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Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 05:12:57 -0800 (PST)
From: dave evad <treeear@yahoo.com>
Subject: Yankton Sioux Update--January 27, 2000
To: treeear@yahoo.com
 

Forwarded for Tessa Lehto:
 

For Immediate Release:          January 27, 2000        6:00 PM
 
For More Information Call Tessa Lehto at (605)
487-7871 or (605) 384-3641 or (605) 491-1237

YST Discovers Corps Violating Several Laws In Regards
to Burial Site
 
The Yankton Sioux Tribe has just discovered that the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been in violation of
federal law for years in regards to the remains of the
ancestors at the White Swan Burial Site. These laws include,
in addition to Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the National Historic
Preservation Act, 16 USC 469, Executive Orders (13007
Indian Sacred Sites, May 24, 1996 and 11593), the
National Environmental Policy Act, the Archeological
Resource Protection Act of 1974, and possibly other
agency-specific legislation which may also apply.

The Tribe has sent a letter to the Corps, signed by
Chairwoman Madonna Archambeau, demanding that the
Corps comply with all federal laws to protect these
remains in the next thirty days. The letter says,
"This is to notify you that the Yankton Sioux Tribe considers your
agency out of compliance with Sections 106 and 110 of
the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) with
regard to its conscious fluctuation of water levels in the
Missouri River while knowing of the White Swan Burial
Grounds, an important cultural site. It is the Tribe's
understanding your agency has repeatedly engaged in a
federal undertaking by fluctuating the pool of Lake
Francis Case knowing the above site was present and,
in doing so, caused damage to this important cultual site,
and the human remains of tribal ancestors and other
articles of archaeological significance."

By raising the water level, there will be additional damage
to the resources at the site. Once the water started rising,
casket hardware was seen lying scattered on the surface of
the burial grounds, in addition to impressions of remains,
edges of coffins still showing through the sand and other items
of archeological significance.

The letter continues, "It is the position of the YST that your
agency has failed to consult with the Tribe as
required by Section 106 of the Act and has failed to
take measures to protect the site as is required by Section
110...It is the Tribe's position that the Corps
actions also do not comply with the key Executive
Orders or the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act
and other applicable federal statutes."
 
"The Tribe believes the Corps is not meeting their
legal obligations; they are only doing what the Tribe sued
them about. The Corps is forcing the Tribe to spend a
lot of money to get them to meet their legal obligations.
It shouldn't be that way," said tribal attorney Mary
Wynne. "This is unfair for the Tribe to have to pay legal fees
to force the US Army to comply with federal law," she
continued.

"This process has been enormously burdensome for the
tribe to pursue this matter, making the Corps comply
with the law. The YST is a small Tribe with limited
resources, high unemployment, low average annual income
per capita, and tremendous social needs," said
Archambeau. "We are a small tribe with limited
resources, but great resolve, in order to make the Army comply with
the laws that protect the historic resources of all people in
the United States," said tribal member and White Swan
descendant Faith Spotted Eagle. "It is apparent that the
Army is not willing to comply with the law."

The Archeological and Historic Preservation Act of
1974, AHPA, requires notification to the Secretary of the
Interior of any dam construction and if archeological
resources are found, the recovery or salvage of them.
AHPA also provides for the preservation of historical
and archeological data, including relics and specimens,
which may be lost or destroyed as a result of 1)
flooding, building of access roads, or 2) any alteration of the
terrain that might be caused as a result of any
federal construction project of federally licensed activity or
program. "Every year that the water of Lake Francis
Case covered the remains, the Corps may have violated
federal law, because they knew that the site was
there," said Wynne. There are also possible violations
of 36 CFR 800.5 A (2) vii (Regulations with regard to NHPA)
concerning adverse effects and the transfer, lease or sale of
properties containing protected remains or relics
without a long term plan for preservation of the property.

"To say the least, the Corps' actions in this matter
are questionable, possibly illegal, certainly shameful. The Corps
has an affirmative responsibility under several
federal statutes to work with Native Americans and
find mutually satisfactory solutions when tragedies like this occur.
They also have legal responsibility to take into account the
effects of their actions by consulting with Tribes,
the State Historic Preservation Officer, and the Advisory
Council, and they didn't do it. It's almost as if the
Corps was daring someone to take them to court," said
Program Analyst Alan Stanfill of the Advisory Council
on Historic Preservation, Denver Regional office. The
Executive Director of the Advisory Council is a
presidential appointee, and the Advisory Council is
investigating the matter, as is the State Historic Preservation
Office. "I'd like to think this could be a catalyst
for change in the cultural resource management of the Corps.
It happens over and over again. Not only in reservoirs, but all
over the country. They have no adequate program for
administering situations like this," he said.

Steve Littlefield, South Dakota State Historical
Society Review and Compliance department, said,
"Essentially there is a section 106 violation, and I don't think
anyone is going to disagree with that." He verified that he has
not received formal notification to invoke the
protections of the NHPA from the Corps as is required
by law. If the Corps removed the remains without a plan, then
they are in violation of 106, the Tribe maintains.

"During the negotiation process, Corps officials
repeatedly pressured the Tribe to hurry up the collection of the
remains. They even sent a letter to the Tribe, after
another agreement was already made, speeding up the
process. Before collection could even begin, under the law, a
mitigation plan is required for the site, with agreement by
several parties. We requested official consultation to
work on this plan, but were denied. Then they told us to
hurry up and pick up our relatives," said Roxann
Spottedeagle, a White Swan descendant.

It has also been pointed out that the Corp has failed
to develop a plan for preservation for the White Swan burial
grounds, the human remains and the artifacts located
there. The Corps has been repeatedly given notice that
they are out of compliance with an agreement they
signed in 1993 with State Historic Preservation
Officers from Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
They have either refused or failed to take corrective
measures to meet their responsibilities under this agreement.

The letter from the Tribe is putting the Corps on 30
day notice. "We are demanding that the Corps comply with
not only the federal laws, but also the programmatic
agreement the Corps made with the Cultural Historic
Preservation Officers," said Wynne. "Please notify the
Tribe within 30 days of what measures have been taken
to bring your agency into compliance with NHPA and other
applicable law. As part of that effort, the YST requests
that your agency convene a meeting between the
Consulting Parties concerning the White Swan Burial
Grounds within 30 days of your receipt of this letter."

"It is the Tribe's understanding, based on your
agency's failure to protect historic sites and engage
in required consultation, that these issues may well be much
broader than the White Swan site. Therefore, it may also be
appropriate to meet with representatives from other
tribes with continuing interests in historical sites along the
Missouri River, including but not limited to the
Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribe," concluded
Chairperson Madonna Archambeau in the letter.
 

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