OPA

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The FY2003 request for the Bureau of Indian Affairs is $2.3 billion, including $22.9 million for the legislative proposal to shift to the agencies the full cost of the CSRS pension system and the Federal employee health benefits program. Without the legislative proposal, the request is $2.2 billion, an increase of $22.9 million over the FY2002 level, for the BIA to carry out its responsibility for providing services to Federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and individuals. (Funding totals discussed below exclude the legislative proposal.) Major highlights of the proposed budget include increased funding for trust programs, Tribal Priority Allocation and new school construction, as well as bringing accountability to BIA funded and operated schools.

“This budget emphasizes priorities that Indian Country cares about,” said Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb. “It sets the BIA on the road to becoming a more efficient service agency that effectively meets the needs of its stakeholders – the Tribes and Indian people.”

The FY2003 BIA budget request proposes an increase of $34.8 million for Indian trust-related programs. This includes increases for BIA’s tribal courts program ($4.0 million) and social services program ($2.1 million).

BIA trust services programs receive an increase of $15.8 million to focus on real property functions, such as land and title records administration, appraisals, and lease management and compliance. The request includes a $4.5 million increase for BIA natural resource programs on trust lands that generate revenue through activities such as mining, forestry and agriculture. Much of the increased funding will be contracted out to improve efficiency, with priority to tribal contracting or compacting to support Indian self-determination. In addition, the budget request for the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians includes a $48.8 million increase to further improve Indian trust management.

In January 2002, President Bush signed into law the “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001,” a landmark education bill that will help strengthen the 185 schools in the BIA school system. The FY2003 budget places new emphasis on improving academic performance at BIA schools and continues the 2002 initiative to eliminate the school maintenance and repair backlog.

The budget request provides increased funding for quality educational opportunities for American Indians from early childhood through adulthood. The request for BIA School Operations, which funds operations at BIA schools and dormitories, totals $522.8 million, an increase of $18.8 million over the FY2002 level.

The FY2003 budget request includes $11.9 million to offset costs inherent in the proposed BIA school privatization initiative, the centerpiece of the administration’s initiative to improve the performance of the lowest-performing schools of the 64 that are directly run by the BIA. Under this initiative, the BIA will provide increased funding to encourage Tribes to take on the management of their schools or enter into partnerships with private enterprise to manage the schools. The School Privatization Initiative reflects President Bush’s proposal to use competition to enhance the opportunities for American Indian children to succeed in learning.

The budget request includes a $3.0 million increase to expand BIA’s FACE program to seven schools. FACE (Family and Child Education) enhances Indian education for both adults and children by involving parents more fully in the critical earliest stages of their children’s education. BIA schools with the FACE program have been found to show significantly higher scores on standardized tests of reading and math skills.

One-fifth of the school buildings in the BIA school system are more than 50 years old and half are more than 30 years old. Many require significant major repairs or replacement to provide safe and nurturing learning environments. The FY2003 budget continues the commitment to BIA school replacement and repair by requesting $292.7 million for BIA School Construction, including $120.2 million to replace six schools: Santa Fe Indian School (Phase II), Santa Fe, N.M.; Kayenta Community School, Kayenta, Ariz.; Tiospa Zina Tribal School, Agency Village, S.D.; Wide Ruins Community School, Chambers, Ariz.; Low Mountain Boarding School, Chinle, Ariz.; and St. Francis Indian School, St. Francis, S.D. In addition, the FY2003 budget request provides $164.4 million for BIA Education Facilities Improvement and Repair to address critical health and safety concerns at existing education facilities. The request, an increase of $2.8 million over FY2002, will fund maintenance and repair projects to continue to reduce the backlog of needed repairs to BIA school buildings.

The FY2003 budget request includes $775.5 million, an increase of $23.4 million over FY2002, for Tribal Priority Allocations to meet the costs of Tribal government operations. TPA funds programs and services critical to improving quality of life and economic potential on reservations and supports the goals of Indian self-determination.

To meet Federal requirements for authorized settlements of land and water claims, the FY2003 budget request proposes $24.7 million for the Ute Indian Rights Settlement, $8.0 million for the Colorado Ute Settlement, and $3.1 million for the Santo Domingo Pueblo settlement. The request also includes funding to complete the Federal commitment for the Shivwits Band of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah water rights settlement ($16.0 million) and for the Rocky Boy’s Reservation Indian reserved water rights settlement ($5.0 million).

The BIA budget request also proposes increases of $3.0 million to operate new detention centers, $2.1 million for activities to support the administration’s national energy plan and $500,000 to expand the BIA’s Loan Guaranty Program by 10 percent to enhance economic development in Indian Country.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has the major responsibility for Indian matters within the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Bureau carries out the Federal trust responsibility for and provides services to approximately 1.4 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who are members of 559 Federally recognized Tribes in the 48 contiguous United States and Alaska.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb today announced two separate actions concerning the final rule titled “Acquisition of Title to Land in Trust.” One action further extends the effective date of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) final rule on placing lands into trust that were published on January 16, 2001. The second action is to issue a Notice of Proposed Withdrawal of the final rule in order to seek comments on whether the rule should be withdrawn and a new proposed rule promulgated which better addresses the public’s continued concern with the trust land acquisition procedures set out in 25 CFR Part 151. The final rule revises and clarifies the procedures used by federally recognized Indian tribes and individuals to request the Secretary of the Interior to acquire title to land into trust on their behalf. The actions will be published in the Federal Register on August 13, 2001.

“Secretary Norton and I recognize that the land-into-trust process is critically important to helping tribes regain lost lands, but that it also has a major impact on state and local governments,” McCaleb said. “Through this action, all tribes, as well as state and local governments and communities and individuals affected by land-into-trust requests, will have an opportunity to improve the regulations in a way that makes the trust acquisition application process more efficient, open and fair for everyone.”

The two separate actions announced today delay by 90 days the final rule’s effective date to November 10, 2001, and give notice of the Department’s proposal to withdraw the final rule under a 30-day public comment period, during which time the rule in effect prior to January 16 will remain in effect.

The final rule was published in the Federal Register on January 16, 2001, and its effective date was delayed to August 13 by Notice published in the Federal Register on April 16, 2001. During the period from April 16 to June 15, 2001, the Department received 192 submissions from Indian tribes, state and local governments, and other interested groups and individuals articulating a variety of opposing views.

The Department is considering expediting and simplifying individual trust applications for housing purposes. These expedited applications will consist of five acres of land or less to meet individual housing needs. The Department is also considering requiring applications for off-reservation acquisitions and requests for approval of Tribal Land Acquisition Areas (TLAAs) to include land use plans to be approved by the Secretary as part of her review.

In response to several comments that focused on the lack of standards contained in the final rule, the Department is considering clarifying the standards that will be used by the Secretary to determine whether to approve an application and defining the burden of proof for the applicant and for those opposing a trust application.

In response to comments concerning the availability of applications for review, the Department is considering lengthening the time by 30 days that states and local communities have to review and comment on on-reservation and off-reservation applications maintained at local and regional BIA offices. The Department is also seeking comments on using computer technology to make applications easier to review.

The Department is not soliciting comments on the proposal to extend the effective date of the January 16 final rule due to the imminent August 13 date, and because seeking prior public comment on the temporary delay would be impractical and contrary to the public interest in the orderly promulgation and implementation of regulations.

The BIA provides services to and carries out the federal government’s trust responsibility for the 558 federally recognized Tribal governments and approximately 1.4 million American Indians and Alaska Natives nationwide.

-BIA-

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb today announced his approval of the United Auburn Indian Community of California’s application to acquire 49.21 acres of land into trust in Placer County, Calif., for the purpose of constructing and operating a Class III gaming facility. The Tribe has agreed to financial and other conditions that support state and county operations affected by the proposed casino, including the preservation of natural and scenic qualities of county lands.

“I applaud the United Auburn Indian Community’s determination and commitment to working with Placer County and the State of California as it seeks economic self-sufficiency,” said McCaleb. “By using consultation, cooperation, communication all in the service of conservation – Secretary Norton’s four C’s – their success is a win-win for tribal self-determination.”

The United Auburn Indian Community is descended from the Auburn Rancheria, which was legislatively terminated in 1958 pursuant to the California Rancheria Act (P. L. 85-671). As a result, the Tribe lost 40 acres in Placer County, its only land base. On October 31, 1994, Congress enacted the Auburn Indian Restoration Act (P. L. 103-434, 25 USC 1300) that restored the Tribe’s federal recognition status. The Restoration Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to accept real property located in Placer County for the benefit of the landless Tribe.

Under its tribal-state gaming compact, the United Auburn Indian Community agrees to contribute to the state’s Revenue Sharing Trust Fund and the California Council on Problem Gambling. In addition, the Tribe entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the county to pay for fire, emergency and law enforcement personnel and services, to compensate for taking the acquired property off the county’s tax rolls, to employ county welfare-to-work participants, and to make other payments to the county.

Also under the MOU, the Tribe agrees to comply with the county’s applicable general and community plans, zoning ordinances and design guidelines, and to county review for compliance and consistency with the California Environmental Quality Act. The MOU also describes local law enforcement scope with respect to criminal law consistent with Public Law 83-280.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs sought and received comments from state, county and local officials, as well as from the public. An environmental assessment was conducted on the proposed property to be acquired in trust and on the Tribe’s plan to build an onsite wastewater treatment plant that resulted in a Finding of No Significant Impact issued by the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs on January 19, 2001.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a 177-year-old federal agency with approximately 10,000 employees nationwide that provides services to, carries out its federal trust responsibilities for, and promotes the self-determination of the 559 federally recognized tribal governments and approximately 1.4 million American Indians and Alaska Natives. Under his purview are a 185-school system, one of only two federally administered school systems in the country; 29 tribally controlled colleges; law enforcement and detention programs and facilities; social service, firefighting, tribal economic development and Indian child welfare programs; trust resource management programs, including management of tribal and individual Indian trust assets; and the federal acknowledgement process.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – The Department of the Interior will hold a signing ceremony tomorrow for a $100 million contract between GovWorks, the Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) franchise fund, and Wyandotte NetTel, an American Indian telecommunications and information technology firm owned by the Wyandotte Nation in Wyandotte, Okla. Wyandotte NetTel will provide telecom and information technology products and services to the federal government.

The ceremony will take place at the main Interior Department building in Washington, D.C. Officials present will include Neal A. McCaleb, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs; Chief Leaford Bearskin, Wyandotte Nation; and Tom Kitsos, Acting Director, Minerals Management Service.

Profits from Wyandotte NetTel fund education, child care, medical, housing and other tribal service programs of the Wyandotte Nation.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb today announced his decision to acknowledge that the historical Eastern Pequot Tribe, of the Lantern Hill Reservation, North Stonington, Connecticut exists as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. The historical Eastern Pequot Tribe meets all of the mandatory criteria under 25 CFR Part 83, the Federal acknowledgment regulations, for a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

The historical Eastern Pequot Tribe was represented before the Department of the Interior by two petitioners: the Eastern Pequot Tribe (petition #35) and the Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Tribe (petition #113). The final determination finds that there is a single tribe composed of both petitioners. The Assistant Secretary has the authority to recognize a single tribe in the circumstance where it is represented by more than one petitioner.

A notice of the decision will be published in the Federal Register. The conclusions in each case are the same, but the analysis for each petitioner varies based on the arguments that they presented. The acknowledgment will become final 90 days from publication of the Federal Register notice unless either petitioner, or an interested party, files a request for reconsideration from the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA). The State of Connecticut, through the Offices of the Governor and Attorney General, the Towns of Ledyard, North Stonington and Preston, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island, as well as some unacknowledged Indian groups in Connecticut, are interested parties to this final determination.

After the Pequot War of 1637 the surviving Pequots were temporarily placed under the supervision of tribes allied with the English. Those Pequots whom the colonial government removed from the supervision of the Eastern Niantic sachem Ninigret in 1654 were subsequently governed by two Indian rulers: Harmon Garrett and Momoho. The Colony of Connecticut purchased the Lantern Hill land for Momoho’s Pequots in 1683. Since then there has been an unbroken history of state recognition and a reservation for this tribe.

The historical Eastern Pequot Tribe has been identified continuously as an Indian entity since that time and has maintained a continuous community exercising political influence over its members from first sustained contact with non-Indians to the present. Members of the newly acknowledged tribe descend from persons identified by State and Federal records as members of the historical Eastern Pequot Tribe. The Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs has responsibility for fulfilling the Department’s trust responsibilities and promoting self-determination on behalf of tribal governments, American Indians, and Alaska Natives.

The Assistant Secretary, who oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Acknowledgement Process, is also responsible for providing services to approximately 1.4 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who are members of the 559 federally recognized tribes

The Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service has awarded one of the largest tribal contracts in history to a 100% owned American Indian business. The $100 million contract, awarded to Wyandotte NetTel, offers telecommunications and information technology products and services to the federal government.

In today’s ceremony in Washington, D.C., executives from Wyandotte NetTel, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Minerals Management Service, and the Small Business Administration celebrated the contract agreement.

“I congratulate Wyandotte NetTel and the Minerals Management Service on their groundbreaking contract,” said Neal A. McCaleb, Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs. “Through Wyandotte NetTel, the Wyandotte Nation is becoming a leader in the telecom business world. Today’s agreement underscores my belief that tribes can build and sustain strong tribal economies through the successful diversification of their economic development portfolios.”

Wyandotte NetTel has grown as a telecommunications and information technology business through the leadership of Chief Leaford Bearskin. Chief Bearskin has emphasized community and economic development within the Wyandotte Nation, donating profits to fund education, housing and health-related projects for the tribe. College scholarships are provided to students, a housing program facilitates home ownership for under privileged families, and a local medical clinic provides free treatment to tribe members, while making medical care available to the public.

The Wyandotte NetTel contract was negotiated by GovWorks, a federal acquisitions center, managed by the Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service.

“By offering a ‘total solutions’ concept, the contract with Wyandotte NetTel will be a one-stop shop for government users,” said Bob Brown, MMS Associate Director for Administration and Budget. “GovWorks has a great track record with outstanding customer satisfaction results from contracts with small and disadvantaged minority companies such as this one. Wyandotte NetTel’s contract is particularly important because it directly benefits an American Indian tribe and it also provides creative information technology solutions to federal agencies. This is a win-win situation,” said Brown.

GovWorks provides a full range of acquisition services to federal agencies on a project by project basis and negotiates contracts such as this one to offer federal customers IT solutions. Wyandotte NetTel will provide a full array of hardware, software and integrated technology to engineering, installation and project management services

Wyandotte NetTel is a small and disadvantaged minority business, has Small Business Administration certification under the 8(a) Program, and is certified as a HUBZone contractor.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs provides services to and carries out the federal government’s trust responsibility for the 558 federally recognized Tribal governments and approximately 1.4 million American Indians and Alaska Natives nationwide.

MMS is the agency responsible for overseeing GovWorks operations.

MMS also manages the nation’s oil, natural gas and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf in federal offshore waters. The agency also collects, accounts for and disburses mineral revenues from federal and Indian leases. These revenues totaled nearly $8 billion last year and more than $110 billion since the agency was created in 1982. Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go to the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and federal park and recreation lands.

Tulsa, Oklahoma - The Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb will join American Indian students at Sequoyah High School at 9:30 A.M. CDT on April 22,2002 to participate in Earth Day activities planned for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funded school located at Tahlequah, Oklahoma. "I'm looking forward to visiting with the students and seeing what exciting things they are doing to help their environment," Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb said. "Earth Day is a day for all of us to reflect on the things we can do to help our environment."

Activities planned that day include students from the Earth and Environmental Science classes organizing a campus wide beautification project that will have students picking up debris around the campus. Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb will tour the Environmental Science classroom and review the curriculum; he will also participate by planting a tree on campus. The Sequoyah High School Chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) has been collecting paper and aluminum cans from the campus as part of a recycling project that includes educating students and teachers about the benefits of recycling to the environment and their community. The AISES students will load the paper and aluminum they have collected onto a truck that will haul it to a recycling center. Students, who participate in the Earth Day activities, will be awarded t-shirts at an assembly that the Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb will attend.

Established in 1871, Sequoyah High School celebrated its 130th anniversary on March 4, 2002. The enrollment for grades 9 thru 12 is 230 students representing 42 different tribes from 14 states attend the boarding school. Focusing on academic leadership with an emphasis on American Indian culture and art, Sequoyah High School is one of the best-equipped schools in the country having four computer labs, high speed Internet access for residential students and a state of the art video and audio production facilities. Sequoyah High School is a grant school operated by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma with the funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Indian Education Programs.

Who: Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb

What: Participating in Earth Day Activities

Where: Sequoyah High School Tahlequah, Oklahoma Hwy. 62 South Ph: 918-456-0631

When: April 22, 2002 9:30 A.M. CDT

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb today announced that the Joint DOI/Tribal Leaders Task Force will hold its next meeting on April 25- 26, 2002 in San Diego, Calif. The Task Force was established in February to review plans on improving the Department’s management of individual Indian and tribal trust assets.

“The Joint DOI/Tribal Leaders Task Force is helping us find the best solutions to meet the challenge of trust reform,” said McCaleb. “As their work progresses, I am confident the task force members, many of whom are elected tribal leaders, will give careful and deliberate thought as to how the Department’s trust management system can be improved.”

On November 15, 2001, Secretary Gale Norton announced her proposal to transfer and consolidate Indian trust asset management functions currently administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and other Interior agencies within a new Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management (BITAM). She also announced the establishment of an Assistant Secretary for Indian Trust Assets Management to oversee BITAM and a new Office of Indian Trust Transition (OITT) to implement her transfer and consolidation plan. After holding an extensive series of consultation meetings with tribal leaders on her trust reform efforts, Secretary Norton formed the task force to review her proposal along with alternative plans submitted by tribes.

“Secretary Norton is committed to bringing meaningful improvement to the management of Indian trust assets,” said Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles. “The Joint DOI/Tribal Leaders Task Force will assist in this effort by seeking ideas from the tribes, who are themselves trust beneficiaries, on ways to effectively implement trust reform.”

The task force is composed of, in addition to Deputy Secretary Griles and Assistant Secretary McCaleb, Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason; Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs Director David L. Bernhardt; Office of Communications Director Eric Ruff; the Special Trustee for American Indians Thomas J. Slonaker, Indian Trust Transition Director Ross O. Swimmer and Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Wayne R. Smith along with 24 tribal leaders (with 16 alternates) from the BIA’s twelve regions. Co-chairing the task force are Griles, McCaleb, Tex Hall, Chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota and Sue Masten, Chairwoman of the Yurok Tribes of Indians of California.

The task force held its first meeting in Shepherdstown, W.Va., on February 1-4, 2002. A second meeting was held in Phoenix, Ariz., in March.

Note to Editors: A 2-page list of task force members accompanies this release.

WASHINGTON - A cooperative agreement between the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of the Interior's (DOI) Indian Affairs eGovernment initiative will allow Federally recognized Indian tribes to participate in a program that will provide a domain name suffix identifying the tribe on the World Wide Web as a government entity. "This has been an idea bantered around for quite some time, for it to happen now affirms President Bush's policy of treating American Indian tribes as sovereign governments," Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb said.

The General Services Administration is the government agency that grants the .gov domain name suffix to government entities. Suffixes are used to identify the function of a specific organization such as .com representing a commercial venture, .org for organization, usually a non-profit, and .gov meaning a Federal government entity. A tribe's domain name suffix will include a dash, the letters nsn and the .gov designation. The nsn acronym stands for native sovereign nation, when combined with www and the tribe's name it will look like, www.tribesname-nsn.gov.

President Bush's Management and Performance Agenda sets eGovernment as a top priority. The Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs seeks to utilize eGovernment technologies to transform its business and enhance its relationship with tribes and individual Indians. Designating Federally recognized tribes on the web as government entities is the first step in implementing eGovernment that will provide pertinent information about Native American programs and agencies, to be fully capable of business transactions, and to provide individual services over the Internet on a twenty four hours, seven days a week basis to Indian Country.

A tribe will need to apply to the Office of Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs to receive the domain name suffix. The process includes a letter application, tribal resolution, or minutes of the meeting giving authority to the person making the written request. A tribe can also register at http://www.gov-registration.gov/. For an example of an application and web content guidelines contact Paul Marsden, e-Government Officer at 703-390-6308.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Interior Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb will complete the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ effort to connect its 185-school system to the Internet, known as Access Native America, when he brings Chichiltah/Jones Ranch Community School in Chichiltah, N.M., online this Thursday, August 23. Chichiltah/Jones Ranch Community School, located on the Navajo reservation, is a K-8 boarding and day school serving 206 students.

Assistant Secretary McCaleb, accompanied by William A. Mehojah, Jr., Director of the Office of Indian Education Programs, will be joined by students, parents, teachers, community representatives and Navajo Nation officials in celebrating the school’s entrée onto the Information Superhighway.

Since 1997, the goal of the Access Native America project has been to bring Internet access to all Bureau schools, which serve 48,693 elementary and secondary American Indian students, including 11,000 boarding school students, located on 63 reservations in 23 states. Bureau schools can be found in some of the remotest areas of the United States; one is even located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The Bureau partnered with corporations, universities, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Laguna Pueblo Tribal Education Department to provide computer hardware and software, network-engineering services and teacher training.

-BIA-