Tribes buy back America — acres at a time Purchases to help protect culture, way of life

[kpete]

Source: MSNBC

Tribes buy back America — acres at a time
Purchases to help protect culture, way of life by preserving sacred areas

OMAHA, Nebraska - Native American tribes tired of waiting for the U.S. government to honor centuries-old treaties are buying back land where their ancestors lived and putting it in federal trust.

Native Americans say the purchases will help protect their culture and way of life by preserving burial grounds and areas where sacred rituals are held. They also provide land for farming, timber and other efforts to make the tribes self-sustaining.

Tribes put more than 840,000 acres — or roughly the equivalent of the state of Rhode Island — into trust from 1998 to 2007, according to information The Associated Press obtained from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Freedom of Information Act.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34602971/ns/us_news-life/

[AwakeAtLast]

1. Good for them

Good to see them empower their people and take this on. The tribes will take better care of that land than the Federal Govt.

[divideetimpera]

2. now we need reservations for the rest of america, too

seriously. Why not?

[niyad]

5. welcome to DU

[pscot]

3. K&R

Power to the tribes.

[KT2000]

4. They will be the salvation

of this country. The tribe where I live is saving the salmon, the environmental quality of the area and besides that, they are building and starting businesses that are attractive, successful and I hear the best employers around.
Good for them.

[niyad]

6. and with that oh-so-generous 3 billion, they should be able to buy back a lot more of what was

stolen, sold, whatever.

which reminds me, WHY is bia still handling the trust fund that they screwed up so badly?