This is a report of findings from an American Indian Rapid Cultural Assessment that was conducted in 1997. The focus of the study is a location on the Nevada Test Site (NTS) where the Kistler Aerospace Corporation proposes to build a launch site for a communications satellite. As such, this is a rapid cultural assessment of Water Bottle Canyon on which construction is expected in the near future. The purpose of this study is to summarize American Indian cultural resources, as these exist on and near to site 26NY10133 and to consider potential mitigation strategies. This report is a summary of the cultural assessments made by members of the American Indian Writers Subgroup (AIWS) which is representing in this study the cultural resource interests of the 17 tribes and 3 Indian organizations that constitute the CGTO.

This is a report of cultural resource identifications, evaluations, and potential impact assessments made by the American Indian Rapid Cultural Assessment team (RCA) who represent the Consolidated Group of Tribes and Organizations (CGTO). The RCA team is composed of the American Indian Writers Subgroup (AIWS) who were selected by the CGTO to participate in the development of the Nevada Test Site Environmental Impact Statement (NTS EIS). The study was part of the on-going consultation program established between the Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV) and the 17 American Indian tribes and 3 Indian organizations who have traditional and historic ties to DOE/NV managed lands. This study responded to two DOE/NV American Indian consultation activities (1) the recent site-wide environmental impact statement for the NTS and (2) Presidential Executive Order #13007 regarding American Indian sacred sites protection. The study was an outgrowth of the on-going DOE/NV American Indian Consultation Program. The RCA team was asked to visit three different study locales (1) Double Tracks; (2) Clean Slates 1, 2, and 3; and (3) Central Nevada Test Area. The first study locale is on the Nellis Air Force Range (NAFR), the second place located on the TTR, and the third locale involves small sections of land surrounded by Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands in Hot Creek Valley. At each location the DOE/NV conducted some type of testing activity, which resulted in either radioactivity or hazardous wastes becoming part of the site. The DOE/NV Environmental Restoration Division then conducted actions that resulted in the removal or isolation of wastes from these past activities.

This report presents the findings of a two-day Rapid Cultural Assessment (RCA) to assess potential impacts to resources important to American Indians from gravel road improvements associated with the Shoshone Mountain phase of the MNS Wind Farm Project on the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The study was conducted by the American Indian Writers Subgroup (AIWS), an official committee of the Consolidated Group of Tribes and Organizations (CGTO). The CGTO is composed of 16 tribes and 3 Indian organizations that have historic or cultural ties to the NTS. The work was facilitated by Dr. Stoffle from the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the University of Arizona (UofA). Funding was provided by DOE/NV.