SHAWNEE, Okla. – Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell made her first official visit to the state Nov. 25 to sign an agreement with the Citizen Potawatomi Nation that gives the tribe complete leasing authority over its trust property.
Prior to the ceremony, Secretary Jewell toured the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s cultural heritage center with Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn and Jacque Secondine Hensley, the state of Oklahoma’s tribal liaison and a representative from the Native Times. While touring the facility, she weighed in on some of the issues in Indian Country, including tribes’ efforts to assert self-determination and diversify economically.
“It’s (the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s new leasing regulations) a great illustration of an Indian nation of doing a really good job of governance, economic development and thinking long-term about how do we support tribal members, build economic activity and take advantage of some of the efforts made by people like Congressman Cole, President Obama and Kevin Washburn and his predecessors to streamline regulations and make it easier for tribes to govern themselves,” Jewell said.
Despite the protests and concerns raised by tribes and private citizens across Indian Country, Jewell mentioned that the Obama administration’s emphasis on self-governance extends to natural resource development projects, including the controversial Keystone XL pipeline expansion, which runs through four central and southern Oklahoma tribes’ jurisdictional areas.
“Any time you’ve got development, whether it’s a pipeline, a transmission line, the development of a field or otherwise, there are environmental consequences. It has to be a negotiation where people feel they’re being heard, they’re being listened to and effective mitigation has to be taking place. So if we’re developing an area that runs through Indian Country, it’s very important that we reach an agreement that makes sense to tribes. If not, that might mean the pipeline or transmission line goes somewhere else.
“One of the things I’m committed to doing is thinking about our landscape more holistically… and saying if we are going to develop in a particular area, what’s the appropriate mitigation on the landscape level that takes care of these things that are so important to us. It might involve traditions, sacred sites and making sure to avoid those areas that might come into conflict.”
However, that belief in self-determination only goes so far. In 2011, the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations filed a federal lawsuit in an effort to block the Oklahoma Water Resource Board and Oklahoma City from transporting water from Sardis Lake in southeastern Oklahoma to the state’s largest city. Jewell said she’s learned that the DOI is the place many tribes turn to for help upholding trust and treaty obligations.
“It’s an area that is complicated. It sometimes takes decades to sort these things out. It is very important that we work alongside tribes to uphold their trust and treaty obligations, which in many cases, include really important water rights that are in conflict at a time when water is scarce in some parts of the country. It is our job as part of the federal family to make sure their voices are heard effectively with states when it comes to water rights.” she said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the lake, which straddles the tribe’s jurisdictions in an area that has supplied Oklahoma City with water in the past. The tribes allege they have been excluded from negotiations between the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the Oklahoma City Water Utility Trust in spite of the 1830 Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek that they claim gives them authority over water resources in their jurisdictions.
Admitting she is relatively new to the job, Jewell said she has learned one thing, “that no matter what we do, we get sued.” She went on to express confidence in New Mexico native Mike Connor, a deputy secretary nominee who is currently working his way through the Senate. A former DOI employee, Connor served as legal counsel for the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee for eight years.
“Mike Connor is an expert on Indian water rights. He understands the complexities including the role the states play, the role the federal government plays,” Jewell said.
Connor attended New Mexico State University before earning a law degree in Colorado with an emphasis on water policy. He is currently director of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages federal water projects in the western United States.
