STATEMENT OF DR. HEINZ R. HINK The City of Scottsdale requests that the Committee support the Salt RiverPima Maricopa Indian Community and City of Scottsdale request for $750,000 add-on to the Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs budget settlement of land claims on Pima Road. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the City of Scottsdale have been conducting joint planning sessions in order to assure coordinated development of the two jurisdictions along our common boundary. We have discussed problems of drainage, master planning, jurisdictions, roads and other matters of mutual concern. An ongoing dialogue between the people of the Indian community and the City of Scottsdale has resulted in an appreciation of our mutual concerns and a respect for each other's needs. The main problem is the dispute over the taking of Indian land to develop Pima Road as it currently stands. The present road was built on a right of way obtained by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Since much of this right of way is on allotted land, and no remuneration was given, the people feel that they were unjustly treated. Prompt implementation of a settlement is essential to avoid a potentially volatile situation. Until this dispute is resolved there can be no further progress among the communities. Pima Road serves as the boundary between the City of Scottsdale to the west and the Salt River Community to the east. The portion of the road under discussion involves a ten mile strip running from the northern boundary of the reservation south into the City of Tempe. The City of Tempe is supportive of this effort. These outstanding land disputes have been at the core of several other problems regarding the development of Pima Road. There is a need to install a traffic control signal at the corner of McDonald and Pima Roads. To erect the signal, an easement over Indian land is necessary for placement of equipment and establishment of turn lanes. Because of the right of way dispute, the signal has never been erected. Pima Road is also in need of an overlay but the city is hesitant to proceed without resolution of the dispute. Routine maintenance has also been a problem. Most important is the continuance of the good relationship with our Indian neighbors to the east. The two communities have made great strides in establishing a good working relationship. It is vital to continue these joint efforts. The resolution of the Pima Road problem would be a milestone in this effort and open the door for other projects of mutual benefit. Benefits accruing to each of the parties involved from the development of Pima Road are outlined below: 1) Resolution of right of way controversy among the Indian landowners, the Indian Community, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the City of Scottsdale. 2) Ability for commercial and industrial development on the Salt River Community through provisions of a vastly improved transportation network. This development will offer employment for the Indian people, opportunities for higher wages and revenue for Indian landowners. 3) A properly designed and constructed roadway will provide a buffer between commercial development in accordance with the Salt River Community Master Plan and the residential areas to the west. It would buffer the planned agricultural and commercial development on the Indian Community while helping to reduce the problems of dust pollution and crop spraying from the agricultural community affecting the residential area abutting the road. 4) The road will provide access for Salt River residents to the balance of the region. Presently there is no transportation link from the Community's industrial areas to Tempe on the south and Phoenix on the north. Pima Road development will provide access to the Scottsdale industrial area and the rapidly developing Northeast Area of the city. 5) The Pima Road development will help route traffic away from Indian Community residential roads which are designed for internal local traffic. It will also alleviate a critical transportation problem for the city. 6) The project will provide compensation to landowners whose property is needed for the right of way, thus providing seed money for the development of the remaining properties. 7) Proper road design will alleviate many of the Community's drainage problems, provide frontage access and improve the western entry to the reservation. 8) Pima Road development would greatly increase the safety of the miles of roadway by providing a properly designed expressway with limited access. It would also provide another north-south route during flooding. 9) Benefits also accrue regionwide by providing part of a planned link serving the Indian community, Scottsdale, Mesa, Tempe, Phoenix, Glendale, Goodyear and parts of the county. It is the belief of the city and the Indian Community that this first step will lead to full implementation of the proposal as both communities make final road design decisions. Above all, this is an outstanding model of Indian and non-Indian communities working together to address common interests that touch upon many areas of their lives. Attached are correspondence regarding this matter from the Salt River Community and Scottsdale to the Arizona congressional delegation and a letter of support from the City of Tempe. STATEMENT OF HERSCHEL ANDREWS The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community requests that this Committee recommend the appropriation to the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, of the sums of Three Million Nine Hundred Sixteen Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Dollars pursuant to the authorization contained in Public Law 95-399 and of Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars to compensate Indian landowners whose land along Pima Road was taken without compensation for the building of that Road and for design work for an expanded Pima Road. The enactment of Public Law 95-399 marked a significant point in the history and affairs of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community. The Act represented a settlement between the parties which was the culmination of long negotiations preceded by litigation which in turn was preceded by a long period of concern by the members of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community that their rights were not being protected by the United States. Public Law 95-399 was sponsored by all of the members of the Arizona delegation in the House of Representatives. It was sponsored by Senator Goldwater and approved of by Senator DeConcini. Its enactment was endorsed by the U.S. Department of the Interior (see attached letter). It was supported by all of the parties affected by the legislation. The Act was passed unanimously in both Houses of Congress, and was signed by the President on September 30, 1978. The Act ratified the settlement of a boundary dispute, allocating land on the boundary between the Community and certain patent holders and providing for compensation to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and certain non-Indian patent holders for loss of land. map attached hereto.) (See There remains now only the fulfillment of Sections 5 and 6 of the Act. While Section 6 of the Act authorized the appropriation of "such sums as may be necessary," which sums are set out in Section 5 of the Act, the amount required for the fulfillment of the Act, Three Million Nine Hundred Sixteen Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Dollars, has not yet been appropriated. This final action by the United States will settle this controversy to the satisfaction of all the parties. In 1965 and 1966 the Bureau of Indian Affairs began a program to secure rights-of-way from owners of land within the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community to be used to build a portion of Pima Road on the western boundary of the Reservation. Rights-of-way were secured from the Indian landowners for about two-thirds of the land on which the road was built. None of the landowners were ever compensated nor were they ever given the alternative to receive payment for the loss of their land. The taking of the land by the B.I.A. for the benefit of the City of Scottsdale has caused distrust between our Community and the City. In 1974, the attempt by the City to widen the road without adequate right-of-way, but in the belief that it had such right-of-way, brought representatives of the City and the Community to the table together for the first time. There was understanding between us and the road widening was stopped. The Salt River Indian Community attempted to negotiate with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The discussions with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Phoenix Area Office, proved to be fruitless. The B.I.A. was not then willing to take the steps necessary to solve the problems which it had created in 1966 and 1967. In early 1977, certain members of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community owning allotted land on Pima Road north of Indian Bend Road, brought lawsuits against the City and the United States in Federal Court, against the City in State Court and against the Salt River Community in the Salt River Community Court. In all three lawsuits the Courts ruled against the landowners. In the early summer of 1977, the landowners who had brought the lawsuits and certain other persons owning land on Pima Road blockaded the eastern half of Pima Road. Much local distress was created. The Council of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community ordered the Salt River Police Department to clear the Road. The Road was cleared and the blockade ended. The Salt River Community Council authorized its President and Vice President to meet with the Mayor and other appropriate officials of the City of Scottsdale to see whether the two communities could deal with the problems successfully. Those meetings took place over a period of time and the Community and the City have reached comprehensive understandings as to the solution to the Pima Road problems. (For greater detail as to the events leading to this agreement, see the attached letter dated October 31, 1978, to the Honorable John J. Rhodes from the President of the Salt River Indian Community and the Mayor of Scottsdale.) Implementation of the initial phase of our understandings will allow for appraisals of land already taken for the use of Pima Road, compensation for such takings and design work on the expansion and extension of Pima Road. This first step will lead to full implementation of the understandings as the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the City of Scottsdale make final road design decisions. We are in absolute agreement that an appropriately designed Pima Road will be a major benefit not only to our Community, but to the City of Scottsdale and the neighboring Maricopa County communities as well. A detailed examination of the benefits to the Salt River Indian Community, the City of Scottsdale and the entire region is set out in a letter dated August 29, 1978, to the Honorable Dennis DeConcini from the President of the Salt River Indian Community, which is attached hereto. In summary, those benefits include: Salt River Indian Community Resolve the right-of-way controversy among Indian landowners, the Salt River Indian Community, the B.I.A. and the City; Permit commercial industrial development by providing a transportation network; Offer employment for the Indian people; expand the revenue base of the Salt River Indian Community; . Provide a buffer between the Salt River Community and the City while permitting commercial development in concert with the Community's master plan; Alleviate many of the Community's drainage problems, provide frontage access and improve the western entry to the reservation. City of Scottsdale Provide access to the Scottsdale industrial areas and the developing northeast area; . Help alleviate many of the critical transporation problems currently facing the City; Increase safety and provide an emergency access route during flooding; Buffer the planned agricultural and commercial development in the We are supporting a first step in an overall plan. The appropriation request is that first step. It will compensate the Indian landowners for the original taking of their land. It will enable the Community and the City to sit down with the landowners and together work out the future development of Pima Road. The effort that the Community and the City have made toward the resolution of this problem deserves the support of the United States. This project represents a concerted effort by both the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the City of Scottsdale to resolve common problems. We strongly believe that Indian and non-Indian communities can work together in a spirit of cooperation. We have come to realize how closely our communities are tied together--not just geographically but also by common environmental, social and economic interests. We will continue to work together and know that this project will be a model for Indian and non-Indian cooperation. DALLAS INTER-TRIBAL CENTER STATEMENT OF RITA CARPENTER, HEALTH PROJECT/CLINIC DIRECTOR, DALLAS INTER-TRIBAL CENTER ACCOMPANIED BY JUNE COULTER Senator DECONCINI. Our last witness is Rita Carpenter, Dallas Inter-Tribal Center. Welcome to the committee. Your statement will appear in the record. If you would like to highlight it for us, please. Ms. CARPENTER. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, I thank you for this opportunity to speak before you today. My name is Rita Carpenter and my Indian heritage is Cherokee. I am requesting $1,127,236 from this committee to expand services and the development and expansion of the health program of the Dallas Inter-Tribal Center. Our present budget is $327,000 and, according to the Indian Health Service and Dr. Emry Johnson, we will not even receive a cost-of-living increase next year. I feel that it is extremely important that my request for $1,127,000 be granted so that we can have a comprehensive health service program. We serve American Indians in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as well as non-Indians. We are a community-based plan. Many of our present staff are paid through CETA, which means that they are not a permanent employee and they will have to be finding employment later on, in about 6 months. And if our organization had this increase in our budget, we would be able to have a permanent staff. And these people are vital to the operation of our program. We also have mental health problems. We are in desperate need of a mental health department. There are 100 tribes in the rural reservation areas, who have a tremendous rural adjustment to make. They are not doing it too well. We have child abuse, wife abuse, alcoholism and drug abuse, which is rampant. Life-coping problems are just tremendous. The State hospital called me not too long ago and asked me what they could do for Indian people. The people that they had coming in there would sit all day long in the corner, and they would eat when they were told to eat. And if there was any interference, like if the people tried to counsel with them, they would leave, they would find a way to run away. We have had a tremendous amount of success in our community with identifying with our people. They do come to us. They do talk to us. They do accept counseling from us. And I feel that if we had this increase, we could clear up the adjustment problems that our people are having. I guess if you have any questions at this time, I would be more than happy to answer them. I would also like to introduce the person who is with me, which I forgot to do: Ms. June Coulter. She has been helping with our organization for quite a while. She has been helping and been important in working with our Indian people and with the Dallas Inter-Tribal Center. Senator DECONCINI. Is she a member of the staff? Ms. CARPENTER. Yes. Senator DECONCINI. How many people are on the staff now? |