- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Real Estate
Here's our regular roundup of tribal land and real estate news, including a heated dispute between two tribes over a California land-into-trust application, and a $6.5 million NOAA grant that has a Michigan tribe poised to regain 187 acres of its ancestral lands.
Plus, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) wants to replace Deb Haaland as the next Secretary of the Interior, significant land back for tribes in Minnesota and Nebraska, and other noteworthy news.
California trust land sparks tribal conflict over homelands
A land-into-trust acquisition application from the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians for a 128-acre plot in Solano County is meeting opposition from another tribe. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has announced opposition to the acquisition, asserting that the Scotts Valley Band has reached beyond its ancestral boundaries.
The trust-land application is in pursuit of a $700 million casino and resort for the Scotts Valley Band. If constructed, the building would sit less than 45 minutes away from San Francisco, and create more than 3,600 jobs. The Trump administration rejected a prior proposal in 2019, alleging that the Scotts Valley Band had insufficient historical connection to the parcel.
In 2022, a federal judge overturned that decision, reviving the application for the project. As of mid-July, the project is in the midst of receiving public comment during an environmental impact review.
The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation asserts that the parcel falls within their ancestral homelands, even if it isn’t strictly reservation land, meaning they should have a say in its use.
"It's a bit disrespectful to have a tribe come from 90-plus miles away to develop something in our homeland," said Yocha Dehe Tribal Chairman Anthony Roberts, speaking to the LA Times.
For the Scotts Valley Band, the parcel represents a “transformative opportunity” to re-establish a landbase and revenue stream for the tribe, vice chairman Jesse Gonzalez wrote in an email to the LA Times.
"For generations, our people have faced significant hardships, including the loss of our ancestral lands, making us one of the few landless Indian tribes in the United States," Gonzalez wrote. “This project…allows our tribe to build a sustainable future for our members.”
$6.5M NOAA grant aims to return 187 acres to Grand Traverse Band
A grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could support a 187-acre land return to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, per a report by Interlochen Public Radio. The grant, totaling more than $6.5 million, will be joined by $3.5 million from Leelanau County nonprofit New Community Vision to purchase the former Timber Shores campground.
That leaves $2 million left to raise by the end of 2024 to complete the land purchase, New Community Vision tells IPR.
The campground had recently been considered for a condominium development or RV park. However, New Community Vision — established for this very purpose, per IPR — worked out an agreement with the Grand Traverse Band to purchase and then transfer the land back to the tribe’s ownership and stewardship. The tribe will keep the land as a protected nature preserve in perpetuity, working to restore the shoreline and wetlands within.
The land will be renamed Mishkiigaki, or “place of medicine.”
Rep. Boebert wants to replace Deb Haaland at DOI
During an impromptu interview at the Republican National Convention, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) expressed her desire to become Secretary of the Interior if Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November. Boebert, who was walking by the Native America Calling booth, responded affirmatively when asked by Shawn Griswold of Source NM about her interest in the position.
Boebert highlighted her deep connection to public lands and tribal issues, noting her time spent with the Ute Tribe and Southern Ute in her district. She emphasized her support for tribal sovereignty and suggested relocating Bureau of Land Management offices from Washington, D.C., to regional locations.
Regarding the Antiquities Act, Boebert expressed opposition, criticizing its use for what she described as federal land grabs, such as the expansion of Bears Ears National Monument under President Biden. She argued against creating more wilderness areas that could limit land use for agriculture and ranching.
As a staunch Trump supporter and a far-right conservative, Boebert’s potential appointment would mark a significant shift from the current administration's leadership, including Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), the first Native American ever appointed to a secretarial seat. The Department of the Interior, which manages over 500 million acres of public land including 56 million acres in trust for Native American tribes, plays a crucial role in overseeing these lands.
LANDBACK
The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe will receive approximately 11,778 acres of land from the Chippewa National Forest, per a CBS News report. The land is being transferred by the Department of Agriculture as part of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Reservation Restoration Act, signed into law in 2020. The transfer restores land that was seized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the 1940s. The transfer was announced in late June and celebrated by the tribe with state lawmakers mid-July. Tribal chairman Faron Jackson, Sr. told CBS News called the restoration a “monumental” step towards economic and residential development. "This is one of the most monumental and positive developments to take place on Leech Lake since the first treaties were signed and the reservation was established in 1855," Jackson said.
The federal government has returned more than 1,600 acres of land to the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska after the land was seized in 1970 by the US Army Corps of Engineers. According to a report by Native News Online, the Corps used eminent domain to condemn and then seize two tracts of land on either side of the Missouri River. The tribe has since been fighting to see the land restored, ultimately finding an ally in Senator Deb Fisher (R-Neb.) who introduced the Winnebago Land Transfer Act in November 2023. The law saw swift bipartisan support in both the House of Representatives and Senate. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law in mid-July. “Our ancestors, including the late Louis LaRose, fought tirelessly to secure and protect our homelands,” Winnebago chair Victoria Kitcheyan said. “The Tribal Council is honored to carry on their work.”
NOTEWORTHY
A South Dakota nonprofit, the Lakota People’s Law Project, has established a fund to compensate tribes for land lost to national parks and monuments. The Sacred Defense National Park and Monuments Initiative aims to educate visitors to public parks about the land’s importance, reports Minnesota Public Radio. The Initiative will also solicit donations toward paying tribes recompense for lands taken for such purposes, per the Initiative's website.
So far the Initiative has plans to build education around 14 national parks, with a goal of supporting the 90 tribes connected to those parks. Speaking to MPR, Lakota People’s Law Project director Chase Iron Eyes said the goal of the Initiative is to reconnect both visitors and tribes with the lands in question.
“Indigenous nations have had this ancient, ancient relationship with all of these places which are now national parks,” Iron Eyes said. “Those were our sacred sites untold millennia before America, as a concept, was created.”
If you have news or information about landback acquisitions or deals involving tribal land, shoot me a note at [email protected].
