Perry Chocktoot, culture and heritage director for the Klamath Tribes, recalled a story of tribal members making the journey to Glass Butte.

They would summit the 6,830-foot-high obsidian-rich peak to experience spiritual enlightenment and pray to the gods of health, life, happiness and nature, among others. They would make weapons and integrate the rich, colorful obsidian into their clothes. It was a natural resource readily available to nearby tribes.

“Grandfathers still make the journey with their grandsons today to pick obsidian,” he said. “It’s part of who we are.”

The Prineville and Burns districts of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approached the Klamath Tribes to ask about the cultural significance of Glass Butte, about 70 miles southeast of Bend. The BLM districts were leasing the land around Glass Butte to Ormat Technologies, a Nevada firm, in hopes of exploring geothermal wells.

The agencies need to consult with local tribes in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1996, which requires government agencies to consider Indian tribes’ cultural and historic sites.

Chocktoot, of Chiloquin, made numerous field trips, conducted phone calls and drafted emails. He wanted to make sure the agencies understood exactly what the butte meant to the tribe. In July, the BLM districts released a “Finding of No Significant Impact,” or FONSI report, detailing the impact of geothermal exploration on the environment and communities surrounding the proposed area.

The report is released to detail concerns brought up in the environmental assessment, including the release of solids and natural gas during drilling, protection of mule deer and sage grouse and, of course, preservation of historic and cultural sites.

The report states the agencies had “multiple consultation discussions” with the Klamath and Warm Springs tribes — in person, on the phone, through email or on field trips.

“The BLM has been informed by Tribal staff that the proposed Projects, even though they would occupy only a very small portion of the overall Glass Buttes area, would destroy ‘sacred and holy’ areas,” the report states. “However, the tribes have not demonstrated how the Projects would do so.”

The report continued to say the tribes have not shown how the projects’ impact can be mitigated and offered no solutions. So, the BLM concluded that no significant structures or resources would be harmed in the project.

“I sat there and told them it was sacred — I showed them prayer stacks,” Chocktoot said. “But they didn’t believe me.”

Obsidian and the tribes

Chocktoot said Glass Butte’s connection to the Klamath Tribes can be traced back thousands of years.

“Arrowheads, spearheads, swords — if you look at some of the artifacts found in this area, you’ll find a lot of obsidian,” he said.

Dennis Jenkins, staff archaeologist for the Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Eugene, said he has tracked movement of obsidian from the Glass Buttes area to the Klamath tribes and surrounding areas.

“Glass Butte brought people along the river system, through Central Oregon, and could have gotten Glass Butte obsidian while hunting or gathering roots,” he said. “Material moved to the west and southwest into Klamath territory.”

Jenkins, who has 25 years of archaeology experience, said he has studied the path and trends of Glass Butte obsidian.

“Can science demonstrate that they have been out there exploiting resources? I would say unequivocally yes,” he said. “Are they historical sites? I can’t demonstrate any evidence of that.”

Craig Skinner, program director of Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory, isn’t as confident of a connection between the Klamath and Glass Butte.

“I don’t see much evidence of that,” he said. “It may well be a tradition for them, but I don’t know about it.”

Glass Butte has “nice quality” obsidian, Skinner said. Many tribes have been traced to the area for their obsidian, but through his studies he noticed that most of Glass Butte’s obsidian artifacts have come from more local areas. He hasn’t found many artifacts directly linking the Klamath tribes to Glass Butte.

“Glass Butte obsidian has been found at a ton of different sites — probably 100 of them,” he said. “But there are so many competing basins of obsidian. I just feel the Klamath Tribes would find something more local.”

Consultation

Chip Faver, Prineville BLM Central Oregon resource area field manager, said he has had frequent contact with Chocktoot.

“I feel the process went very well,” Faver said. “Perry Chocktoot is good to work with.”

Faver said he and Chocktoot had taken many trips out to Glass Buttes to discuss sacred sites and how to avoid them. He said tribes are commonly protective of their sacred sites for fear of the public finding the spots.

“They are scared the public will come out and ransack their sites,” he said. “They don’t want them to be posted on a map.”

Chocktoot said his main concern is what will happen to the area after the project is underway. He feels that as more exploration happens around Glass Buttes, sacred site access could be restricted or, worse, destroyed.

“We fear it will make it so we cannot go to areas we have gone to for thousands of years,” Chocktoot said.

Faver said his job is to consult with the tribes and discuss mitigation. He understands there are emotional ties to places around Central Oregon given it’s landscape. And, he said, most of the time this leads to disapproval of the BLM’s decisions. But he believes it’s still a healthy relationship.

“In a marriage, you don’t always agree with your spouse,” Faver said. “But that doesn’t mean the relationship isn’t healthy. You talk about the things you don’t agree on and come to a reasonable compromise or mitigation.”

Section 106

Section 106 of the Historic Preservation Act requires only that the government consult with the party in question, said State Historic Preservation Office historian Ian Johnson.

“With tribes, we typically defer to their expertise,” he said. “But (government agencies) are only required to consult and listen.”

BLM leased land around the Newberry Volcano for geothermal exploration in 2012. During the planning process, both the Klamath Tribes and the Warm Springs Tribes were consulted, with the same end result.

“I feel like they don’t listen,” Chocktoot said. “We talk to them and show them, but it’s never enough.”

Johnson said the law lends itself to scrutiny. “Tribes sometimes hold back information because their religious beliefs,” he said. “For whatever reason, the government decided that the evidence wasn’t enough.

“The law requires them to think about it, but it doesn’t require them to agree.”