Posted on 03/08/2022 5:18:02 PM PST by devane617
National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said Tuesday he and other officials are committed to boosting the role Native American tribes can play in managing public lands around the U.S.
He told members of a congressional committee during a virtual hearing that part of the effort includes integrating Indigenous knowledge into management plans and recognizing that federal lands once belonged to the tribes.
Sams was questioned about how the National Park Service could use existing authority and recent executive directives issued by top federal officials to make good on the latest round of promises to tribes regarding meaningful consultation and having a seat at the table.
Sams, who is Cayuse and Walla Walla and a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, is the first Native American to lead the Park Service. He said education will be a key part of seeing changes on the ground.
“Much of this has been missing from our history books, that understanding that tribes are sovereign,” he said, adding that the federal government has an obligation to ensure that tribal voices are heard.
(Excerpt) Read more at mypanhandle.com ...
I concur.
The public lands are for ALL Americans.
I wouldn’t worry much. In all likelihood it will devolve into lip service soon enough. And an Indian bureaucrat will end up pretty much like any other bureaucrat.
If there ever was a time for Indians to NOT trust the US Gov.
It’s now.
( 1/8 Choctaw , 1/4 Cherokee )
,,, all the tribes had different experiences , it is not a single entity with a single history.
Not all tribes are sovereign, some are still wards.
If I were the tribes, if take a pass on this offer.
Nothing is free.
.03
Ok I’ll say it.
This smells like reparations, and another wedge to create tension between Americans.
It is a myth that the American Indians were “watchful and careful stewards” of the environment. The real story is that they trashed pretty much every place they settled. Indian camps were described as pestilential, unhygienic, and filthy to a degree rarely seen after the middle ages.
Some of the narratives from the early explorers (Spanish and French, especially) are a hoot to read. Not known for a great deal of cleanliness themselves, even they were stunned by the filth of the tribes they encountered. Even Mark Twain’s descriptions of “the noble red man” and “the dusky maiden of the forest” are less than charitable.
And have you been to a contemporary Indian reservation? They have money up the wazoo from the government and their casino windfalls yet many on the res still live in utter squalor. Years ago I did some work on a couple reservations, and I was astonished at the conditions there. Just appalling. Very sad.
Mozt tribes were nomadic, and did not “own” the lands.
And lets not ignore that before europeans the tribes did fight against themselves. It wasnt peace and rainbows and unicorn farts. Europeans had better weapons.
Further lets talk about the indians who killed off the europeans who did arrive here. Even after treaties were established.
Money laundering and vote buying.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.