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<br />IndiRn 'Water con erenee...
<br />(Cotl/i",uti fro", pagl J2)
<br />
<br />as. if he were ralking (0 ~[her low
<br />Unlike their counterpUU in the
<br />non-Indian I.gricuhural or ....ater
<br />development comrnunilie5. the In.
<br />dians cnBagcd in no bashing of
<br />bureaucralS. They certainly have a
<br />righ.l to rcflc:r.i....c (riticil.m of fedcrvl
<br />and Slare officials, but they didn't
<br />indulge ~h~m:sclv~.
<br />The Indian spcaicrs m;l.dc it dear
<br />thatthcy rcsentthc money thac musf
<br />be apent on oon.lndian txpcru in ~
<br />PJ^ pnxess. Buf the lribal leaden
<br />also appeared to M....c: tJ;celJcm
<br />workins: relations with their coJlperu.
<br />ht fl.t1r Slance, it appears tha[
<br />much of me money spent on PIA
<br />planning ....,ill be totally wasted. except
<br />as a legal toOtlO act ...,ater for odlct
<br />wcs. But the PIA proc~s has made
<br />many tribes familiar with planning
<br />and wid! expertS. And planning may
<br />be' a feature of non-Indian cu/mrc we
<br />will fir in well with the communal ethic
<br />ofreservacions.
<br />, By COmpULsOO, tt1QIIt non.lndian
<br />Comn1UnitiCI in the Wnlt have nC'Ver
<br />cOllscioully accepted their aJmOlt roral .
<br />dependence Oil the centralized
<br />pUnnina and admiainfl.tion dooe by
<br />the Burea.u <jf R1:d__nl,a:oon, 1hc Forut
<br />
<br />~~
<br />
<br />a pirtance, or Molen outrighr. The
<br />hopeful ~igo is thiH many of the tribes
<br />are now aggressive laward thtir
<br />r~Ourc(5. They have rcnegoriared
<br />contracts, they keep b~cr uacJ: of [ne
<br />oil and 8M royalties due them, and
<br />fight in tb.e CCUtU for their 50vcreigll
<br />right ro ta.X natural resources.
<br />So [he U1be-s are in [llIInsiuon --
<br />Wende-II Chillo said they have been i.n
<br />transitioo since the flfst boat3 arrived
<br />from Europe.. aJ1d it is possible that
<br />JndJ.an WIIrer ...ill 001 mee[ the ume
<br />faleusomilnyofthcirresoUlc~.
<br />^ conference: in the: por.h Manion
<br />Hotel in dowllto",o Denver af[ended
<br />by triblllc:adert. and their experts is
<br />not the besr basis for judgUlI tile
<br />furu.rc course of Indian watcr m,l.t:tel1l.
<br />
<br />Bu[ conferenccs cln lel\ u much
<br />about the people pUffing !hem on as
<br />aOOut the subjecl, and this one ...u
<br />revealing.
<br />11 wu no[ obsessed ",id! time: -. on
<br />both days, meetings started up to an
<br />hOUl lare for no observable rea.soo.
<br />But IDal lemporal IlJCnen ",,'as made
<br />up for by the qualiryof the spea..l::ersh
<br />there were alrn(l,ll no dud.. Even the
<br />specialists creued a contlCXt and
<br />Ialked in terms underslAlldablc: fO III
<br />lUdic:~ of non.speciafua. And the
<br />Indiao speaen appealed to follow the:
<br />lead of keynofe speaker WendeU
<br />Chino, who said, "There are m~
<br />.norneys th.an Indians hc:rc:, bin I'm
<br />loing to speak anfW1lY," ",hich
<br />..ppUt:ndy meane he ...as ZOiDI to tall:.
<br />
<br />'."'.1
<br />I'If'IHr 2', 198' h Hig" Co.."try N.ws.JJ
<br />
<br />Service and the BLM. Th~ public
<br />rbetonc in these communi tic. ..nd at
<br />conference. of c.aruemen or the Farm
<br />BUleau or even or ",ater planners is:
<br />"If lhe feds would only let us aloDe,
<br />everyth.inz would be finC'."
<br />N~, of c.w~, the ic:ds arc: about
<br />10 "let lhem alone," as the budgets of
<br />theBurelUllI1d!he IllIldmaOJlgemenl
<br />alcDcies arc CUt evcr dCl:per. The
<br />future. of lhose commuoiries may
<br />l!.t;pot.T16 on how well th.c:y un
<br />.ubscNle their o...n pl.nning and
<br />administulion for thai formerly
<br />supplied by the fcda.
<br />From tfuat penpective, .ome uibc:s
<br />have leadl ovu some Anglo
<br />communities in lhe ec:oDomie hone-
<br />race ahead for the New West. Of
<br />coune, li.lrc the Don-Indian commun.
<br />itie., mey 100 are l~ing federal hc:Jp.
<br />But the: Bure..u or Indian Affairs hili
<br />never represented a cleat plus for the
<br />tribes.
<br />The confe~nce, titled "Building
<br />Homelaods on 19th Cenrury Pro.
<br />mise.... was oraalliud by the
<br />American Indian lAwyer Tl1Iioil:ir
<br />Proll'l1ll, wbOle cxecutive di!a:[O( it
<br />Richard Trudell. III .ddresl u: H9
<br />MlC.AnhurBlvd., Oak.ls.nd, CA 9461<1.
<br />
<br />An Indian. water victory creates turmoil in Wyoming
<br />
<br />The- Domino Theory may ()( ~)'
<br />not hold in Southe.st ^5ia. Bur il
<br />certaiuly holds in WyominS'1 'Big
<br />Horn River basin.
<br />There, COUrl deci,ioDs giving the
<br />Wind River Reservarion almost
<br />)00,000 .cre.feet of waler (~ee
<br />a.ccom~(I.'1i.oi ItO['j) could. remake thc
<br />'area'. economy and way of lifl:. In a
<br />dry ycu, lhe Illdi:an~' new wafer
<br />lightS could leave Lander', municipal
<br />w,uer system and 100,000 .cr~s of
<br />land now irriliued by non-llldian
<br />ranchen withour sufficienl ....fer. The
<br />,nut of WItc:t from the non-Indian fO
<br />the IndlaD communiry in the afea
<br />around Rivenon is a shifr in lheir
<br />relative abili['{ 10 surYive i.n the arid
<br />region.
<br />The Stale of Wyoming i~ fighlinl
<br />me a"a.rd to the Arapahoe and
<br />Sn05nolle [libes. II has appealed the'
<br />cas~ ro the Wyoming Supreme Court,
<br />and is prepared [0 10 10 rhe U.S.
<br />, Supremc:CQl.m.
<br />T...o yeau ago, Gov. Ed
<br />He~tnl~r, 0, initialed negoliatiolls
<br />wifh the rnbes and Ihe fc:dc:ra!
<br />governmenl. ^(cording to Jeff
<br />Fassell, Wyoming's deputy ~tille
<br />engilleer, Ihe- goal of Ihe negorialions
<br />i.s. "to 'teep ev~ryolle whole."
<br />In I :;ensc, lhe Indians are 1Illready
<br />.....hole.. since Ihey have. hule
<br />amOUlll of water with the earliesr
<br />plloriry date III the region: 1868. Ttoa[
<br />meilllS Inty have I right 10 lake their
<br />Willer OUI of the area's srrc:amS,
<br />reservoirs and riy~rs before anyone
<br />ds~ lets a dru? III a wel year, priority
<br />won'l mailer. In . dry year, Ihe
<br />loolans will get me'lf ...arer wbile
<br />othcrs go dry.
<br />Howcvcr, th~ [libes do not have
<br />me money to put meir WIter to ~Oflt,
<br />and Ihl! makes a compromi~e
<br />pOllible. Accordinl 10 Falsell, llie
<br />[WO rears of ne-8:oliations produced Ute
<br />broad oullines of an agre-emen[. The
<br />.key U '100 million in lULIe, federaJ
<br />and [libal money fO build r("'ervoirs 10
<br />CapfUre ,pring rUnoff thai Ilcnv flo"".
<br />.:lo...nsueam unused and fO build
<br />irrigarionsystems 10 bring new Indian
<br />land underculdvalion. The reservoiR
<br />
<br />win make me existing non.lndian
<br />U$~n ",hole. The new irrig.tion
<br />systems will re"ard !he uibes for
<br />comprorni!iel. mey will make in the
<br />amounl aod location of their ",.fer
<br />rtlntS.
<br />The stare is offering to put up
<br />about f-tO million (the c:slinu,le!&o arc
<br />baJed on rhe "prilClicably irriaa.ble
<br />acr~age" process mc tribes went
<br />throu.lh to Bel Wltler) 10 build the
<br />re5ervO~. ^nd if is ..kinS Ihe feder.U
<br />1<;)'1er~nt anQ the tri.hes to put up
<br />$60 million to build [he IndiilOS' new
<br />irrilation sy.tems.
<br />. ^ecording to Thomas f'rederick~, a
<br />BouJde-r anorney and member of !he
<br />MarKla.n Hid.tSI Tribe in North
<br />Dakota, ...ho represents the Arapahoe.
<br />the as:reemelll is in d.nger of
<br />ravelling. He laid me non.ll)dian
<br />....Ier users all: now trying to chip
<br />away at the beneflt1 !he uibes got out
<br />of lhe negotjadons. "We're not going
<br />toarand for !hat."
<br />
<br />The deal can only",ad: ifCon,reas
<br />U ...iUinltO come up ...ilh ll. goad pan:
<br />of me $100 million. But ac:cordin& ro
<br />Fredericlt.s, the Wyoming coni res-
<br />sion.al dcieg.iuion (Rep. Did. Cheney
<br />and Seos. Malcolm Wallop and ^lan
<br />SimpsOll) 'Won'l introduce a bill'until
<br />the: tribea ..nd the noD,tndiAn waeer
<br />ulen lI'e in .greement. Fredericb
<br />s.ys the impasse may not be broken
<br />unleas the delegation showl le.der.
<br />~hip.
<br />'.Leadership," in Frt;decitlr.a'
<br />~iew, me.ns getting tough with Ute
<br />non.lndian "aler useB. Most of me
<br />. irrigaton ge[ their ....ter frolD. three
<br />largc irrigation projc:cts around
<br />RjYerron: 1ne Midvale, LeClair and
<br />Ri~enoll Valley disUKU.
<br />The need for cooperation bell'i'ec:n
<br />the Indians and non.lndian. Joe.
<br />beyond a united appro.ch. (0
<br />Congress. Fasseu .ays the rcgion is a
<br />chcdr.erboatd of Indian aJ1d non-Indian
<br />land and WIler rights. They share: the
<br />
<br />same ditche. and rcservoin, which
<br />means tfual at times Ih~ ",ill be in "
<br />rclatiOtl3hip c10lier than marriage.
<br />Without cooperation in me opc:l1Ition
<br />of canals .nd re,ervoirs, thc area
<br />could be: in . pennanc:M ltate of
<br />"""'.
<br />At prcseM, '-M. h..cl.i...'Il" ..(C'
<br />irrig.ring approximarc:ly 40,000 acre-s
<br />ri me 100,000 actc:"s of land to _hich
<br />the cowu have awarded .....ter. If
<br />CongrelS .greelii, some of the
<br />uncultiva.ted 6Q ,QOO a.~" ...ill be:
<br />irrisatc:rl _hiIe the rel[ of me Indian
<br />1I'Iter ...ill lit in Boysen Re,ervoir,
<br />awaiting a buyer or some other tribal
<br />"',.
<br />Th~ far, me ca.ae has ~t
<br />Wyoming S7 millioD in expert and
<br />tega.! fee... The tribes and the federal
<br />,overomeDl have spc:nt several million
<br />roon::. Thai money ,ould have: dug .Iot
<br />of ditches and poured. lot of (:~te,
<br />
<br />..Eli MIVsto"
<br />
<br />
<br />'~"j"-.t,,/~~
<br />\ ~...3f ~ ~.
<br />
<br />'~.".,..
<br />
<br />Cro",h~J}rr 811ft. on Ih, l1~in" R.lJlr R#sn'WItioll
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