered term elections set in conjunction with the
national elections on November 7th.
The staggered term Council seats on this year’s ballot are based on
district population size with Lame Deer being the largest community getting 3
seats and both First of all, the Tribe is not
Congress nor does the Tribe have the luxury of putting the programs,
services, and peoples’ needs aside for a few months because of tribal
elections. For Council members whom
are not up for re-election until 2008 and feel that they do not have
participate in the continual operation of the tribal government during
elections, until a “new” Council is sworn-in, is an act of ignorance and an
obvious neglect of duties. Furthermore,
by using the “lame duck” excuse to justify their lack of attendance and their
failure to meet legal quorum requirements needed in conducting official
business, such Council members are showing their knowledge and understanding,
or lack there of, of what “lame duck” really means. Remember during the “lame
duck” session in It is all backwards because
Council members with 2 years remaining have every reason to be in their
office and present at meetings but they are not. They should be in their offices and at
every meeting unless like in Congress, they arrive to vote-on or for certain
issues and legislation that may affect the current power struggle. For the You Have the Right to Know When Council decisions have to be
decided by the President casting a tie-breaking vote, the issues and
legislation being presented and supported by Council members becomes even
more significant to all tribal members and makes the access to Council
information a public necessity. A
genuine interest by tribal members in their government seems to have
increased as a direct result of controversial decisions made by the
Council. This has lead to active
involvement in tribal politics and a sense of ownership by the tribal
membership that allows them to asks questions and hold their current district
representatives accountable for the way they vote on particular issues, the
time they show up for work, and the actual work they produce. The Tribal Council does not have a “lame
duck” period nor do they deserve one, besides according to the meaning of
“lame duck,” the Tribal Council would at least still make an effort to show
up for meetings and for work. Instead
of a “lame duck” session like that of Congress, the only duck the Tribe has
is a “dead duck.” Tribal Report of the |
|||
|
The Argument For Coal/CBM There has been much discussion about the votes for and against coal and
CBM development on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. We What
are the arguments for development? The biggest argument that supports coal
and CBM development always comes in a stern form. The argument always centers on money. If you talk to any of the supporters of
coal and CBM development, they will feed you a bunch of stories about how
poor the reservation is, how much the Here
is where the argument for any development has failed to convince a lot of
traditional and spiritually enlightened that the
money will be used to improve our government system so ALL Cheyennes will be educated in political affairs; that the
money will be used to purchase more land and water to benefit ALL Cheyennes; that the money will be used to improve our
camping, hiking, and recreation areas for ALL Cheyennes
to enjoy; that training and schooling for high paying jobs will be available
for ALL Cheyennes; that jobs will be waiting for
these recently trained and educated Cheyennes; and
that the money will be used for prevention and recovery programs so those who
have chemical addictions can recover. These would all be good
arguments for the supporters. But why haven’t they used these arguments? It
is simple. NONE of the supporters for development are thinking of these
issues! NONE of the supporters for development are thinking of how the money
can benefit ALL This is why the argument for development is weak and why it shows
nothing but selfishness. The Tribal Report of the |
|||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
