{"id":28657,"date":"2022-10-03T13:44:18","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T17:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=28657"},"modified":"2022-10-03T16:07:55","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T20:07:55","slug":"cronkite-news-tribes-support-greater-protections-for-sacred-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/10\/03\/cronkite-news-tribes-support-greater-protections-for-sacred-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Tribes support greater protections for sacred sites"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Wednesday, September 14, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET, in Longworth 1334 and via Cisco WebEx online conferencing, the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, a…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands – Legislative Hearing on H.R. 8108, H.R. 8109 & H.R. 8719<\/a> \r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Tribal leaders urge support for bills to protect cultural, sacred sites<\/div>\r\n
Monday, October 3, 2022<\/div>\r\n
By Ryan Knappenberger<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p> \r\nWASHINGTON – Tribal leaders urged lawmakers last month to pass a package of bills that would protect cultural and sacred sites by creating a new tribal cultural areas designation and require Native input on any decisions on those lands.

<\/P>\r\nThe sponsor of the bills, Rep. Ra\u00fal Grijalva, D-Tucson, called them an attempt to “put tribes at the front end, not the back end” of the decisions on cultural and historic sites.

<\/P>\r\nBut critics said the bills – including proposals to set aside 377,000 acres in Arizona – are too broad and need to be redrawn “with a scalpel, instead of just a machete.”

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Assistant Interior Secretary Bryan Newland, left, and National Congress of American Indians President Fawn Sharp testify in support of a package of bills that would expand protections for tribal cultural, historic or sacred sites. Photo by Ryan Knappenberger<\/a> \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe comments came at a House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing<\/a> on the bills. Grijalva said they were sparked by an ongoing fight over Oak Flat, the site of a proposed copper mine on land sacred to the San Carlos Apache, and proposals for uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.

<\/P>\r\n\r\nMany of the supporters were like Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis, who said tribal governments are the most qualified group to help conserve the land because they have been “stewards of these lands since time immemorial.”

<\/P>\r\n“We’ve been doing this for generations, as the remnants of our sacred irrigation systems located in the conservation areas have shown,” Lewis said in testimony<\/a> via video. “We have solutions that protect the land and address the impacts of climate on our environments.”

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