Action Alert! Contact your Congresspersons Today!

Support Letter

Letters can be mailed to the

Dick Martin
Death Valley National Park Superintendent
PO Box 579
Death Valley, CA

or E-mail to deva_superintendent@nps.gov

I _________________ submit this letter of support for S. 2102 the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act. S. 2102 was introduced by Senators Inouye, Feinstein and Boxer and passed by Unanimous Consent on July 19, 2000. The Homeland Act has now been sent to the House of Representatives and referred to the House Committee on Resources.

I would like to thank the Department of Interior for its support of the Timbisha Homeland Act and its hard work with the Tribe in preparing the Draft Secretarial Report to Congress to Establish A Permanent Tribal Land Base and Related Cooperative Activities. The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe has waited over fifty (50) years to see a permanent land base established for its people, and now is the Tribe's opportunity. I join with the Department of Interior and the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe in supporting the Homeland Act.

Your name

See Also

Timbisha Shoshone Tribe Needs Your Help!

For more information, contact:

Bradley Angel Greenaction

(415) 248-5010

Support a Homeland for the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe!

Briefing Paper on S. 2102: Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act
Status of S. 2102 in the 106th Congress

S. 2102, introduced by Senators Inouye, Feinstein, and Boxer, passed the Senate by Unanimous Consent on July 19, 2000. It has been sent to the House and referred to the House Committee on Resources.

Purpose

This bill provides land in trust for the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe on which they can live permanently and govern its affairs in a modern community within their ancestral homelands in the Mojave Desert consistent with the draft report prepared by the Secretary of the Interior as required by Section 705(b) of the California Desert Protection Act of 1994.

Background

The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe (Tribe) is a federally recognized tribe with approximately 279 members. It is a landless Tribe. The traditional ancestral homelands of the Tribe encompasses a vast territory in the Mojave Desert of east central California and portions of western Nevada. Since 1936, the Tribe has made its home in a small tribal Village in Furnace Creek in what is now Death Valley National Park. The lack of a land base is a major barrier to the social and economic advancement of the Tribe and has impeded the Tribe's ability to fully access federal housing and community development programs and services. Tribal administrative and community facilities are virtually non-existent.

The lack of a secure land base for the Tribe is also a continuing source of frustration between the Tribe and the National Park Service. The Tribal Village at Furnace Creek has been subject to different legal arrangements which has created uncertain legal and administrative responsibilities between the Tribe and Park. This uncertainty has strained the relationship of the Park and the Tribe and the continued uncertainty is unsatisfactory to both the Tribe and the Park.

In 1994, Congress directed the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to identify lands suitable for a reservation for the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe. 16 U.S.C. 410aaa-750(b)91). In January 1998, a Federal and Tribal negotiating team was established to identify lands suitable for a reservation for the Tribe. The study team drafted a Secretarial Report to Congress which describes a comprehensive plan and creates a unique partnership between the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management by establishing a reservation for the Tribe and creating a framework for cooperative management opportunities within the Tribe's ancestral lands. This innovative solution incorporates the shared values and common goals of the Park and Tribe to protect the natural and cultural resources of Park lands while meeting the modern day needs of the Tribe.

S. 2102 implements the recommendations of the Tribe and the Department of the Interior by providing a permanent land base for the Tribe and providing a framework for mutually beneficial co-existence and a cooperative relationship between the Park and the Tribe.