Smoking Gun: The BLM (Bureau of Land Management)
admits abrogating their responsibility to upholding Section 106 of the National Historic Places Act of 1966, requiring Government to Government Consultation with tribal peoples regarding large scale solar development in the Mojave Desert and throughout the West.
For More Information about “Who Are My People? contact the film maker: robert@studio-rla.com, 415.205.3481
Introduction
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA) requires Federal agencies to take into account the effects of their undertakings on historic properties, and afford the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation a reasonable opportunity to comment. The historic preservation review process mandated by Section 106 is outlined in regulations issued by ACHP. Revised regulations, “Protection of Historic Properties” (36 CFR Part 800), became effective August 5, 2004, and are summarized below.
Initiate Section 106 process
The responsible Federal agency first determines whether it has an undertaking that is a type of activity that could affect historic properties. Historic properties are properties that are included in the National Register of Historic Places or that meet the criteria for the National Register. If so, it must identify the appropriate State Historic Preservation Officer/Tribal Historic Preservation Officer * (SHPO/THPO*) to consult with during the process. It should also plan to involve the public, and identify other potential consulting parties.
“Who Are My People?”
is a 1 x 60 (1 hour) television documentary film on the current and controversial topic of the build out of large scale renewable energy in the deserts of the West.
The LA Times indicates, we are at a “Flashpoint” between competing value-systems. Bodies have been exhumed, and geoglyphs destroyed, in an area that is a long-term indigenous settlement.
“Who Are My People?” depicts how the world’s energy firms like Solar Millennium, the German Solar Giant, have met their match in a small group of Native American elders, in the hottest desert on the planet.
The film takes us behind the scenes of two of the largest solar projects in the world, “fast tracked” by US renewable energy policies, and chronicles their demise.
WITH DON ALFREDO FIGUEROA (YAQUI, CHEMEHUEVI), REVEREND RONALD VAN FLEET (MOJAVE TRADITIONAL/HEREDITARY CHIEF), PHIL SMITH (CHEMEHUEVI). PRESTON ARROW-WEED (QUECHAN, KUMEYAAY), CHEMEHUEVI CHAIRMAN CHARLES WOOD. TRACKS: KEITH SECOLA (IRON MOUNTAIN OJIBWE), JESUS FIGUEROA (CHEMEHUEVI, YAQUI, DINE), VICTOR VAN FLEET (QUECHAN) AND QUECHAN BIRD SINGERS, CHEMEHUEVI HEREDITARY CHIEF LARRY EDDY, MOJAVE INDIAN NATION TRIBAL BAND.