CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS

WHEREAS, The White Clay People occupy their traditional homelands in north central Montana on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and

WHEREAS, The White Clay People as a Sovereign Nation entered into a Treaty with the United States in 1855 that never ceded any land, natural resources or property or water rights;

WHEREAS the State of Montana has negotiate a Water Compact affecting rights retained by the White Clay Peoples as Signatories to the Treaty of 1855, without their participation or consent;

WHEREAS, the state of Montana is not a sovereign Nation and has no business affecting treaties between Sovereign Nations, making the negotiated Water Compact illegal and null and void.

WHEREAS, if approved, this Water Compact will violate Treaty Rights critical to the survival and well being of the White Clay Peoples and many other Indigenous Nations particularly Indigenous Nations that also have treaties with the United States.

WHEREAS the Water Compact as negotiated by the state of Montana bars any future claims to water by the White Clay Peoples, and cedes a great deal of control of their water to a state agency;

WHEREAS the Water Compact does not address White Clay Peoples’ rights to the Missouri River and other major sources of water, established under the Treaty;

WHEREAS, open pit gold mining activity permitted by the United States government and the state of Montana has severely affected water tables, streams and other sources of water for the White Clay Peoples, and whereas the full extent of such depletion and pollution is not yet known;

WHEREAS, since time immemorial the White Clay Peoples have enjoyed their fundamental property rights, human and spiritual rights to all waters flowing below, above and through their lands;

WHEREAS, the Winters doctrine as promulgated by the Supreme Court of the United States guarantees sufficient water to Indian Tribes sufficient for their needs and the needs of their future generations,

WHEREAS, if approved, this Water Compact will completely invalidate the Winters Doctrine;

The White Clay Society, the traditional arm of the White Clay People, recognize their water rights are threatened and that immediate action is necessary to protect these rights;

Therefore, be it resolved,

That the IITC support the White Clay Peoples in their struggle to retain their water rights, by bringing international attention to their struggle to generate support for the White Clay Peoples, and by directing complaints and communications to appropriate international fora for a just resolution of this struggle.