[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 44 (Thursday, April 18, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H1472-H1473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       PROTECTING AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE SACRED LANDS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the congressional Native 
American Caucus, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2085, the 
Valley of Chiefs Native American Sacred Site Preservation Act, which 
would safeguard an area very sacred to a number of Indian tribes, and 
ask that my colleagues support this bill as well. In addition, I want 
to comment on the need to protect other threatened American Indian and 
Alaska Native (AI/AN) sacred lands.
  Our many democratic forums establish an opportunity for discussions 
to take place to better understand the social, economic, legal and 
political complexity of AI/AN realities, before related legislation is 
brought to the House Floor for a vote. As Congressional history 
demonstrates, the decisions we make as Representatives can either 
positively or negatively impact AI/AN people, and their nations, 
tribes, bands, villages and communities.
  For example, between 1887 and 1934, the U.S. Government took over 90 
million acres of land from American Indians without compensation--
including sacred lands. More recently, between 1945 and 1968, Congress 
decided that federal recognition and assistance to more than 100 tribes 
should be terminated. This termination policy created economic disaster 
for many American Indians, and their nations, resulting in millions of 
acres of valuable natural resource land being lost through tax 
forfeiture sales. This is a primary reason why AI/AN families have the 
highest poverty level of any group in the country, at a rate of 31 
percent on some Indian reservations.
  By holding hearings on the impact of legislation related to American 
Indians and Alaska Natives, Congress moved to rectify its prior 
decisions by passing self-determination and self-governance policies. 
As a result of such policies, AI/AN nations and villages have greater 
control over their lands and resources. They have made great strides 
toward reversing the economic blight that resulted from previous 
federal policies, and have revived their unique cultures and nations.
  Congress must withstand pressure from those individuals and groups 
that call for back tracking to old AI/AN policies, such as termination 
and reduction of AI/AN sovereign rights. We must acknowledge and learn 
from our mistakes, and not repeat them in the future because AI/AN 
nations and people are relying upon our commitments.
  The United States Constitution recognizes that American Indian 
Nations are sovereign governments. Hundreds of treaties, the Supreme 
Court, the President and the Congress have repeatedly affirmed that 
Indian Nations retain their inherent powers of self-government. In 
addition, the United States Government is committed to a trustee 
relationship with the Indian Nations. This trust relationship requires 
the federal government to exercise the highest degree of care with 
tribal and Indian lands and resources.
  Sacred lands, and ceremonies associated with those lands, are a 
necessary expression of AI/AN spirituality, and often are key to 
individual and collective wellness. This necessity is situated deep in 
the ancient history of these Indian nations and maintains a prominent 
place in the fact-based stories handed down from one generation to 
another. Since the coming of the Europeans to these shores in the late 
14th Century, these sacred lands have been subject to intrusions and 
disturbance as settlers laid claim to lands of the AI/AN peoples.
  In 1978, Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, 
recognizing the necessity of upholding the protection of AI/AN 
spirituality within the ambit of the religious freedom guaranteed by 
the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Unfortunately, 
litigation in the courts since then to safeguard sacred lands, and the 
ceremonies associated with those lands, has, for the most part been 
unsuccessful.
  Rather than safeguard sacred lands, these cases have upheld multiple 
intrusions upon

[[Page H1473]]

them and maintained a history of subordination of AI/AN spirituality to 
the interests of dominating groups. Federal government representatives, 
leaders of historic religions and judiciary members must develop more 
tolerance and expand their definitions of what constitutes a proper 
sacred place.
  Culture and legal scholar, Davis Mayberry-Lewis, writes: ``American 
Indian religions consider the earth as sacred, whereas the secular 
culture that surrounds them considers the earth to be real estate. It 
is hard for the strong to give up their ingrained habit of overpowering 
the weak, but it is essential if we are to make multiethnic societies 
like our own work with a minimum of civility.''
  Anthropologist Elizabeth Brandt states: ``The free practice of many 
Indian religions requires privacy and undisturbed access to culturally 
and religiously significant sites and their resources. It is 
irrevocably tied to specific places in the world which derive their 
power and sacred character from their natural undisturbed state.''
  Ultimately, how free are we, really, if the first religions of our 
great country cannot be protected? Therefore I strongly support H.R. 
2085, the Valley of Chiefs Native American Sacred Site Preservation 
Act, which would safeguard an area very sacred to a number of Indian 
tribes, and ask that my colleagues support this bill as well.
  I also call for additional Sacred Land legislation to be developed in 
consultation with the majority of AI/AN nations in the United States. 
Furthermore, the establishment of a government-wide, effective, and 
comprehensive procedure that safeguards the loss of further AI/AN 
sacred lands must be enacted. We must move swiftly in conjunction with 
AI/AN nations before more sacred lands, such as Mt. Shasta and Medicine 
Lake of California, Devil's Tower and Black Hills of South Dakota, to 
name a few, are further desecrated and damaged.
  I ask you, what if, despite your objections to the contrary, your 
spiritual place was being bull dozed for economic activity or spiked 
for scaling purposes? How would you feel, what would you think and what 
would you do? I ask you to support H.R. 2085 and the initiatives I have 
discussed related to safeguarding the loss of further AI/AN sacred 
lands.

                          ____________________