Tribal Lands and Their Resources

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how much pressure is on some tribes to give up their natural resources. It explains that tribal lands across America are covered with a wealth of natural resources, and because of this, tribal lands have always been vulnerable to attack from outsiders and the federal government. It explains that if the resources are valuable enough, they are worth fighting for. It discusses how many Native American tribes have had to fight hard for their rights and the rights to their own natural resources.

From the Paper:

"In Idaho, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's ancient tribal lands were overrun with silver mines in the nineteenth century, and when the mines played out, all that remained was the environmental damage, as this writer notes. "Over a one-hundred year period, the mining industry in northern Idaho's Silver Valley wiped out most natural life in the Coeur d'Alene River Basin by dumping seventy-two million tons of mining waste into the Coeur d'Alene watershed (Althouse, 2001, p. 721). In 1991, the tribe began their own restoration project, and also filed a lawsuit against several mining companies which resulted in the largest ever natural resource damage suit in U.S. history. The Coeur d'Alene are also fighting about who controls the waters and the water quality of Lake Coeur d'Alene, and they were awarded control in 2000 by the courts (Althouse, 2001, p. 721)."

More papers on Tribal Lands and Their Resources:

• Essay # 49378 : "Tribal Lands"
• Persuasive Essay # 50888 : "Tribal Peoples"
• Analytical Essay # 133807 : "The Native Self-Governance Movement in Canada"

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