106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2950

AN ACT

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 Arapaho Indians under the leadership

5 of Chief Black Kettle, along Sand Creek in south6 eastern Colorado territory was attacked by approxi7 mately 700 volunteer soldiers commanded by Colonel

8 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 the tribes and

5 the State to be involved in the formulation of gen6 eral management plans and educational programs

7 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 and Arapaho Tribes of

2 Oklahoma;

3 (B) the Northern Cheyenne Tribe; or

4 (C) the Northern Arapaho Tribe.

5 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—

7 (1) DETERMINATION.—On a determination by

8 the Secretary that land described in subsection

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

10 to provide for the preservation, memorialization,

11 commemoration, and interpretation of the Sand

12 Creek Massacre has been acquired by the National

13 Park Service, the Secretary shall establish the Sand

14 Creek Massacre National Historic Site, Colorado.

15 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall publish

16 in the Federal Register a notice of the determination

17 of the Secretary under paragraph (1).

18 (b) BOUNDARY.—

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

20 of approximately 12,480 acres in Kiowa County,

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

22 generally depicted on the map entitled, ‘‘Sand Creek

23 Massacre Historic Site’’, numbered, SAND 80,013

24 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 and solicit advice and recommendations from

3 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) PRIORITY FOR ACQUISITION.—The Secretary

20 shall give priority to the acquisition of land containing the

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

22 which states ‘‘Sand Creek Battleground, November 29

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

24 (c) COST-EFFECTIVENESS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In acquiring land for the

2 site, the Secretary, to the maximum extent prac3 ticable, shall use cost-effective alternatives to Fed4 eral fee ownership, including—

5 (A) the acquisition of conservation ease6 ments; and

7 (B) other means of acquisition that are

8 consistent with local zoning requirements.

9 (2) SUPPORT FACILITIES.—A support facility

10 for the site that is not within the designated bound11 ary of the site may be located in Kiowa County, Col12 orado, subject to an agreement between the Sec13 retary and the Commissioners of Kiowa County, Col14 orado.

15 SEC. 7. MANAGEMENT PLAN.

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

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

18 Act, the Secretary shall prepare a management plan for

19 the site.

20 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The management plan shall cover,

21 at a minimum—

22 (1) measures for the preservation of the re23 sources of the site;
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1 (2) requirements for the type and extent of de2 velopment and use of the site, including, for each

3 development—

4 (A) the general location;

5 (B) timing and implementation require6 ments; and

7 (C) anticipated costs;

8 (3) requirements for offsite support facilities in

9 Kiowa County;

10 (4) identification of, and implementation com11 mitments for, visitor carrying capacities for all areas

12 of the site;

13 (5) opportunities for involvement by the tribes

14 and the State in the formulation of educational pro15 grams for the site; and

16 (6) opportunities for involvement by the tribes,

17 the State, and other local and national entities in

18 the responsibilities of developing and supporting the

19 site.

20 SEC. 8. NEEDS OF DESCENDANTS.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—A descendant shall have reason22 able rights of access to, and use of, federally acquired land

23 within the site, in accordance with the terms and condi24 tions of a written agreement between the Secretary and

25 the tribe of which the descendant is a member.
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1 (b) COMMEMORATIVE NEEDS.—In addition to the

2 rights described in subsection (a), any reasonable need of

3 a descendant shall be considered in park planning and op4 erations, especially with respect to commemorative activi5 ties in designated areas within the site.

6 SEC. 9. TRIBAL ACCESS FOR TRADITIONAL CULTURAL AND

7 HISTORICAL OBSERVANCE.

8 (a) ACCESS.—

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

10 any descendant or other member of a tribe reason11 able access to federally acquired land within the site

12 for the purpose of carrying out a traditional, cul13 tural, or historical observance.

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

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

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

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

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

19 site in order to protect the privacy of tribal members en20 gaging in a traditional, cultural, or historical observance

21 in those portions; and any such closure shall be made in

22 a manner that affects the smallest practicable area for the

23 minimum period necessary for the purposes described

24 above.

25 (c) SAND CREEK REPATRIATION SITE.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall dedicate

2 a portion of the federally acquired land within the

3 site to the establishment and operation of a site at

4 which certain items referred to in paragraph (2)

5 that are repatriated under the Native American

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

7 300 et seq.) or any other provision of law may be

8 interred, reinterred, preserved, or otherwise pro9 tected.

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

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

12 Sand Creek Massacre, such as—

13 (A) Native American human remains;

14 (B) associated funerary objects;

15 (C) unassociated funerary objects;

16 (D) sacred objects; and

17 (E) objects of cultural patrimony.

18 (d) TRIBAL CONSULTATION.—In exercising any au19 thority under this section, the Secretary shall consult with,

20 and solicit advice and recommendations from, descendants

21 and the tribes.
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1 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

3 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

Passed the Senate October 5 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest:

Secretary.

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2950

AN ACT

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

Site in the State of Colorado.