DEPOSITORY - JUSTICE DEPT. LIBRARY OKLAHOMA TRIBAL CONCERNS OVERSIGHT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS OF THE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON NATIVE AMERICANS IN OKLAHOMA AND THEIR TRIBAL ISSUES JANUARY 20, 1994—TAHLEQUAH, OK Serial No. 103-65 Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 86-834 WASHINGTON : 1995 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-046707-1 COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES GEORGE MILLER, California, Chairman PHILIP R. SHARP, Indiana DON YOUNG, Alaska, EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts Ranking Republican Member AUSTIN J. MURPHY, Pennsylvania JAMES V. HANSEN, Utah NICK JOE RAHALL II, West Virginia BARBARA F. VUCANOVICH, Nevada BRUCE F. VENTO, Minnesota ELTON GALLEGLY, California PAT WILLIAMS, Montana ROBERT F. SMITH, Oregon RON DE LUGO, Virgin Islands CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR., Tennessee RICHARD H. LEHMAN, California JOEL HEFLEY, Colorado BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, California PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana Samoa KEN CALVERT, California TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota SCOTT McINNIS, Colorado LARRY LAROCCO, Idaho RICHARD W. POMBO, California NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii JAY DICKEY, Arkansas CALVIN M. DOOLEY, California CARLOS ROMERO-BARCELO, Puerto Rico KARAN ENGLISH, Arizona KAREN SHEPHERD, Utah NATHAN DEAL, Georgia MAURICE D. HINCHEY, New York ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD, Guam HOWARD L. BERMAN, California LANE EVANS, Illinois PATSY T. MINK, Hawaii THOMAS J. BARLOW III, Kentucky THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin JOHN LAWRENCE, Staff Director RICHARD MELTZER, General Counsel DANIEL VAL KISH, Republican Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS BILL RICHARDSON, New Mexico, Chairman PAT WILLIAMS, Montana CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming, SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut Ranking Republican Member ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American DON YOUNG, Alaska Samoa RICHARD H. BAKER, Louisiana TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota KEN CALVERT, California NEIL ABERCROMBIE, Hawaii KARAN ENGLISH, Arizona TADD JOHNSON, Staff Director MARIE HOWARD, Professional Staff Member BARBARA ROBLES, Clerk RICHARD HOUGHTON, Republican Counsel on Native American Affairs (II) CONTENTS Page Hearing held: January 20, 1994 1 Member statements: Hon. Mike Synar, a Representative in Congress from the State of Okla­ homa 1 Hon. Bill Richardson, chairman, Subcommittee on Native American Af­ fairs, and Representative in Congress from the State of New Mexico 3 Background on Oklahoma Tribal Concerns 6 Witness statements: Panel consisting of: Hon. Wilma P. Mankiller, Principal Chief, Cherokee Nation 8 Prepared statement of Ms. Mankiller 10 Hon. Bill Anoatubby, Governor, Chickasaw Nation, Ada, OK 18 Prepared statement of Mr. Anoatubby 20 Hon. Larry Nuckolls, Governor, Absentee Shawnee Tribe, Shawnee, OK 28 Prepared statement of Mr. Nuckolls 30 Panel consisting of: Hon. Bill S. Fife, Principal Chief, Creek Nation, Okmulgee, OK 50 Prepared statement of Mr. Fife 52 Perry Hauser, Chairman, Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association, Sen­ eca, OK 56 Diane Kelly, Recording Secretary, National Congress of American Indians for Eastern Oklahoma 57 Prepared statement of Martha Banderas, Vice Chairperson, Apache Business Committee, Apache Tribe of Oklahoma 59 Panel consisting of: Hon. Elmer Manatowa, Principal Chief, Sac and Fox Nation, Stroud, OK 71 Prepared statement of Mr. Manatowa 74 Leonard Hario, Tribal Planner, Seminole Nation, Weowoka, OK 84 Prepared statement of Seminole Nation 86 Carmelita Skeeter, Director, Indian Health Care Resource Center, Tulsa, OK 97 Prepared statement of Ms. Skeeter 99 Matthew Kauley, Director, Association of American Indian Physi­ cians, Oklahoma City, OK 104 Prepared statement of Mr. Kauley 106 APPENDIX January 20, 1994 Additional material submitted for the hearing record: United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians of Oklahoma: Letter and documentation from Hon. John Ross, Chief, dated January 31, 1994 Il l Oklahoma Indian Mineral Owners Association: Comments on hearing on Oklahoma Tribal Concerns from Eddie Jacobs, Chairman, dated February 9, 1994 206 Native Americans for a Clean Environment: Letter and testimony from Julie Moss, Economic Project Coordinator and Grassroots Repatriation Specialist, dated February 3, 1994 271 Oklahoma City Area Office Funding 280 (III) OKLAHOMA TRIBAL CONCERNS THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 1994 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS, Tahlequah, OK. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:35 a.m. in the Council Chambers, W.W. Keeler Tribal Complex, Tahlequah, Okla­ homa, Hon. Bill Richardson (chairman of the subcommittee) presid­ ing. STATEMENT OF HON. MIKE SYNAR, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA Mr. SYNAR [presiding]. The Subcommittee will come to order. Ob­ viously you have noticed I am not Bill Richardson. I am Mike Synar, due to the weather, Mr. Richardson's plane has been de­ layed. We expect him here literally within the next 30 minutes, and as soon as he does arrive, we will have him join us. I thought it was important to get started, however, because I do not want to really cut this off or try to squeeze too much into a short amount of time. What we thought we would do is start with the first panel in anticipation of Mr. Richardson coming. First of all, let me welcome each and every one of you all here today. This is literally the first hearing in my tenure in Congress, and I think probably in the last 15 years in Oklahoma, dealing with the issue of Oklahoma Native Americans and the tribal is- sues. Many of you all are familiar that we have over 250,000 Na­ tive Americans in our great state of Oklahoma, representing over 37 different tribes. You are also familiar with the fact that we are the only non-reservation state in the nation. This gives us a unique status when we deal with issues with respect to our Native Ameri­ cans. I want to start by first of all thanking Chief Wilma Mankiller for hosting today, and particularly Lynn Howard and her staff for all the hard logistical work. This is not something that is easy to do and we appreciate the fact that they have gone to such great lengths these last few weeks. The hearing today is an attempt for us here on the federal level to exchange ideas with others, to wrestle with hard questions and hear first-hand about successful programs that are underway in Oklahoma with our Native Americans. It is also an opportunity to explore federal legislation and bureaucratic changes which are so critical in the relationship between Native Americans and our fed­ eral government. (l) I think the goal is to find a better way to achieve a balance, a balance between finite resources and more funding for social serv­ ices, as well as improving the federal trust responsibilities and in­ cluding successful self-governance as we begin to proceed through the next decade and into the next century. With new global competition and the need for local economic de­ velopment, I think today's hearing will help us learn first-hand how the federal government, state government, as well as the sov­ ereign nations which are represented here today can work together to improve the quality of life for Native Americans in Oklahoma. Now let me give you a couple of rules so that everyone will know that we are not trying to pick on anybody. These are the rules that the Subcommittee has always had, whether they meet here in Oklahoma or around the country or in Washington. We are going to ask each one of the panelists as they come up to be recognized and their entire testimony will be made part of the record, but we would ask you to present your testimony in summarized form in no more than five minutes. The lights that you see on the table in front of you are important. We will have a green light for the be- ginning of your testimony, when the amber light comes on you have one minute remaining, and when the red light comes on we would ask you to complete the sentence that you are on so that we can get as much testimony in today as we can. Now, for those of you who are not necessarily testifying today, we will also allow two weeks for the record to remain open, and we will have all those testimonies and materials submitted for the record that are to be included in this hearing. So we hope that you will take advantage of that too. At this time I would insert into the record the statement of Chairman Richardson and background information on the subject of today's hearing. [The statement follows:] STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN BILL RICHARDSON SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS OVERSIGHT HEARING ON OKLAHOMA TRIBAL CONCERNS JANUARY 20, 1994 TAHLBQUAH, OKLAHOMA GOOD MORNING. THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS OF THE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES WILL COME TO ORDER. THIS SUBCOMMITTEE WAS FORMED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 103RD CONGRESS AT THE URGING OF SEVERAL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS INCLUDING MYSELF AND MIKE SYNAR, AS WELL AS INDIAN TRIBES ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHO FELT NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES DESERVED MORE VISIBILITY IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR LEGISLATION AND OVERSIGHT OF MOST PROGRAMS WHICH AFFECT THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR ALL NATIVE AMERICANS. I AM PROUD TO HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO CHAIR THIS MOST IMPORTANT PANEL. IN OUR FIRST YEAR OF EXISTENCE, THIS SUBCOMMITTEE HAS PROVED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST PRODUCTIVE IN CONGRESS. WE HELD OVER TWENTY HEARINGS AND PASSED 5 BILLS INTO LAW. WE BROKE A 6 YEAR LOG JAM ON LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE TRIBAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS. THE SUBCOMMITTEE INVESTIGATED AND CONDUCTED OVERSIGHT IN THE AREAS OF GAMING, URANIUM MINING CLEAN UP, BIA REORGANIZATION, LEAKY UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS, TRUST FUND MANAGEMENT, YOUTH DETENTION FACILITIES DAM SAFETY, AND OTHER MATTERS.