Natives Correct that USDA Bungles Sacred Site Issues

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A new draft report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds that American Indians are correct in believing that the federal government and the agency’s U.S. Forest Service in particular are doing poorly on understanding sacred site issues from Native viewpoints, and it calls for many improvements.

“We hope this report will foster change in how Indian tribes and the Forest Service interact on land management decisions for the good of all Americans,” the authors write in their executive summary. “It is our hope that these recommendations lead to meaningful changes in the way Native American Sacred Sites are protected and accessed. Perhaps, just as important, they will lead to a better understanding of Native American values as American values.”

A major finding of the report is that some Forest Service land management decisions and actions, as well as the activities of third parties, have “led to damage, destruction, and desecration of Native American Sacred Sites.” Further, “lthough we heard many success stories about successful partnering and communication between tribes and the agency, we also heard about inconsistencies in Forest Service consultative/collaborative processes,” the report lists as a major finding. “Forest Service attempts at consultation are ineffective when done in ways that tribes do not consider meaningful.”

Tribal officials have long complained that consultation sessions, if conducted at all, tend to be done by federal agencies on their terms, rendering real tribal input moot. And they have said that Forest Service decisions and actions performed in a vacuum have been particularly harmful to sacred sites.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/08/natives-correct-that-usda-bungles-sacred-site-issues/

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1. Recommend

[MineralMan]

2. For me, it's sad that the entire planet is not considered

a sacred site. We're rapidly desecrating that site and making it less and less livable.