BURNS, Ore.—A leader of the Oregon Indian tribe whose ancestral property is being occupied by an armed group opposed to federal land policy said Wednesday that the group is not welcome and needs to leave.
“The protesters have no right to this land. It belongs to the native people who live here,” Charlotte Rodrique told reporters at the tribe’s cultural center.
Rodrique, who is tribal chair for the Burns Paiute, said the tribe is concerned cultural artifacts could be damaged and accused the group of “desecrating one of our sacred sites.”
“Armed protesters don’t belong here,” she said.
The group seized buildings at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon’s high desert country on Saturday. Authorities had not yet moved to remove the group of roughly 20 people.
Rodrique said the area was a wintering ground for the Paiute people prior to the coming of settlers, ranchers and trappers. She said the tribe signed a treaty in 1868 with the federal government, and though the U.S. Senate never approved it, she expected the government to honor the agreement to protect their interests.
The group occupying a remote national wildlife preserve in Oregon has said repeatedly that local people should control federal lands.
