Nolumbeka Project Announcment

Nolumbeka Project

http://www.nolumbekaproject.org/

October 11, 2015

    ·Exciting news on Indigenous People's Day: 4 New England Tribes Jointly Certify Team to Document Native American Ceremonial Stone Landscape Sites in the Northeast

12 Tribal Representatives Trained to Identify and Document Ceremonial Stone Features as Part of an Emergency Avoidance Plan for Proposed Gas Pipeline Projects in the Northeast

Charlestown, RI, October 6, 2015: Under the auspices of the Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs) of the Narragansett, Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot and Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), individuals from the four sponsoring Tribes as well as members of the Saint Regis Mohawk, Shinnecock, and Passamaquoddy Tribes completed a week-long training in ceremonial stone landscape (CSL) identification at the Narragansett Indian Longhouse in Charlestown, RI, and were certified by the THPOs as CSL Field Specialists. The training was conducted on an emergency basis in response to proposed gas line development projects in the Northeast.
In October of 2002, the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) declared in Resolution #2003:022: "[F]or thousands of years before the immigration of Europeans, the medicine people of the United South and Eastern Tribal [USET] ancestors used [ceremonial stone] landscapes to sustain the people's reliance on Mother Earth and the spirit energies of balance and harmony". (http://www.usetinc.org/…/02%2007%20resolutio…/2007%20037.pdf &

http://www.usetinc.org/wp-content/uploads/bvenuti/Resolutions/2014/2014.056%20-%20CSL-USET%20Resolution%20re%20FERC%20and%20Gas%20Lines.pdf

    In December of 2008, the National Register of Historic Places acknowledged ceremonial stone landscapes as culturally significant to federally recognized Tribes in the Northeast, pursuant to the tenants of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), Section 106, which states: “The agency official shall ensure that consultation in the section 106 process provides the Indian Tribe . . . a reasonable opportunity to identify its concerns about historic properties, advise on the identification and evaluation of historic properties, including those of traditional religious and cultural importance, articulate its views on the undertaking’s effects on such properties, and participate in the resolution of adverse effects.” – National Historic Preservation Act, 36 CFR 800.2(c)(2)(ii)(A). The document also states: “The agency official shall acknowledge that Indian Tribes possess special expertise in assessing the eligibility of historic properties that may possess religious and cultural significance to them.” 800.4(c)(1)
   Thus, by law, Section 106 of the NHPA mandates that before construction, religious and cultural properties of traditional religious and cultural importance to federally recognized Tribes that attach cultural and historical significance to the project areas should be identified and documented in consultation with the affected Tribes. The Tribes, the federal agency, and the project proponents, then work together to devise a plan to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the impacts to the resources. This work must begin as soon as feasible in order for project proponents to receive the necessary permitting for construction from the lead federal agency (in this case, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - FERC). The work cannot proceed without additional trained Tribal representation, thus training Tribal representatives was urgent.The training at the Narragansett Longhouse was authorized by and under the auspices of Narragansett Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas and Medicine Man/THPO John Brown, and occurred under the guidance of the THPOs and their landscape mapping partner Ceremonial Landscapes Research LLC (CLR), an entity created in collaboration with the Tribes to assist in mapping and documenting CSLs using traditional Tribal knowledge. The Tribal representatives will work collaboratively with a mapping team from CLR to identify and document ceremonial stone landscape sites.
    According to Doug Harris, Deputy THPO of the Narragansett Indian Tribal Historic Preservation Office (NITHPO): “Through this training, the Tribal Historic Preservation Offices (THPOs) seek to increase private landholder, federal agency, and project proponent awareness and stewardship of ceremonial stone landscapes that are sacred to our people, and to protect these places from unknowing destruction by development.”
Federal agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers, the FCC, the FAA, the National Forest Service and the Army at Fort Drum, NY have acknowledged the significance of ceremonial stone landscapes, and have encouraged their protection. One hoped-for outcome of this project is to extend that acknowledgement and spirit of stewardship to all regulatory agencies and commissions. These ceremonial places have been identified in territories of past Tribal use from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and with the cooperation of local towns and landholders they should be protected wherever they are.
   For emergency funding we successfully appealed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, gas line companies Spectra Energy and Kinder Morgan, and purveyors of outdoor gear REI and Johnson Outdoors, Inc. Land access was provided by the Narragansett Indian Tribe and the Nature Conservancy..
Media Inquiries for this Release:
Doug Harris, Deputy THPO
Narragansett Indian Tribal Historic Preservation Office (NITHPO).
dhnithpt@gmail.com
(401) 474-5907 or (508) 922-7673

Tribal Contacts for this Release:

Mashantucket Pequot Tribe
Marissa Turnbull, THPO
(800) 369-9663

Mohegan Tribe
James Quinn, THPO
(860) 862-6289

Narragansett Indian Tribe
John Brown, THPO
(401) 364-1100

Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah)
Bettina Washington, THPO
(508) 645-9265