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US Ambassador Keith Harper: Violence Against Indigenous Women ‘Global Scourge’

Gale Courey Toensing, Indian Country Today

Describing violence against indigenous women and girls as a “global scourge,” Keith Harper, the United States ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council, called on the world peace organization to use everything in its toolbox to address the problem and urged the upcoming World Conference on Indigenous Peoples to raise awareness of it throughout the U.N. system.

“As we prepare for the upcoming World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, we express great concern that indigenous women and girls often suffer multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and poverty that increase their vulnerability to all forms of violence. We also stress the need to seriously address the high and disproportionate rates of violence, which takes many forms, against indigenous women and girls worldwide,” Harper said on Tuesday (June 24) at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. ”Indigenous women and girls have the same human rights and fundamental freedoms as everyone else, and a common recognition of those rights must underpin efforts to address violence against indigenous women and girls.

The remarks were delivered in a Joint Statement on Eliminating Violence against Indigenous Women and Girls on behalf of 35 of the council’s 47 member states – Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Congo, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, St Kitts and Nevis, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The statement was not a U.S. statement, but Harper and his team led the effort, working with the 35 different countries to come up with a statement that all of them agreed on, a staff member at the U.S. Mission said. Since the U.S. led the process, the U.S. ambassador read the statement before the council, the staff member said.

One of the key elements to stopping violence against indigenous women and girls is providing access to justice systems, Harper said. “Improving access to justice and empowering Indigenous Peoples are critical to this effort,” he said. Given that access, Indigenous Peoples themselves may well be in the best position to combat violence against indigenous women and girls, Harper noted. “They are closer and better able to address the issue when provided with tools and the legal capability to stop the violence. We will strive to, and encourage other states to, where appropriate, enable and empower Indigenous Peoples to better address these issues themselves by providing resources, adopting legislation and policies, and taking other necessary steps in an effort to stop the cycle of violence that affects them,” he said. He also stressed the need for coordination and dialogue between state and indigenous justice institutions to help improve indigenous women and girls’ access to justice and bolster awareness campaigns, including ones directed at men and boys.

Harper suggested a series of actions necessary to help end “the global scourge of violence against indigenous women and girls,” including comprehensive support services for survivors and improved data collection to determine the scope of the problem. “It will demand intensified measures to provide accountability for perpetrators and redoubled efforts to prevent abuse,” he said. He emphasized the need to respect and promote reproductive rights. “[T]he right to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence, and access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services must be integral to our efforts to end violence against indigenous women and girls,” Harper said.

The issue of violence against indigenous women and girls needs more attention, Harper said, encouraging “the relevant UN mechanisms” – such as the Commission on Women’s Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – to use the UN’s existing tools more effectively to prevent and address the problem. He said the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples to be held in New York in September should highlight the problem, spread awareness of it, and respond to it throughout the U.N. system. “The meaningful participation of indigenous representatives in the World Conference and its preparatory process will be essential in this regard,” Harper said.

Harper, a Cherokee Nation citizen, is the first citizen of a federally-recognized tribe to become an U.S. ambassador. He is new on the job: The Senate voted 52 – 42 on his confirmation June 3 and seven days later he hit the ground running as the 26th regular three week session of the Human Rights Council opened in Geneva on June 10.

Inslee Launches Review Of Prison Population Growth

By Austin Jenkins, NW News Network

Washington state’s prison system is projected to need 1,000 new beds by 2018. And that growth has Governor Jay Inslee concerned.

Governor Jay Inslee meets with his newly-appointed Justice Reinvestment taskforce.

Credit Austin Jenkins / Northwest News Network

The Democrat Tuesday announced a Department of Justice-backed review of the state’s criminal justice system. The goal is to look for ways to save money without jeopardizing public safety.

In Washington, crime and arrests are down. Still as the state grows, so does the prison population. Already the system is running 2 percent over capacity. To keep up with the growth, Washington has been looking to build a new prison. But what if there was a way to reduce the need for prison beds without releasing people who could be dangerous?

Inslee has appointed a 21 member taskforce to examine Washington’s sentencing system and look for ways to keep people from going back to prison again and again.

“So before we consider investing in a new prison, it really is important for us to take a look at this opportunity to see what smart, common-sense, data-driven, cost-benefit, evaluated efforts we can undergo here,” Inslee said.

Inslee said everything is worth considering from prepping inmates better for release to the early release of aging inmates.

Washington is one of four states participating this year in the national Justice Reinvestment project. That means the state will get funding and support from the U.S. Department of Justice and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Brad Pitt To Help Build 20 Leed Platinum Homes For Tribes In Montana

Source: White Wolf Pack

Sioux & Assiniboine Tribes Team with Brad Pitt’s Make it Right Non-profit to Build 20 Platinum Homes

The Sioux and Assiniboine tribes of Fort Peck, Montana has formed a partnership with actor Brad Pitt’s Make it Right non-profit organization to build sustainable homes, buildings and communities on their reservation.

Pitt established Make it Right in 2007 to provide housing for people in need. The residents of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation fit that criterion. There are more than 600 people waiting for housing on the reservation, according to tribal officials.

“Overcrowding is a chronic problem, with multiple families commonly living together in two-bedroom homes due to lack of accommodation,” writes Taylor Royle, a spokesperson for Make it Right.

The new homes will be solar-powered homes with three or four bedrooms; two or three bathrooms and be available to tribal members whose income levels are at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income.

“As a tribal designer working in Indian country, I feel we have an obligation to design and build housing that is tied to the culture, community and place of Fort Peck,” says Joseph Kunkel, Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow from the Sustainable Native Communities Collaborative.

“We’re excited about the potential impact this project may offer the Assiniboine and Sioux community, along with provide a national precedent for Indian Housing nationwide.”

Construction is due to begin this year on the reservation.

7 Things That Convinced The U.S. Patent Office To Cancel The Redskins Trademark

By Judd Legum

June 18, 2014 Think Progress.com

The landmark decision by the U.S. Patent Office, first reported by ThinkProgress, canceled the trademark “Redskins” for Washington’s NFL franchise. Ultimately, the decision hinged on whether the term Redskins “disparages Native American persons.” The law prohibits trademarks on disparaging terms. So the Native Americans challenging the trademark needed to convince the office: 1. The term was still referring to Native Americans, and 2. It was disparaging toward Native Americans. Here are seven things that persuaded the Patent Office:

1. This picture of cheerleaders

Screen-Shot-2014-06-18-at-10.19.42-AM — CREDIT: USPTO

From the decision: “The Redskinettes also had appeared wearing costumes suggestive of Native Americans, as shown in the 1962 photograph of them reproduced below, which contained the title ‘Dancing Indians’ and the caption ‘Here are the Redskinettes all decked out in their Indian garb and carrying Burgundy and Gold pom-poms.’”

2. This picture of the marching band

Screen-Shot-2014-06-18-at-10.19.34-AM — CREDIT: USPTO

From the decision: “The Washington Redskins marching band had worn Native American headdresses as part of its uniforms between the 1960s and the 1990s, as shown in the image below from the 1980s.”

3. This press guide

Screen-Shot-2014-06-18-at-10.19.54-AM — CREDIT: USPTO

From the decision: “Between 1967 and 1979, the annual Washington Redskin press guides, shown below, displayed American Indian imagery on the cover page.”

4. Its similarity to other racial slurs

The decision cited an excerpt from the 1990 book “Unkind Words: Ethnic Labeling from Redskin to WASP”:

Nearly half of all interracial slurs …refer to real or imagined physical differences. … Most references to physical differences are to skin color, which affirms what we have always known about the significance of color in human relations. Asian groups were called yellow this and that and Native Americans were called redskins, red men, and red devils.

5. The dictionary definition of Redskins

We further note the earliest restrictive usage label in dictionary definitions in Mr. Barnhart’s report dates back to 1966 from the Random House Unabridged First Edition indicating REDSKIN is “Often Offensive.” From 1986 on, all of the entries presented by Mr. Barnhart include restrictive usage labels ranging from
“not the preferred term” to “often disparaging and offensive.”

6. The opposition by the National Congress of American Indians

The decision cites a 1992 resolution from the organization:

[T]he term REDSKINS is not and has never been one of honor or respect, but instead, it has always been and continues to be a pejorative, derogatory, denigrating, offensive, scandalous, contemptuous, disreputable,
disparaging and racist designation for Native American’s

7. Letters of protest from Native Americans

The Patent Office also considered letters protesting the name from individual Native Americans. One sample:

Since you continue not to believe that the term “Redskins” is not [sic] offensive to anyone, let me make this clear: The name “Redskins” is very offensive to me and shows little human interest or taste…If you think you are preserving our culture or your history, then may I suggest a change? To live up to your name, your team would field only two men to the opponents eleven. Your player’s wives would be required to face the men of the opposing team. After having lost every game in good faith, you would be required to remain in RFK stadium’s end zone for the rest of your life living off what the other teams had left you. (Which wouldn’t be much.) Since you would probably find this as distasteful as 300,000 Indians do, I would suggest a change in name. In sticking to your ethnic theme, I would suggest the Washington Niggers as a start. … This would start a fantastic trend in the league. We would soon be blessed with the San Fransisco [sic] Chinks, New York Jews, Dallas Wetbacks, Houston Greasers, and the Green Bay Crackers. Great, huh? Mr. Williams, these would be very offensive to many people, just as Redskins is offensive to myself and others. You can take a stand that would show you and the team as true believers in civil rights, or you can continue to carry a name that keeps alive a threatening stereotype to Indian people. People, Mr. Williams. We don’t want the Redskins!

Squaxin Island Tribe getting to the bottom of salmon impacts of lake

Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission

June 19, 2014

Joe Puhn, Squaxin natural resources technician, prepares temperature gauges.

The Squaxin Island Tribe is getting to the bottom of Lake Isabella, to find out if water temperatures are affecting salmon populations downstream.

“Warm water can really hurt juvenile salmon before they migrate out to the ocean,” said Sarah Zaniewski, habitat biologist for the Squaxin Island Tribe. Warm water can spawn diseases and carries little of the dissolved oxygen that salmon need to breathe. Because salmon are cold blooded, warm water increases their metabolic rate forcing them to use energy needed for survival.

“We’re taking a closer look at what exactly causes warming and cooling of Lake Isabella, Mill Creek, and all it’s tributaries, and how that would impact salmon,”said Erica Marbet, the tribe’s hydrologist.

Throughout the summer, tribal researchers will take the temperature of the lake, and throughout Mill Creek, the lake’s downstream tributary. “One of the important things to find out is how the lake’s temperature changes as you get deeper,” Marbet said. “That way, we can figure out how important the lake is to the temperature in the creek.”

The researchers will also walk portions of the creek to find out why it warms and cools at different places.

“Because coho salmon spend their first year of life in freshwater they are especially vulnerable to changes in freshwater habitat,” Zaniewski said.

This year’s temperature study follows on an intense habitat survey by the tribe last year of Mill Creek. Like most South Sound streams, Mill Creek coho production dropped off about 20 years ago. “We don’t have a clear understanding why after no obvious changes in the past 20 years, that Mill Creek doesn’t have more adult spawners,” Zaniewski said.

The tribe’s work on Mill Creek is a part of a larger regional effort by the tribe to restore and protect salmon habitat. “Making sure salmon have quality habitat is the best way we can bring back decreased runs,” said Andy Whitener, natural resources director for the Squaxin Island Tribe.

Sen. Heitkamp Reflects on Historic Presidential Visit to North Dakota

Vincent Schilling, Indian Country Today

In the wake of the historic Presidential visit to Indian country by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, Senator Heidi Heitkamp [D-ND], talked to ICTMN about being the receiving Senator of the day.

Soon after the President and First Lady arrived in North Dakota, Heitkamp joined them on Marine One and made their way to the Standing Rock Sioux celebration in Cannonball where the President and First Lady met with tribal leaders, talked with Native youth and enjoyed a powwow celebration.

Heitkamp also had an opportunity to speak at length with the Obama’s to share her concerns about Indian country and her recent initiatives to include her cosponsored legislation to support Native American language immersion programs and her first Native American Veterans Summit to connect Native vets with resources, support, and benefits.

For more information about Senator Heitkamp, visit www.heitkamp.senate.gov

Last week [week of June 13] was quite a week for Indian country.

The country got some insight into a powwow announcer.

You were the receiving Senator of the President and First Lady. How did that feel?

We shared such a concern for all of these issues. I was proud to show him the great traditions that we have down in Standing Rock. I was proud to be part of the day but this really was about a day for the Standing Rock Sioux Nation.

Yes, I was there and I was given a chance to participate, but what I really appreciated was how respectful they were of tribal sovereignty.

What types of things did you talk about with the President and First Lady – including the issues of course, but anything else?

I spent a lot of time visiting with the President about Native American housing, I think that is one of the critical issues and concerns that we have regarding how we are going to revitalize and improve conditions for Native American people.

I also spoke about the critical need to not only build more housing, but we need to destroy the housing that I think is dangerous to kids, such as houses with black mold. We need to make sure those homes are replaced.

We also spent a lot of time talking about education and the need for nutrition, including some of the work that the First Lady is doing in keeping our kids healthy.

We also gossiped a little bit about the Senate. (laughs)

Can you tell me any gossip? (Laugh in return)

No, I am not telling you that.

Was this the first time you’ve met them both at the same time?

This was the first time they were in North Dakota together, but it was also the first time I have been with the both of them.

It was an impressive day. What was the Presidents take?

If you take a look at where the President’s priorities are as it relates to Native American people, I think you will see a very sincere appreciation for the culture but also to the challenges in understanding the role that the federal government plays in making things better for Indian country.

Considering you are Senator of North Dakota, there is a lot to share about Indian country.

We have five tribes that are my constituents in North Dakota. I have a unique relationship with them. I was just talking about how I used to challenge federal officials to do something to improve the conditions for Native Americans and their families. Now I am in the position where I do not get to ask the questions, I am the one who must answer the questions. Now it is my job.

I come from a long tradition of North Dakota senators who have been champions. Quentin Burdick was beloved in Indian country and North Dakota. His dad Usher Burdick was a congressman who also worked on these issues for years. Sen. Byron Dorgan really picked up the mantle. If you think about what Dorgan is doing now he just does not give up. He is still trying to figure out what we can do and he has been a great help for me.

He was a witness for me on the child commission bill He is still a full partner. You can’t spend time in Indian country and not be motivated to take up the mantle of working with sovereign nations to improve conditions.

You are also an advocate for sustaining Native American languages.

[W]e [recently] had a great hearing on Native languages. A lot of people wonder what the big deal about a Native American language is. But in terms of recovery of the community, so much of Native culture is in their language – There are so many different words for different things which are things we can just take for granted.

The Senate committee on Indian affairs, Maria [Cantwell (D-Wash.)] was a great chair and I think now Sen. Jon tester [(D-Mont.)] will be a great chair, and we’re doing some very important collaboration for Indian country and we are also holding federal officials accountable for the decisions they are making.

In your discussions with the First Lady and the President, I am certain you discussed a lot of issues but did you discuss any possible workable solutions?

I will be talking to Jodi Gillette in the next couple of days as a follow-up to the President’s visit. But I will tell you, as persuasive as I like to believe I might have been in coming up with solutions, I do not think I could match the conversation that the President and First Lady had with six Native American youth who told their stories.

The things that the president is going to remember Is not me yacking on about housing, I think their take away will be those six amazing youth leaders who have had life challenges that most people could only imagine. They experience things that children their age should not have to have been confronted with – whether it be experiences involving suicide, parental addiction or whatever else there was.

I think if you ask the White House what they will remember other than the beauty of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and the beauty of the people and ceremony – I think they will say they will remember those conversations with the six Native youths.

Considering such a historic day, what was your take on the entire experience?

I will tell you, there are two visual things that I will always have other than the panoramic beauty of what went on there at the Standing Rock powwow.

What I will really remember is a young Native American girl sitting next to Nicole Archambault the chairman’s wife who was literally shaking with excitement. When the president turned and looked at her, she burst into tears.

It was a reminder to me, as the President and First Lady were spending that time there, they were demonstrating: ‘You children are valued and you are important, that is why we’re here.’ You could see that pride in the people that participated.

The second thing I will remember is that I have never seen the President happier or more relaxed. I think those are my two emotional takeaways.

As tough as the conversations with those kids might have been, I think it was a joyful experience because he was seeing the best of their culture. They were not phoning it in, they were not checking a box – they were engaged and committed.

What do you hope will come out of all of this?

I hope what comes out of this will be the continuing of his efforts and improving education. Sally Jewell was there looking at the Cannonball school and I am hoping we can get a new school built. I think this was a stressful day for the President because he was speaking about Iraq on the same day. And with all of the stresses of his day-to-day life, it was nice to see this propelled to the front of his issues. We need to keep it that way.

Alaska Tsunami Warning Downgraded to Advisory

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Jun 23, 2014, 5:26 PM | ABC News

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press

Authorities have downgraded the tsunami warning that was issued for parts of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands after a magnitude-8.0 earthquake.

Monday’s quake generated small tsunamis, with waves of less than 7 inches, prompting the National Tsunami Warning Center to downgrade the warning to an advisory.

Small waves are still expected along parts of the Aleutian Islands stretching from Unimak Pass to Attu, and officials advised people to stay off the beaches.

The earthquake recorded at 12:53 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time was centered about 13 miles southeast of Little Sitkin Island or 25 miles north Amchitka Island, an area prone to earthquakes located about 1,300 miles southwest of Anchorage.

There were several strong aftershocks, but no immediate reports of damage.

The largest city near the epicenter is Adak, which has about 300 residents.

Navajo Fire Nearly Contained

Source: Indian Country Today

Hope was in the air along with the smoke on Sunday June 22 as firefighters all but put out the bulk of the Assayii Lake Fire on the Navajo Nation.

Although the fire had grown to 14,712 acres from 13,450, the number of personnel required to fight it dropped to 597, down from last week’s 867, according to InciWeb. And by Sunday June 22 the blaze was 60 percent contained.

“They’re going through and trying to identify any hot spots at all to the point where they’re digging and taking off their glove and feeling it to make sure it has cooled completely down,” fire information officer Patricia Bean told the Associated Press. “We’re definitely on the uphill end of this fire in terms of positive things.”

Just a few days earlier the fire, which started on June 13, had only been 20 percent contained. But as of Sunday residents of evacuated communities were slowly being let back in, and some roads were reopening. Navajo Nation officials, ranchers and residents headed into the Chuska Mountains, where the fire was located, over the weekend to round up livestock that had been trapped or had scattered when the blaze struck.

Though not huge by some standards—the 2011 Wallow fire, for example, scorched 469,000 acres, the largest in Arizona history—the Assayii Lake fire torched sheep camps and endangered grazing land in the sacred mountains.

Here, as the flames die down, we bring you some riveting photos of the flames, the smoke and the heroic efforts to quell them.

Farewell Big Chief, safe journey home

First Salmon Ceremony is an opportunity to show respect and gratitude for King Salmon

June 21, 2014, Tulalip News – Niki Cleary

The First Salmon Ceremony is a time when Tulalips honor the first King Salmon of the year. He is a representative of his people and when the people of Tulalip treat him with the respect, he returns to the salmon village carrying the message that we are worthy of the sacrifice, the life, that a salmon gives in order to feed us. It’s an ancient tradition that ensures good harvests and keeps us tied to the species that we rely on for both physical and cultural sustenance.

“This is tied to a value,” said Tulalip Board of Director and Treasurer Glen Gobin, “the value of giving thanks for the things that nature provides for us. The way we do things today may not be the same as we did 200 years ago, because many things were taken away. But as long as it’s done with good intentions and good feelings in your heart, our ancestors look at that and are happy.”

If you’ve never been to the First Salmon Ceremony, the first thing you notice is how it feels. Like a wedding or baptism, the atmosphere is somewhere between a family reunion and sacrament. Smiles, hugs and laughter permeate the ceremony. Along with the love, there are constant, gentle reminders that this isn’t just pomp and circumstance, this is a ritual that is necessary to the survival of our people.

“It’s important that the teachings we receive are passed on in the same manner we received them. If we don’t, then our future changes,” said Gobin. “It’s the young ones that will continue to carry that on.”

After describing the meaning behind the songs used in the ceremony and emphasizing that songs are considered personal property, Gobin further explained, “I tell this story every time, so that the young ones, when they hear the song, they know what it means. They know how it came to be and they can pass that onto the next generation.”

Federal Indian policy over the years has generally aimed to eradicate Native Americans as a people. Although, not as outwardly brutal as genocide, assimilation policies and cultural disconnection are considered just as damaging to tribal citizens as outright murder of the populace.

“We were supposed to assimilate into mainstream society,” Gobin said, describing the legacy of boarding schools. He continued, saying that Native Americans were supposed to lose their culture, lose their language and lose their identity.

“Through the course of time we lost much. All of our history is done in an oral manner,” said Gobin. Although much is gone, he pointed out that much has been saved as well.

“We failed to assimilate,” he said. “We failed to lose our culture.”

Gobin thanked those gathered for the ceremony, “You are here for a reason, you are here because this is a ceremony. That returning visitor (King Salmon), he knows who is here. You know the potential of the message he’ll bring to the other side.”

As the canoe took the remains of the first salmon back to the water, releasing him facing west towards the salmon village, Tulalips raised their voices in a song that means, “Farewell Big Chief, safe journey home.”

Nevada Indian reservations to grow under Reid bills

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has introduced a bill that would expand the 75,000-acre Moapa Band of Paiutes reservation outside Las Vegas by more than 26,000 acres. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file)

By Steve Tetreault and Henry Brean, Las Vegas Review-Journal

WASHINGTON – Two bills introduced Tuesday in the U.S. Senate would grant more than 26,000 acres of federal land to the Moapa Band of Paiutes outside Las Vegas and expand reservations of seven Northern Nevada Indian tribes.

One of the bills by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., would expand the 75,000-acre Paiute reservation by about a quarter by putting into trust 26,565 acres currently controlled by the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation. The Moapa tribe consists of 329 people, 200 of whom live on the reservation 30 miles north of Las Vegas.

The second bill would grant almost 93,000 acres to tribes in Humboldt, Elko and Washoe counties, and to the Pyramid Lake Paiutes, whose reservation includes land in Washoe, Storey and Lyon counties.

“Land is lifeblood to Native Americans, and this bill provides space for housing, economic development, traditional uses and cultural protection,” Reid said in a statement.“I take the many obligations that the United States has to tribal nations seriously.”

Reid has a long relationship with Nevada tribes, and has helped them settle land and water disputes over the years. He is also trying to pressure Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder to changing the team name considered racist and offensive by many American Indians. On Monday, Reid rejected team president Bruce Allen’s invitation to attend a game this fall. Allen said he hoped the experience would persuade the Nevada senator the team name is an expression of “solidarity” with Native Americans.

ECONOMIC FACTORS

Moapa Paiute tribal chairwoman Aletha Tom said Tuesday the additional land “means a great deal.”

“It’s a good idea for our tribe, for our cultural preservation and economic development,” she said.

In recent years, the Moapa Band of Paiutes has pursued development of renewable energy on its land, moving to fulfill a Reid ambition to make Nevada a major player in solar and wind energy generation.

In May, federal officials cleared the way for a new 200-megawatt photo-voltaic array to be built on tribal land with the backing of NV Energy. The facility on 850 acres is expected to generate enough electricity for about 60,000 homes.

In March, the tribe broke ground on a 250-megawatt plant billed as the first utility-scale solar project approved on tribal land. The project could generate electricity to feed 93,000 homes by the end of 2015. The City of Los Angeles has agreed to buy power from the 1,000-acre array for 25 years under a deal worth about $1.6 billion.

Tom said the project is on land the tribe obtained in 1980, when the reservation was last expanded. If Reid’s legislation is successful, the tribe will pursue solar power development on its new land as well, she said.

GARY THOMPSON/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL LOCAL Darren Daboda, chairman of the Moapa Band of Paiute, appears at the Southern Nevada Health District board meeting to voice the tribe's concerns about the waste landfill expansion at Reid Gardner power plant proposed by Nevada Energy. 10-28-10 — GARY THOMPSON/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL LOCAL Darren Daboda, chairman of the Moapa Band of Paiute, appears at the Southern Nevada Health District board meeting to voice the tribe’s concerns about the waste landfill expansion at Reid Gardner power plant proposed by Nevada Energy. 10-28-10

In the 1870s, the Moapa Paiute reservation spread over two and a half million acres, including much of what today is Moapa Valley, Bunkerville, Logandale, Glendale, Overton and Gold Butte. But most of it was stripped away by Congress.

In 1980 President Jimmy Carter restored 75,000 acres, roughly 117 square miles.

In recent years, Reid has publicly sided with the tribe in its fight against NV Energy over an aging coal-burning power plant next to the reservation. Tribe members blame smoke and blowing dust from the Reid Gardner Generating Station for making them sick and polluting their land. In 2012, Reid described the plant as a “dirty relic” and called on NV Energy to close it.

The utility responded last year by announcing plans to shut down three of the four units at the 50-year-old power plant by the end of this year and shutter it completely in 2017.

Barbara Boyle of the Sierra Club helped the tribe fight the power plant. She said the reservation expansion should help both the tribe and the environment.

“After working with them on this fight, I believe that transferring more of their ancestral lands back to the Moapa Band is just, and will ensure that the land benefits the environment as well as the health of the people and their economy,” Boyle said in a statement from the national conservation group.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., whose district includes the Moapa Paiute reservation, said he supports the expansion.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., is cosponsor of the bill benefiting Northern Nevada tribes, which he sees as a path to economic opportunity for them. But he is still studying the Moapa Paiute bill and seeking input from the tribe, according to spokeswoman Chandler Smith.

OTHER RESERVATION LAND

The second Reid bill introduced Tuesday:

— Conveys 373 acres of BLM land to be held in trust for the Elko band of the Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone Indians.

— Grants 19,094 acres of BLM land to be held in trust for the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe.

— Transfers 82 acres of Forest Service land to be held in trust for the Duck Valley Shoshone Paiute Tribes.

— Conveys 941 acres of BLM land to be held in trust for the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe.

— Gives 13,434 acres of BLM land to be held in trust for the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony.

— Conveys 30,669 acres of BLM land to be held in trust for the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

— Releases the Red Spring Wilderness Study Area and conveys 28,162 acres of BLM land, including the released land, for the South Fork Band Council.

The bill also includes 275 acres for the city of Elko for a motocross park.