LAWSUIT: DAM TRANSFER TO TRIBES HAS NUCLEAR PURPOSE
A federal judge refused late Friday evening to block the transfer of a dam to two Native American tribes. Montana lawmakers had launched an emergency petition to block the transfer. It is feared that the tribes intend to contract with Turkey for access to uranium to make “yellowcake” and/or nuclear weapons.
The lawsuit, filed by state Sen. Bob Keenan (R), former state Sen. Verdell Jackson (R) and Pointer Scenic Cruises sought an emergency order to block Saturday’s transfer of the Kerr dam from NorthWestern Energy to the tribes on Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation.
The plaintiffs argue that to avoid negotiating with the United States government for uranium, supposedly to power nuclear generators, Turkey appears to be funding an effort with Native American tribes to gain possession of a federal dam to access the nuclear raw materials on U.S. soil, according to the New York Times.
From 1787 to 1871, nearly 400 treaties were signed between the United States and Indian tribes. The United States obtained the land that they wanted and promised to respect the sovereign independence of the tribes in exchange for food, supplies, health care, education and other services.
Although this “doctrine of trust responsibility” is both a legal and a moral responsibility to recognize Indian sovereignty, the Obama Administration has moved authority for entitlement funding of Indian Affairs from “discretionary” to “mandatory non-discretionary” category within the federal budget. The move all but eliminates Congressional control of Indian activities, such as negotiating with foreign governments.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Lawrence Kogan, suggested that the Turkish government may be seeking to “to more freely promote their brand of Islam on reservations and/or to pursue other potentially more dangerous activities.” Kogan added that those activities could include using the dam’s water resources to mine uranium deposits and reprocess uranium mill tailings to produce yellowcake for use in bombs.
