Comment EI-19931
Received or sent (printed as 1/11/2013)
Please extensively study potential cultural effects on the Northern Cheyenne and Crow people. The railroad would run near the Northern Cheyenne Reservation and the Custer National Forest destroying Indian sacred sites. It’s commonly known that the exposure to Western European culture through invasion, genocide, illness, social injustices, industrialization, and assimilation efforts has already killed over 90% of indigenous peoples in North America. The development of the Tongue River Railroad would place further stress on a sovereign people, further deteriorating customs, traditions, and a way of life. Any government agency in the United States, as a nation professing a commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, has an obligation to study harmful cultural and social impacts. The psychosocial effect of losing established sacred and memorial sites should be examined broadly. In a recent study on the role memorials and sites play in society, the director of the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums, stated, “Remembering is a basic human instinct, and memory cannot be imprisoned— it will usually come out in one form or another. The challenge is to find ways to harness memory to learn lessons from the past in an effort to avoid repeating it.” (See: http://www.usip.org/files/resources/srs5.pdf). It is imperative that all impacts from this project on the Cheyenne and Crow cultures be studied, including effects on population, health, stressors, mental health, etc. As stated in the above quote, otherwise we run the risk of repeating history and further genocide against a people. It is important to take into account not only what the mainstream culture would consider a sacred or memorial site, but also the interconnection of the natural world in Indian culture. As stated by Kenneth Cooper of the Lumni Tribe, “Everything on the floor of the ancient forest has a use for Indian people. When they kill a thousand-year-old tree they also kill the environment beneath it, and that can’t be put back by the smartest person on Earth. No one can duplicate what the Creator made.” The spiritual and physiological interdependence on the landbase of indigenous people who have lived and relied on the land for thousands of years is imperative. Research should not be viewed merely through the lens of western culture and should include the involvement of the indigenous people. Also, taken into account should be research connecting ecological displacement and the connection to health and mental health.
Submitted by: Suzanne Ravet · Blaine, Washington
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-30186/comment/EI-19931 · back to the docket sheet