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Free-Market Approach to Tribal Issues
By:
Shondean Coochise
April 5th 2012, Senators Jon Kyl and John McCain visited with Navajo and Hopi Tribal leaders in Tuba City, Arizona. The meeting with the two tribal leaders centered around Senate Bill 2109, the “Navajo and Hopi Little Colorado River Water Rights Settlement Act of 2012”, proposed by Sen. Kyl. The bill would allow non-Indians organizations free reign to the water rights of the Little Colorado River Aquifer. One of the biggest non-Indian organizations that would benefit from this legislation and allowed to exploit resources is Peabody Coal. Peabody uses the ground water to pump massive amounts of water to transport coal slurry to California power plants. This process removes ground water and transports it over great distances, and it is never returned. Naturally, any water used in the area would eventually be returned through precipitation. This is a government-sponsored handout that benefits corporations in procuring natural resources, and giving away free passes to environmental pollution by establishing “regulated” provisions to “limit” pollution instead of deterring it. This is just one of many examples of federal encroachment on Sovereign nations to exploit natural resources under the auspice of bringing improvements to the reservations. While there are many problems that exist on each individual reservation, two common problems seem to plague each individual tribe - prosperity and environmental concerns. 
Free-market Environmentalism to Protect Traditional Lands
In the United States, there are an estimated 300 Indian reservations. Each reservation has their own culture, language, traditions and unique environmental concerns specific to their location. One of the biggest threats to the environment, on tribal lands, is extraction of natural resources ranging from coal to oil. Many advocates of the EPA claim their efforts to be the only solution to protecting the environment; however, there are other options that could ultimately deter and prevent environmental hazards.  The libertarian approach to the environment and the EPA is free-market environmentalism. In order for a free-market solution to work, it would require the strict enforcement of property rights. Strong property rights allow individuals to take responsibility for protecting their own property from vandalism and pollution. One of the tools that could be used by individuals is the ability to claim grievances for damage of their property through the court system. Damaged property can consist of damage to an individual’s self, family, property, ground water, etc. Property rights can be one of the most effective deterrents because they create a huge environmental liability that corporations will have to include in their business analysis. These environmental liabilities will require a company to address environmental concerns when developing a cost-benefit analysis on a business venture. In an environment with strong property rights, a smart company, not wishing to be in court, is going to address these liabilities because court cost will be considered potential losses when looking at their business plan. The problem we have today is that the government is giving free passes to these corporations by establishing “tolerance limits” which are negotiated with government EPA bureaucrats and company’s executives who dictate pollution levels, while the public has no input. Trying to prevent pollution through legislation is providing an opportunity for corruption by lobbying. These are the same lobbyists that write legislation and regulations to benefit shareholders and big businesses by eliminating competition. Do you think that British Petroleum (BP) would still be drilling off the coast if everyone in the local and outside area (eating the contaminated seafood) could file claims against BP for damages? I think BP would find themselves in court with thousands of new claims filed every day. Property rights gives the power back to the individual to care and address damages to them and their property so they are not dependent on a tribal council that is corrupted by outside interests through “kick-backs.” Property rights are a tool that would best serve the interest of a tribe’s specific environmental concern rather than depending on a government agency (Environmental Protection Agency) to allow “acceptable” amounts pollution and damage to property. Exerting Tribal Sovereignty to bring Prosperity
On July 30, 2001, Federal Drug Enforcement Agents conducted a raid on the Oglala Indian Nation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. The federal agents were there to destroy the hemp fields that the White Plum family had been cultivating for industrial purposes. Prior to the DEA raid, the Oglala tribal council voted to allow the cultivation of Hemp on tribal lands, by passing Ordinance 98-27. The Oglala Tribal council, the governing body of the sovereign nation, allowed the cultivation of industrial hemp to export into the U.S. market. The DEA raid on the Oglala family’s hemp crop and others is just another example of the federal government's blatant disregard for tribal sovereignty. If tribes were able to exert their sovereignty, it would mean increased opportunity for farmers and businesses. 
Hemp, considered a highly profitable cash crop because of its multiple uses in textile, fuel and food products, could provide income to many families that would otherwise be dependent on Government assistance. An opportunity like this could not only provide an income to families, but in the long run could eventually draw non-Indian workers to the reservation. Doing so would create opportunities for businesses to provide goods and services to these workers which now have money due to having employment. In 1999, the United States imported 1,890,421 pounds of raw hemp from one of the largest exporters of hemp, China. The total number of U.S. Hemp sales in 2002 equaled $150 million dollars. This profitable cash crop could be cultivated in practically any climate and soil type. Growing hemp actually benefits the land by replacing important nutrients depleted by other types crops. Hemp cultivation would bring many opportunities to the reservations by providing anyone with land the opportunity to grow crops. They can then hire people to help run the operations associated with the cultivation, harvest and exportation which feeds into the local economy. Imagine the possibilities that this one cash crop could provide for many reservations that have the highest number of unemployment and poverty rates in the United States. This gives the individual the ability to claim their own independence of tribal and federal government assistance, claiming their Liberty. Dine’/Hopi/Tewa
Shondean Coochise is a 9 year Army combat veteran turned Liberty advocate and activist, and spreads the word of Liberty so that others will understand the potential each of us possesses. Peace! (U.S. Army Veteran, '98-'07; Operation Iraqi Freedom, '03-'04)
Shondean is half Dine’ and half Hopi/Tewa. Dine’ (Navajo for ‘the people’) on his mother’s side, who is full-blooded Dine’ from Teesto, AZ. Hope/Tewa on his father’s side, who is full-blooded Hopi/Tewa from Sichomovi Village in Polacca, AZ.
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