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192 chapter eight Sacred Land Returns and Repatriation Power of Federal Indian Law As the nation looked to the West for more land, this agency [BIA] participated in the ethnic cleansing that befell the western tribes. War necessarily begets tragedy; the war for the West was no exception. Yet in these more enlightened times, it must be acknowledged that the deliberate spread of disease, the decimation of the mighty bison herds, the use of the poison alcohol to destroy mind and body, and the cowardly killing of women and children made for tragedy on a scale so ghastly that it cannot be dismissed as merely the inevitable consequence of the clash of competing ways of life. This agency and the good people in it failed in the mission to prevent the devastation. And so great nations of patriot warriors fell. We will never push aside the memory of unnecessary and violent death at places such as Sand Creek, the banks of the Washita River, and Wounded Knee. Kevin Gover, Pawnee, 2000 Within a frequency range of 200 to 700Hz, sounds occur when air pressure from lungs hits vocal folds (also called vocal cords) housed in the larynx, an organ that regulates pitch and volume of the sounds. The tongue, lips, mouth, and pharynx refine such sounds, which produce conversation, singing, snoring, screaming, crying, and other humanoid howls. All of this involves and constitutes the human voice. Men and women speak as many as 16,000 words every twenty-four hours. For Indians, “finding voice” and being heard by the mainstream have been some of their biggest challenges in overcoming American conversational narcissism. Even in the long history of U.S.-Indian relations, the Native voice has been ignored in most of the court decisions, lawmaking, and policy developments. In America, Sacred Land Returns and Repatriation · 193 where individuality is stressed and the squeakiest wheel gets the grease, Indians as the subaltern have learned to make themselves heard. On September 8, 2000, Kevin Gover of the Pawnee tribe in Oklahoma, Princeton graduate and lawyer, headed the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)— the U.S. institution that represented the oppression of tribal sovereignty and Native freedom. Gover made the conscious decision to make a public apology on behalf of the BIA in addressing the U.S. Congress. One might say it was ironic, illogical, and actually wrong for an Indian to make an apology to all Indians, something that someone else should have done, like the president. Also ironic, that day was the 175th anniversary of the founding of the BIA, another important reason for Gover to make this historical apology. Perception has been one of the key differentials that have divided Indians and non-Indians, positioning them in a binary of “us” versus “them.” Cultural differences and different ways of perceiving their surroundings have led to ill relations. One of the most explosive issues in Indian Country in the late twentieth century has involved the struggle by Indian people for the protection and return of their sacred sites. This important issue relates to the repatriation of Indian artifacts and burial remains that has occurred for most of the last quarter century. The repatriation movement has created much debate in Indian Country, and it is a response to the unfortunate crime of stealing artifacts and human remains, as well as desecrating sacred sites that are a part of Native people. American Indians were at a loss as their concerns went unheard until the late 1960s and the rise of Indian activism and the Red Power movement. Red Power meant asserting Indian legal and cultural rights. President Richard Nixon listened and put words into action following his special message to Congress concerning American Indians in 1970. During these years, the public heard Indian views on the news and read them in newspapers across the nation. Finding voice happened for Indians when the American mainstream heard Indian protests and read about Indian activism in newspapers . With television becoming a part of American culture in the early 1960s, more people witnessed Indian issues being debated every day. In their quest to ensure the return of artifacts, burial remains, and sacred sites, Indians regularly encountered obstacles due to the complexity of federal Indian law. The controversy raised significant questions, especially for Native people in the West. The dialogue addressed the fundamental interpretation of the Constitution as the document pertaining to Americans, but not American Indians, although Native people became U.S. citizens. For example, what are...

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