Miccosukee leader: Our houses won't harm ecology Story-Date: 04:24 a.m. PST Sunday , January 4, 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------ Miccosukee leader: Our houses won't harm ecology By BILLY CYPRESS Billy Cypress, chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, wrote this article for The Herald. The Miccosukee Indians are an important part of the history of the Everglades -- our homeland long before Everglades National Park, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, ever existed. We were forced there by government soldiers trying to remove us from Florida. The presence of the Miccosukee in the area was one of the reasons that the Everglades was designated a park of national importance. And, when Congress established the park in 1934, it recognized our right to continue to live in our traditional homeland. The Park Service doesn't recognize this right. They tried to move us out of the park. They crowded us onto 333 acres on the border of the park . . . less than two one hundredths of one percent of our original homeland. The government told us that this so called "permit area" was ours to build houses and schools. We were forced to go court to fight for our right to build houses for our people. The Herald article -- Tribe fighting for more housing in the Everglades -- reported the Park Service's alleged "environmental concerns" regarding the tribe's housing. They are baseless. The tribe has proven that there are no environmental concerns from the tribe's housing. The tribe's homes and our sanitation systems are elevated. They do not pollute the park. Our systems were designed and inspected by the government, and the tribe has an entire department that monitors our water quality. The Park Service knows that we received permission under the Clean Water Act and from both the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build our homes. The Park Service heard the federal government's own water quality expert testify in court that there would be no impact on water quality in the park from our houses. They heard the anthropologist, who was once retained by the Park Service, say that if the tribal members were forced to move out of the reservation it would be "cultural genocide." They listened as the government employee sent to establish a land base for us to build houses testified that it was his understanding that the permit area is a permanent place for the tribe to build homes. But, the Park Service treats this "permit" like one they give a hot dog vendor. The article failed to report that the Park Service has built a tourist hotel, housing for rangers and enormous parking lot facilities and marinas deep inside the park. Why does the Park Service find it acceptable to construct buildings and roads for tourists inside the park and next to Florida Bay, and not acceptable for the tribe to build houses along Loop Road in an area designated by the government for the tribe to build? Another article, Old ways, new pressures, portrayed the tribe as divided. Not so. The tribe respects differences of opinion. Not everyone wishes to live exactly the same way. Some Miccosukee people want to live in houses, some in traditional chickees. Our living styles may be different, but we share a common heritage and live in harmony. There were also factual errors. Leroy Osceola, who was identified as an independent, lives on the reservation. Nora Billie, whom you reported chooses not to live on the reservation, lives in one of the 30 new houses the tribe fought to build on Loop Road. Both articles ignored the many battles the tribe is waging to save the Everglades. The Everglades, our Mother, has deep religious and cultural significance to our tribe. We have been forced to file many lawsuits to protect our Everglades homeland from non-Indian pollution. Our efforts were recognized by the Everglades Coalition with a special award. Our most significant environmental lawsuit to protect the Everglades was filed against the Environmental Protection Agency. This Clean Water Act lawsuit requested a review of the Everglades Forever Act, passed by the Florida Legislature in 1994. We claim this law, which Marjory Stoneman Douglas wisely removed her name from, changed water quality standards because it allows pollution of the Everglades to continue well into the next century. The tribe waged this struggle for three years. Our recent win in the Court of Appeals, which was not covered by your paper, forced the EPA to undertake its current review of the Everglades Forever Act, a review supported by the environmental community. The tribe is also in the process of setting its own water-quality standards to protect the Everglades because the state of Florida refuses to enforce its own standards against polluters. This is only one of many Everglades protection lawsuits brought by the tribe in federal court and state courts. The articles could have told the real story about our small tribe's fight to save the Everglades from destruction. We fight because the Miccosukee people believe that the Everglades must be saved for our children and your children. Our presence in the Everglades is not only a right, recognized by Congress when they established the Park; it is a positive force for Everglades protection. Sadly, the Miccosukee Tribe has been forced to allocate significant resources, which could be spent for Everglades protection, fighting against the National Park Service for the freedom to develop our community, even though we have followed all federal environmental laws. It's a double standard that we believe Herald readers will understand. That's the story The Herald could have told its readers on the 50th anniversary of Everglades National Park, but didn't. ------------------------------------------------------------