CORP Author |
Northern Great Plains Resource Program, Denver, Colo.;Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.;Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C.;Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C. |
Abstract |
A declaration by American Indians is presented of Indian rights to natural resources, with emphasis on water, in the states of Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. It is a consensus declaration of the 27 tribes located in these states. It declares that '...the American Indian tribes of the Northern Great Plains have the prior and paramount right to the waters of all rivers, streams, or other bodies of water, including all tributaries thereto, which flow through, arise upon, underline or border upon their reservations.' It is supported with legal citations and pertinent sections in the United States Constitution. The report also describes the principle that should be used in the planning and development of their natural resources those promulgated by the United States Water Resources Council and published in the Federal Register, September 10, l973. |