WASHINGTON – The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform will hold the seventh in a series of public meetings on Aug. 19, 2013, in Anchorage, Alaska, as part of the Commission’s comprehensive evaluation of the Department of the Interior’s management and administration of Indian trust assets. The meeting also will be accessible by teleconference and Webinar.
Commission members will hear from speakers knowledgeable about the Federal-Indian trust relationship, other trust models and trust reform. They also will be looking at aspects of the trust relationship that are unique to Alaska under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The meeting will include a panel session on trust land and the U.S. Government’s trust responsibility in Alaska.
In addition, the management consultant firm Grant Thornton LLP will be present to gather attendees’ perspectives on how federal Indian trust administration currently operates. In March 2013, the company was awarded a contract in partnership with Cherokee Services Group, a Cherokee Nation-owned business, to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the Department’s management of the trust administration system in support of the Commission’s efforts.
“The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform is very interested in learning about the Alaska Native community’s views of the Interior Department’s trust management in Alaska,” said Commission Chair Fawn Sharp. “We welcome all input, perspectives and recommendations on how to improve the Department’s overall management of its trust responsibilities, and strongly encourage attendees and others to share their views and suggestions with the management consultant working with us, Grant Thornton, who also will be present to accept such information.”
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