WASHINGTON ? After years of debate and delay it appears that the long-awaited American Indian memorial at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument may be one step closer to becoming a reality now that Congress is set to vote on the Interior’s FY2002 appropriations bill.
Included in the bill is $2.3 million for construction of an ‘Indian’ memorial, an amount which could not be raised through private donations.
The bill recently passed a joint appropriations conference committee after differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill were worked out. The original House version did not contain money for the memorial, though it expressed support for the project. The version passed by the conference committee includes the funds and received unanimous support of the Montana congressional delegation.
In 1991 Congress approved construction of the memorial but did not appropriate money for its completion. In 1994, an advisory committee was selected by the Department of Interior to coordinate efforts to complete the project. A design competition was held and a final design was selected in 1997. The winning design features an open circle surrounded by a hill to simulate ancient earthworks. Bronze sculptures of Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho would stand at one end.
The site has been surveyed and construction documents and applications are complete, but there have been no funds available for construction.
Monument Superintendent Neil Mangum said he tried to raise the money through private donations, but received little support. After raising the entrance fee to the monument to $10 to collect funds for the project, the Park Service finally received the support of the Montana delegation to get funding from Congress.
‘It looks like it will go through,’ said J.P. Donovan, a spokesman for Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and major supporter. ‘We don’t see anything that would get in its way and no one has expressed their disapproval.’
Tribal leaders have expressed overwhelming support for the new monument. The Interior appropriations bill, along with the provision on the monument, is expected to be considered by both the House and Senate yet this month.