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TESTIMONY
OF MALCOLM B. BOWEKATY
GOVERNOR OF THE ZUNI TRIBE
BEFORE THE UNITED STATE SENATE,
COMMITTEE
ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
Presented
July 17, 2002, Washington, D.C.
Introduction
K:eshi.
On behalf of the Zuni Tribe, I want to thank Chairman Inouye and
Vice Chairman Campbell for convening this Oversight Hearing
regarding the US Department of Interior and the protection of sacred
places. This is an important subject to American Indians and Alaskan
Natives, and one that has not been given the National attention it
deserves.
The
Zuni Salt Lake is a sacred place. Located southeast of our
Reservation in west central New Mexico, this saline lake is a unique
geological feature and home to our Ma’lokyattsik’i, Salt
Mother. For centuries, indigenous tribes from the Southwest have
made pilgrimages to the Zuni Salt Lake to request spiritual guidance
and rain, make offerings, and collect salt for ceremonial, ritual
and domestic use. The surrounding land has always been respected as
a sanctuary zone, where warring tribes put weapons down and shared
in the sanctity of the Salt Mother. Just this past weekend, our
brothers and sisters from the Hopi, Yaqui, Pueblo, Xicano, Navajo
and others joined us in a 260 mile run from Hopi and Phoenix to Zuni
to pay homage to her, as well as to spiritually prepare us for this
testimony today.
The
Zuni Salt Lake is in real danger of disappearing. In the late
1980’s, the Salt River Project (SRP), an Arizona-based power
company, began purchasing land and applying for coal leases from the
Bureau of Land Management. SRP proposes to develop an 18,000-acre
coal strip mine 10 miles from the Lake. SRP also plans to use up to
85 gallons a minute of water a year for forty years for mining
purposes. Finally, SRP proposes a forty-four mile railroad corridor
from the proposed mine to the Coronado Generating Station, which
would dissect pilgrimage trails used by tribes for centuries. Last
month, to the dismay of the Zuni people, the Department of Interior
approved the Life of Mine Plan, which gives federal government
approval for this project.
Protection
of the Zuni Salt Lake and Sanctuary Zone has always rested with the
Zuni. In 1976, Senator Domenici from New Mexico testified to the US
House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and fought hard to
have this land given back to the Zuni Tribe:
This
bill [S.877] will permit the Zuni Indian people to acquire a shrine
that has been theirs for literally centuries. Government
intervention and the inequities of history have prevented this great
salt shrine from being included in the boundaries of their
reservation. This is very important to their way of life, and is
presently used by them as part of their religious culture.
Twenty
five years later today, the Zuni Tribe feels that the US Department
of Interior has failed us in its obligations under existing law and
trust responsibility to continue to protect this sacred lake and
associated cultural resources from destruction.
Environmental
Protection
In
1990, the Bureau of Land Management issued an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for the proposed coal mine. This report was flawed
scientifically with regard to hydrology and failed to capture the
cultural importance of the Zuni Salt Lake. After repeated demands
from the Zuni Tribe to then Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbit and
others, a supplemental EIS was conducted in 1996. Since its issuance
of this SEIS, at least four major hydrological reports have been
produced which invalidate or contradict information contained in the
SEIS. Yet after several attempts by the past and current Zuni tribal
councils, we received a letter recently from the Office of Surface
Mining stating that DOI will base its decision on the 1996 SEIS and
feels it not necessary to amend the environmental impact analysis.
That
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is oriented toward process
rather than outcome is a fact that the Zuni Tribe is well
aware of. We are thankful that the recently approved federal Life of
Mine Plan contains provisions that somewhat protect the aquifers
that feed the Lake. However, it is unfortunate to realize that our
Tribe had to go through such great lengths and expend resources it
does not have to prove to the regulators that the original
hydrological studies were flawed and biased toward the coal company.
We believe that is not the intent of NEPA nor of the Department of
Interior’s implementing regulations. American Indians and Alaskan
Natives protecting their sacred places should not have to carry the
burden of proof with regard to environmental impact analysis for
projects sponsored by federal agencies. The federal government must
be more objective in its decisions and not bend toward industry.
Cultural
Resource Protection
As
we understand it, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 was
originally created to protect architecture, not sacred places. There
are subsequent problems with retrofitting this law when applying it
to the protection of sacred places. For example, with regard to the
protection of archeological sites and traditional cultural
properties around the Lake, mitigation has meant digging, recording,
and report writing. The Zuni Tribe feels that protecting the
information of a site and then destroying it is not same as
protecting the site itself. In other words, culturalresources are
sacred not for the information they contain, but because they have
been placed their by our ancestors for a purpose and should not be
disturbed nor destroyed. This concept is very difficult to convey to
federal agencies charged with compliance under the National Historic
Preservation Act using standard western methodologies. A quick
glance at eligibility requirements for inclusion in the National
Register of Historic Places (36 CFR 60.4) will reveal that most
sites are eligible under criteria D, information value.
This
situation is exacerbated when applying scientific inquiry to burials
and associated funerary objects. Needless to say, the Zuni Tribe
finds it impossible to rationalize the displacement of our
ancestor’s burials for the sake of making money. Therefore the
Zuni Tribe and other culturally affiliated tribes are extremely
concerned with the desecration that will occur, given the density of
Puebloan archeological sites recorded in the mining site and the
nature of strip mining. Coupled with the fact that the
implementation of the Native American Grave Protection Repatriation
Act (NAGPRA) has had limited success with regard to actually
protecting buries from desecration, we are struggling to come to a
resolve on the issue with the federal government and the coal
company.
While
it is true that Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act and the National Park Service Bulletin 38 outline methods of
consultation with American Indians and Alaskan Natives to protect
cultural resources, the Zuni Tribe feels that the process does not
work effectively.
Navigating
through the consultation process for this undertaking, the Zuni
Tribe found itself in a bind when it comes to the release of
esoteric information. While the federal agencies were very sensitive
to our need to protect esoteric information, it was still difficult
for us to convey the importance of specific cultural resources
without giving away information that was esoteric. Also, a genuine
sense of trust from the federal government is missing from the
consultation process, as we attempt to explain that a plant
is sacred to us without stating why it is sacred to us.
Department
of Interior Organization and Structure
The
Zuni Tribe understands the difficulty the federal government has in
dealing with competing interests. One of the major obstacles the
Department of Interior has in protecting sacred sites like our Salt
Lake stems from its organizational structure. The Office of Surface
Mining has a mission to regulate mining; the Bureau of Land
Management has a mission of leasing federal resources; and the
Bureau of Indian Affairs has a mission to protect resources held in
trust for American Indians by the United States government. Since
these three offices are housed under one Department charged with
making a decision either way on a particular issue, it stands to
reason that one mission will override the other. This is evident in
the number of disagreements and failed negotiations that took place
within the DOI concerning whether to approve or disapprove the Life
of Mine Plan.
Recommendations
and Conclusion
·
Engage tribes meaningfully in NEPA, NHPA and other processes early
on. This sentiment was echoed in the recommendations by the National
Research Council on Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands,
commissioned by the US Congress in 1999 (National Academy Press,
Washington DC, 1999, pg. 70).
Create
legislation similar to what Congressman Rahall is proposing in his
draft Native American Sacred Lands Act. Legislation is needed
due to the fact that the existing Executive Orders on the subject do
not have the weight of law, existing laws are not working, and
sacred sites are being destroyed at an alarming rate without the
tools American Indian and Alaska Native governments need to engage
industry and governments.
Reorganize
the decision-making process within the Department of Interior to
better facilitate American Indian and Alaskan Native concerns over
sacred places.
Thank
you very much for the opportunity to speak with you today on this
most important topic.
The
Zuni Tribe is willing to work with your Committee and others in any
way we can. E’lah:kwa.
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