UN: Give Mt. Rushmore to Native Americans

close

Video

UN: Give Mt. Rushmore to Native Americans

Fact finder urges return of Black Hills to Sioux tribes

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," May 8, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: So this is a story about the United Nations. You probably won't believe it, actually. Mount Rushmore is a place where I used to go every year as a kid. It's about 80 miles east of my great grandfather's ranch that they have there. And my uncle and my cousins run it now.

So, the U.N. Security -- the United Nations has a rapporteur. I had to look that up. He is a reporter. And the reporter has to go -- like basically to go to the United Nations.

He went to Geneva and after he did all of this analysis, he actually has come to determine that he believes sacred lands like the Black Hills of South Dakota, which includes Mount Rushmore, which is in South Dakota, should be returned to the Native American control -- interesting given that the Human Rights Council appoints dictators of unrest of all sorts, and allows all sorts of things, but they want to us Americans to return Mount Rushmore to the Native Americans.

What do you think?

GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: Well, first of all, taking any advice concerning justice from the U.N. is like getting health tips from a corpse. But look, I mean, there are contracts out there. Indians, they once owned Manhattan Island, too. So I think there's a compromise here, for which we give the U.N. back to the Iroquois or any Native Americans. Let them take over the U.N. because nobody can do a worse job than the U.N. now. And that guy is crazy.

ANDREA TANTAROS, CO-HOST: I like that. Move it to Indian reservation.

PERINO: This is an interesting thing. You know, Congress can't agree on anything. There's actually no member of Congress would agree to meet with James Anaya, who is this special rapporteur.

What do you think of that bipartisanship?

ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: I don't know. I think it's kind of ridiculous. Honestly, I read this story, I can't -- where am I going with this? Give it back, don't give -- bottom line is, this is the U.N. suggesting we -- how about the U.N. figure out international problems? Like they stay out of here? How about go away, Bob --

(CROSSTALK)

BOB BECKEL, CO-HOST: The United States Supreme Court that ruled that those Indians have a right to that, and it's not just the tribal land. It's also a spiritual land.

PERINO: Sacred land.

BECKEL: Sacred land. They absolutely should get it back.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: We had a treaty, as usual, the white man broke the treaty and threw the Indians into reservations --

TANTAROS: The Supreme Court ruled to compensate them for the land and Indians wouldn't take the money for it.

BECKEL: They want their land back. This is their secret land. You could still have Mount Rushmore and people can still visit.

PERINO: That's a lawsuit that's been going on for many, many years, like I credit Obama administration for trying to bring this lawsuit to settlement.

BOLLING: Is there a similar thing going on with Palestine right now with the Israelis?

BECKEL: Talking about changing the subject.

BOLLING: It's really not changing the subject.

BECKEL: The two big black eyes on this country are what we did to the African-Americans and what we did to American Indians. We slaughtered them in hundreds of thousands, put them in the worst possible situation. Their unemployment rate is high. Their alcoholism rate is high.

And we ought to be disgraced for what they did to them.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: I had nothing to do with it. So, I'm not going to follow your liberal guilt.

BECKEL: Well, you don't have to follow my liberal guilt --

PERINO: Let me ask, Andrea -- but at what point does it end? Nobody actually lived here, you can go back thousands of years. No one actually lived here. Everybody came here at some point.

So, is there ever an end to this? Talking about yelling at a mirror.

TANTAROS: Yes. And I don't think you can defend -- agree with Bob, I don't think you can defend what happened to the Indians. But there was a lot of suffering in the Western Civilization. A lot of people came here and suffered, as you pointed out.

I just think -- this is a tricky conversation. This recommendation has also been made by an academic. The worst form of an academic, one with a law degree. And it's almost a waste of time even talking because the likelihood of it happening from some rapporteur over at the U.N. --

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: -- pronunciation than mind.

TANTAROS: The chances are slim to none, everybody.

PERINO: Have you been there?

BECKEL: Yes, I have been there several times.

PERINO: Do you love it?

BECKEL: It's beautiful. But the point is that Congress passed a law giving back the land. They then took it back when they found gold there. And then they took it away from the Indians, and the Supreme Court eventually rules, you're right, that they had to compensate them for it.

TANTAROS: They don't want the money.

BECKEL: They don't want compensation for their sacred land. They want their sacred land back.

And we ought to give it back to them. We have no right -- none -- to have that land.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: -- that nobody in Congress -- I mean, of all the members of the Congress, they met with --

BECKEL: Yes, they're a bunch of wusses. They're scared, little punks. They're afraid to go. Why would not at least listen them, the Indians talk. Maybe you don't listen to the U.N. Maybe that's not a bad thing. But at least listen to the Indians.

TANTAROS: Some Indians have gotten compensation, financial compensation from the different organizations for land. So, are they going to start give that back now?

I mean, you can't just say give us Mount Rushmore but we'll take money for this piece of land. I mean, it's not consistent.

BECKEL: Well, there are different ways to compensate the Indians. Part of which was, a major one was to allow gaming on the Indian territories, which has brought them a huge amount of money. But there are also --

PERINO: But a lot of problems, too.

BECKEL: A lot of problems, but there has been money and reservation

has been increasing in size.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: That's the solution. The solution is a casino on Mount Rushmore. Genius! I have never been there. Now, I'm going.

PERINO: Let me just say that before the U.N. takes back Mount Rushmore, and before Greg gets a wish to put a casino there -- take your family there. It's a fantastic road trip. You will not regret it. I encourage you to do it this summer.

BECKEL: And get there right after they put President Obama's figure up there which will be up there hopefully within the next 10 years.

PERINO: Or when H-E-double-hockey-stick freezes over.

(LAUGHTER)

BECKEL: H-E-double-hockey-stick?

PERINO: So I don't cuss on air. I don't have a swear jar.

Content and Programming Copyright 2012 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2012 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.