The Osage Nation, the Midnight Rider, and the EPA
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CLEAN MY LAND: AMERICAN INDIANS, TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY, AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY by RAYMOND ANTHONY NOLAN B.A., University of Redlands, 1998 M.A., St. Mary’s College of California, 2001 M.A., Fort Hays State University, 2007 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2015 Abstract This dissertation is a case study of the Isleta Pueblos of central New Mexico, the Quapaw tribe of northeast Oklahoma, and the Osage Nation of northcentral Oklahoma, and their relationship with the federal government, and specifically the Environmental Protection Agency. As one of the youngest federal agencies, operating during the Self-Determination Era, it seems the EPA would be open to new approaches in federal Indian policy. In reality, the EPA has not reacted much differently than any other historical agency of the federal government. The EPA has rarely recognized the ability of Indians to take care of their own environmental problems. The EPA’s unwillingness to recognize tribal sovereignty was no where clearer than in 2005, when Republican Senator James Inhof of Oklahoma added a rider to his transportation bill that made it illegal in Oklahoma for tribes to gain primary control over their environmental protection programs without first negotiating with, and gaining permission of, the state government of Oklahoma. The rider was an erosion of the federal trust relationship with American Indian tribes (as tribes do not need to heed state laws over federal laws) and an attack on native ability to judge tribal affairs. Oklahoma’s tribes, and Indian leaders from around the nation, worked to get the new law overturned, but the EPA decided to help tribes work within the confines of the new law. Despite the EPA’s stance on the new law, the tribes continued to try to fight back, as they had in the past when challenged by paternalistic federal policy. The EPA treated the Quapaws and Isletas in a similar fashion. Thus, the thesis of this study is that the EPA failed to respect the abilities of American Indian nations, as did federal agencies of years before, to manage their own affairs. Historians have largely neglected the role the EPA has played in recent Indian history and are just now beginning to document how deliberate efforts at self-determination have been employed by tribes for centuries in America. CLEAN MY LAND: AMERICAN INDIANS, TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY, AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY by RAYMOND ANTHONY NOLAN B.A., University of Redlands, 1998 M.A., Saint Mary’s College of California, 2001 M.A., Fort Hays State University, 2007 A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2015 Approved by: Major Professor Bonnie Lynn-Sherow Copyright RAYMOND ANTHONY NOLAN 2015 Abstract This dissertation is a case study of the Isleta Pueblos of central New Mexico, the Quapaw tribe of northeast Oklahoma, and the Osage Nation of northcentral Oklahoma, and their relationship with the federal government, and specifically the Environmental Protection Agency. As one of the youngest federal agencies, operating during the Self-Determination Era, it seems the EPA would be open to new approaches in federal Indian policy. In reality, the EPA has not reacted much differently than any other historical agency of the federal government. The EPA has rarely recognized the ability of Indians to take care of their own environmental problems. The EPA’s unwillingness to recognize tribal sovereignty was no where clearer than in 2005, when Republican Senator James Inhof of Oklahoma added a rider to his transportation bill that made it illegal in Oklahoma for tribes to gain primary control over their environmental protection programs without first negotiating with, and gaining permission of, the state government of Oklahoma. The rider was an erosion of the federal trust relationship with American Indian tribes (as tribes do not need to heed state laws over federal laws) and an attack on native ability to judge tribal affairs. Oklahoma’s tribes, and Indian leaders from around the nation, worked to get the new law overturned, but the EPA decided to help tribes work within the confines of the new law. Despite the EPA’s stance on the new law, the tribes continued to try to fight back, as they had in the past when challenged by paternalistic federal policy. The EPA treated the Quapaws and Isletas in a similar fashion. Thus, the thesis of this study is that the EPA failed to respect the abilities of American Indian nations, as did federal agencies of years before, to manage their own affairs. Historians have largely neglected the role the EPA has played in recent Indian history and are just now beginning to document how deliberate efforts at self-determination have been employed by tribes for centuries in America. Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... vi Dedication .................................................................................................................................... vii Preface ......................................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: American Indian Sovereignty Defined .................................................................. 22 Chapter 2: The United States and Pueblo Sovereignty ........................................................... 54 Chapter 3: The Isleta Pueblos Write Water Quality Standards ............................................ 89 Chapter 4: The Quapaw Tribe and Self-Determination before the EPA ............................ 107 Chapter 5: The Quapaw Tribe and CERCLA ....................................................................... 129 Chapter 6: The Osage Nation and Oil before the EPA ......................................................... 148 Chapter 7: The Osage Nation, the Midnight Rider, and the EPA ....................................... 176 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 194 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 199 Appendix A – EPA Organization ............................................................................................ 226 Appendix B – EPA Enforcement ............................................................................................. 228 Appendix C – Alphabetical List of Acronyms........................................................................ 229 iv List of Figures Figure 2.1 Pueblo Language Groups ............................................................................................ 59 Figure 2.2 The Upper Rio Grande Watershed .............................................................................. 83 Figure 4.1 The Quapaws in Extreme Northeast Oklahoma ........................................................ 113 Figure 5.1 Tar Creek’s Stained Water ........................................................................................ 130 Figure 5.2 Chat Piles of Picher, OK ........................................................................................... 142 Figure 6.1 Osage Treaty Cessions .............................................................................................. 156 Figure 6.2 Indian Reservations in Oklahoma Prior to Statehood in 1907 .................................. 162 Figure 7.1 Oil Waste Injection Well ........................................................................................... 178 Figure 7.2 Oil and Gas Wells on the Osage Reservation ............................................................ 180 v Acknowledgements My advisor, Professor Bonnie Lynn-Sherow has given me great advice, editing and support. Professors Derek Hoff, David Graff, James Sherow, and Sue Zschoche have all read the draft of my dissertation and provided me with feedback and encouragement. Michelle Nolan has edited at least two draft copies and provided me with much appreciated support. Claire Wilder and Loren Wilder have always been supportive of my journey. Last but most important, my wife, Nikol, and my daughters, Logan and Myka, are amazing. I have tried to shield them from whatever frustrations I have had during the graduate school process. I am so blessed by their support and love. vi Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my wife Nikol and my daughters, Logan and Myka. vii Preface A dissertation may only have one name on the cover page, but it is truly the work of many. When I went back to graduate school to pursue a master’s degree in history, Ray Wilson, my advising professor Fort Hays State, asked me what area of research I hoped to have as a focus. Although Dr. Wilson, now retired, had a long career as a historian of American Indian history, he let me choose my own path. Bow hunting had become