(Riverton, WY) – Chants of “Stop Pilot Butte. Save our lands,” could be heard in front of Senator John Barrasso’s Riverton office late Thursday morning into the afternoon (December 5), as members of the Eastern Shoshone/Northern Arapaho Tribes and various advocates took to the street to protest the Pilot Butte Conveyance Act, which protesters state was introduced without Tribal input.
The Pilot Butte Conveyance Act bill (H.R. 3415), was sponsored by Wyoming Representative Harriet Hageman and introduced on May 17, 2023, and was later passed in the House by voice votes back in February. Senator Barrasso also sponsored/introduced an identical bill in the Senate (S. 1662) that was co-sponsored by Senator Cynthia Lummis, which is currently “Placed on (the) Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 356,” according to the bill’s latest action item.
The Act aims to transfer ownership of an unused hydropower plant located in Pavillion from the Bureau of Reclamation to the local Midvale Irrigation District, with plans of revitalizing its use after about 16 years of inoperation.
However, Tribal officials and supporters of Thursday’s peaceful protest, which was sanctioned and permitted by the City of Riverton, have noted that the land the power plant sits on belongs to the Eastern Shoshone, and have been left wondering why the Tribe was never consulted with or made aware of the plans.
“The PBCA is just another example of the white man continually taking that which does not belong to him,” Nicole Wagon, Northern Arapaho Tribal member and one of the protest organizers, stated on Thursday. “The PBCA is a clear indication that the Wyoming Congressional delegation has neither integrity or moral balance to uphold treaty rights. The bill must be opposed at all levels of government.”
As of this writing, Representative Hageman and Senator Barrasso have not responded to County 10’s emails for comment.
About midway through the demonstration, Wayland Large, Chairman of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, read a resolution passed by the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council, declaring “strong opposition” to the bills.
The resolution is transcribed in full below.
“-Whereas the Eastern Shoshone Tribe and the Northern Arapaho Tribe are separate, sovereign, recognized Indian Tribes with inherent sovereign authority and the right to exercise self determination and self governance through their individual and independent elected government, the Eastern Shoshone Business Council and the east the Northern Arapaho Business Council.
–Whereas, the Eastern Shoshone Business Council and the Northern Arapaho Business Council are authorized by a vote of their respective Tribal citizens to conduct the day to day governmental operations and set the policy and procedures for their respective Tribes.
–Whereas, the Wind River Inter-Tribal council was created April 17, 2017 by the Eastern Shoshone Business Council and the Northern Arapaho Business Council through the approval of the Wind River Inter-Tribal Accord and further defined through the June 25, 2019 approval of the Wind River Memorandum of Understanding of the management and oversight of shared Tribal programs and resource.
–Whereas, the Eastern Shoshone Business Council and the Northern Arapaho Business Council have been functioning as the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council for the purpose of working collaborative(ly) to manage shared assets and programs on the Wind River Indian Reservation.
–Whereas, the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council is composed of the Eastern Shoshone Business Council and the Northern Arapaho Business Council and any action taken by the Window River Inter-Tribal Council requires a majority vote of each Tribe’s business council.
–Whereas, in 1863 the Treaty of Fort Bridger guarantees the Eastern Shoshone Tribe nearly 44 million acres of territory.
–Whereas, despite promises from the U.S. government, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe was forced to enter another treaty just five years later in 1868 for the current location, the Wind River Indian Reservation, reducing this territory to approximately 3.2 million acres.
–Whereas, contrary to these commitments, on March 3, 1905 Congress opened a portion of the Wind River Reservation to settle by non-Indians, lands which the US Government later withdrew for the purpose of what would become the Riverton Reclamation Project to develop irrigation infrastructure and water storage facilities for the benefit of non-Indians.
–Whereas, through the act of July 27, 1939, Congress restored undisposed surplus land that was open to settlement under the 1905 act back to Tribal ownership with the exception of land within the Riverton Project.
–Whereas, since this time the Tribes have been consistently and aggressively seeking the return of its remaining withdrawal and unused land related to the Riverton project for decades.
–Whereas, notwithstanding the Tribe’s decades-long effort to restore the Riverton unit lands to the rightful ownership, the Midvale Irrigation District has attempted to bypass the Tribe’s legal rights and the United States trust and treaty obligation through the Pilot Power Plant Conveyance Act which was sponsored by Senator Barrasso and Representative Harriet Hagman.
–Whereas, the act directs the Bureau of Reclamation to negotiate with Midville Irrigation District to enter into an agreement to convey the Pilot Butte Power Plant and its facilities from reclamation to Irrigation District.
–Whereas Pilot Butte Power Plant is located directly in the center of the Wind River Reservation, is part of the treaty territory and was expressly recognized by Reclamation on multiple instances as surplus land that must be transferred to the Tribe.
–Whereas, despite the historical mistreatment of the Tribes from the United States, the Federal government owes both trust and treaty obligation to the Tribe and proceeding with this proposed legislation would constitute a violation of both.
–Whereas neither the Eastern Shoshone Tribe nor the Northern Arapaho Tribe were consulted, engaged or notified of the legislation despite the fact that the involved lands (are) within the reservation boundaries.
–Whereas the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council is staunchly opposed to the legislation and have formed BOR, Senator Barrasso and Representative Hageman of the federal consultation requirement for this legislation and the Federal Government’s trust and treaty responsibility to the Tribe.
–Whereas the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council has still not been consulted on the legislation.
–Whereas the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council is unanimously opposed to this legislation.
“-Therefore let be it resolved that the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council affirms its unanimous opposition to S.1662 and H.R.3415, the Pilot Butte Power Plant Conveyancy Act.
–Be it therefore resolved that the Wind River Inter-Tribal Council will continue to oppose this legislation until meaningful federal consultation occurs and the federal government acts in accordance with its trust and treaty obligation to the Tribe.
–Be it finally resolved that the Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Shoshone Business Council and the Chairman or Co-Chairman of the Northern Arapaho Business Council are directed/authorized to execute and sign any documents necessary to implement this resolution for the Wind River Indian Reservation. This was done in Fort Washakie, Wyoming this 4th day of Decemeber, 2024. Signed by Wayland Large, Chairman of the Eastern Shoshone Business Council and Lloyd Goggles, Chairman of the Northern Arapaho Business Council.“
“You guys are making history today coming together. This is history in the making,” Wagon then told the crowd after thanking the Tribal leaders/Elders in attendance. She then introduced Northern Arapaho elected official Keenan Groesbeck.
“What’s going here, this is downright theft from the federal government,” Groesbeck commented. “It’s federal government overreach. It’s been going on for far too long. It’s time for the Tribes to stand up and assert our sovereignty against the federal government.”
“We’ve had over a hundred years of just, you know, taking,” Jessica Zina, a young Shoshone grassroots activist, later shared with County 10. “It’s time to put a stop to it. It’s not just an Indian problem. The water, the health of the Big Wind River affects all of us, especially down here in Riverton.”
When asked what she thought about the Tribes coming together for this resolution, Zina expressed appreciation.
“I’m happy we’re able to work jointly and fight on an issue together. But at the end of the day, this is 1863, 1868 Shoshone Treaty lands. We need our Shoshones to stand strong and stand on our treaty. I appreciate the Arapaho Business Council backing that because our treaties are what gives us all a home. It’s good to have that backup.”
Felicia Alvarez, an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe who drove from Colorado to attend the protest, echoed those sentiments, calling the joint resolution “powerful,” but noted it’s ultimately up to the Eastern Shoshone to push back.
“As Eastern Shoshone people, we have to stand on our treaty and only we can do that,” Alvarez commented. “We are the signers of those treaties of 1863 and 1868 of Fort Bridger Treaty. We’re the only ones that could do that along with the Shoshone-Bannocks, because we share that treaty with them as well. We all have sovereign rights on our reservation. They’re violating all of our rights.”
Alvarez also expressed her frustration that the Tribes were not consulted and that she and other Tribal members first learned about the bill from a news press release.
“We are here today because of the Pilot Butte Power Plant Conveyance Act that Senator Barrasso is trying to sneak under our belts and not have any consultation with our Tribes,” Alvarez shared. “Anytime they’re trying to change our treaty, they have to consult us. That is something they just can’t push under the table and hope nobody knows what’s going on. (Hageman) never consulted with the Tribes, never said, ‘Hey, I’m going to pass this bill through. I would like to talk to Tribal leaders.’ They never did that at all.”
Alvarez then stressed the importance of contacting the Senate to voice concerns, and informing community Elders about what is happening.
“We were asking for support. If you can support us through your voices by calling the Energy Senate Committee. You can call all the senators, you can email those senators, you can let them know that you oppose them violating our treaty and our sovereignty rights. If you have elders at home, please let them know what’s going on, because they are not hooked to social media.”
Wagon later introduced County 10 to Barbara and Roger Gose, who came to show their support as well.
“We felt that the Tribe was blindsided because they weren’t consulted,” Barbara shared. “And at the very least, there’s an arrogance in that.”
“Yeah, we feel that to take this initiative without at least the courtesy to advise what was being proposed here, I mean, this is on Tribal land, and we just didn’t think that was the appropriate way to go about it,” Roger added.
While official comments in response to the protest have yet to be released, at the time of the bill’s passing in the House, Representative Hageman had this to say.
“Conveying this plant to Midvale Irrigation District truly is a win for all parties involved. I thank Midvale Irrigation District, the Bureau of Reclamation for their support and interest in providing this infrastructure to the people of Wyoming. I also thank Sen. Barrasso for his work shepherding the Senate’s version of this bill, which I encourage them to consider and pass as soon as possible.”
Representative Hageman’s full remarks in support of the Act can be found here.
In a recent post from Native News Online, writer Elyse Wild shared that in response to their request for comment from Senator Barrasso’s office, they were emailed a YouTube video of an October debate, where the senator was asked by Chris Clements from Wyoming Public Media if he considered the situation a “win-win” given the Tribal opposition, to which Senator Barrasso stated the following.
“I think it is a win-win for the people. It’s here in Fremont County. It’s a hydropower plant. It’s about the size of a one-and-a-half football field. I know some people call it a land grab. It’s a fairly small piece of land. There’s a federal building on their power plant that’s ready to be destroyed, paid for by the government, because it’s been basically not in use for the last 15 years, and the people who live right there said, we’ll be happy to put the money in, get it back into use and make sure that the power from there can be used locally.
“Now we understood that the Bureau of Reclamation was going to talk to the local community, Eastern Shoshone, and I understand that they didn’t get talked to. I think that was a mistake. I think they should have been informed earlier on. But no, I do believe it’s a win-win to use the energy to not have the government have to pay the money to destroy this right now. It’s taxpayer money. It’s going to be used that way. This is actually making something that has not been in use for 15 years, put it back to functional use for the benefit of the people right here in Fremont County.”
In terms of the next steps, the Shoshone General Council will meet on December 14. One of the meeting agenda items is listed as “Pilot Butte Actions/Update.” As stated above, the most recent action item for the bill, posted on April 9, 2024, states that the bill is currently placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under “General Orders. Calendar No. 356.”