Museado / NARA Collection grf-0142 — Collection grf-0142
Recent Folios
Login Register
English español (Spanish) magyar (Hungarian) हिन्दी (Hindi)

Survos folio page chat

National Indian Youth Council

Ask the Scholar

Page 1 of 1
I can add historical knowledge about this page.

Page image

Page 1

OCR

The original documents are located in Box 4, folder "National Indian Youth Council" of the Bradley H. Patterson Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. AMERICAN REVOLUTION BICENTENNIAL ADMINISTRATION 12/1/76 FOR: Brad Patterson FROM: Hugh A. Hall X FYI FOR APPROPRIATE ACTION MAY I HAVE YOUR COMMENTS? \ GERALD R. FORD Digitized from Box 4 of the Bradley H. Patterson Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library * FIRST CLASS Permit No. 2957 Albuquerque, N.M. BUSINESS REPLY MAIL No Postage Stamp Required If Mailed In The United States - Postage Will Be Paid By - NATIONAL INDIAN YOUTH COUNCIL 201 HERMOSA, N. E. ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. 87108 Mr. Hall FYI National Indian Youth Council, Inc. NATIONAL INDIAN YOUTH COUNCIL 201 Hermosa N.E. Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108 1961 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GERALD WILKINSON Cherokee Fall 1976 ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR JOHN REDHOUSE Navajo Dear Friend, STAFF ATTORNEYS THOMAS E. LUEBBEN MARCIA JANE WILSON Government legislation is about to destroy 58, 000 acres of grazing land and consume 479 billion gallons of precious and scarce water. This mindless BOARD OF DIRECTORS legislation proposes a reckless scheme to build the nation's first six President commercial coal gasification plants. These untested plants are to be built LAWRENCE ROBERTS Oneida in a concentrated area of the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. Each plant Vice-President will cost $1 billion. Each plant will be obsolete in 25 years or less. HERB BLATCHFORD Navajo The whole plan just doesn't make sense. First, it represents a Band- Secretary-Treasurer VIOLA HATCH Aid approach to America's energy problem, but it's also a planned invasion Arapaho of Navajo natural resources. It will only give labor to a few of the Indians-- AL HENDERSON a doubtful benefit, considering the inevitable losses to the whole life and Navajo MIKE RIOS posterity of the tribe. Second, coal gasification would steal water from the Papago Indian Irrigation Project--a 110, 000 acre, tribally owned and operated farm DELMAR HAMILTON that the U.S. government promised the tribe 107 years ago. This project was Kiowa only 10% operational this past spring. Moreover, $206 million of your and our JAMES NEZ Navajo tax dollars have already been committed to the Irrigation Project. Even this BERNARD SECOND may soon become a futile investment, because predicted water shortages will Mescalero Apache force severe cutbacks in food production, which is sorely needed by both the GERALD WILKINSON Indians and other Americans. Cherokee ADVISORY COUNCIL Those six gasification plants would consume much of the water reserved LOUIS R. BRUCE for the Irrigation Project. They will emit enormous amounts of deadly toxic Sioux-Mohawk VINE DELORIA JR. materials--lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, boron--which will settle over Standing Rock Sioux and ruin the land, contaminate food produce, endanger lives and, ultimately, RAYMOND ICKES force the evacuation of all people within a 13 mile radius. ALVIN JOSEPHY D'ARCY MCNICKLE Western coal costs approximately $2.00 a ton to mine, the mining com- Flathead AL ORTIZ panies will sell the gasification coal for $4.50 a ton. The Navajo Tribe will San Juan Pueblo be paid as low as fifteen cents a ton for this coal. JIM PIERCE El Paso Natural Gas Company and Western Gasification Company (WESCO) will make the profit, but the consumer and taxpayer will pay for it all. Every dollar spent on the development of strip mines and gasification plants is another dollar that will not be spent on permanent and non-destructive alternate energy sources. If this program is permitted realization, it will set off a chain reaction of land-grabbing precedents throughout the mountain and plains states. In every case, Indian Reservations are planned to be the first targets of CONTRIBUTIONS TO NIYC ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE exploitation. The second targets are the public lands held in trust by the government for the American people. Hundreds of thousands of agricultural acres will be ripped up and rendered useless and ugly by strip mining and pollutants. And if this dangerous combination of procedures must be tested, why, we ask, should it begin on Indian farm and grazing lands when, it is well known, two-thirds of the known coal reserves are available elsewhere in the country? The people most directly affected by gasification--the Navajo Indians-- know it will endanger their promised Irrigation Project and threaten their way of life for generations to come. The Reservation will be forced to accept unmanageable boom towns already on the drawing boards. In 25 years, when the investment is paid off and the profits pocketed--the coal and the water gone-- the remains will be a wasteland. Nuclear bombing or chemical warfare couldn't be more effective to render land useless. The Navajo Irrigation Project will last as long as food is needed. It's the prudent choice for the Indians now and later, the best choice for all Americans now and later. The National Indian Youth Council has been initiating action on most of the major Indian survival issues since its inception, fifteen years ago. It has worked quietly and effectively to eliminate the discrimination and abuses continually suffered by Indian people. And now NIYC is actively fighting against what is to be the largest corporate exploitation ever of Indian lands and resources. Your utility bills will be used to finance this agenda of agricultural destruction and the twentieth-century genocide of American Indian people. We are up against giants, who have millions to spend for lobbying, public relations and legal counsel. We have the commitment, but need your support to enable us to do the research, testimony, publication and field work required at each step of the long struggle before us. We must protect our lands and water: it is all we have, all that we can leave to our children and theirs who come after them. So we ask you to do two things--First, read the enclosed letter, and if you feel as we do, please sign it. Second, return the signed letter in the enclosed envelope with the largest possible contribution. Twenty-five dollars will do a lot, any contribution will be greatly appreciated. Kindly write your check payable to NIYC today. Our needs are urgent! Thank you, My friend, Dalin Redhause Derald Wilkinson John Redhouse Gerald Wilkinson Navajo Cherokee Associate Director Executive Director P.S. All contributions to NIYC are tax deductible. The National Indian Youth Council Program NATIONAL INDIAN YOUTH COUNCIL Opposing Strip Mining and Coal Gasification 1961 THE ONLY MAN-MADE OBJECT GEMINI ASTRONAUTS COULD SEE FROM SPACE WAS POLLUTION FROM THE FOUR CORNERS POWER PLANT NEAR FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO. EACH OF THE PROPOSED PLANTS WE ARE OPPOSING WILL BE SEVERAL TIMES LARGER. Scientific Research NIYC is actively researching the following areas that are relevant to the gasification issue The availability of water in the San Juan river The effects of the toxic emissions from the proposed gasification plants on people, livestock, land, vegetation and the atmosphere The destruction of Navajo culture which will be caused by gasifica- tion plants and resultant reservation Boom Towns The results of this research will be used for expert testimony in the courts and at public hearings. We desperately need more scientific and tech- nical data to reinforce our original findings. Litigation At present NIYC has only two full-time attorneys and one legal secretary. They deal not only with the gasification issue, but with all other legal issues with which NIYC is engaged. To move forward will require at least three full-time attorneys, three legal secretaries and three legal researchers To institute legal actions to protect the rights of individual Navajos dis- placed from their homes and landholdings To challenge the adequacy of Environmental Impact Statements To challenge the legality of Department of the Interior water allocations To prepare the groundwork for these long legal battles requires thousands of hours for Legal research Drafting complaints Preparation of expert testimony Writing briefs Administrative appeals Community Organizing Navajo community organizing must meet unique requirements. Navajo is not traditionally a written language. About one-third of the people on the Reservation do not read or write English. To be effective, NIYC needs to Print materials in both Navajo and English Use radio extensively for communication (in both languages) Develop and present special audio-visual programs Contributions to NIYC are tax deductible over please NIYC has established field offices on the Navajo Reservation and we are utilizing our teams of bilingual (Navajo-English) field workers to Go into the affected areas to inform the people on this issue Organize at the grass root level Conduct a full scale petition drive, so the people will be heard Spreading the Word NIYC has and must continue to prepare and transmit information nationally through the various media, radio, T.V., newspapers and pamphlets. We need to reach millions of people throughout this nation, both Indian and non-Indian. Please Help We are up against giants who have millions to spend for lobbying, public relations and legal counsel. We have the commitment and the energy but it also takes money. NIYC estimates it will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for the next several years. Please help us WIN this battle $50 lets us print 5,000 pamphlets $100 sends one of our organizers into the field for ten days $500 supplies one day of expert testimony in court $1,000 enables us to develop an audio-visual package for community organizing $5,000 supports one essential water-engineering study to challenge corporate contentions on water availability The NIYC is 15 years old. Since its founding by ten Indian young people in Gallup, New Mexico, it has spread across the country to a membership of 15,000, with 55 chapters. NIYC is a source of identity and strength to Indian people. Recent studies indicate that there were between 9½ and 12 million Indian people living above the current Mexican border before Columbus. In 1970, however, the United States census takers could only count up to 800,000 sur- vivors in this country. The cost of removing duplication is prohibitive. If you receive more than one copy of this appeal, you can help NIYC by passing the extra copies on to your friends or relatives who may be Interested. "Our land is more valuable than your money. It will last forever. It will not even perish by the flames of fire. As long as the sun shines and the waters flow, this June will be here to give life to man and animals. We cannot sell the lives of men and animals; therefore we cannot sell this land. It was put here for us by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it be- cause it does not belong to us. You can count your oney and burn it within the nod of a buffalo's head, but only the Great Spirit can count the grains of sand and the ades of grass of these plains. As a present to you, we will give you anything we have that you canstake with you; but the land, never." Blackfeet Chief, Recorded in a 19th Century Treaty Council Dear National Indian Youth Council, Please forward the enclosed letter which I have signed to the President of the United States and the Secretary of the Interior. Thank you To the President of the United States and the Secretary of the Interior. I am writing to you today because I do not want the proposed gasification plants to become another blot on my conscience as a United States citizen. I do not want another part of the continent ripped beyond recognition, like the desolation already visited upon Appalachia, in order to satisfy the greed of the few who do profit. American pride and independence cannot be achieved by expro- priation of those natural resources we hold in trust, which we are treaty-bound to protect, solemnly, from even ourselves. American good faith and goals can be better pursued if the precious water of the San Juan River were used to make fertile those sections of Indian land readied for the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project that was prom- ised in their Treaty of 1868. This would give food for all people. I want to go on record against the inevitable genocide of those Indians whose rights, dignity and livelihoods will be once again trampled and ignored. Their ancestors have farmed or raised stock on these acres for hundreds of years. I am writing because I believe the wisdom at the core of our Constitution and government is still intact and not just the bureaucratic shell. And I expect you care, as I do, for the moral and spiritual health of all American peoples. Finally, I ask that you and your tax-paid staff share these con- cerns with the proper parties at the Department of Interior, the Bu- reau of Indian Affairs, the Federal Power Commission, the Civil Rights Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency. Please write me what you are now doing to stop this proposed genocide. Signature (Please Print) Name Address City State Zip THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON December 10, 1976 Note to Commissioner Reifel Having received two already, I am afraid that the White House will be getting a stack of mail in response to this NIYC letter. I wrote one answer and sent it (copy attached) but if there is going to be a sizeable influx, I would appreciate a draft response prepared by BIA which I can sign; I imagine there are additional facts, especially on the leasing arrangements, which should be included in rebuttal. The letter, as you can see, is fundamentally a fund-raising enterprise, and I would imagine that it tends to overstate if only for that reason Bradley H. Patterson, Jr. December 10, 1976 Dear Sister Gillgannon: The President has asked me to thank you for your letter of December 1 about coal gasification plants planned for the Navajo area. We consider that the most responsible spokes- men for the rights add concerns of Indian Tribes are the elected Tribal Councils of those same tribes. I have checked and have been told that in the two cases where gasification plants are being proposed for the Navajo area the Tribal Council has indeed been consulted and is very much in the middle of the action process. The Tribal Council must approve any leases and of course also reviews the necessary Environmental Impact Statements. You may wish to communicate your own concern to the Navajo Tribal Council at Window Rock, and I in turn will send a copy of your letter to the Office of the Secretary of the Interior so that he will know of your views. Sincerely yours, Bradley H. Patterson, Jr. Sister Mary McAuley Gillgannon 1801 South 72 Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 BHP:lab file to Loren Rivard, Dept. of Interior FORD GERALD National Indian Youth Council, Inc. NATIONAL INDIAN YOUTH COUNCIL 201 Hermosa N.E. Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108 1961 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GERALD WILKINSON Cherokee Fall 1976 ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR JOHN REDHOUSE Navajo Dear Friend, STAFF ATTORNEYS THOMAS E. LUEBBEN MARCIA JANE WILSON Government legislation is about to destroy 58, 000 acres of grazing land and consume 479 billion gallons of precious and scarce water. This mindless BOARD OF DIRECTORS legislation proposes a reckless scheme to build the nation's first six President commercial coal gasification plants. These untested plants are to be built LAWRENCE ROBERTS Oneida in a concentrated area of the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. Each plant Vice-President will cost $1 billion. Each plant will be obsolete in 25 years or less. HERB BLATCHFORD Navajo The whole plan just doesn't make sense. First, it represents a Band- Secretary-Treasurer VIOLA HATCH Aid approach to America's energy problem, but it's also a planned invasion Arapaho of Navajo natural resources. It will only give labor to a few of the Indians-- AL HENDERSON a doubtful benefit, considering the inevitable losses to the whole life and Navajo MIKE RIOS posterity of the tribe. Second, coal gasification would steal water from the Papago Indian Irrigation Project--a 110,000 acre, tribally owned and operated farm DELMAR HAMILTON that the U.S. government promised the tribe 107 years ago. This project was Kiowa only I0% operational this past spring. Moreover, $206 million of your and our JAMES NEZ Navajo tax dollars have already been committed to the Irrigation Project. Even this BERNARD SECOND may soon become a futile investment, because predicted water shortages will Mescalero pache force severe cutbacks in food production, which is sorely needed by both the GERALD WILKINSON Indians and other Americans. Cherokee ADVISORY COUNCIL Those six gasification plants would consume much of the water reserved LOUIS R. BRUCE for the Irrigation Project. They will emit enormous amounts of deadly toxic Sioux-Mohawk VINE DELORIA JR. materials--lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, boron--which will settle over Standing Rock Sioux and ruin the land, contaminate food produce, endanger lives and, ultimately, RAYMOND ICKES force the evacuation of all people within a 13 mile radius. ALVIN JOSEPHY D'ARCY MCNICKLE Western coal costs approximately $2.00 a ton to mine, the mining com- Flathead panies will sell the gasification coal for $4.50 a ton. The Navajo Tribe will AL ORTIZ San Juan Pueblo be paid as low as fifteen cents a ton for this coal. JIM PIERCE El Paso Natural Gas Company and Western Gasification Company (WESCO) will make the profit, but the consumer and taxpayer will pay for it all. Every dollar spent on the development of strip mines and gasification plants is another dollar that will not be spent on permanent and non-destructive alternate energy sources. If this program is permitted realization, it will set off a chain reaction of land-grabbing precedents throughout the mountain and plains states. In every case, Indian Reservations are planned to be the first targets of & FORD CERALD CONTRIBUTIONS TO NIYC ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE exploitation. The second targets are the public lands held in trust by the government for the American people. Hundreds of thousands of agricultural acres will be ripped up and rendered useless and ugly by strip mining and pollutants. And if this dangerous combination of procedures must be tested, why, we ask, should it begin on Indian farm and grazing lands when, it is well known, two-thirds of the known coal reserves are available elsewhere in the country? The people most directly affected by gasification--t Navajo Indians-- know it will endanger their promised Irrigation Project and threaten their way of life for generations to come. The Reservation will be forced to accept unmanageable boom towns already on the drawing boards. In 25 years, when the investment is paid off and the profits pocketed--the coal and the water gone-- the remains will be a wasteland. Nuclear bombing or chemical warfare couldn't be more effective to render land useless. The Navajo Irrigation Project will last as long as food is needed. It's the prudent choice for the Indians now and later, the best choice for all Americans now and later. The National Indian Youth Council has been initiating action on most of the major Indian survival issues since its inception, fifteen years ago. It has worked quietly and effectively to eliminate the discrimination and abuses continually suffered by Indian people. And now NIYC is actively fighting against what is to be the largest corporate exploitation ever of Indian lands and resources. Your utility bills will be used to finance this agenda of agricultural destruction and the twentieth-century genocide of American Indian people. We are up against giants, who have millions to spend for lobbying, public relations and legal counsel. We have the commitment, but need your support to enable us to do the research, testimony, publication and field work required at each step of the long struggle before us. We must protect our lands and water: it is all we have, all that we can leave to our children and theirs who come after them. So we ask you to do two things--First, read the enclosed letter, and if you feel as we do, please sign it. Second, return the signed letter in the enclosed envelope with the largest possible contribution. Twenty-five dollars will do a lot, any contribution will be greatly appreciated. Kindly write your check payable to NIYC today. Our needs are urgent! Thank you, My friend, Dalin Redhause Deracd Wilkinson John Redhouse Gerald Wilkinson Navajo Cherokee Associate Director Executive Director P.S. All contributions to NIYC are tax deductible.

Page data

Page
1
Source index
0
Type
document
Media ID
aeee97c4f7105a90
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
1103402
Core
doc
Type
document
DTO data 
{
    "id": "1103402",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1103402",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "National Indian Youth Council",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1103402",
    "collections": [
        "Bradley H. Patterson Files (Ford Administration)",
        "Bradley Patterson's Native American Programs Files"
    ],
    "subjects": [
        "Coal",
        "Natural gas",
        "Navajo Indians",
        "Legislation",
        "Indians of North America"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/1034/1103402/content/library/document/0142/1103402.pdf",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/1034/1103402/content/library/document/0142/1103402.pdf",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/1034/1103402/content/library/document/0142/1103402.pdf",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}

Context sent to Scholar

Document identity 
{
    "localId": "1103402",
    "label": "National Indian Youth Council",
    "core": "doc",
    "dtoType": "document",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1103402"
}
Document source metadata 
{
    "id": "1103402",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1103402",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "National Indian Youth Council",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1103402",
    "collections": [
        "Bradley H. Patterson Files (Ford Administration)",
        "Bradley Patterson's Native American Programs Files"
    ],
    "subjects": [
        "Coal",
        "Natural gas",
        "Navajo Indians",
        "Legislation",
        "Indians of North America"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/1034/1103402/content/library/document/0142/1103402.pdf",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/1034/1103402/content/library/document/0142/1103402.pdf",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/1034/1103402/content/library/document/0142/1103402.pdf",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "hasImages": true,
    "source": "import",
    "hasTranscription": false
}
Document source extras 
{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1103402",
    "naId": 1103402,
    "coverageEndDate": {
        "logicalDate": "1976-12-01",
        "month": 12,
        "year": 1976
    },
    "coverageStartDate": {
        "logicalDate": "1976-12-01",
        "month": 12,
        "year": 1976
    },
    "levelOfDescription": "fileUnit",
    "recordType": "description",
    "ocrSource": "nara-archive"
}
Page context 
{
    "seq": 1,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/1034/1103402/content/library/document/0142/1103402.pdf",
    "mediaId": "aeee97c4f7105a90",
    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box 4, folder \"National Indian Youth Council\" of\nthe Bradley H. Patterson Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nAMERICAN REVOLUTION\nBICENTENNIAL ADMINISTRATION\n12/1/76\nFOR: Brad Patterson\nFROM: Hugh A. Hall\nX FYI\nFOR APPROPRIATE ACTION\nMAY I HAVE YOUR COMMENTS?\n\\ GERALD R. FORD\nDigitized from Box 4 of the Bradley H. Patterson Files\nat the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\n*\nFIRST CLASS\nPermit No. 2957\nAlbuquerque, N.M.\nBUSINESS REPLY MAIL\nNo Postage Stamp Required If Mailed In The United States\n- Postage Will Be Paid By -\nNATIONAL INDIAN YOUTH COUNCIL\n201 HERMOSA, N. E.\nALBUQUERQUE, N. M. 87108\nMr. Hall FYI\nNational Indian Youth Council, Inc.\nNATIONAL INDIAN YOUTH COUNCIL\n201 Hermosa N.E.\nAlbuquerque, New Mexico 87108\n1961\nEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR\nGERALD WILKINSON\nCherokee\nFall 1976\nASSOCIATE DIRECTOR\nJOHN REDHOUSE\nNavajo\nDear Friend,\nSTAFF ATTORNEYS\nTHOMAS E. LUEBBEN\nMARCIA JANE WILSON\nGovernment legislation is about to destroy 58, 000 acres of grazing land\nand consume 479 billion gallons of precious and scarce water. This mindless\nBOARD OF DIRECTORS\nlegislation proposes a reckless scheme to build the nation's first six\nPresident\ncommercial coal gasification plants. These untested plants are to be built\nLAWRENCE ROBERTS\nOneida\nin a concentrated area of the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. Each plant\nVice-President\nwill cost $1 billion. Each plant will be obsolete in 25 years or less.\nHERB BLATCHFORD\nNavajo\nThe whole plan just doesn't make sense. First, it represents a Band-\nSecretary-Treasurer\nVIOLA HATCH\nAid approach to America's energy problem, but it's also a planned invasion\nArapaho\nof Navajo natural resources. It will only give labor to a few of the Indians--\nAL HENDERSON\na doubtful benefit, considering the inevitable losses to the whole life and\nNavajo\nMIKE RIOS\nposterity of the tribe. Second, coal gasification would steal water from the\nPapago\nIndian Irrigation Project--a 110, 000 acre, tribally owned and operated farm\nDELMAR HAMILTON\nthat the U.S. government promised the tribe 107 years ago. This project was\nKiowa\nonly 10% operational this past spring. Moreover, $206 million of your and our\nJAMES NEZ\nNavajo\ntax dollars have already been committed to the Irrigation Project. Even this\nBERNARD SECOND\nmay soon become a futile investment, because predicted water shortages will\nMescalero Apache\nforce severe cutbacks in food production, which is sorely needed by both the\nGERALD WILKINSON\nIndians and other Americans.\nCherokee\nADVISORY COUNCIL\nThose six gasification plants would consume much of the water reserved\nLOUIS R. BRUCE\nfor the Irrigation Project. They will emit enormous amounts of deadly toxic\nSioux-Mohawk\nVINE DELORIA JR.\nmaterials--lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, boron--which will settle over\nStanding Rock Sioux\nand ruin the land, contaminate food produce, endanger lives and, ultimately,\nRAYMOND ICKES\nforce the evacuation of all people within a 13 mile radius.\nALVIN JOSEPHY\nD'ARCY MCNICKLE\nWestern coal costs approximately $2.00 a ton to mine, the mining com-\nFlathead\nAL ORTIZ\npanies will sell the gasification coal for $4.50 a ton. The Navajo Tribe will\nSan Juan Pueblo\nbe paid as low as fifteen cents a ton for this coal.\nJIM PIERCE\nEl Paso Natural Gas Company and Western Gasification Company\n(WESCO) will make the profit, but the consumer and taxpayer will pay for it\nall. Every dollar spent on the development of strip mines and gasification\nplants is another dollar that will not be spent on permanent and non-destructive\nalternate energy sources.\nIf this program is permitted realization, it will set off a chain reaction\nof land-grabbing precedents throughout the mountain and plains states. In\nevery case, Indian Reservations are planned to be the first targets of\nCONTRIBUTIONS TO NIYC ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE\nexploitation. The second targets are the public lands held in trust by the\ngovernment for the American people. Hundreds of thousands of agricultural\nacres will be ripped up and rendered useless and ugly by strip mining and\npollutants. And if this dangerous combination of procedures must be tested,\nwhy, we ask, should it begin on Indian farm and grazing lands when, it is well\nknown, two-thirds of the known coal reserves are available elsewhere in the\ncountry?\nThe people most directly affected by gasification--the Navajo Indians--\nknow it will endanger their promised Irrigation Project and threaten their way\nof life for generations to come. The Reservation will be forced to accept\nunmanageable boom towns already on the drawing boards. In 25 years, when\nthe investment is paid off and the profits pocketed--the coal and the water gone--\nthe remains will be a wasteland. Nuclear bombing or chemical warfare couldn't\nbe more effective to render land useless.\nThe Navajo Irrigation Project will last as long as food is needed. It's\nthe prudent choice for the Indians now and later, the best choice for all\nAmericans now and later.\nThe National Indian Youth Council has been initiating action on most of the\nmajor Indian survival issues since its inception, fifteen years ago. It has worked\nquietly and effectively to eliminate the discrimination and abuses continually\nsuffered by Indian people. And now NIYC is actively fighting against what is to\nbe the largest corporate exploitation ever of Indian lands and resources. Your\nutility bills will be used to finance this agenda of agricultural destruction and\nthe twentieth-century genocide of American Indian people.\nWe are up against giants, who have millions to spend for lobbying, public\nrelations and legal counsel. We have the commitment, but need your support to\nenable us to do the research, testimony, publication and field work required at\neach step of the long struggle before us. We must protect our lands and water:\nit is all we have, all that we can leave to our children and theirs who come after\nthem.\nSo we ask you to do two things--First, read the enclosed letter, and if you\nfeel as we do, please sign it. Second, return the signed letter in the enclosed\nenvelope with the largest possible contribution. Twenty-five dollars will do a\nlot, any contribution will be greatly appreciated.\nKindly write your check payable to NIYC today. Our needs are urgent!\nThank you, My friend,\nDalin Redhause Derald Wilkinson\nJohn Redhouse\nGerald Wilkinson\nNavajo\nCherokee\nAssociate Director\nExecutive Director\nP.S. All contributions to NIYC are tax deductible.\nThe National Indian Youth Council Program\nNATIONAL INDIAN YOUTH COUNCIL\nOpposing Strip Mining and Coal Gasification\n1961\nTHE ONLY MAN-MADE OBJECT GEMINI ASTRONAUTS COULD SEE FROM SPACE WAS POLLUTION\nFROM THE FOUR CORNERS POWER PLANT NEAR FARMINGTON, NEW MEXICO.\nEACH OF THE PROPOSED PLANTS WE ARE OPPOSING WILL BE SEVERAL TIMES LARGER.\nScientific Research\nNIYC is actively researching the following areas that are relevant to the\ngasification issue\nThe availability of water in the San Juan river\nThe effects of the toxic emissions from the proposed gasification\nplants on people, livestock, land, vegetation and the atmosphere\nThe destruction of Navajo culture which will be caused by gasifica-\ntion plants and resultant reservation Boom Towns\nThe results of this research will be used for expert testimony in the courts\nand at public hearings. We desperately need more scientific and tech-\nnical data to reinforce our original findings.\nLitigation\nAt present NIYC has only two full-time attorneys and one legal secretary.\nThey deal not only with the gasification issue, but with all other legal issues\nwith which NIYC is engaged. To move forward will require at least three\nfull-time attorneys, three legal secretaries and three legal researchers\nTo institute legal actions to protect the rights of individual Navajos dis-\nplaced from their homes and landholdings\nTo challenge the adequacy of Environmental Impact Statements\nTo challenge the legality of Department of the Interior water allocations\nTo prepare the groundwork for these long legal battles requires thousands\nof hours for\nLegal research\nDrafting complaints\nPreparation of expert testimony\nWriting briefs\nAdministrative appeals\nCommunity Organizing\nNavajo community organizing must meet unique requirements. Navajo is\nnot traditionally a written language. About one-third of the people on the\nReservation do not read or write English. To be effective, NIYC needs to\nPrint materials in both Navajo and English\nUse radio extensively for communication (in both languages)\nDevelop and present special audio-visual programs\nContributions to NIYC are tax deductible\nover please\nNIYC has established field offices on the Navajo Reservation and we are\nutilizing our teams of bilingual (Navajo-English) field workers to\nGo into the affected areas to inform the people on this issue\nOrganize at the grass root level\nConduct a full scale petition drive, so the people will be heard\nSpreading the Word\nNIYC has and must continue to prepare and transmit information nationally\nthrough the various media, radio, T.V., newspapers and pamphlets. We\nneed to reach millions of people throughout this nation, both Indian and\nnon-Indian.\nPlease Help\nWe are up against giants who have millions to spend for lobbying, public\nrelations and legal counsel. We have the commitment and the energy but\nit also takes money. NIYC estimates it will cost hundreds of thousands of\ndollars for the next several years. Please help us WIN this battle\n$50 lets us print 5,000 pamphlets\n$100 sends one of our organizers into the field for ten days\n$500 supplies one day of expert testimony in court\n$1,000 enables us to develop an audio-visual package for community\norganizing\n$5,000 supports one essential water-engineering study to challenge\ncorporate contentions on water availability\nThe NIYC is 15 years old. Since its founding by ten Indian young people in\nGallup, New Mexico, it has spread across the country to a membership of\n15,000, with 55 chapters. NIYC is a source of identity and strength to Indian\npeople.\nRecent studies indicate that there were between 9½ and 12 million Indian\npeople living above the current Mexican border before Columbus. In 1970,\nhowever, the United States census takers could only count up to 800,000 sur-\nvivors in this country.\nThe cost of removing duplication is prohibitive. If you receive more than one copy of this\nappeal, you can help NIYC by passing the extra copies on to your friends or relatives who\nmay be Interested.\n\"Our land is more valuable than your money. It will last\nforever. It will not even perish by the flames of fire. As long\nas the sun shines and the waters flow, this June will be here\nto give life to man and animals. We cannot sell the lives of\nmen and animals; therefore we cannot sell this land. It was\nput here for us by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it be-\ncause it does not belong to us. You can count your oney\nand burn it within the nod of a buffalo's head, but only the\nGreat Spirit can count the grains of sand and the ades of\ngrass of these plains. As a present to you, we will give you\nanything we have that you canstake with you; but the land,\nnever.\"\nBlackfeet Chief, Recorded in a\n19th Century Treaty Council\nDear National Indian Youth Council,\nPlease forward the enclosed letter which I have signed\nto the President of the United States and the Secretary of\nthe Interior.\nThank you\nTo the President of the United States and the Secretary of the Interior.\nI am writing to you today because I do not want the proposed\ngasification plants to become another blot on my conscience as a\nUnited States citizen. I do not want another part of the continent\nripped beyond recognition, like the desolation already visited upon\nAppalachia, in order to satisfy the greed of the few who do profit.\nAmerican pride and independence cannot be achieved by expro-\npriation of those natural resources we hold in trust, which we are\ntreaty-bound to protect, solemnly, from even ourselves. American\ngood faith and goals can be better pursued if the precious water of\nthe San Juan River were used to make fertile those sections of Indian\nland readied for the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project that was prom-\nised in their Treaty of 1868. This would give food for all people.\nI want to go on record against the inevitable genocide of those\nIndians whose rights, dignity and livelihoods will be once again\ntrampled and ignored. Their ancestors have farmed or raised stock\non these acres for hundreds of years. I am writing because I believe\nthe wisdom at the core of our Constitution and government is still\nintact and not just the bureaucratic shell. And I expect you care, as\nI do, for the moral and spiritual health of all American peoples.\nFinally, I ask that you and your tax-paid staff share these con-\ncerns with the proper parties at the Department of Interior, the Bu-\nreau of Indian Affairs, the Federal Power Commission, the Civil\nRights Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency.\nPlease write me what you are now doing to stop this proposed\ngenocide.\nSignature\n(Please Print)\nName\nAddress\nCity\nState\nZip\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nWASHINGTON\nDecember 10, 1976\nNote to Commissioner Reifel\nHaving received two already, I am afraid\nthat the White House will be getting a\nstack of mail in response to this NIYC letter.\nI wrote one answer and sent it (copy attached)\nbut if there is going to be a sizeable influx,\nI would appreciate a draft response prepared\nby BIA which I can sign; I imagine there are\nadditional facts, especially on the leasing\narrangements, which should be included in\nrebuttal. The letter, as you can see, is\nfundamentally a fund-raising enterprise, and\nI would imagine that it tends to overstate\nif only for that reason\nBradley H. Patterson, Jr.\nDecember 10, 1976\nDear Sister Gillgannon:\nThe President has asked me to thank you for\nyour letter of December 1 about coal\ngasification plants planned for the Navajo\narea.\nWe consider that the most responsible spokes-\nmen for the rights add concerns of Indian\nTribes are the elected Tribal Councils of\nthose same tribes. I have checked and have\nbeen told that in the two cases where\ngasification plants are being proposed for the\nNavajo area the Tribal Council has indeed been\nconsulted and is very much in the middle of\nthe action process. The Tribal Council must\napprove any leases and of course also reviews\nthe necessary Environmental Impact Statements.\nYou may wish to communicate your own concern\nto the Navajo Tribal Council at Window Rock,\nand I in turn will send a copy of your letter\nto the Office of the Secretary of the Interior\nso that he will know of your views.\nSincerely yours,\nBradley H. Patterson, Jr.\nSister Mary McAuley Gillgannon\n1801 South 72 Street\nOmaha, Nebraska 68124\nBHP:lab\nfile to Loren Rivard, Dept. of Interior\nFORD\nGERALD\nNational Indian Youth Council, Inc.\nNATIONAL INDIAN YOUTH COUNCIL\n201 Hermosa N.E.\nAlbuquerque, New Mexico 87108\n1961\nEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR\nGERALD WILKINSON\nCherokee\nFall 1976\nASSOCIATE DIRECTOR\nJOHN REDHOUSE\nNavajo\nDear Friend,\nSTAFF ATTORNEYS\nTHOMAS E. LUEBBEN\nMARCIA JANE WILSON\nGovernment legislation is about to destroy 58, 000 acres of grazing land\nand consume 479 billion gallons of precious and scarce water. This mindless\nBOARD OF DIRECTORS\nlegislation proposes a reckless scheme to build the nation's first six\nPresident\ncommercial coal gasification plants. These untested plants are to be built\nLAWRENCE ROBERTS\nOneida\nin a concentrated area of the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. Each plant\nVice-President\nwill cost $1 billion. Each plant will be obsolete in 25 years or less.\nHERB BLATCHFORD\nNavajo\nThe whole plan just doesn't make sense. First, it represents a Band-\nSecretary-Treasurer\nVIOLA HATCH\nAid approach to America's energy problem, but it's also a planned invasion\nArapaho\nof Navajo natural resources. It will only give labor to a few of the Indians--\nAL HENDERSON\na doubtful benefit, considering the inevitable losses to the whole life and\nNavajo\nMIKE RIOS\nposterity of the tribe. Second, coal gasification would steal water from the\nPapago\nIndian Irrigation Project--a 110,000 acre, tribally owned and operated farm\nDELMAR HAMILTON\nthat the U.S. government promised the tribe 107 years ago. This project was\nKiowa\nonly I0% operational this past spring. Moreover, $206 million of your and our\nJAMES NEZ\nNavajo\ntax dollars have already been committed to the Irrigation Project. Even this\nBERNARD SECOND\nmay soon become a futile investment, because predicted water shortages will\nMescalero pache\nforce severe cutbacks in food production, which is sorely needed by both the\nGERALD WILKINSON\nIndians and other Americans.\nCherokee\nADVISORY COUNCIL\nThose six gasification plants would consume much of the water reserved\nLOUIS R. BRUCE\nfor the Irrigation Project. They will emit enormous amounts of deadly toxic\nSioux-Mohawk\nVINE DELORIA JR.\nmaterials--lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, boron--which will settle over\nStanding Rock Sioux\nand ruin the land, contaminate food produce, endanger lives and, ultimately,\nRAYMOND ICKES\nforce the evacuation of all people within a 13 mile radius.\nALVIN JOSEPHY\nD'ARCY MCNICKLE\nWestern coal costs approximately $2.00 a ton to mine, the mining com-\nFlathead\npanies will sell the gasification coal for $4.50 a ton. The Navajo Tribe will\nAL ORTIZ\nSan Juan Pueblo\nbe paid as low as fifteen cents a ton for this coal.\nJIM PIERCE\nEl Paso Natural Gas Company and Western Gasification Company\n(WESCO) will make the profit, but the consumer and taxpayer will pay for it\nall. Every dollar spent on the development of strip mines and gasification\nplants is another dollar that will not be spent on permanent and non-destructive\nalternate energy sources.\nIf this program is permitted realization, it will set off a chain reaction\nof land-grabbing precedents throughout the mountain and plains states. In\nevery case, Indian Reservations are planned to be the first targets of\n&\nFORD\nCERALD\nCONTRIBUTIONS TO NIYC ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE\nexploitation. The second targets are the public lands held in trust by the\ngovernment for the American people. Hundreds of thousands of agricultural\nacres will be ripped up and rendered useless and ugly by strip mining and\npollutants. And if this dangerous combination of procedures must be tested,\nwhy, we ask, should it begin on Indian farm and grazing lands when, it is well\nknown, two-thirds of the known coal reserves are available elsewhere in the\ncountry?\nThe people most directly affected by gasification--t Navajo Indians--\nknow it will endanger their promised Irrigation Project and threaten their way\nof life for generations to come. The Reservation will be forced to accept\nunmanageable boom towns already on the drawing boards. In 25 years, when\nthe investment is paid off and the profits pocketed--the coal and the water gone--\nthe remains will be a wasteland. Nuclear bombing or chemical warfare couldn't\nbe more effective to render land useless.\nThe Navajo Irrigation Project will last as long as food is needed. It's\nthe prudent choice for the Indians now and later, the best choice for all\nAmericans now and later.\nThe National Indian Youth Council has been initiating action on most of the\nmajor Indian survival issues since its inception, fifteen years ago. It has worked\nquietly and effectively to eliminate the discrimination and abuses continually\nsuffered by Indian people. And now NIYC is actively fighting against what is to\nbe the largest corporate exploitation ever of Indian lands and resources. Your\nutility bills will be used to finance this agenda of agricultural destruction and\nthe twentieth-century genocide of American Indian people.\nWe are up against giants, who have millions to spend for lobbying, public\nrelations and legal counsel. We have the commitment, but need your support to\nenable us to do the research, testimony, publication and field work required at\neach step of the long struggle before us. We must protect our lands and water:\nit is all we have, all that we can leave to our children and theirs who come after\nthem.\nSo we ask you to do two things--First, read the enclosed letter, and if you\nfeel as we do, please sign it. Second, return the signed letter in the enclosed\nenvelope with the largest possible contribution. Twenty-five dollars will do a\nlot, any contribution will be greatly appreciated.\nKindly write your check payable to NIYC today. Our needs are urgent!\nThank you, My friend,\nDalin Redhause Deracd Wilkinson\nJohn Redhouse\nGerald Wilkinson\nNavajo\nCherokee\nAssociate Director\nExecutive Director\nP.S. All contributions to NIYC are tax deductible."
}