P
to evacuees looking to ride out the storm and its
aftermath.
September 9
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
authorizes Skull Valley nuclear waste site.
After years of debate, the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission approves a repository of radioactive
nuclear waste on the Skull Valley Goshute Reser-
vation in Utah. The NRC agrees to issue a license
to Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of private
companies that plans to relocate some 44,000 tons
of waste to the area. Utah politicians and environ-
mentalists have long opposed the plan. The Skull
Valley Goshute, who number fewer than 150, stand
to earn millions a year through leasing the land for
the dump site.
September 22
A statue of Pueblo revolutionary Popé is
dedicated.
During a small ceremony, a statue of Popé is in-
stalled in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall. Sponsored
by New Mexico, it is the hall’s one-hundredth and
final statue. An Indian from San Juan Pueblo, Popé
led a revolt against Spanish colonists (see entry for
AUGUST 10, 1680). The revolt was the first and
most successful Native uprising in North America.
The statue of Popé was carved from Tennessee mar-
ble by Jemez Pueblo sculptor Cliff Fragua, making
it the only work in the statuary hall created by an
Indian artist. Among the sculptural details are scars
on Popé’s back from whippings he received from
the Spanish for participating in Pueblo ceremonies.
November 11 to 15
The Chinook boycott Lewis and Clark
celebration.
Although the Chinook’s ancestors met explorers Meri-
wether Lewis and William Clark when they reached
the Pacific Ocean, the tribe refuses to participate in
“Destination: The Pacific,” a four-day celebration
of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedi-
tion (see entry for MAY 14, 1804). Chinook leaders
claim they were consulted by the bicentennial orga-
nizers, who then ignored their suggestions to ensure
the event’s historical accuracy. The Chinook are also
angry that the Clatsop-Nealem Confederated Tribes
are included in the celebration. The Chinook charge
that Clatsop-Nehalem are an illegitimate group
trying to lay claim to Chinook territory and treaty
rights. Both groups are seeking recognition as an In-
dian tribe by the federal government (see also entry
for NOVEMBER 8, 2001).“I hope you have had a very
enjoyable time in our coun-
try.... The Chinook Nation
has always been here. We’re
not going away. We’re hoping
to get our place back in history,
like we deserve.”
—Chinook Nation vice chairman
Ray Gardner addressing Lewis and
Clark reenactorsNovember 15Appeals court rejects historical accounting
in Indian trust fund case.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejects the ac-
counting methods ordered by U.S. District Judge
Royce C. Lamberth in Cobell v. Norton (see entry for
JUNE 10, 1996), in which Indian plaintiffs charge
that the federal government grossly mismanaged
trust funds set up for Indians in the 19th century.
The court maintains the historical accounting called
for by Lamberth would not be finished for two hun-
dred years, “generations beyond the lifetimes of all
now living beneficiaries.” Secretary of the Interior
Gale Norton claims the decision is a victory for the
government, while the plaintiffs express relief that