Subjects
Federal laws
State laws
Some preserved sites.
Some history and culture
Controversies Concerning Archaeology
American Indian Voices
News Archive Index
Return to main Learn page
Please inform the webmaster of any broken links!
| News Items
Indian Site Preservation Pushed
By KIM BACA
Associated Press Writer
http://www.activedayton.com/shared/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V5643.AP-Sacred-Sites.html
For centuries, young American Indians have run a series of trails that stretch
from the muddy red waters of the Colorado River to the Arizona-California
line.
Running the trail has been at the center of the Quechan Nation's religion,
traditions and history. Now 30 young men are running to try to save the paths
for the next generation.
The runners are making a 700-mile relay trek through California to focus
attention on state legislation that seeks to protect ancient sites like the
one they hope to safeguard from becoming a gold mine.
The group wants Gov. Gray Davis to sign a bill that would require local
governments to notify a tribe of proposed construction within 20 miles of a
reservation and to protect sacred sites from development.
Opponents of the bill said it could grant tribes veto power over both private
and public land. The California Chamber of Commerce said the bill threatens to
delay or stop public improvement projects, school buildings and new homes.
Davis, who has until month's end to sign or veto the bill, has not publicly
taken a position.
``This is not only for politics,'' said 15-year-old runner Richard ``Ticky''
Smith, a Quechan tribal member who has sweated through triple-digit
temperatures in California's Central Valley this week. ``It's for all the
elders--the ones that passed on, the ones who are sick, the ones who can't run
or walk or hear or see. It's also for the future.''
The run began last Friday in Sacramento, Calif., and is expected to end
Saturday at the tribe's Imperial Valley reservation. The proposed mine
site--at Indian Pass, a remote spot near the Arizona-California line--sits on
federal land outside their reservation.
Lillian Sparks, an analyst for the National Congress of American Indians, said
no state has enacted legislation similar to the bill before the governor.
``California is really taking initiative to protect Native American sacred
places, and we're hoping other states will follow through until we can get
protection at the federal level,'' said Sparks.
Across California, about 300 sites that average a quarter-acre each need
protection, according to the Native American Heritage Commission.
Under the legislation, a local government would hire an outside investigator
such as an anthropologist to check historical records and determine whether a
site has long been considered sacred. The investigator also would look at
whether the area has a shrine or other religious artifacts.
The bill stems from Quechan opposition to plans by Glamis Gold Ltd., a Reno,
Nev.-based company that wants to build an open pit gold mine on 1,600 acres of
BLM land near the tribe's reservation. The Bureau of Land Management parcel
includes a site of religious ceremonies that contains ancient pottery shards
and petroglyphs.
Charles Jeannes, senior vice president of Glamis, said the proposed state bill
could ruin the company's efforts to create an operation on which it already
has spent $15 million.
Jeannes said the bill now on Davis' desk would hamper development statewide by
only allowing construction of projects on sacred sites that have an overriding
environmental, public health or safety reason.
``It's a fairly narrow exception and it gives the native tribe any right to
veto any project they deem sacred,'' he said.
The Clinton administration rejected the gold mine plan, citing ``undue
impairment'' to Quechan sacred land, but the Bush administration rescinded
that ruling in October 2001.
Quechan president Mike Jackson said the issue is about continuing a tradition
for his 3,000 tribal members.
``We want to preserve our history just like any other person,'' he said. ``We
should enjoy our religious rights like anybody else.''
Go to News Archive Index |
