Why the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribes don't like the coming Wind Farms off Nantucket Sound

[the_future_modernes]

This was a response to an article elsewhere


Cape Wind rejection recommended

By Gale Courey Toensing

Story Published: Apr 12, 2010

Story Updated: Apr 9, 2010

WASHINGTON – A federal agency on historic preservation has recommended that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar reject a proposed massive wind energy project in Nantucket Sound – an area that is sacred to the Wampanoag nations and qualifies for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

On April 2, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation issued a seven-page report of its findings and recommendation to deny permits to Cape Wind Associates to construct a wind energy plant consisting of 130 wind turbine generators that would tower 440 feet above water level in a 24-square-mile area on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound, which lies between Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The proposal includes plans for a 66.5-mile buried submarine transmission cable system, a centrally located electric service platform and two 115-kilovolt lines totaling 25 miles connecting to the mainland power grid.

“The historical properties affected by the project are significant and closely interrelated,” ACHP wrote. “The project will adversely affect 34 historic properties, including 16 historic districts and 12 individually significant historic properties on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Island, and six properties of religious and cultural significance to tribes, including Nantucket Sound itself. These districts and standing structures reflect the broad array of properties that represent the rich and unique architectural, social and cultural history of Cape Cod and the island.”

The project would also destroy, damage and alter part of the seabed of Nantucket Sound, potentially destroying archeological resources.

“The ACHP recommends that the secretary not approve the project,” the report says.

The report stressed that the development of renewable energy projects “is not inherently incompatible with protection of historic resources so long as full consideration is given to historic properties early in the identification of potential locations.” It suggests that the Cape Wind project could be relocated to an alternative site “in the vicinity of the current project area.”MORE

There are more news stories to give context here


And now, a really small amount of links to give an idea of the historical context on the federal gov't and development interests fucking with American Indian's sacred places....



FACT SHEET PROTECTION OF NATIVE AMERICAN SACRED PLACES  (Prepared for Congress)

·Native American religions were outlawed under the federal “Civilization Regulations” from the 1880s to the 1930s. Traditional Native Peoples were not allowed to go to or pray at their sacred places. All of the traditional religions were driven underground, some to the point of extinction.

...


· The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 was intended to change the policy of the United States from one of outlawing and disrespecting traditional Native religions to one of protecting and respecting them. The Act states: “That henceforth it shall be the policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions of the American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut, and Native Hawaiians, including but not limited to access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites.”

· There are numerous existing la ws intended to protect Native American sacred places and even more that can be used to do so, but most of these laws are being ignored and flaunted.

· Among these existing legal authorities are the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Executive Order on Indian Sacred Sites, National Historic Preservation Act, Archaeological Resources
Protection Act, National Environmental Protection Act and other environmental and cultural laws.

...

· It has been the experience of Native Americans that disclosure about the location, nature or use of sacred place leads to assaults on them. Many of these places are fragile and have been destroyed by too many visitors or vehicles or activities.

· The following description of Native American sacred lands is taken from the President’s Report to Congress on American Indian Religious Freedom, August 1979, pursuant to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, P.L. 95-341: “The Native peoples of this country believe that certain areas of land are holy. These lands may be sacred, for example, because of religious events which occurred there, because they contain specific natural products, because they are the dwelling place or embodiment of spiritual beings, because they surround or contain burial grounds or because they are sites conducive to communicating with spiritual beings. There are specific religious beliefs regarding each sacred site which form the basis for religious laws governing the site. These laws may prescribe, for example, when and for what purposes the site may or must be visited, what ceremonies or rituals may or must take place at the site, what manner of conduct must or must not be observed at the site, who may or may not go to the site and the consequences to the individual, group, clan or tribe if the laws are not observed.MORE

Managing Hopi Sacred Sites to Protect Religious Freedom


SACRED LANDS: WAL-MART'S RELATIONSHIP WITH NATIVE AMERICANS

The follwoing is the forst story I ever saw on the issue, and it still makes me RAGE:
Do Native Americans Have First Amendment Rights?

The San Francisco Peaks of Northern Arizona "are sacred to at least 13 formally recognized Indian tribes ... and this religious significance is of centuries duration."(1). In February 2005, the US Forest Service issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision approving a proposal to make artificial snow using treated sewage effluent at the Snowbowl Resort located on Humphrey's Peak, the highest and - to the tribes - most holy of the San Francisco Peaks That decision was appealed by the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Havasupai Tribe, the Hualapai Tribe, the Yavapai-Apache Nation and the White Mountain Apache Nation. The Circuit Court ruled for the Forest Service. In February 2007, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court unanimously overturned the lower court's decision. On Friday, August 8, 2008, the en banc majority of the Ninth Circuit Court ruled that "using treated sewage effluent to make artificial snow on the most sacred mountain of southwestern Indian tribes does not violate the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ('RFRA'). It also holds that a supposed pleading mistake prevents the tribes from arguing under the National Environmental Act ('NEPA') that the Forest Service failed to consider the likelihood that children and others would ingest snow made from the effluent."(2)MORE

In fact, the assholes went on to say that:

However, a year later, a split panel of 13 judges on the same appeals court reversed its decision, finding that the 2007 interpretation of RFRA was too broad. The opinion stated that “the only effect of the proposed upgrades is on the plaintiffs’ subjective, emotional religious experience. That is, the presence of recycled wastewater on the Peaks is offensive to the plaintiffs’ religious sensibilities … the diminishment of spiritual fulfillment – serious though it may be – is not a ’substantial burden’ on the free exercise of religion.” The court dismissed the plaintiffs’ religious beliefs by calling them mere “damaged spiritual feelings.” In June 2009, the Supreme Court denied a petition by tribes and environmental groups to hear the case, effectively clearing the last legal obstacle to the Snowbowl’s plans.


This is the kind of BS that Native Americans have to put up with on a daily goddamn basis to practice their religions. Why do I have the sneaky feleing that if it was Christians whose scared places were being thus defiled, the whole situation would be treated with way more respect?

Comments

[cesy]

Wow, that's shocking and horrible.