Reznet

Salazar 'Troubled' by Court's Trust Ruling

By Kevin Abourezk

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said this week he was "troubled" by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that only tribes formally recognized in 1934 could have land taken into trust for them by the Department of the Interior.

Since the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, the interior department has added about eight million acres of land to the trust for various tribes, including some that were not federally recognized in 1934.

The decision likely won't affect tribes recognized after 1934 whose land is already in trust, as only Congress can take land out of trust. But it would likely affect future land acquisitions.

The court's ruling affects dozens of tribes, including some of the wealthiest in the country.

On Wednesday, Salazar told a legislative summit of the National Congress of Americans that he would continue the program while examining all options to resolve the land-into-trust issue.

Salazar's response to the high court's ruling is a breath of fresh at Interior, a department seen as unfriendly to tribal interests in recent years that was racked by allegations of corruption and drug use last fall.

Salazar also spoke Wednesday to the Council of Energy Resource Tribes summit on Native energy development. He told the council one of the greatest opportunities for economic development for tribes is the development of alternative energy sources.

With rich natural resources for renewable energy and untapped reserves of fossil fuels, tribes are poised to reap the benefits of energy development, Salazar said.

The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development has identified 77 reservations that possess commercial-scale wind resources and the ability to support viable wind-based economies.

"Indian country offers some of the premier wind energy sites in the United States ," he said. "I look forward to exploring with tribes the potential for wind, geothermal, biomass and solar energy development that exists on those lands."

Native environmentalist and author Winona LaDuke echoed Salazar's statements this week, citing the desolate lands given to tribes for reservations as a strength when it comes to wind energy development.

She said her tribe, Mississippi Band of Anishinaabeg, has become a leader in Minnesota in the arena of alternative energy development.

"My theory is if we can do it, anybody can do it," she said.

Kevin Abourezk's "Red Clout" columns are available for syndication. Please contact reznet to purchase republishing rights.

Kevin Abourezk, Rosebud Lakota, is a reporter and editor at the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star. He writes reznet's "Red Clout" political blog and teaches reporting at the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute. Abourezk was awarded a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism in 2006.

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