II

Calendar No. 827

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2950

[Report No. 106–418]

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Sand Creek

Massacre National Historic Site in the State of Colorado.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 27, 2000

Mr. CAMPBELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

SEPTEMBER 25 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with amendments

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the

Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in the State

of Colorado.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sand Creek Massacre

5 National Historic Site Establishment Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 (1) on November 29, 1864, a peaceful village of

4 Cheyenne and Northern and Southern Arapaho Indi5 ans Indians under the leadership of Chief Black Ket6 tle, along Sand Creek in southeastern Colorado terri7 tory was attacked by approximately 700 volunteer

8 soldiers commanded by Colonel John M. Chivington;

9 (2) more than 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho were

10 killed in the attack, most of whom were women, chil11 dren, or elderly;

12 (3) during the massacre and the following day,

13 the soldiers committed atrocities on the dead before

14 withdrawing from the field;

15 (4) the site of the Sand Creek Massacre is of

16 great significance, to descendants of the victims of

17 the massacre and their respective tribes, for the

18 commemoration of ancestors at the site;

19 (5) the site is a reminder of the tragic extremes

20 sometimes reached in the 500 years of conflict be21 tween Native Americans and people of European

22 and other origins concerning the land that now com23 prises the United States;

24 (6) Congress, in enacting the Sand Creek Mas25 sacre National Historic Site Study Act of 1998

26 (Public Law 105–243; 112 Stat. 1579), directed the
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1 National Park Service to complete a resources study

2 of the site;

3 (7) the study completed under that Act—

4 (A) identified the location and extent of

5 the area in which the massacre took place; and

6 (B) confirmed the national significance,

7 suitability, and feasibility of, and evaluated

8 management options for, that area, including

9 designation of the site as a unit of the National

10 Park System; and

11 (8) the study included an evaluation of environ12 mental impacts and preliminary cost estimates for

13 facility development, administration, and necessary

14 land acquisition.

15 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

16 (1) to recognize the importance of the Sand

17 Creek Massacre as—

18 (A) a nationally significant element of

19 frontier military and Native American history;

20 and

21 (B) a symbol of the struggles of Native

22 American tribes to maintain their way of life on

23 ancestral land;
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1 (2) to authorize, on acquisition of sufficient

2 land, the establishment of the site of the Sand Creek

3 Massacre as a national historic site; and

4 (3) to provide opportunities for tribes for the

5 tribes and the State to be involved in the formulation

6 of general management plans and educational pro7 grams for the national historic site.

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

9 In this Act:

10 (1) DESCENDANT.—The term ‘‘descendant’’

11 means a member of a tribe, an ancestor of whom

12 was injured or killed in, or otherwise affected by, the

13 Sand Creek Massacre.

14 (2) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘manage15 ment plan’’ means the management plan required to

16 be developed for the site under section 7(a).

17 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

18 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di19 rector of the National Park Service.

20 (4) SITE.—The term ‘‘site’’ means the Sand

21 Creek Massacre National Historic Site established

22 under section 4(a).

23 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State

24 of Colorado.

25 (6) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘tribe’’ means—
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1 (A) the Cheyenne Tribe Cheyenne and

2 Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma;

3 (B) the Arapaho Tribe of Oklahoma;

4 (C) (B) the Northern Cheyenne Tribe; or

5 (D) (C) the Northern Arapaho Tribe.

6 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—

8 (1) DETERMINATION.—On a determination by

9 the Secretary that land described in subsection

10 (b)(1) containing a sufficient quantity of resources

11 to provide for the preservation, memorialization,

12 commemoration, and interpretation of the Sand

13 Creek Massacre has been acquired by the National

14 Park Service, the Secretary shall establish the Sand

15 Creek Massacre National Historic Site, Colorado.

16 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall publish

17 in the Federal Register a notice of the determination

18 of the Secretary under paragraph (1).

19 (b) BOUNDARY.—

20 (1) MAP AND ACREAGE.—The site shall consist

21 of approximately 12,480 acres in Kiowa County,

22 Colorado, the site of the Sand Creek Massacre, as

23 generally depicted on the map entitled, ‘‘Boundary

24 of the Sand Creek Massacre Site’’, numbered,

25 SAND 80,009 IR, and dated July 1, 2000.
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1 (2) LEGAL DESCRIPTION.—The Secretary shall

2 prepare a legal description of the land and interests

3 in land described in paragraph (1).

4 (3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The map prepared

5 under paragraph (1) and the legal description pre6 pared under paragraph (2) shall be on file and avail7 able for public inspection in the appropriate offices

8 of the National Park Service.

9 (4) BOUNDARY REVISION.—The Secretary may,

10 as necessary, make minor revisions to the boundary

11 of the site in accordance with section 7(c) of the

12 Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 (16

13 U.S.C. 460l–9(c)).

14 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall manage the

16 site in accordance with—

17 (1) this Act;

18 (2) the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to establish a Na19 tional Park Service, and for other purposes’’, ap20 proved August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1

21 et seq.);

22 (3) the Act of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461

23 et seq.); and

24 (4) other laws generally applicable to manage25 ment of units of the National Park System.
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1 (b) MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary shall manage the

2 site—

3 (1) to protect and preserve the site, including—

4 (A) the topographic features that the Sec5 retary determines are important to the site;

6 (B) artifacts and other physical remains of

7 the Sand Creek Massacre; and

8 (C) the cultural landscape of the site, in a

9 manner that preserves, as closely as practicable,

10 the cultural landscape of the site as it appeared

11 at the time of the Sand Creek Massacre;

12 (2)(A) to interpret the natural and cultural re13 source values associated with the site; and

14 (B) provide for public understanding and ap15 preciation of, and preserve for future generations,

16 those values; and

17 (3) to memorialize, commemorate, and provide

18 information to visitors to the site to—

19 (A) enhance cultural understanding about

20 the site; and

21 (B) assist in minimizing the chances of

22 similar incidents in the future.

23 (c) CONSULTATION AND TRAINING.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In developing the manage25 ment plan and preparing educational programs for
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1 the public about the site, the Secretary shall consult

2 with the with and solicit advice and recommenda3 tions from the tribes and the State.

4 (2) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary may enter

5 into cooperative agreements with the tribes (includ6 ing boards, committees, enterprises, and traditional

7 leaders of the tribes) and the State to carry out this

8 Act.

9 SEC. 6. ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may acquire land

11 and interests in land within the boundaries of the site—

12 (1) through purchase (including purchase with

13 donated or appropriated funds) only from a willing

14 seller; and

15 (2) by donation, exchange, or other means, ex16 cept that any land or interest in land owned by the

17 State (including a political subdivision of the State)

18 may be acquired only by donation.

19 (b) AGRICULTURE; RANCHING.—The Secretary shall

20 permit traditional agricultural and ranching activities con21 ducted at the site on the date of enactment of this Act

22 to continue on privately owned land within the designated

23 boundary of the site in effect on the date of enactment

24 of this Act.
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1 (c) (b) PRIORITY FOR ACQUISITION.—The Secretary

2 shall give priority to the acquisition of land containing the

3 marker in existence on the date of enactment of this Act,

4 which states ‘‘Sand Creek Battleground, November 29

5 and 30, 1864’’, within the boundary of the site.

6 (d) (c) COST-EFFECTIVENESS.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In acquiring land for the

8 site, the Secretary, to the maximum extent prac9 ticable, shall use cost-effective alternatives to Fed10 eral fee ownership, including—

11 (A) the acquisition of conservation ease12 ments; and

13 (B) other means of acquisition that are

14 consistent with local zoning requirements.

15 (2) SUPPORT FACILITIES.—A support facility

16 for the site that is not within the designated bound17 ary of the site may be located in Kiowa County, Col18 orado, subject to an agreement between the Sec19 retary and the Commissioners of Kiowa County, Col20 orado.

21 SEC. 7. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after the

23 date on which funds are made available to carry out this

24 Act, the Secretary shall prepare a management plan for

25 the site.
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1 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The management plan shall cover,

2 at a minimum—

3 (1) measures for the preservation of the re4 sources of the site;

5 (2) requirements for the type and extent of de6 velopment and use of the site, including, for each

7 development—

8 (A) the general location;

9 (B) timing and implementation require10 ments; and

11 (C) anticipated costs;

12 (3) requirements for offsite support facilities in

13 Kiowa County;

14 (4) identification of, and implementation com15 mitments for, visitor carrying capacities for all areas

16 of the site;

17 (5) opportunities for involvement by the tribes

18 and the State in the formulation of educational pro19 grams for the site; and

20 (6) opportunities for involvement by the tribes,

21 the State, and other local and national entities in

22 the responsibilities of developing and supporting the

23 site.
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1 SEC. 8. SPECIAL NEEDS OF DESCENDANTS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—A descendant shall have special

3 reasonable rights of access to, and use of, federally ac4 quired land within the site, in accordance with the terms

5 and conditions of a written agreement between the Sec6 retary and the tribe of which the descendant is a member.

7 (b) COMMEMORATIVE NEEDS.—In addition to the

8 rights described in subsection (a), any special reasonable

9 need of a descendant shall be considered in park planning

10 and operations, especially with respect to commemorative

11 activities in designated areas within the site.

12 SEC. 9. TRIBAL ACCESS FOR TRADITIONAL CULTURAL AND

13 HISTORICAL OBSERVANCE.

14 (a) ACCESS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall grant to

16 any descendant or other member of a tribe reason17 able access to federally acquired land within the site

18 for the purpose of carrying out a traditional, cul19 tural, or historical observance.

20 (2) NO FEE.—The Secretary shall not charge

21 any fee for access granted under paragraph (1).

22 (b) TEMPORARY MEASURES.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to access grant24 ed under subsection (a), the Secretary, on a request

25 by a tribe, may take such temporary measures as

26 are necessary, regarding 1 or more portions of feder-
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1 ally acquired land within the site, to protect the pri2 vacy of any traditional, cultural, or historical observ3 ance of the tribe that is conducted on that land.

4 (2) DURATION; AREA.—A temporary measure

5 under paragraph (1) shall remain in effect only for

6 the duration of, and with respect to the area in the

7 site that is involved in, the carrying out of a tradi8 tional, cultural, or historical observance under para9 graph (1).

10 (b) CONDITIONS OF ACCESS.—In granting access

11 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall temporarily close

12 to the general public one or more specific portions of the

13 site in order to protect the privacy of tribal members engag14 ing in a traditional, cultural, or historical observance in

15 those portions; and any such closure shall be made in a

16 manner that affects the smallest practicable area for the

17 minimum period necessary for the purposes described above.

18 (c) SAND CREEK REPATRIATION SITE.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall dedicate

20 a portion of the federally acquired land within the

21 site to the establishment and operation of a site at

22 which certain items referred to in paragraph (2)

23 that are repatriated under the Native American

24 Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C.

25 300 et seq.) or any other provision of law may be
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1 interred, reinterred, preserved, or otherwise pro2 tected.

3 (2) ACCEPTABLE ITEMS.—The items referred to

4 in paragraph (1) are any items associated with the

5 Sand Creek Massacre, such as—

6 (A) Native American human remains;

7 (B) associated funerary objects;

8 (C) unassociated funerary objects;

9 (D) sacred objects; and

10 (E) objects of cultural patrimony.

11 (d) TRIBAL CONSULTATION.—In exercising any au12 thority under this section, the Secretary shall consult with,

13 and solicit advice and recommendations from, descendants

14 and tribes located in the vicinity of the site. the tribes.

15 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

16 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

17 as are necessary to carry out this Act.
Calendar No. 827

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2950

[Report No. 106–418]

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic

Site in the State of Colorado.

SEPTEMBER 25 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Reported with amendments