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<br />CbllIl!oLNews
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<br />Vol. 17 No. 22 A P~p,r for Peop/~ who C/Jr, abollllh, /Pesl 0", Dollar
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<br />I!
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<br />A Special Issue
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<br />
<br />Tribes struggle for sovereignty and power
<br />
<br />The: unage of Indians lJnd [heir
<br />rC$crvadon$ is nOI II happy or
<br />II hopeful one. The su:rcorypc:
<br />is or an .sol;l.lc:d and dispiritcd people
<br />living on bleak WId Ihe while: man did
<br />not Wan!, and affii'lC~d with every
<br />varicryohlXialdi5nsC',bulcSpetially
<br />alcoholism. Dependina on' )'our
<br />plulosophy, (he wretched conditions
<br />on ^mcrica's 170 rcscrvalions ate
<br />eilher due: II) Ihe mi!>crlmns and
<br />incompetence of the federal govern.
<br />ment in discharging it5 IrU51
<br />obligarion IQ no,ooo reservation
<br />Indians. or fO lilt' wdfare-slarc:
<br />depc:mk(lcy lLnd hdplesSM5.S the UUSt
<br />obhgalLonhll,.5foslcred.
<br />There is no question about .the
<br />i.o/;;lIion and despair on mlny
<br />re~ci"'."lI'hb The next issue of HiEh
<br />COlllltry Nt'U'5 will carry an article by
<br />Geotf O'Gar.t on the epJdcmic of
<br />suicides lhal has plilgued- cemral
<br />Wyoming'I Wind River ReServation.
<br />TheIc is, ho","ever, II. side to lhe
<br />Indian uory which gocs beyond the
<br />poverty which aff1icts some reSeNa.
<br />tJonsand the pickup lIUck consumer-
<br />urn which afflicts others. II is a story
<br />of Indian uibes forcing Ihe Unlled
<br />
<br />Slates 10 make good on a few of [he
<br />promises made TO the [libnl in Ihe
<br />19!h century. his Ihe subjeCf of this
<br />isslU'ofHCN.
<br />
<br />The empowerment of Ihe lribes is
<br />cleareS! in the calc of water. In the
<br />EaS!, water comes with me land. If
<br />)'OU buy 40 acres wilh a stream
<br />through it, you also own Ihe sucam.
<br />You can uSe il to genenne dectrici[)'
<br />for your house, to water YOUl garden,
<br />or JUSt 10 look al.
<br />
<br />In the West, waler U far 100 scarCe
<br />rOlttach to somclhing as plenrifuland
<br />wOJ"lhle55:US mere land. Here, waler is
<br />separable from the 1;l.lld. There is no
<br />poinl, lhe WeSlern ethic holds, in
<br />Jerring warer flow noisily through
<br />Idaho's Hells Canyon or ^,;7('1n,,'!'
<br />(jr:'IlJ c:.nYfJIl when that WOlle' ~an b",
<br />. 5preadovcIkrllleandirrigabl~me':L5
<br />upsrream of rhe canyons.
<br />
<br />^t an ever-increasing rate, the
<br />uibes in rhe West arc winrnrlg cOrltrol
<br />of Iargc amoums of Ihis sepll.table
<br />","ater. Oftcn Ihey arc winning _rer
<br />which has been USed for genenlliorls
<br />by local rarlchers or by (1Orl.lndiil.n
<br />I:omrnumties. Their fl{!,t VKtOOC$ wcre
<br />
<br />. irl COUlf. BUI now that Ihe .[length and
<br />depth of !heir legal eil.ae is clear, there
<br />lLIe mOle negofialions .. in Monrana,
<br />in Idaho, in Colorado, in Wyoming ..
<br />as IHateS uy to strike bener. more
<br />logical deals than fhey might get in
<br />caun.
<br />
<br />This HeN explores !he progress
<br />many rribes have made 011 papcr
<br />roward pining control of 'Haler. il.nd
<br />thu!. of their dt~i1iny. The stcries
<br />include a descriplloll of a conference
<br />on Indian waler held in Denver this
<br />faU, an aecoum of lhe rug of waler
<br />be~een Wyoming and the Wind
<br />River RC5ervalion lribes, and a SIOry
<br />on negotiations between Idaho and
<br />two Snake River !libes.
<br />
<br />LC"M ir appe:.r .he u;bC'l "e
<br />concenrrating solely on warer, Ih!!'fe
<br />arc two Slories by Marjane ^mbler.
<br />One is a status reporr on CERT, the
<br />Council of EnerJY Resource Tribes,
<br />and its efforts 10 help reservations
<br />which have oil, gas, coal and uranium.
<br />The second describes' arrempts 10
<br />contrOl halardous Wibte on the
<br />reservations.
<br />1n reading about ~s.ervaliom. one
<br />
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<br />fllc't mUlt be remembered: rhe tribes
<br />consider reservltions to be sovereil)!
<br />erltiaes, equal (0 and separafe from
<br />Ihe state the reservation happens 10 be
<br />in. Reservations, Irldians say, have a
<br />sJ>Ct:ialrelationlhip wifh the federal
<br />go~mmen[ due 10 the lCeafie5 lhey
<br />hllve.!li.ned.
<br />That has many impl;c.uions,
<br />ranging from signs on Aritona
<br />high.....af3 which say, "You arc now
<br />enr~ring the Navajo Nation," to
<br />imense sttuggles wirh rhe S.I,U!!'S over
<br />which ....ill conrrol ,edamacion and
<br />clean air .nd water IIWS, le\")' laxes.
<br />adminislcr child adoPlions and mete
<br />OU! justice.
<br />Thc storiea in thil usue are distant
<br />from life on Ihe reServations. The'
<br />warer conference ....5 held in an
<br />"xpcf..,i~ Denver hard, ."d Ihe
<br />various negotiations arc atlended bYI
<br />few Irldi.n leaden and their usually
<br />Arlgl() expem. Neyenheless, if there
<br />is a brighter future ahead for
<br />rescvation Indians. ir probably liel
<br />with the off'lhe-reservation decisionl
<br />beirlg mader1Ow.
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<br />..&iMllrrrolf
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<br />Indians breathe life into old treaties
<br />
<br />by Ed Marston
<br />
<br />By all rig hIS, the conference on
<br />lndi"n waler held in Denyer
<br />rhis fa1l5hould have been a
<br />cclebralion..hrrorneysfor mbes in the
<br />and We51 have lued for and won
<br />milhon.s of acre. feel of.....a1er over Ihe
<br />paS[ twO decadel. In Ihe well.warered
<br />Northwest, lribes have gamed righls
<br />10 half of rhe flsh in the Columbia
<br />River.
<br />The vicrories have lefr rhe ^nglo
<br />water world in disarray. Ross O.
<br />Swunmer, principil.l chief of the
<br />Chcroke~ N..ltion in Olclahoma and
<br />Incerior's ne","^ssistam Secrerary for
<br />Indian Affairs, ended the two.day
<br />
<br />confcrence by s.umming up non.lndi2.n
<br />feaction \0 lhe lndlan successcs.:
<br />"Wail a minute! We ~idn't knml
<br />those were rtJuJ treacies. We didn.t
<br />know those Willer righls wele Ihere."
<br />Now they know. The state of
<br />WyomLllg leil.lned recently Ihat it can't
<br />win aKainSf rhe Indians even if it
<br />launches surpri.se legal arracks. in Slate
<br />cOUrt. The key case in Wyoming is Orl
<br />the Big Horn River systcm. TIu:re,
<br />judges in 5Cil.te eourr.s haYe essentially
<br />upheld a walel award of nearly ~OO,.
<br />000 il.ete feet ro the Wind River Reser-
<br />vil.lion. The award was ininally made
<br />by former Congres.sman Teno Ron.
<br />calia, acting a. a coun.appoinred Ipe.
<br />cial masler 10 take tesdmony and
<br />make a recomlnendalion. p4gtJS 10, 7
<br />
<br />Roncalio wllS at rhe confererlee to
<br />lell 200 Indians, experts and
<br />
<br />governmenr official. now the 'W,,,urs
<br />D~17""" led him \0 thaI award. The
<br />Wi"ltJrs Dor:tn'ntJ, a 1908 decision of
<br />the U.S. Supreme Cour!, SIllieS thai
<br />when Ihe federal government signed
<br />a treaty 10 establish a reservation, il
<br />also implicitly sel aside, or reserved,
<br />enough Wil.ler to make Ihe leservalion
<br />bloom.
<br />In [he case of Ihe Wind River
<br />RC'Iervation, shared by me ^rllpahoc
<br />and Shoshone tribes, Ronealio decided
<br />it would lake ~OO,OOO acre.feet ro
<br />irrigate all of the relccvatlon's
<br />"praclic;;lbly ilrigable acreage,'" or
<br />Pl^ in the jargon.
<br />An .ttorney for the Fon peck
<br />(Montana) Reservation tribes," the
<br />Sioux and Assinboine, cold Ihe
<br />conference th.w.t !he Wyominl dccdion
<br />wll.5 heald in Montana. convincing
<br />duu Slale to rleJotiatc. When the
<br />
<br />neJoUalioM were over, the FOr! Peck
<br />Reservation had rights 10 I milliorl
<br />acre-feet of water OUt of me Mi.ssouri
<br />River.. enough waler to irrigate its
<br />PlA.
<br />
<br />The docuine and PI^ arc not
<br />the only ILItows in the tribes'
<br />legal arsenal. Representatives
<br />of North....est fishing rribes wcre fhere
<br />fO tallt abour!he 1974 Boldt decision
<br />and related cases. B~sed on [leaties,
<br />the couns have awarded me fishinJ
<br />tribes halr of Ihe fish irl the Columbia
<br />River. ThOSie decisions may rum into
<br />Jranes of habitat as the Indians seelt to
<br />keep sufficient waler of high enouJh
<br />quality in the Sfreaml to maintain
<br />fisheries.
<br />^ few days before the SePt. 26.2~
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<br />(CO"h;'MltI 0" /NIg, 1(1,
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