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JULY 20, 2000

The Senate on Wednesday passed with unanimous consent S.2102, the Timbisha-Shoshone Homeland Act, clearing the way for an establishment of a land base for the tribe whose ancestral homeland includes the Death Valley National Monument and other lands in California and Nevada.

The tribe has been relatively landless since 1933, when President Herbert Hoover declared Death Valley a monument. Right now, the Timbisha, who received federal recognition in 1983, reside on approximately 40 acres in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, in California.

A provision in the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-433; 108 Stat. 4498) required that the government look into land suitable for creating a reservation for the Timbisha.

The bill provides for bringing into trust total of 7,540 acres of land for the tribe, including 300 acres of land in Furnace Creek. In total, five parcels of land would form a discontiguous reservation, given some of the scarcity of resources within the area.

A special provision of the bill prohibits gaming on trust lands within Death Valley.

The bill will now to go the House.

Get the Bill:
S.2102 (A bill to provide to the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe a permanent land base within its aboriginal homeland, and for other purposes.)

Relevant Links:
Hearing before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, March 21, 2000 - www.senate.gov/~scia/2000hrgs/timbisha_0321/timbisha_wit.htm Senator Daniel Inouye, Bill sponsor - www.senate.gov/~inouye
National Parks Service, The Timbisha Shoshone Tribal Homeland - www.nps.gov/deva/Timbisha_facts.html
Death Valley National Monument - www.nps.gov/deva