WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent sovereign rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and agreements with the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are entitled under the laws and Constitution of the United States, to enlighten the public toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, and otherwise promote the health, safety and welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution; and
WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments; and
WHEREAS, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin is a federally recognized Indian Tribe, indigenous to what is now known as the State of Wisconsin; and
WHEREAS, in 1988, the Ho-Chunk Nation filed a timely land claim for the soon-to-be excess federal land at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant (BAAP) through a no-cost transfer process, called a Public Benefit Conveyance. The federal real property disposition process is governed by the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949; and
WHEREAS, the BAAP lies within a district containing significant and numerous historical, traditional, cultural and sacred resources to the Ho-Chunk people. Through this claim, the Nation hoped to recover a portion of its aboriginal territory ceded via the Treaty of 1837 and promote and enhance the Ho-Chunk Nation’s programs for historic and cultural resource protection, natural resource enhancement, education, employment and economic development; and
WHEREAS, in response to the claim, then Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, issued a letter in 1998 requesting the parcel on behalf of the Nation; and
WHEREAS, in a letter dated August 22, 2011, the Bureau of Indian Affairs refused to accept the transfer of over 1,500 acres of land in Sauk County, Wisconsin held by the U.S. Army on behalf of the Ho-Chunk Nation stating that according to their regulations the BIA would need to conduct its own environmental assessment and BIA was unwilling incur the cost estimated to run between $300,000 and $1 million; and
WHEREAS, between 1998 and the receipt of the denial letter in 2011, the U.S. Army has spent millions of dollars as required by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) to prepare the land for transfer; and
WHEREAS, the historic land loss of tribes combined with the trust responsibility of the United States, should entitle tribes to restorative justice such as application of deference to land claims of Federal Government surplus holdings unparalleled to any non-tribal governmental, business, or individual claim.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NCAI strongly lends its support to the Ho-Chunk Nation in its continued attempts to have the BIA claim excess federal lands on behalf of the Nation and to continue to support other tribes who also attempt to have the BIA perform a Public Benefit Conveyance on their behalf; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that it is the responsibility of the federal government to clean up environmental contamination that it caused or failed to prevent; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.
CERTIFICATION
The foregoing resolution was adopted by the General Assembly at the 2012 Mid-Year Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at The Cornhusker Hotel from June 17-20, 2012 in Lincoln, Nebraska, with a quorum present.