The stakeholders in my community of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation are the Joint Tribal Advisory Committee (JTAC) and the Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO). The purpose of the TITLE XXXII-JTAC ORDINANCE No. 321-11 of the Standing Rock Code of Justice is to provide the policies and procedures for equal access to funds generated from the interest through the enactment of P.L. 102-575, Title XXXV, "The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act of 1992" ("the Act''). Congress has mandated interest from the original endowment of $90.6 million to address my community's educational, social welfare, and economic development. The following are categories as developed by my tribe and as authorized by the Act to receive funding: 1.) Education Fund, 2.) Social/Cultural Fund, 3.) District Economic Development Fund, 4.) Resource Development and Land Acquisition fund, 5.) Business Equity Loan Fund, 6.) Endowment Replenishment Fund, 7). Oahe Economic Recovery Fund, and 8.) JTAC Oversight Office.
The JTAC funding is an opportunity to preserve and revitalize the Lakota/Dakota Language and Culture for those who reside on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Additionally, to those individual Tribal members, their immediate family members, and direct descendants who lost their homes or lands due to flooding by the passage of the Oahe Act of 1958. I am a direct descendant of my late Lalá "Grandfather" Philip McLaughlin Sr. He grew up in Madbear Camp along the Mníšoše "Missouri River." Lalá was displaced from his home and land due to the flooding of the Oahe Dam.
The Cultural tenets in TITLE XXXII-JTAC ORDINANCE No. 321-11 are based on our cultural belief system consisting of Seventh Generation, Industriousness, Wisdom, Having Love, and Compassion for One Another. Therefore, my proposal for an Archive Institution identifies the need to document, preserve our history, and train our people to become Tribal Archivists from our perspective, which is cultural and sovereign. Acceptable uses under Chapter 3 - Social/Cultural Fund of TITLE XXXII-JTAC ORDINANCE No. 321-11: Preservation and Programs, and Projects that enhance the Tiospaye "Extend Family" concept. Lastly, acceptable uses under Chapter 8 - OAHE ECONOMIC RECOVERY FUND states, "Establishment of an archive that documents the history of the taking of the reservation lands and identifies the individual Tribal members, their immediate family members and direct descendants who lost their homes and/or lands under the 1958 Act." I propose to engage in my community by bringing together the elders who experienced the flooding and their families to discuss and document their testimonies to help the younger generations remember and understand the present. Another community engagement would be to transfer the information to a digital archive for K-12 teachers and tribal citizens to access.
Archive policies and procedures are acquisition, processing procedure, access policy, preservation methodology, restriction access, and deaccession policy. The acquisition is the mission of the JTAC, which is to preserve and revitalize the Lakota/Dakota Language and Culture for those who reside on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Additionally, to those individual Tribal members, their immediate family members, and direct descendants who lost their homes or lands due to flooding by the passage of the Oahe Act of 1958. The processing procedure involves arranging and describing which elders and Standing Rock citizens can write. Then, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council, Judicial Committee, Health Education and Welfare Committee (HEW), Economics Committee, Representative-at-Large, and District Representatives, would determine the access policy, which means Lakota taboos, restrictions on seasonal stories, and gender roles. The preservation methodology would be up to the elders on how they would like to see the materials preserved for the next seven generations. Restriction access will be for the Cultural Committee/Elder's Preservation Council to review, restrict access to culturally sensitive taboos, and transfer the materials. Finally, the deaccession policy again would be up to the elders to determine what to keep and not keep.
Another stakeholder in my community is the Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO). THPOs are officially designated by Tribes and serve the same functions as a State Historic Preservation Office. The purpose of THPO, according to TITLE XXXII CULTURAL RESOURCE CODE Ordinance No. 189: is to be knowledge of the requirements of the management and preservation of archeological and cultural resources, the official Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act 1990 (NAGPRA) representative, and hold an official position with the North Dakota Intertribal Reinterment Committee (NDIRC) for the tribe. The first THPO to be created by a tribe was my nation, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and the first officer in the nation was Tim Mentz (Dakota/Lakota). One of his mentors was Vine Deloria, Jr. (Dakota), who guided Mentz to study and comprehend the policies and procedures to preserve the stone features of sacred sites. Mentz worked for the THPO for twelve years and continues to educate our people on preserving our sacred sites and the policies and procedures they entail. The current Tribal Historic Preservation Officer is Jon Eagle Sr. (Dakota). He is also the co-owner-operator at the Sung Nagi Kici Okiju: Becoming one with the Spirit of the Horse, LLC.
Once again, the archive policies and procedures are acquisition, processing procedure, access policy, preservation methodology, restriction access, and deaccession policy. The acquisition is the mission of the THPO, which is to preserve the archeological and cultural resources on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The processing procedure involves arranging and describing which Tim Mentz, Jon Eagle, elders, and Standing Rock citizens can write. Then, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council, Judicial Committee, Health Education and Welfare Committee (HEW), Economics Committee, Representative-at-Large, and District Representatives, would determine the access policy, which means Lakota taboos, restrictions on seasonal stories, and gender roles. The preservation methodology would be up to the elders on how they would like to see the materials preserved for the next seven generations. Restriction access will be for the Cultural Committee/Elder's Preservation Council to review, restrict access to culturally sensitive taboos, and transfer the materials. Finally, the deaccession policy again would be up to the elders to determine what to keep and not keep.
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