Hoopa appendix supporting summary judgment - Schlosser Law Files

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nues derived from one reservation and simply given it to another
reservation.
Congress was thorough in developing the Settlement Act. Congress
considered history, aboriginal territory, demographics and equity.
Likewise, Federal courts have held that the Hoopa Valley Indian
Reservation was historically the homeland of the Hoopa Tribe
as a matter of history and as a matter of law. We know today that
the Yurok Tribe would attempt to claim otherwise.
These are not new issues and after 40 years of litigation, the
courts have heard and determined this issue and every other possible
issue to be raised in regard to this piece of legislation. The
litigation is now over. We ask Congress now to respect these judicial
decisions and move forward.
In conclusion, the Interior report to Congress is disappointing.
Interior concludes that neither tribe is entitled to the fund under
the act but recommends that they administer the fund for the benefit
of both the Hoopa and Yurok Tribes. This is clearly contradictory.
We have long and hard experience with such administration
during the Short v. United States era. As another witness will testify,
Interior lacks the legal authority and the competence to carryout
such responsibilities fairly.
We believe the issues now before Congress should be resolved
through considered thought and hard work over some period of
time, not necessarily years but long enough to ground any new legislation
on substance and reason rather than emotion.
We have attempted to negotiate and remain open to negotiation.
Thank you for your time.
[Prepared statement of Mr. Marshall appears in appendix.]
The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Would your councilman and the counsel wish to say something
Mr. MARSHALL. Yes.
STATEMENT OF JOSEPH JARNAGHAN, COUNCIL MEMBER,
HOOPA VALLEY TRIBE
Mr. JARNAGHAN. My name is Joseph Jarnaghan. I thank you for
the opportunity to speak before you. I consider it a great honor.
I am a council member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. Before being
elected to the council, I worked for the tribe’s timber industry for
many years. I have a written statement and request that it be included
in the record.
The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, so ordered.
Mr. JARNAGHAN. Our forests are invaluable to our tribe. I want
to tell you with the use of some slides why the return of the Hoopa
escrow moneys to the Hoopa Valley Tribe is particularly appropriate
in this case now that the payment provisions of the act have
been exhausted.
The first slide is a map of the roads built on the Hoopa Valley
Reservation beginning in the 1940’s. There are 550 miles of road
on the reservation. These roads are a major source of sediment production
and contamination of our waters because the Bureau of Indian
Affairs’ maintenance of these roads was grossly inadequate.
When the BIA clearcut our forests, which ultimately generated
the settlement fund, the BIA was more interested in the volume of