Quinaults, Sharp, Kilmer lead coastal resiliency effort
Destructive weather conditions including persistent flooding, severe storms, intense storm surge and continued drought are placing coastal heritage sites and tribal culture at risk, Fawn Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation, recently told members of U.S. House Natural Resources Indian, Insular, and Alaska Natives Subcommittee.
Testifying in Washington, D.C., at a hearing on H.R. 2719, the Tribal Coastal Resiliency Act, President Sharp said, “Tribes who have lived in coastal regions since time immemorial do not have the necessary tools to protect their people and culture from the devastating impacts of severe weather events and natural disasters on their communities.”
Sharp, who is also President of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and Area Vice President of the National Congress of American Indians, said the United States has a trust responsibility to ensure the safety of tribal communities and the protection of tribal culture. “Upon its formation, the United States acknowledged the existing inherent sovereign authority of Indian tribes over our lands. The federal government entered into hundreds of treaties with Native nations to secure peace and trade agreements, to foster alliances, and to build a land base for the newly formed United States. Through these treaties, tribes ceded hundreds of millions of acres of our homelands. In return, the U.S. promised to provide for the education, health, public safety, and general welfare of Indian people. Persistent flooding, tsunami threats, and erosion put tribal members and cultural sites at risk. These threats cannot be adequately addressed by tribal governments alone.”
The Tribal Coastal Resiliency Act, will expand the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) to recognize the severe challenges tribal governments face in implementing coastal and shoreline measures that support public safety, public access, and cultural and historic preservation. The bill will enable tribal governments to access resources currently only offered to state governments, supporting tribal sovereignty and greater self-determination on tribal lands. The bill upholds the federal government’s treaty and trust responsibilities, while strengthening the government-to-government relationship with federally recognized tribes.
Protecting and preserving coastal areas are essential to the continued existence of tribal culture. “Over the past several years the people of the Quinault Nation have had to endure one natural disaster after another and our tribal government has had to respond with disaster declarations instead of being able to mitigate the damage before it happens,” said President Sharp.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Derek Kilmer along with 20 bi-partisan co-sponsors. It is supported by Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, a tribal organization representing 57 tribes in the Northwest as well as the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes, which represents 35 tribes in the Midwest.
President Sharp detailed several emergencies the Quinault Nation has faced, including a March, 2014 breach of the sea wall protecting the Lower Village. That breach caused severe flooding and property damage. “Our people, our salmon populations, our cultural resources – everyone is suffering. We have been working very hard for a very long time to do all we can to fight back, using every resource at our disposal,” said Sharp. “There is no question that we need the help of Congress and the Federal Administration in these efforts.
In a news release issued last week, she added, “Our culture is intertwined with nature and our connection to the natural resources of the Olympic Peninsula. Our respect for the Creator’s gifts and our ability to harvest, hunt, and gather is at the core of our cultural identity as well as our economy. Intensified weather conditions, natural disasters, and public safety concerns threaten the very existence of the Quinault people.”