"Back in the 1950s, the standard Western movie would include a scene in which some dignitary from Washington would meet with an Indian chief and his council in the hope of resolving grievances that had sent the Indians on the warpath. The other day, we got a replay of that scene when a real-life government dignitary sailed into Nantucket Sound with a group of Wampanoag Indians for the ostensible purpose of resolving their grievances.

Then, as now, the squabble was over real estate. Then it was usually about hunting grounds onto which white settlers had encroached. Now it’s about the seabed under Nantucket Sound where the Wampanoags’ ancestors are buried and where developers want to install 130 wind turbines, all taller than the Statue of Liberty.

This 2010 version of the old Western stars Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who showed up wearing his cowboy hat (yes, really!) to meet with the Wampanoags over what had emerged as the last obstacle to the turbines.

The project, which has been in the works for more than nine years, was on the verge of approval when the Wampanoags started pressing their grievances against Cape Wind.

To the casual observer, this is just a clash between culture and progress. It turns out, however, that the Wampanoags have logic, as well as culture, on their side. Cape Wind is, by any standard, a boondoggle that defies economic logic."

Get the Story:
David G. Tuerck: Deck stacked against Wampanoags (The Boston Herald 2/8)

Also Today:
Mass. wind farm that Obama administration might support meets strong resistance (The Washington Post 2/8)

Related Stories:
Editorial: Allow wind farm over sacred site concerns (2/5)
Salazar not expecting consensus on wind farm project (2/3)
Salazar meets Wampanaog tribes to discuss sacred site (2/2)
Wampanoag tribes gain support in sacred site dispute (1/26)
Massachusetts tribes discuss concerns about wind farm (01/14)
Salazar to meet tribes and wind farm developers in DC (1/13)
Editorial: Approve wind farm over sacred site concerns (1/11)
Salazar to meet with tribes over wind energy project (1/8)
Editorial: Resolve tribal objections over wind project (1/7)
Salazar sets deadline on wind project and sacred site (1/6)
Opinion: Respect tribal concerns over wind energy bid (12/01)
Wampanoag tribes challenge wind energy project (11/13)
Editorial: Wampanoags blow smoke on wind plan (11/10)
Letter backs Massachusetts tribes on sacred site (11/6)
Interior promises action on wind turbine project (11/3)
Editorial: Reject tribal claim on wind turbine site (11/2)
Massachusetts tribes fight wind farm project (10/5)
Obama declined Aquinnah Wampanoag meeting (08/31)
Letter: Tribal opposition to wind energy project (07/16)
Massachusetts tribes oppose wind turbine site (7/15)
NYT Blog: Salazar on Indian Country rights-of-way (03/25)