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Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 05:40:41 -0800 (PST)
From: dave evad <treeear@yahoo.com>
Subject: Yankton Sioux Update
To: treeear@yahoo.com
 

 
> For immediate release: February 7, 2000
> For more information contact Tessa Lehto at (605) 384-3641 or (605)
> 491-1237 or (605) 487-7871.
>
> Corps Denies Violations
>
> The Yankton Sioux Tribe has recently discovered that the U.S. Army
> Corps of Engineers has likely been in violation of federal law for
> years in regards to the remains of ancestors at the White Swan Burial
> Site. In a letter dated January 27,2000, the Tribe demanded that the
> Corps comply with all federal laws to protect these remains.
> According to a letter sent to the Commander Mark Tillotson of the
> Corps by YST Chairwoman Madonna Archambeau, ?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
> with regard to its conscious fluctuation of water levels in the
> Missouri River while knowing of the White Swan Burial Grounds.? The
> letter continues, ?Corps actions also do not comply with the key
> Executive Orders or the requirements of the National Environmental
> Policy Act and other applicable federal statues.?
>
> ?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.
>
> In a letter dated February 1, 2000, to State Historic Preservation
> Officer Jay Vogt, Candace Gorton, Chief Environmental and Economics
> Section, Planning Branch of the Corps of Engineers denies that they
> are in violation of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
> Act. In addition, the letter fails to address the other laws they are
> accused of violating, among them the 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.
>
> ?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. ?I?d like to think this could be a catalyst
> for change in the cultural resource management of the Corps,?
> Stanfill continued. ?It happens over and over again. Not only in
> reservoirs, but all over the country. They have no program for
> administering situations like this,? he said.
>
> ?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 YST Chairwoman
> Madonna Archambeau.
>
> ?We are a small tribe with limited resources, but we have great
> resolve 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.?
>
> Steve Littlefield of the 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 from the
> Corps as is required by law. If the Corps removed the remains without
> a plan, then they are in violation of 106, said tribal members.
>
> 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.
>
> 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 [the
> COE] agreement and has either refused or failed to take corrective
> measures to meet the Corps responsibilities under federal law.
>
> With the letter, the Tribe put the Corps on 30 day notice to begin
> complying with federal law and the programmatic agreement the Corps
> made with the Cultural Historic Preservation Officers of Nebraska,
> North and South Dakota and Montana.
>
> The Tribe is looking at options and possible remedies, including
> congressional action, and is engaged in active negotiations on both
> the federal, state and local levels, regarding this matter. In the
> upcoming week there will be meetings at the site with the National
> Trust for Historic Preservation and the State Historic Preservation
> Office. Already, meetings were held in Pierre with legislators and
> policymakers, including the Governor, to discuss the issue.
> Congressional offices have also been very supportive.
>
> ?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, the
> letter concluded.
>
> For Immediate Release February 9, 2000
> For more information contact: Tessa Lehto at (605) 384-3641 or (605)
> 491-1237 or (605) 487-7871
>
> YST To Bury Collected Remains
>
> The bones of the relatives of the Yankton Sioux Tribe who laid
> exposed for more than a month on a dry lakebed in the White Swan area
> will finally be laid to rest on February 17, 2000. The remains spent
> the last fifty years beneath the waters of Lake Francis Case before
> low water conditions revealed them scattered on the sand by wave
> action. About thirty gravesites were originally visible through the
> sand, in addition to numerous human bones and other items.
>
> The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers promised tribal members that their
> relatives in the St. Philips Cemetery would be moved after condemning
> the land to build the Fort Randall Dam and reservoir back in 1950.
> The cemetery was used as recently as 1949, and as early as 1838 when
> the church built their cemetery atop an existing burial grounds.
> Earlier remains are likely at the site and prehistoric artifacts have
> also been found there.
>
> Tribal members collected the loose, scattered remains on January 19,
> 2000, more than a month after they were discovered. The Tribe wanted
> to ensure the safety of the remains immediately, but the Corps would
> not allow it and violated federal law in the handling of the matter,
> which resulted in a federal court case.
>
> The remains have been protected at the site by tribal members who
> established an encampment there. Tribal members have stayed at the
> encampment to watch over the remains and keep them safe from looters.
>
> On February 17, 2000, the Yankton Sioux Tribe will host an
> intertribal gathering to discuss Native American graves protection
> and repatriation issues. The event will begin at 8:00 am at the Fort
> Randall Casino and will feature speakers from the YST, the State
> Historical Society, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and the Army Corps
> of Engineers. At around 2:00 pm there will be a procession from the
> Casino to the White Swan burial site for the re-burial ceremony.
>
> The public and the media are invited to attend these events, but will
> not be allowed to photograph or videotape the actual burial ceremony.
> Interviews may be arranged in advance, and photo opportunities will
> be available at the workshop and at the encampment. Please contact
> Tessa Lehto at the above numbers to make arrangements.
>
> Rooms may be available at the Fort Randall Casino Hotel (605)
> 487-7871.
>

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