historic_transfer
District 5- A one square mile parcel of state land, designated as Section 36, was officially returned to the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) on Jan. 13, 2010. The event commemorating the occasion was called, “A Cultural Celebration of the Return of Ancestral Lands.”
Section 36 lies south of the Sacaton Buttes and west of the Sacaton Mountains in D5. Spectators gathered at the Northeast corner of Section 36 as the return of the aboriginal lands brings a new chapter in a sequence of events that began over 200 years ago. “We’re celebrating another blessing for the Community,” said Gov. William R. Rhodes.
The Public Land Survey System (PLSS), adopted by Congress in 1785, is the system that surveyors used in 1865 to divide the area into what was called Township 4 South, Range 4 East (T4S, R4E). A common practice was to devote a section, or sometimes two sections, into school reserve land devoted to the use of public education. T4S, R4E had two school sections, Section 16 and Section 36.
After T4S, R4E was annexed in 1913 to GRIC, those two sections remained state land. “These lands should have been given to the Community at that time as it became part of the reservation,” said Dr. Andrew Darling, Cultural Resources Management Program (CRMP).
A number of attempts to pry Section 36 from state control were made and in 1997 CRMP surveyed the land on behalf of Land Use Planning and Zoning (LUPZ) in anticipation of recovering the square mile parcel. GRIC’s Law Office began working with state agencies and started exploring possible solutions to transferring the land. In 2005 the Community filed a complaint for declaratory relief in the District Court of Arizona, which laid the foundation for the return of Section 36. “Now we come to the point where it is legally turned back to us,” said Lt. Gov. Joseph Manuel.
Section 16 was subsequently privatized and is currently in litigation about whether that land should be returned to the Community.
The cultural celebration was conducted by Darren Pedro, D5 Community Chairman and attended by D5 council representatives, Brenda Robertson, Frank Pablo, Sr., Brian Davis and Delane Enos who gave a traditional invocation.
After remarks by Governor and Lt. Governor, guests from state and federal offices were welcomed. “Our office, representing the state Land Department, was able to find some new solutions and working together with the Community and federal officials, were able to get the right conclusion for everybody,” said Terry Goddard, Arizona State Attorney General.
When the land was surveyed in 1997, several archaeological sites were identified. “The actual cultural properties that were identified are prehistoric agricultural fields,” said Dr. Darling.
Darling noted that the prehistoric fields dated back well over a thousand years and carry the remains of dry land farming for corn, agave and yucca. Ancient trails were also discovered as well as pottery remains from the early 1900s.
Another interesting point in the chronology of Section 36 is that from 1942 to 1945 the area was part of Camp Rivers a Japanese internment camp that confined Japanese-Americans during World War II. “You can imagine some of the things that the trees saw over the hundreds if not thousands of year that they’ve been here,” Darling said.
Highlighting the event were traditional presentations by several Community groups. St. Peter Mission School presented along with D1 and D5 elders dance group, Head Start dancers, Pee Posh bird dancers, Casa Blanca Community School dancers and the Hashan Kehk basket dancers.
A tour of Section 36 was conducted by CRMP and Gila River Farms provided hayrides for guests.
“It’s really history in the making because some of the things Gila River is accomplishing right now have never been done before,” said Gov. Rhodes who also thanked the Law Office for their efforts in the return of Section 36 into Community lands.
| < Prev |
|---|