OPA

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced to day that the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma will resume their Law Enforcement activities.

On April 22, 1997, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced that at the request of the Cherokee Nation it was assuming the Law Enforcement function "until a determination was made that the imminent threat to the public safety no longer existed and that the nation was ready and able to assume control of the program once again." Since that date the Cherokee Nation has been working to resolve internal disputes and to ensure that its governmental functions could be properly administered. After reviewing the progress the Nation has made, the BIA determines that no imminent danger currently exists that would warrant the continued BIA Law Enforcement presence. Accordingly, at the request of Principal Chief Byrd the BIA will begin an orderly transfer of the Law Enforcement function to the Nation. This transfer will begin immediately.

"I commend the Cherokee Nation and the work everyone has done to being internal disputes to resolution." Ms. Deer said. "This demonstrates how Indian Self-Determination can work at the tribal government level. I wish the Nation much success in the future and commit to assist them in the future as required."

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover today announced that $16.5 million will be distributed this month to 310 small and needy American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes to provide adequate funding for tribal governments and operations. Small and needy tribes are those that have less than $160,000 in annual funding and have 1,500 or fewer members enrolled. Tribes in Alaska must have less than $200,000 in annual funding to qualify.

"These funds will provide some of the neediest tribes with a critical economic boost to strengthen their governments and operations," Gover said. "These funds are by no means a cure-all, but will help small and needy tribes to create and maintain a basic government structure. We thank Congress for approving this important step to further Indian self determination and the government-to-government relationship." The distribution of the $16.5 million to the tribes' tribal priority allocations will ensure that all tribes receive at least $160,000 annually, which has been determined to be the minimum amount needed to fund a tribal government in the lower 48 states. The minimum amount in Alaska is $200,000.

This minimum funding initiative will be felt most strongly in Alaska, which has 209 small and needy tribes. Seventy-six small and needy tribes in California will receive the additional funds. Small and needy tribes in New York, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Nevada, and Utah also will share in the distribution.

The Joint Tribal/Bureau of Indian Affairs/Department of the Interior Task Force on BIA Reorganization initiated the first small and needy tribes funding increase in 1994 with a report to Congress entitled "The Tribal Budget System - Preliminary Assessment of Most Needy Small Tribes." The task force's recommendation resulted in a FY 1995 appropriation of $2 million to 100 small and needy tribes. Congress also appropriated $4 million in FY 1997 that was shared by 160 of the 310 small and needy tribes. The Bureau considers this initiative as a high priority and continues to include funding requests for small and needy tribes in the annual budgets it presents to Congress.

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today announced the appointment of Robert T. Anderson as Counselor to the Secretary. Anderson will be based in Seattle and advise the Secretary on a wide variety of policy matters, including Native American, environmental and Northwest issues.

"Bob Anderson is an experienced professional with an enormous grasp of the complexity of our trust responsibilities and Alaska Native and American Indian tribes," Babbitt said. "He has demonstrated his ability as a decisive lawyer and manager, and has a solid reputation as a problem-solver and mediator."

Anderson, 40, joined the Interior Department in April 1995 as Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs. As Associate Solicitor, he was the lead attorney and supervised a team of attorneys advising the Secretary, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and worked with tribes to assert and protect their legal rights. For the past year, he has advised the Secretary on legal and policy matters involving western water rights, Indian tribes, Endangered Species Act and hydropower issues.

Anderson is a member of the Bois Forte Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Before joining the Interior Department, he worked as an attorney for 12 years with the Native American Rights Fund, a leading national Indian organization representing Indian tribes on issues of federal Indian law. Anderson is one of two attorneys credited with opening NARF's Alaska office, where he helped to develop the organization's substantive role in Alaska Native rights issues. He has served as counsel for Natives in a number of landmark cases involving tribal sovereignty and hunting and fishing rights.

In addition, Anderson also worked with tribes in the Lower 48 on water rights and a variety of other issues.

Anderson earned his B.A. Summa Cum Laude at Bemidji State University, and his J.D. Cum Laude (1983) at the University of Minnesota Law School. He is a member of the bar for the District of Columbia, Minnesota, Colorado, Alaska, and the United States Supreme Court.

On April 25, 1996, President Clinton approved leg1siation extending the date that a Final Rule for the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (P.L. 93-638) be published in the Federal Register. The date required by the Indian Self-Determination Act Amendments of 1994 (P.L. 103-413) was April 25, 1996. This legislation provides for a 60-day extension and sets a new publication date of June 25, 1996 for a rule, Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced.

A Notice of Proposed Rule Making was published in the Federal Register on January 24, 1996 (61 F.R. 2038). This publication provided for a 60-day comment period which ended on March 25, 1996. Over 80 comments were received from the tribes and the general public.

"This extension will allow the BIA and IHS the time required to properly analyze the comments received," said Ms. Deer. "Now we can be assured that the necessary changes to this Rule are made in a considered manner without undue haste.

The BIA, IHS and tribal representatives will be making recommendations to the Secretaries of Department of the Interior and Department of Health and Human Services during this time. A Final Rule is expected to be published in mid-June 1996.

For further information on the joint regulation or the extension, contact Ms. Merry Elrod, IHS Office of Tribal Activities, (301) 443- 6958, or Mr. James J. Thomas, Division of Self-Determination Services, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Room 4627, 1849 C. Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20240, (202) 208-3708.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs (AS-IA) Kevin Gover signed on December 16, 1997, a Final Determination that denies Federal acknowledgment of the Mobile - Washington County Band of Choctaw Indians of South Alabama (MOWA) of Mount Vernon, AL.

The AS-IA found that the petitioner failed to meet one of the mandatory criteria set forth in 25 CPR 83.7, namely: descent from a historical tribe. The Final Determination means the Alabama group is not eligible for certain rights and benefits accorded tribes that are granted "Federal recognition" or "acknowledgment," and therefore it does not have a special government-to-government relationship with the United States.

The AS-IA determined that the Alabama group did not descend from the historical Choctaw tribe or from any one of the other five tribes it claimed. The Final Determination noted that the petitioning group is derived from two core families that were resident in southwestern Alabama by the end of the first third of the nineteenth century. All persons on the petitioner's membership (3,960) roll descend from these two families. About one percent of the members have documented Indian heritage but it derives from an ancestor whose grandchildren married into the petitioning group after 1880, and from another individual who married into the petitioning group in 1904. This insignificant Indian ancestry for a few individual members does not satisfy the criterion that the group as a whole descends from a historical tribe. The MOWA ancestors, most of whom were well documented, were not identified as American Indians or descendants of any particular tribe in the records made in their own life times.

The MOWA ancestors were not found in the records concerning the historic tribes. Although the MOWA presently have an oral tradition of descent from the Choctaw, Cherokee, Creek, or other tribes, the stories could not be substantiated from the wealth of records submitted by the petitioner or researched by the BIA.

The BIA employs historians, anthropologists, and genealogists who research the claims of groups seeking recognition as Indian tribes. Each case is evaluated individually. Under current regulations, the MOW A and interested parties have 90 days to request reconsideration on the BIA's Final Determination with the Interior Board of Indian Appeals. All requests for reconsideration must contain a detailed statement of the grounds for the request, and include any new evidence to be considered. The request should be in writing and addressed to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240.

A joint proclamation was issued today by the Director, Indian Health Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs which will designate the week of May 12, 1996 Alcohol-Related Birth Defects Week, announced Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.

Michael H. Trujillo, Director, Indian Health Service and Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs signed a proclamation directing BIA and IHS to continue to promote the concept of Alcohol Related Birth Defects prevention in all BIA, IHS, tribal and urban programs. During the week of May 12, 1996 BIA offices, and IHS facilities should plan programs and activities to observe the occasion throughout the country.

"The American Indian youth are the Indian community's single most important resource for the future," said Ada Deer. "As a social worker and educator Indian children are always my primary concern. I directed much of my time and energy to actively promote programs and activities that would improve the health and life style of these children." "Our Indian children deserve entry into this world free of any defects resulting from alcohol consumption during pregnancy."

This proclamation requests all BIA and IHS employees support in American Indians and Alaska Natives efforts to prevent alcohol and other drug related birth defects.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover today thanked both Congress and President Clinton for approving a land claims settlement act that awards approximately $70 million to five Ottawa and Chippewa tribes of Michigan.

The act, signed by President Clinton on Tuesday, provides a plan for the division, use, and distribution of the funds. The Indian Claims Commission in 1971 awarded $10.3 million to the tribes and certain descendants to compensate them for underpayment for lands ceded to the United States through an 1836 treaty. The 1971 award has grown to nearly $70 million with accrued interest. The act approved this week details the distribution of the funds to the Bay Mills Indian Community; Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians; Little River Band of Odawa Indians; Little Traverse.Band of Odawa Indians; Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe; Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians; and certain descendants.

"I am extremely pleased that this long-awaited settlement is complete and that the funds finally will begin to assist the tribes. We are indebted to Rep. Dale Kildee for sponsoring the bill, to and to Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Sen. Don Young for their support of it."

H.R. 3286 introduced into the House of Representatives on April 23, 1996 proposes to amend the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 making it easier for non-Indians to adopt Indian children without tribal consent, Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced today.

"I join the Administration's support for the general provisions of this bill, but as the trustee for American Indians and Alaska Natives I cannot support Title III of H.R 3286." "Title III of this bill, in my opinion, would in effect nullify major provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act which were intended to preserve and maintain the cultural integrity of Indian communities and families," said Ms. Deer. "The provisions in this title set us back 30 years and destroy all the progress Indian tribes have made in protecting their children."

The Indian Child Welfare Act was passed after ten years of Congressional study expressing concern over the adoption of Indian children by non-Indian families: The intent of the Indian Child Welfare Act is to protect Indian children and the interest that an Indian tribe has in its children. The Congress recognized, when passing the Indian Child Welfare Act, that “States ... have often failed to recognize the essential tribal relations of Indian people and the cultural and social standard prevailing in the Indian communities and families." 25 USC 1901(5). At this time the House Rules Committee will allow amendments to H.R 3286. This will provide an opportunity for an amendment to H.R 3286 to be introduced which will delete any reference to amending the Indian Child Welfare Act.

'If Title III were to be adopted, it would effectively erode tribal sovereignty because it allows non-Indian forums to determine whether a biological parent maintains significant social, cultural, or political affiliation with the Indian tribe. This basic determination should rest with Indian tribal courts," said Ms. Deer. “To do otherwise strips tribal courts of their fundamental jurisdiction over this important matter and makes a mockery of Indian tribal sovereignty. Only a tribal forum can adequately determine the role that the extended Indian family fulfills on the reservation.”

The Indian Child Welfare Act provides for the protection of Indian children by ensuring that they would be adopted by culturally sensitive families. Ms. Deer stats, "It is very devastating for an Indian child to grow up in a non-Indian environment. An Indian child must know, feel and experience his culture.

Isolated hardship stories cited by the Congress about non-Indian adoptive parents should not form the basis for an amendment to the Indian Child Welfare Act. An amendment should be considered only after: proper consultation with Indian tribal governments has occurred."

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced today that a Notice of Advanced Rule Making was published in the Federal Register on May 10, 1996. This publication seeks comments on the Department's authority under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) to promulgate "procedures" to authorize Class ill gaming on Indian lands when a sate raises an Eleventh Amendment defense to an action brought against it in federal court by an Indian tribe.

This Federal Register publication results from the recent Supreme Court decision in the Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida case (116 S. Ct. 1114 (1996)). The decision in this case held that Indian tribes could not sue a state in federal court without state consent. In accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, Indian tribes were allowed to initiate a cause of action in federal court when a state refused to negotiate a compact in good faith. The Indian Gaming Act further provided that the Secretary of the Interior could prescribe procedures under which Indian gaming would be conducted in the event of continued impasse between an Indian tribe and a state.

Subsequently the Supreme Court granted petitions for writ of certiorari filed by four Indian tribes (Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, Ft. Balknap Indian Community, Blackfeet Tribe, and Spokane Tribe of Indians), and remanded the cases for further consideration in light of their decision in the Seminole case. The question regarding the Secretary's authority to issue procedures remains unanswered by the Court.

The Notice of Advance Rule Making asks for comments on:

The effect of the Supreme Court's decision in Seminole Tribe on the operation of other provisions in 25 USC 2710(d)(7) when a state does not waive its 11th Amendment immunity to suit

Whether, and under what circumstances, the Secretary of the Interior is empowered to prescribe procedures for the conduct of Class III gaming when a state interposes an 11th Amendment defense to an action pursuant to 25 USC 2710(d)(7)(B);

What is an appropriate administrative process for the development of Secretarial procedures;

What procedures should be followed if a state interposes an 11th Amendment defense to an action filed under 25 USC 2710(d)(7)(B);

What procedures can be, and should be, utilized for determining legal issues that may be in dispute, such as the "scope of gaming permitted under state law. The scope of gaming issue arises when a state takes the position that it is not required to bargain with a tribe with respect to certain Class III games because IGRA docs not authorize such games on the ground that such games are not permitted by the state "for any purpose by any person,” 25 USC 2710(d)(l)(B);and

How any procedures promulgated by the Secretary may, and should, provide for appropriate regulation of Indian gaming.

"This is a very important matter for Indian tribal governments," said Ms. Deer. "I encourage all Indian tribes to provide comments so that the Department can make an informed decision regarding this matter."

Written public comment on this advance notice of proposed rulemaking must be received no later than July 1, 1996 to be considered. Comments should be sent to the; Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, c/o Mr. George Skibine, Director, Indian Gaming Management Staff, 1849 C Street, N.W., MS-2070 MIB, Washington, DC., 20240-0001, (202) 291-4066.