US Govt Helps Companies Rob Native Americans of Their Land

The bulldozing of sacred Indigenous burial sites to make way for the embattled Dakota Access Pipeline is likely just one example within the systematic problem of how the U.S. federal Bureau of Indian Affairs often gives “cheap and easy” access to corporations to exploit natural resources on Native American land, according to a new investigation by In These Times.

The six-month study found that the BIA, which administers the millions of acres of land in trust for Native American owners in the United States, appears to systematically favor in negotiations companies looking to lease land for resources extraction while excluding Indigenous stakeholders and turning a blind eye to their concerns about harassment or intimidation.

According to the website of the BIA, which is under the auspices of the U.S. Department of the Interior, the bureau has the responsibility to “protect and improve the trust assets” of Native Americans. In negotiations, that bureau is supposed to negotiate the best possible deal for Native American land holders. But the stated mission flies in the face of what researchers have revealed to be the modus operandi of the office — boosting corporate interests at the expense of Indigenous communities.

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-Govt-Helps-Companies-Rob-Native-Americans-of-Their-Land-20160907-0019.html