Big Government Gone Wild—How the U.S. Helps Outside Interests Plunder Indian Land

This article was first published in In These Times m agazine in September 2016. It was the result of a six-month investigation revealing that the Bureau of Indian Affairs—tasked with negotiating the best possible deals for Native landowners—instead often makes it easy for outsiders to exploit Native resources. “ T hey attacked my aunt like a bunch of coyotes attacking sheep in a corral,” says Navajo tribal member Roberta Tovar. “They were going, ‘Mary, Mar y, just go ahead and sign it.’ ” The “coyotes” included representatives of Western Refining, a Texas-based oil company. One of the company’s pipelines carries 15,000 barrels of crude a day from oil fields in the Four Corners region to a refinery near Gallup, N.M. On the way, the line crosses a 160-acre plot of Navajo reservation land, shown at top, owned by 88-year-old Mary Tom, shown left, and dozens of family members. Western Refining’s right of way expired in 2010. After years of negotiations with family members, th