Indians. vs. Environmentalists

interesting story.

from the AP:
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/09/coal_conflict_hopi_navajo_trib.html
Coal conflict: Hopi, Navajo tribes say environmentalists not welcome on reservations

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — The leader of the country's largest Indian reservation threw his support behind the neighboring Hopi Tribe, whose lawmakers declared environmental groups unwelcome on the reservation.

Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. and Hopi lawmakers say environmentalists' efforts could hurt the tribes' struggling economies by slowing or stopping coal mining.

Shirley said Wednesday that he will stand in solidarity with the Hopi Tribe, and joined Hopi lawmakers in encouraging other tribes to re-evaluate their relationships with environmentalists.

"Environmentalists are good at identifying problems but poor at identifying feasible solutions," Shirley said in a news release. "Most often they don't try to work with us but against us, giving aid and comfort to those opposed to the sovereign decision-making of tribes."

...

... but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

for a major investment in solar power. It's probably one of the sunniest places in the continental US, and the land is plentiful.

Obviously the transition from coal to solar needs to be done in a way that maintains tribal sovereignty, keeps employment high, and respects the traditions of the people who inhabit the land.

uranium mining companies have been trying to get their hands on land near the Black Hills and on the Pine Ridge reservation. Pine Ridge has made it clear that they aren't welcome at all, and has used its tribal sovereignty to enforce that edict whenever the companies come onto reservation property or try to come onto it. The same is true with other reservations in the state, including Yankton, which tried to stop a hog farm encroaching on its tribal land last year. The Defenders of the Black Hills, a native-founded-and-run group, also try to stop any such activity near the Hills and have been trying to stop corporate encroachment onto Bear Butte, especially considering that it's near where the Sturgis bike rally is held every year and they keep trying to encroach onto the sacred property of Bear Butte.

It's really interesting the cultural and philosophical differences among the tribes, because Indian leaders in this state are the polar opposite of the Navajo and Hopi when it comes to this issue.

the one with val kilmer as a native american fbi agent!

i had heard it was based on true events.

you make a good point though. indian tribes are hardly monolithic. some of them were rapacious, murderous marauders (kind of viking like), others were much more agrarian and/or pacifist.

the whole "noble savage" myth chaps my hide. i find it very paternalistic, not to mention, inaccurate.

the common meme is that indians were great "stewards of the earth", but that lumps numerous very different philosophies together. some tribes may have been. others, not so much.

i think the reality is that there was wide variation amongst different tribes, just as one would expect.

the only tribe that i am admittedly well versed in their history and customs, are the wampanoag

it's really difficult for ANYBODY to speak authoratitively when you are talking about cultures without a written history to look back on.

live by the shovel."

The irony is huge.