Trump advisors aim to privatize oil-rich Indian reservations

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Beefy

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Native American reservations cover just 2 percent of the United States, but they may contain about a fifth of the nation’s oil and gas, along with vast coal reserves.

Now, a group of advisors to President-elect Donald Trump on Native American issues wants to free those resources from what they call a suffocating federal bureaucracy that holds title to 56 million acres of tribal lands, two chairmen of the coalition told Reuters in exclusive interviews.

The group proposes to put those lands into private ownership - a politically explosive idea that could upend more than century of policy designed to preserve Indian tribes on U.S.-owned reservations, which are governed by tribal leaders as sovereign nations.

The tribes have rights to use the land, but they do not own it. They can drill it and reap the profits, but only under regulations that are far more burdensome than those applied to private property.

"We should take tribal land away from public treatment," said Markwayne Mullin, a Republican U.S. Representative from Oklahoma and a Cherokee tribe member who is co-chairing Trump’s Native American Affairs Coalition. "As long as we can do it without unintended consequences, I think we will have broad support around Indian country."

The plan dovetails with Trump’s larger aim of slashing regulation to boost energy production. It could deeply divide Native American leaders, who hold a range of opinions on the proper balance between development and conservation.

The proposed path to deregulated drilling - privatizing reservations - could prove even more divisive. Many Native Americans view such efforts as a violation of tribal self-determination and culture.

"Our spiritual leaders are opposed to the privatization of our lands, which means the commoditization of the nature, water, air we hold sacred," said Tom Goldtooth, a member of both the Navajo and the Dakota tribes who runs the Indigenous Environmental Network. "Privatization has been the goal since colonization – to strip Native Nations of their sovereignty."

Reservations governed by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs are intended in part to keep Native American lands off the private real estate market, preventing sales to non-Indians. An official at the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...BN13U1B1?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social
 
At this point we can literally assume the worst action being done for EVERY issue.

Like literally come up with a situation that we've dealt with as a country and society, now think of the worst action. That is what Trump is doing.
 
Yeah, put that nail in the coffin of many races of our species.

That's what we get for calling people "deplorable" I guess.

/infiniteeyerolls
 
I work on the Apache reservations in New Mexico and the day after the election the mood was notably grim. I know this news is going to be really disheartening to a lot of people.
 
Amazing. Privatize the land, give the indians some new land that they can use, ultimately find sth. precious on that new land, privatize the land... rinse and repeat.
 
"We should take tribal land away from Native Americans," said Markwayne Mullin, a Republican U.S. Representative from Oklahoma and a Cherokee tribe member who is co-chairing Trump’s Native American Affairs Coalition. "As long as we can do it without unintended consequences, I think we will have broad support around Indian country."

FTFY
 
"We should take tribal land away from public treatment," said Markwayne Mullin, a Republican U.S. Representative from Oklahoma and a Cherokee tribe member who is co-chairing Trump’s Native American Affairs Coalition. "As long as we can do it without unintended consequences, I think we will have broad support around Indian country."
😆
 
Bureaucracy? Is that what they call inconvenient paperwork that declares that someone else owns the shit that they want to rape and pillage?
 
Lol, Markwayne. Your first name has two first names. Thanks for giving me another reason to be embarrassed of my home.
 
Its like Trump and his people sat down and said to themselves:

"Ok so what is one of the most fucked up things we can do to Native Americans?"

"Take their land from them. Again."

"Brilliant!"
 
This fascist white supremacist piece of shit probably has plans to finish off the genocide of the native peoples. Fuck off Trump.
 
Its like Trump and his people sat down and said to themselves:

"Ok so what is one of the most fucked up things we can do to Native Americans?"

"Take their land from them. Again."

"Brilliant!"

Trump LITERALLY said in a debate we should "take the oil". I'm pretty sure that fucked up mentality wasn't limited to the Middle East.
 
So forgive me for being confused about this.

Is this meant to make it easier for Tribes to develop oil and gas production on their own lands via less regulation?

Or to have non-Native private entities take over the land for those uses?
 
Am I reading this right? It sounds like the plan is to privatize it into the hands of the people currently living on it so that they are able to then drill into it and sell the resources in ways they are currently not permitted? Do I have that wrong?
 
What does this mean for the pipeline deal that happened yesterday?
Good question.

Speaking of the pipeline I'd like to know how they could possibly re-route that thing. No matter what they do it looks like it'd have to cross over or under those waters. Of course that's all moot anyway if Trump gets involved once he assumes office.
 
This assholes not even president yet.

You can literally, as in literally literally not figuratively literally expect the worst outcome for anything Trump does.

Maybe that way when Trump does something only slightly less worse than the absolute worse his supporters can feel high and mighty (those assholes already feel that anyways).

So much anxiety.
 
So forgive me for being confused about this.

Is this meant to make it easier for Tribes to develop oil and gas production on their own lands via less regulation?

Or to have non-Native private entities take over the land for those uses?

Pretty sure the people on the lands in question aren't falling over themselves to develop oil and gas production.

The latter is the likely scenario.

Trail of Tears 2017.
 
What does this mean for the pipeline deal that happened yesterday?

Army Corps of Engineers is a fairly independent group. It'll be hard for Trump to push back by just appointing a crony and telling them to bulldoze the protestors.
 
So forgive me for being confused about this.

Is this meant to make it easier for Tribes to develop oil and gas production on their own lands via less regulation?

Or to have non-Native private entities take over the land for those uses?

It's probably the latter by way of the former.

Big energy companies going in and giving sweetheart deals to corrupt band leaders.
 
Is there any redeeming quality of Trump other than he's not immortal and will one day die, hopefully alone and in pain?
 
Remember that elector in Washington that said Hillary would be worse for native Americans?

Every time Trump opens his mouth that dude looks like a bigger and bigger dumbass.

What does this mean for the pipeline deal that happened yesterday?

Unless they can start constructing along a new line in the next few weeks it might be fucked. Can't say I know the details of how it works though.
 
I was just trying to think of what race or minority Trump hasn't taken a hard stance against yet. Kudos Donald. Well played.
 
So forgive me for being confused about this.

Is this meant to make it easier for Tribes to develop oil and gas production on their own lands via less regulation?

Or to have non-Native private entities take over the land for those uses?


From the article:

The plan dovetails with Trump’s larger aim of slashing regulation to boost energy production. It could deeply divide Native American leaders, who hold a range of opinions on the proper balance between development and conservation.

The proposed path to deregulated drilling - privatizing reservations - could prove even more divisive. Many Native Americans view such efforts as a violation of tribal self-determination and culture.

"Our spiritual leaders are opposed to the privatization of our lands, which means the commoditization of the nature, water, air we hold sacred," said Tom Goldtooth, a member of both the Navajo and the Dakota tribes who runs the Indigenous Environmental Network. "Privatization has been the goal since colonization – to strip Native Nations of their sovereignty."

Reservations governed by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs are intended in part to keep Native American lands off the private real estate market, preventing sales to non-Indians. An official at the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
 
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