TITLE: Support for the Presidential Authorities to Declare National Monuments under the 1906 Antiquities Act
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 protection of the traditional cultural properties and sacred places of American Indian and Alaska Native people is paramount to each tribe’s cultural preservation now and into the future; and
WHEREAS, the 1906 Antiquities Act allows the President of the United States to act in the national interest to designate national monuments to protect areas that have cultural, historical, and environmental significance; and
WHEREAS, there are many sites of vital importance to Native peoples’ identity and history; and
WHEREAS, these ancestral sites are under constant threat of grave digging, cultural vandalism, looting of cultural sites, indiscriminate vehicle use that damages sacred areas, development footprints that negatively impact lands of historic and cultural importance, and general degradation of wildlife and plant habitats of importance to traditional practices; and
WHEREAS, the designation of national monuments will provide additional protections for these cultural, historical, and environmentally significant lands; and
WHEREAS, there have been many threats to the Presidential authority to declare national monuments by efforts in Congress to undermine, weaken, or destroy these authorities through legislative means.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) supports the authority of the President of the United States to designate national monuments to protect significant historic, cultural, and environmental areas under the 1906 Antiquities Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.