OPA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman today issued a Final Determination to decline acknowledgment of the Federal Acknowledgment Process petitioner known as the Steilacoom Tribe of Indians (STI), located in Steilacoom, Wash., as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. The petitioner has 612 members.

Under 25 CFR Part 83, the regulations that govern the Federal Acknowledgment Process, failure by a petitioning group to meet seven mandatory criteria will result in the group not being acknowledged as an Indian tribe. The available evidence demonstrates that this petitioner does not meet four of the seven mandatory criteria as set forth in 25 CFR Part 83.7.

The STI claims to have descended as a group from the historical Steilacoom Indian tribe that occupied territory in the western part of Washington State. The STI claims its ancestors signed the Medicine Creek Treaty in 1854 and that its ancestors resided briefly on the reservations created by the treaty. The STI further contends that some of these Indians left the reservations, settled in “community pockets” in their traditional homelands, and formed an unbroken line of leadership and a continuous community existence to the present. The available evidence does not support these claims showing only that three of the STI members descend from individuals identified in historical documents as Steilacoom Indians. The evidence also did not demonstrate that the STI maintained a distinct community from historical times to the present, or that there was such a group that maintained political influence over its members.

The four criteria the petitioner does not meet are criteria 83.7(a), 83.7(b), 83.7(c) and 83.7(e).

Criterion 83.7(a) requires that external observers have identified the petitioner as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1900. The available evidence demonstrates that external observers identified the petitioner as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis only since 1974.

Criterion 83.7(b) requires that a predominant portion of the petitioning group has comprised a distinct community since historical times. The available evidence does not demonstrate this.

Criterion 83.7(c) requires that the petitioning group has maintained political influence over its members as an autonomous entity since historical times. The available evidence does not demonstrate this.

Criterion 83.7(e) requires that a petitioner’s members descend from a historical Indian tribe. Over 90 percent of the STI’s 612 members documented that they are Indian descendants, but only three of them document descent from persons described as Steilacoom Indians in 19th and early 20th century documents. Most of the STI members descend from other Indians in the Pacific Northwest or from Métis people from the Red River Valley in Manitoba, Canada.

The three criteria the petitioner does meet are criteria 83.7(d), 83.7(f) and 83.7(g). Criterion 83.7(d) requires that the petitioner provide a copy of its governing document. Criterion 83.7(f) requires that the petitioner’s membership be composed principally of persons who are not members of another Federally recognized tribe. Criterion 83.7(g) requires that the petitioner not be subject to legislation forbidding the Federal relationship.

This Final Determination follows a review of petitioner and public comments on the Department’s Proposed Finding issued on January 14, 2000. The Final Determination will become effective 90 days after its publication as a notice in the Federal Register unless any interested party requests reconsideration with the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA).

Copies of the Final Determination and the Federal Register notice will be posted on the Interior Department’s website at www.doi.gov.

-DOI-

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of the Interior today announced that its Office of Hearings and Appeals is operating under a new structure that will improve and expedite the resolution of Indian probate cases. OHA has created a separate hearings division to focus exclusively on these cases; is opening new offices in Alaska, S.D, and Ore.; and is increasing its staff devoted to probate adjudication.

"The OHA restructuring that takes effect today is an outgrowth of the department's trust reform initiatives for the 21st century," said Deputy Assistant Secretary Scott Cameron, who oversees performance, accountability and human resources at the department. "It will increase our level of service to native people by speeding the distribution of trust estates to heirs and beneficiaries."

OHA's former Hearings Division has been divided into three separate divisions: Probate Hearings, White Earth Reservation Land Settlement Act Hearings, and Departmental Cases Hearings.

The creation of a separate Probate Hearings Division grew out of a two-year review and consultation process, which led to the 2004 development of the department's Fiduciary Trust Model. One of the recommendations from that process was that the probate adjudication functions handled separately by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and OHA be consolidated into a single organization.

To implement this recommendation, the department is transferring to the new Probate Hearings Division most of the existing OHA Hearings Division judges and staff, along with 10 attorney decision-maker positions and 10 support staff positions currently in BIA. The BIA and OHA are issuing a joint rule in the Mar. 9 Federal Register reflecting the consolidation of the probate adjudication functions.

The attorney decision-makers are currently limited to probate cases that do not require a formal evidentiary hearing. The Fiduciary Trust Model envisions that the attorney decision.makers, working with OHA's administrative law judges and Indian probate judges, will eventually take on additional authority to handle other types of probate cases as well.

OHA will be opening new offices in Aberdeen, S.D.; Anchorage, Alaska; and Portland, Ore., to handle Indian probate cases referred from the BIA regions headquartered in those cities. OHA also will be adding staff to many of its current offices to accommodate an increase in probate case referrals expected from BIA. Other locations for the Probate Hearings Division are Albuquerque, N.M.; Billings, Mont.; Bismarck, N.D.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Rapid City. S.D.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Twin Cities, Minn.

OHA's WELSA Hearings Division will also be located in Twin Cities, Minn. It will render heirship determinations required by the White Earth Reservation Land Settlement Act.

The Departmental Cases Hearings Division will be located in Salt Lake City, Utah. It will handle all other cases requiring an administrative hearing in which an aggrieved party is challenging an action taken by one of the department's bureaus. Such cases include mining contests, grazing cases, surface mining appeals, Native allotment contests and cases under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

Besides its hearings divisions, OHA has four other units that handle other types of administrative appeals: the Office of the Director, the Interior Board of Contract Appeals, the Interior Board of Indian Appeals and the Interior Board of Land Appeals. Decisions from the Probate Hearings Division and the WELSA Hearings Division will generally be appealable to IBIA, while decisions from the Departmental Cases Hearings Division will generally be appealable to IBLA.

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary Jim Cason today announced that Captain John Herrington, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the first American Indian astronaut to serve with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, will provide the keynote address this morning at the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) FACE and Baby FACE National Training Conference in Pearl River, Miss. The event is scheduled for March 8-10 at the Silver Star and Golden Moon Resort on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reservation.

Herrington, who is also the first American Indian astronaut to walk in space, is well known among Indian educators as a role model for Indian children and youth through his willingness to speak before students and adults about his life and professional experiences.

Also joining Captain Harrington will be the six FACE and Baby FACE programs’ 2005 Parent Essay Winners, who will be recognized at the conference for their accomplishments. The winners are

OIEP administers FACE, the Family and Child Education program, which provides early childhood and adult education programs to American Indian families at home and in school. The FACE program has served over 15,000 infants, children and adults since its start in 1991. The program also provides opportunities for adults to complete their secondary level education and obtain workplace skills such as computer training. Since 1991, over 500 adults have earned their high school or general equivalency diploma (GED) and approximately 2,000 adults have found employment by participating in FACE.

WHO: John Harrington, Commander, USN, and Astronaut, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

WHAT: Captain Harrington will be the keynote speaker at the BIA/OIEP FACE and Baby FACE National Training Conference.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 9, 2005, starting at 8:30 a.m. (EST) Captain Herrington will speak immediately following the presentations to the 2005 Parent Essay Winners portion of the morning program.

WHERE: Silver Star and Golden Moon Resort, Pearl River, Miss., on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reservation.

CREDENTIALS: Please bring your sanctioned media credentials. Wear on shirt collar or around neck for easy viewing, if possible

The Indian Health Service (IHS) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) are coordinating a multi-agency federal response to a tragic shooting that occurred Monday on the reservation of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians of Minnesota. Ten people were killed and 7 others were injured. The Directors of the BIA and IHS today expressed their agencies' joint commitment to assisting the tribe in the wake of the tragedy.

"On behalf of all Bureau of Indian Affairs employees, I want to express our deepest condolences to the Red Lake Tribe and to the families of the victims over their tragic loss," Bureau of Indian Affairs Director W. Patrick Ragsdale said. "The BIA is providing active service to the Red Lake community to help them begin the process of recovering and healing."

"This is an incredible tragedy that is affecting the entire tribe," said IHS Director Charles W. Grim. "We are working with other Federal agencies to do all that we can to alleviate the suffering and lingering effects of this dreadful day. Our hearts and our prayers go out to all of them, especially the families of the victims."

The IHS Bemidji Area Chief Medical Officer and the IHS Bemidji Area Director are on-site today on the Red Lake Reservation assessing medical and other public health needs, as well as meeting with community and family members of the victims of the shooting to offer support and condolences. The IHS is coordinating with medical providers and law enforcement staff in the community and will mobilize staff as appropriate to meet health needs. Also, the IHS is collaborating with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disaster response psychological unit, for immediate and long-term support. The Health Resources and Services Administration will provide emergency funds to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians to help deal with the aftermath of the tragedy, and the IHS and BIA are also working jointly to determine needs for information alerts and other intervention processes to address and prevent future violence.

A number of BIA personnel are already providing support to on the-ground federal and local agencies in Red Lake. The BIA's Office of Law Enforcement Services has sent personnel to the site to assist the FBI, which has primary responsibility for investigating the incident. They include uniformed police officers, special agents, supervisory special agents, telecommunications officers and law enforcement officers trained in providing peer support counseling to local police and community members. A BIA mobile community substation also has been sent to Red Lake with dispatchers to provide an array of telecommunications services and carry out other specialized law enforcement functions.

In addition, the Bureau's Office of Tribal Services has sent social workers from its Midwest Regional Office, in Ft. Snelling, Minn., to Red Lake to provide support to community members. They also will work with the Red Lake tribal government in obtaining long-term resources to help the tribe deal with any lingering effects produced by the tragedy.

The Director of the BIA oversees the day-to-day activities of the 180-year-old Interior Department agency, which provides services to 1.8 million American Indians and Alaska Natives from the 562 federally recognized tribes. The Director administers all laws governing non-education portions of Indian Affairs, provides leadership and direction for BIA employees and oversees and monitors the work of the BIA regional offices, agencies and field offices. The Director also shares authority and responsibility for the management of the tribal and individual Indian trust funds with the Special Trustee for American Indians, and oversees the Bureau's Land Consolidation Center, the agency's nationwide program to consolidate fractionated interests in Indian lands.

The IHS, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 1.8 million of the nation's estimated 3 .2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who are members of 562 federally recognized tribes.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton has upheld a June 2004 decision by former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin, who declined to acknowledge as an Indian tribe a group known as the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe of Indians. The petitioning group, headquartered in Trumbull.
Connecticut, did not successfully demonstrate that it meets all seven mandatory criteria for Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe under Federal regulations.

In October 2004, the group's submission of eleven potential grounds for reconsideration before the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA) were each determined to be outside the scope of BIA's jurisdiction and referred to Secretary Norton for her review. Under governing regulations, it is within the discretion of the Secretary whether to ask the current Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs to review the matter or to let the June decision stand. Secretary Norton has informed the petitioner that none of the issues it has raised warrant further consideration, that the decision to decline acknowledgment of the Golden Hill Paugussett group is the final action of the Department and is effective immediately.

Federal acknowledgment of a group as an Indian tribe establishes a government-to- government relationship between the United States and an Indian tribe, and is a prerequisite to the protection, services and benefits of the Federal government available to Indian tribes by virtue of their status as tribes.

WASHINGTON – Amy Hall, an early childhood teacher with the Hannahville Indian School Family and Child Education (FACE) program and the 2005 Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year, was honored today at the National Center for Family Literacy’s 14th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy in Louisville, Ky. Hannahville is a Bureau of Indian Affairs funded day school operated by the Hannahville Indian Community, a Potawatomi tribe located in Wilson, Mich.

“I would like to offer my congratulations to Ms. Hall for being named the 2005 Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year,” said Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason. “She exemplifies a commitment to quality teaching which has benefited her students and school tremendously.”

Hall, who was announced Teacher of the Year last November, was presented with a Crystal Apple award and $5,000 for the Hannahville FACE program by Mr. Hideaki Otaka, President and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, Inc. The company is a partner of the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL), a national non-profit organization established in 1989 to meet the educational needs of parents and their children through family literacy programs. FACE is a BIA-funded program that brings literacy programs to Indian families across the country and, as an NCFL project, benefits from the center’s expertise.

“I want to commend Amy Hall and the Hannahville Indian School FACE program for their outstanding dedication to improving the lives of families through literacy,” said Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) Director Edward Parisian. “We also deeply appreciate the National Center for Family Literacy, and its partner, the Toyota Motor Corporation, for their support of the BIA FACE program.”

FACE and its companion program, Baby FACE, are administered by OIEP to provide early childhood education and pre-literacy experiences for infants and families in the home as well as early childhood and adult education programs in school. An important facet of these programs is support of parental involvement in a child’s reading experience. Since its start in 1991, the FACE program has served over 15,000 infants, children and adults. In addition, it has enabled over 500 adults to earn high school or general equivalency diplomas (GEDs) and approximately 2,000 adults to find employment.

The BIA school system serves approximately 48,000 American Indian children in 184 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools located on or near 63 reservations in 23 states. In school year 2002-2003, the BIA directly operated one-third of these schools and the remaining two-thirds were tribally operated under BIA contracts or grants.

For more information about NCFL, its projects and partners, visit www.famlit.org.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director W. Patrick Ragsdale today announced that BIA Special Agent Selanhongva McDonald, an enrolled member of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and a 13-year veteran of BIA law enforcement, successfully completed his training at the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy (FBINA) in Quantico, Va., last month, graduating with his class on March 18. He is now one of a select group of BIA law enforcement officers who are FBINA graduates.

“I congratulate Special Agent Selanhongva McDonald and all BIA law enforcement personnel who have graduated from the FBI National Academy,” said Ragsdale. “Through their accomplishment, these dedicated professionals have demonstrated their commitment to their fellow officers and to the citizens whom they have sworn to protect.”

McDonald spent 10 weeks at the FBI Academy as one of 250 trainees selected from domestic and international law enforcement agencies comprising the 220th Session, as the class is called. He underwent intensive classroom and physical training leading up to a 6.2 mile run that all graduates must complete.

“I want to express my appreciation to BIA Law Enforcement for providing me the opportunity to attend the FBI National Academy,” McDonald said. “The FBINA training program is the best and most demanding I have attended during my career. It has made me a better officer.”

Special Agent McDonald, an instructor at the United States Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M., began his law enforcement career in 1992 as a BIA police officer on the Hopi Indian Reservation in northeastern Arizona. In 1997, he completed the Basic Criminal Investigator Training Program in Glynco, Ga., and in 1998 joined the BIA’s Western Nevada Agency in Carson City, Nev., as a special agent. While there he was assigned to the FBI’s Safe Trails Task Force investigating violent crimes in Indian Country. From then until 2001, he was the Lead Special Agent for the Western Nevada Agency, as well as the agency’s chief of police. He also served as police chief for the Fallon Indian Reservation of the Fallon Paiute Shoshone Tribe in Nevada. In 2001, he served for six months as a Federal Air Marshall.

In September 2002, Special Agent McDonald became an instructor at the Indian Police Academy where he teaches a wide range of subjects including investigating child and elder abuse cases, defensive tactics for law enforcement personnel, and crime scene investigation and photography.

Immediately following his graduation from the FBINA, McDonald was assigned to the joint FBI-BIA team investigating the school shooting on the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota. He is currently on temporary assignment to the BIA Office of Law Enforcement Services headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Special Agent McDonald was born in Tucson, Ariz., and graduated from Pala Verde High School. He went on to Northern Arizona University where he received a Bachelors of Science degree in Criminal Justice in 1990.

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) has published in the Federal Register a final rule implementing the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), President Bush’s signature education legislation, in the BIA-funded schools. The action follows three years of consultation with tribal leaders, school officials, parents and other stakeholders in negotiated rulemaking called for by the Act to bring the pillars of the President’s public education reform plan – accountability and testing, flexibility and local control, funding for what works – to the Bureau schools.

The NCLBA directed the Secretary of the Interior to conduct consultation meetings followed by negotiated rulemaking for six sections of the Act that require the following: defining adequate yearly progress (AYP), the essential measurement for determining that a school is providing quality education; establishing separate geographic attendance areas for each BIA-funded school; establishing a formula for determining minimum annual funding necessary for each BIA-funded school; establishing a system for the direct funding and support of all BIA-funded schools; establishing guidelines to ensure constitutional and civil rights of Indian students in BIA-funded schools; and establishing a method for administering grants to tribally controlled schools.

Starting in 2002, the OIEP conducted consultation meetings with parents, teachers, students, school officials and tribal representatives on establishing the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, published in the Federal Register a Notice of Intent to form the committee and requesting nominations for committee members, and published in the Federal Register a list of proposed committee members.

In July of 2003, the committee, which was comprised of tribal and federal representatives, school administrators, school board members and other educators, held meetings across the country and organized work groups to undertake the rulemaking required by the NCLBA.

The BIA school system serves approximately 48,000 American Indian children in 184 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools located on or near 63 reservations in 23 states. In school year 2004-2005 the BIA directly operated one-third of these schools and the remaining two-thirds were tribally operated under BIA contracts or grants.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director W. Patrick Ragsdale today announced that the BIA Great Plains Regional Office in Aberdeen, S.D., will hold the 7th Annual Great Plains Tribal/Federal Economic Development Summit next month with the theme “Empowering and Strengthening Economic Development in Indian Country Through: Education, Technology and Entrepreneurship.” The summit, which will be held May 9-12, 2005, at the Dakota Magic Casino and Hotel in Hankinson, N.D., is expected to draw 500 attendees from tribes, businesses and state and federal agencies from the Northern Plains and Midwest.

“The BIA Great Plains Tribal/Federal Economic Development Summit is an exciting and highly informative venue for doing business in Indian Country,” Ragsdale said. “For six years this event has successfully carried out the BIA’s mission to promote economic opportunity for tribes, and I anticipate this year’s summit will continue that trend.”

While its focus remains on business development, information technology, infrastructure development, tourism, agriculture, natural resources and energy, the 2005 summit agenda includes a new education component designed for small business owners and American Indian students in high school and college business programs.

“We have noted great interest in the BIA Great Plains Tribal/Federal Economic Development Summit from tribal and business leaders from around the region,” said Great Plains Regional Director William Benjamin.

“The education component we have added will help train future Indian business leaders and promote the entrepreneurial spirit that lives in Indian Country.” The education component will address the needs of Indian entrepreneurs by providing attendees with opportunities to discuss start-up financing, marketing strategies, business plan development, contracting and other small business topics with representatives from state and federal agencies, private industry and academia. Representatives from the University of South Dakota Small Business Development Center and the United Tribes Technical College of Bismarck, N.D., will be on hand to assist entrepreneurs with their business plans.

The student program will include a business plan competition where finalists will present their submissions at the conference before a select group of American Indian business leaders and owners, and representatives of youth business groups Junior Achievement of South Dakota and Future Business Leaders of America. The winners will be announced at the summit’s banquet on May 12.

Also continued this year is the trade show component which showcases a variety of American Indian businesses and allows attendees to interface with business-focused federal and state programs.

Among the featured speakers from the tribal, public and private sectors will be David W. Anderson, former Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and founder and former chairman of Famous Dave’s of America, Inc., and Diane L. Cullo, Executive Director, White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities, U.S. Department of Education. In addition, Brian Burns, Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Resources Management and Chief Information Officer – Indian Affairs and Dr. Bob Middleton, Director, DOI Office of Indian Energy Resource Development, will join other representatives from the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs and the BIA as speakers and panelists.

For more information on the 7th Annual Great Plains Tribal/Federal Economic Development Summit, contact Onna LeBeau in the BIA Great Plains Regional Office Branch of Economic Development at 605-226-7381 or onnalebeau@netscape.net.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director W. Patrick Ragsdale will be the keynote speaker this week at the 14th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial taking place on May 5 at the United States Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M. The event, which is being held in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, is a major BIA commemoration for tribal, state and federal law enforcement officers who have given their lives while on duty in Indian Country. Representatives from federal law enforcement offices, national law enforcement organizations, tribal police departments, and tribal and city officials will be in attendance.

The Memorial’s design is based upon indigenous design concepts. It is comprised of three granite markers sited within a circular walkway lined with sage, a plant of spiritual significance to many tribes. Four planters representing the four directions of the earth, each filled with foliage in colors representing people of all races, are located near the walkway’s entrance. The markers are inscribed with the names of 86 American Indian and non-Indian law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty since 1852, including two FBI agents killed at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1975 and two BIA officers, father and son, who died in 1998 and 2001, respectively. The names of two Quinault tribal police officers killed on the same day in 1910 while investigating the assault on a young girl were added last year.

The Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial was formally dedicated on May 7, 1992, at the Indian Police Academy at its previous location in Marana, Ariz., and was rededicated on May 6, 1993, following the Academy’s move to its present site.

2005 is only the second year in the Memorial’s history that no names will be added to it (the first was in 1992). This year’s event will instead commemorate all law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty.

WHO: W. Patrick Ragsdale, Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior.

WHAT: Keynote address by BIA Director Ragsdale at the 14th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial.

WHEN: 10:00 a.m. (local time), Thursday, May 5, 2005.

WHERE: United States Indian Police Academy, DHS Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, 1300 West Richey Avenue, Artesia, N.M. Phone: 505-748-8151.

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives, who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to the event.