[105th Congress Public Law 243]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
<DOC>
[DOCID: f:publ243.105]
[[Page 112 STAT. 1579]]
Public Law 105-243
105th Congress
An Act
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and
feasibility of designating the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic
Site in the State of Colorado as a unit of the National Park System, and
for other purposes. <<NOTE: Oct. 6, 1998 - [S. 1695]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in <<NOTE: Sand Creek Massacre National
Historic Site Study Act of 1998.>> Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Sand Creek Massacre National Historic
Site Study Act of 1998''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) on November <<NOTE: John M. Chivington.>> 29, 1864,
Colonel John M. Chivington led a group of 700
armed <<NOTE: Black Kettle.>> soldiers to a peaceful Cheyenne
village of more than 100 lodges on the Big Sandy, also known as
Sand Creek, located within the Territory of Colorado, and in a
running fight that ranged several miles upstream along the Big
Sandy, slaughtered several hundred Indians in Chief Black
Kettle's village, the majority of whom were women and children;
(2) the incident was quickly recognized as a national
disgrace and investigated and condemned by 2 congressional
committees and a military commission;
(3) although <<NOTE: Cheyenne Tribe. Arapaho Tribe.>> the
United States admitted guilt and reparations were provided for
in article VI of the Treaty of Little Arkansas of October 14,
1865 (14 Stat. 703) between the United States and the Cheyenne
and Arapaho Tribes of Indians, those treaty obligations remain
unfulfilled;
(4) land at or near the site of the Sand Creek Massacre may
be available for purchase from a willing seller; and
(5) the site is of great significance to the Cheyenne and
Arapaho Indian descendants of those who lost their lives at the
incident at Sand Creek and to their tribes, and those
descendants and tribes deserve the right of open access to visit
the site and rights of cultural and historical observance at the
site.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior acting through the Director of the National Park
Service.
(2) Site.--The term ``site'' means the Sand Creek Massacre
site described in section 2.
[[Page 112 STAT. 1580]]
(3) Tribes.--The term ``Tribes'' means--
(A) the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe of Oklahoma;
(B) the Northern Cheyenne Tribe; and
(C) the Northern Arapaho Tribe.
SEC. 4. STUDY.
(a) In <<NOTE: Deadline>> General.--Not later than 18 months after
the date on which funds are made available for the purpose, the
Secretary, in consultation with the Tribes and the State of Colorado,
shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate and the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives a
resource study of the site.
(b) Contents.--The study under subsection (a) shall--
(1) identify the location and extent of the massacre area
and the suitability and feasibility of designating the site as a
unit of the National Park System; and
(2) include cost estimates for any necessary acquisition,
development, operation and maintenance, and identification of
alternatives for the management, administration, and protection
of the area.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary
to carry out this Act.
Approved October 6, 1998.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 1695:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 105-697 (Comm. on Resources).
SENATE REPORTS: No. 105-244 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 144 (1998):
July 17, considered and passed Senate.
Sept. 18, considered and passed House.
<all>