Title: Resolution To Oppose The Geothermal Development And To Expand The Traditional Cultural District In The Sacred Medicine Lake Highlands Of Northern California

 

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 welfare of the Indian people, do hereby establish and submit the following resolution; and

WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is the oldest and largest national organization established in 1944 and comprised of representatives of and advocates for national, regional, and local Tribal concerns; and

WHEREAS, the health, safety, welfare, education, economic and employment opportunity, and preservation of cultural and natural resources are primary goals and objectives of NCAI; and,

WHEREAS, the Medicine Lake Highlands are vital to the spiritual way of life of Native Peoples of California and Oregon, and of other traditional people of the earth, as a place of prayer, vision, healing and renewal; and its is of supreme importance to preserve the Medicine Lake Highlands whole primeval environs including its forests, springs, lakes, animals, and plants; and to live up to our responsibility as Native People, given by the Creator, to be the caretakers of the earth; and,

WHEREAS, the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places in the Department of the Interior determined that the Medicine Lake Caldera is a Traditional Cultural District eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, and a larger Historic District boundary must now be created to assure that spiritual and cultural values will be preserved; and,

WHEREAS, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land management have proposed two large geothermal power plants for the Medicine Lake Highlands, with a potential for four more power plants; and,

WHEREAS, the proposed geothermal developments would introduce large-scale, polluting, fragmenting, and unsightly industrial elements into this natural area valued for its beauty, geological uniqueness, silence and purity – all qualities that are essential to the spiritual and cultural practices of the Pit River Tribe, the Modoc Tribe, traditional practitioners from the Klamath, Karuk, Shasta, Wintu, and other more distant Tribes, and the Native Coalition for Medicine Lake Highlands Defense; and,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NCAI does hereby urge the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to decide against any geothermal industrial development in the Medicine Lake Highlands; and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NCAI urges the U.S. Forest Service and the National Register of Historic Places to work with Tribes, Native Coalition for Medicine Lake Highlands Defense and traditional practitioners to expand the Traditional Cultural District in order to adequately and justly reflect the great spiritual significance of the Medicine Lake Highlands to Native Americans and to many people who value its scenic and recreational qualities; to create a Cultural Management Plan for the Medicine Lake Highlands in cooperation with Tribes, Native Coalition and Traditional Practitioners; and to allocate personnel and resources for the implementation of such plan.

The foregoing resolution was adopted at the 2000 Mid-Year Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Centennial Hall in Juneau, Alaska on June 25-28, 2000 with a quorum present.

_____________________________

Susan Masten, President

Juana Majel, Recording Secretary

Adopted by the General Assembly during the 2000 Mid-Year Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the Centennial Hall in Juneau, Alaska on June 25-28, 2000.