Fawn Sharp: “The land transfer of Oak Flat violates the Federal trust responsibility.”

It is necessary to re-engage and honor the relationship that the United States has with the Tribal Nations going forward if we are going to continue to work through this issue in a way that ensures the trust responsibility is upheld.

I believe this Country, the United States, began to embark on a path to heal the soul of Indian Country.

I look forward to working with members of this Committee and other members of Congress to identify climate adaptation strategies that incorporate traditional ecological knowledge and respect tribal sovereignty and self-determination.

We believe that that action in and of itself gets to the point that President Obama made that words are words, but action means so much more.