Tribes may seek a second flood settlement

By LAUREN DONOVAN Bismarck Tribune | Posted: Friday, January 22, 2010 2:00 am

Leaders of tribes impacted by dams on the Missouri River in North Dakota say some parts of the 1992 settlement by a federal government have not been met.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe at Fort Yates and the Three Affiliated Tribes at New Town met Wednesday at Fort Yates to discuss a possible part two of the original deal, the Joint Tribal Advisory Settlement, known as JTAC.

The settlement was intended to rebuild the post-dam reservation economies, along with providing money for health care and education.

In 1992, Three Affiliated Tribes received $143 million and the Standing Rock Sioux received $90 million. The money is in a federal lockbox and tribes draw down the interest.

The settlement followed an earlier report on the effects of the Pick-Sloan program that constructed the Oahe reservoir that flooded part of Standing Rock and the Garrison Dam reservoir that flooded part of Fort Berthold, home of the Three Affiliated Tribes.

The report looked into the reservations’ potential for irrigation, shoreline recreation and farming and the return of excess lands around the reservoirs. Other aspects were the replacement of infrastructure destroyed by the dams and the tribes receiving preference for hydropower.

In a joint statement, Sioux chairman Charles Murphy and Three Affiliated chairman Marcus Levings say some terms have not been met.

“Both tribes are discussing revisiting the issues that have not been addressed and they are also discussing the possibility of JTAC II and other options … which would address those issues … which were originally promised to both tribes,” their statement says.

The Tribune left messages for both chairmen.