{"id":35024,"date":"2024-01-31T22:52:51","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T03:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=35024"},"modified":"2024-01-31T22:53:19","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T03:53:19","slug":"fractionation-just-spirals-unless-you-stop-it-tribes-call-for-more-land-consolidation-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/01\/31\/fractionation-just-spirals-unless-you-stop-it-tribes-call-for-more-land-consolidation-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Fractionation just spirals unless you stop it’: Tribes call for more land consolidation funding"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tOversight Hearing | Indian and Insular Affairs Subcommittee\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs: Examining the Opportunities and Challenges of Land Consolidation in Indian Country – January 30, 2024<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
‘Fractionation just spirals unless you stop it’<\/div>\r\n
Tribes call for more land consolidation funding<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, January 31, 2024<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWASHINGTON, D.C. —\r\nThe Biden administration was a no-show at a hearing called to examine the future of land consolidation efforts in Indian Country. But tribes stepped up with an important message.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nDarryl LaCounte, the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs<\/a>, was scheduled to testify in the nation’s capital about the need to address the loss of land on reservations. But he was unable to make it due to illness, the Republican leader of the House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs<\/a> said on Tuesday morning.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“I will state that I am disappointed in BIA’s absence, as their involvement in these discussions is critical to finding workable solutions,” said Rep. Harriet Hageman<\/a> (R-Wyoming), a new member of the U.S. Congress.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“So hopefully we will have the opportunity to engage them before too much more time passes,” said Hageman.\r\n

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We\u2019re holding a Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs oversight hearing examining the opportunities and challenges of land consolidation in Indian country. Tune in here\u27a1\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/RzG0z1ptPJ<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\nDespite the absence of a key government official, tribal and Indian leaders were still able to impress upon lawmakers about the importance of land consolidation. They called on Congress for more money and more resources to ensure that their homelands stay in their hands, as promised by treaties, existing laws and other government-to-government agreements.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“More funding is needed,” Chairwoman Victoria Kitcheyan of the Winnebago Tribe<\/a> told the legislative panel. “And I would say we need to expand the scope of of how we reacquire the land.”\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“In Winnebago — like many other reservations — there were many ways that we lost the land,” Kitcheyan said, citing the need for additional money to acquire expensive farming properties that are going up for sale on her tribe’s reservation in Nebraska.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n“That’s our situation,” the chairwoman continued. “And so there’s these massive acreages that the tribe can’t afford to buy, but are also once in a lifetime opportunities. Beyond just the fractionation and all the things we’ve covered today, there are many other ways that this land came out of the tribe’s hands.”\r\n

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