OPA

Washington, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced the schedule for the month of December for the Interior Department’s series of tribal consultation meetings to develop a Department-wide tribal consultation policy.

The December schedule of tribal consultation meetings is as follows (all times are local time):

Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Times: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon/1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Location: Hilton-Anchorage, 500 W 3rd Ave., Anchorage, Alaska, 99501 907-272-7411

Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Times: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon/1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Location: Holiday Inn Portland Airport, 8439 NE Columbia Blvd., Portland, Ore., 97220 503-256-5000

Date: Monday, December 14, 2009

Times: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon/1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Location: The Westin Washington, DC City Center, 1400 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., 20005 202-429-1700

In addition, four meetings are scheduled during January 2010: Tuesday, January 5, Minneapolis, Minn.; Thursday, January 7, Oklahoma City, Okla.; Tuesday, January 12, Phoenix, Ariz.; and Thursday, January 14, Sacramento, Calif. Details on these will be provided when confirmed.

For more information, contact the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs at 202-208- 7163.

ON TUESDAY, DEC. 8, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder will make a major announcement. Credentialed news media are invited to attend the 10:30 AM Eastern Time announcement in the South Penthouse of the Main Interior Building or to join a moderated media teleconference by dialing 1-800-857-9808 and entering the access code 5212385.

Who: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Attorney General Eric Holder

What: Major news announcement

When: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009; 10:30 AM Eastern Time; 9:30 AM Central Time; 8:30 AM Mountain Time; 7:30 AM Pacific Time

Where: South Penthouse, U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240 Media: All credentialed media are invited to participate.

Media should arrive no later than 10:10 AM to clear security and be escorted to the event. Those needing to set up equipment should arrive at least an hour before the event. Those unable to attend may join a moderated teleconference by dialing 1-800-857-9808 and entering the access code 5212385. Callers will be asked for name, affiliation and contact phone number.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder today announced a settlement of the long-running and highly contentious Cobell class action lawsuit regarding the U.S. government's trust management and accounting of over three hundred thousand individual American Indian trust accounts. Also speaking at the press conference today were Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes and Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli.

“This is an historic, positive development for Indian country and a major step on the road to reconciliation following years of acrimonious litigation between trust beneficiaries and the United States,” Secretary Salazar said. “Resolving this issue has been a top priority of President Obama, and this administration has worked in good faith to reach a settlement that is both honorable and responsible. This historic step will allow Interior to move forward and address the educational, law enforcement, and economic development challenges we face in Indian Country.”

“Over the past thirteen years, the parties have tried to settle this case many, many times, each time unsuccessfully," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "But today we turn the page. This settlement is fair to the plaintiffs, responsible for the United States, and provides a path forward for the future.”

Under the negotiated agreement, litigation will end regarding the Department of the Interior’s performance of an historical accounting for trust accounts maintained by the United States on behalf of more than 300,000 individual Indians. A fund totaling $1.4 billion will be distributed to class members to compensate them for their historical accounting claims, and to resolve potential claims that prior U.S. officials mismanaged the administration of trust assets.

In addition, in order to address the continued proliferation of thousands of new trust accounts caused by the "fractionation" of land interests through succeeding generations, the settlement establishes a $2 billion fund for the voluntary buy-back and consolidation of fractionated land interests. The land consolidation program will provide individual Indians with an opportunity to obtain cash payments for divided land interests and free up the land for the benefit of tribal communities.

By reducing the number of individual trust accounts that the U.S must maintain, the program will greatly reduce on-going administrative expenses and future accounting-related disputes. In order to provide owners with an additional incentive to sell their fractionated interests, the settlement authorizes the Interior Department to set aside up to 5 percent of the value of the interests into a college and vocational school scholarship fund for American Indian students.

The settlement has been negotiated with the involvement of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It will not become final until it is formally endorsed by the court. Also, Congress must enact legislation to authorize implementation of the settlement. Because it is a settlement of a litigation matter, the Judgment Fund maintained by the U.S. Departments of Justice and Treasury will fund the settlement.

“While we have made significant progress in improving and strengthening the management of Indian trust assets, our work is not over,” said Salazar, who also announced he is establishing a national commission to evaluate ongoing trust reform efforts and make recommendations for the future management of individual trust account assets in light of a congressional sunset provision for the Office of Special Trustee, which was established by Congress in 1994 to reform financial management of the trust system.

The class action case, which involves several hundred thousand plaintiffs, was filed by Elouise Cobell in 1996 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and has included hundreds of motions, dozens of rulings and appeals, and several trials over the past 13 years. The settlement funds will be administered by the trust department of a bank approved by the district court and distributed to individual Indians by a claims administrator in accordance with court orders and the settlement agreement.

Interior currently manages about 56 million acres of Indian trust land, administering more than 100,000 leases and about $3.5 billion in trust funds. For fiscal year 2009, funds from leases, use permits, land sales and income from financial assets, totaling about $298 million were collected for more than 384,000 open Individual Indian Money accounts and $566 million was collected for about 2,700 tribal accounts for more than 250 tribes. Since 1996, the U.S. Government has collected over $10.4 billion from individual and tribal trust assets and disbursed more than $9.5 billion to individual account holders and tribal governments.

The land consolidation fund addresses a legacy of the General Allotment Act of 1887 (the “Dawes Act”), which divided tribal lands into parcels between 40 and 160 acres in size, allotted them to individual Indians and sold off all remaining unallotted Indian lands. As the original holders died, their intestate heirs received an equal, undivided interest in the lands as tenants in common. In successive generations, smaller undivided interests descended to the next generation.

Today, it is common to have hundreds—even thousands—of Indian owners for one parcel of land. Such highly fractionated ownership makes it extremely difficult to use the land productively or to provide beneficial use for any individual. Absent serious corrective action, an estimated 4 million acres of land will continue to be held in such small ownership interests that very few individual owners will ever derive any meaningful financial benefit from that ownership.

Additional Information is available at the following sites: www.cobellsettlement.com. The Department of the Interior website: www.doi.gov. The Office of the Special Trustee website: www.ost.doi.gov

Washington, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk welcomed representatives of several federal agencies and non-profit organizations who are at the forefront of combating alcohol and substance abuse and domestic violence to a conference on creating safe schools held December 8 by the Bureau of Indian Education. The Safe School Summit kicked off a BIE initiative to establish partnerships with law enforcement, security, and health and safety agencies to ensure BIE-funded schools are safe and secure learning environments for their students. The meeting was held at the main Interior Department building.

“Children cannot get a good education if they feel they cannot be safe in their schools,” Echo Hawk said. “We must find ways to prevent student violence against themselves and others while ensuring they receive a quality education and a chance at prosperity.”

The BIE has been focused on addressing a variety of health and safety factors that can impede a student’s learning ability. In coordination with the Indian Affairs Office of Facilities, Environmental and Cultural Resources Management, it has replaced or repaired a significant number of existing school structures. Working with Interior’s Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Management personnel, BIE has installed school safety features and equipment and developed and implemented school emergency preparedness plans. The BIE also provides training for faculty and staff to identify threats to student safety and offers programs that support parents and students in learning healthy and positive life management skills.

While the BIE has ongoing partnerships with public and private educational organizations that support its academic mission, today Bureau officials reached out to federal law enforcement, health and safety agencies on ways of improving school safety. “This meeting is a cornerstone event where the BIE is seeking to establish public and private sector partnerships in order to share knowledge and best practices for creating safe learning environments for BIE students,” said acting BIE Director Kevin Skenandore.

The event was attended by representatives of federal offices and agencies responsible for health and safety, security and law enforcement matters that affect, directly or indirectly, Indian Country including the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, the Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, the Department of State, the Department of Justice’s Office of Tribal Services and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), the FBI, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Communications Commission, the Indian Health Service, and the Administration for Native Americans. Also present were representatives of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Crimestoppers USA, and the Ripken Foundation’s Badges for Baseball program.

Joining Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk from the Interior Department were Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Management Larry R. Parkinson, Policy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Wizipan Garriott, OFECRM Director John “Jack” Rever and members of the BIE senior management team. Also in attendance were representatives of the Interior Department’s Office of the Inspector General and Emergency Management Council, as well as the Indian Affairs Office of Homeland Security and the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services.

Tribal education officials present were Oglala Sioux Tribe Education Director Dayna Brave Eagle, Pine Ridge (S.D.) High School Superintendent Linda Hunter, Navajo Nation Department of Diné Education Superintendent Andrew Tah and Pueblo of Jemez Education Director Kevin Shendo.

The BIE is responsible for ensuring the implementation of federal education laws, including the No Child Left Behind Act, in 183 BIE-funded elementary and secondary schools and residential programs located on 64 reservations in 23 states serving approximately 42,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students and employing over 5,000 teachers, administrators and support personnel. The BIE also provides resources and technical assistance to 124 tribally administered BIE-funded schools and 26 tribal colleges and universities, and directly operates two post secondary institutions: Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, N.M.

Washington, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced he has named Dr. Sherry R. Allison, who is currently the acting president of the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute located in Albuquerque, N.M., as SIPI President. Dr. Allison, who is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, had been serving as acting president since January 5, 2009. The appointment is effective December 6, 2009.

“I am pleased that Dr. Sherry Allison has accepted the post of president of the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute on a permanent basis,” said Echo Hawk. “Her extensive background in the field of American Indian education and her commitment to excellence has inspired my confidence that she is the right leader to take SIPI into its fourth decade.”

“Serving as interim SIPI president has been a labor of love,” said Allison. “I am very excited, humbled and honored to accept this appointment. The entire SIPI community, including the employees, students and Board of Regents, has been incredibly supportive. By continuing to work together, I am very optimistic about SIPI’s future.”

Allison arrived at SIPI with over 25 years’ experience in the field of Indian education. Prior to becoming acting SIPI president, she had served 10 years with the Office of Indian Education Programs, now the Bureau of Indian Education, in the Interior Department where she worked in programs dealing with residential treatment and education services to students in juvenile detention centers, professional development and special education. She served details on the Navajo Nation reservation as the Education Line Officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Northern Navajo Agency in Shiprock, N.M. (June-October 2004) and the Fort Defiance Agency in Fort Defiance, Ariz. (October 2005-May 2006). From February to August 2007, she served as acting chief for the BIE’s performance and accountability division in Albuquerque.

Allison’s professional experience as an educator includes various assignments at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque from October 1997 to October 2001, including serving as Assistant Professor (LAT) and Senior Research Scientist at the UNM-Health Sciences Center/Center for Development and Disability and as an Assistant Professor (Adjunct) with UNM’s Native American Studies Program. From August 1994 to April 1996, she served as a Research Associate with the University of Arizona School of Medicine’s Native American Research and Training Center in Tucson.

Allison also has served on numerous national and state boards and task forces on education matters including service as board member and then president (1999-2000) of the National Indian Education Association and as chairperson of the New Mexico Advisory Panel for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2000).

Allison has been nominated for and is the recipient of numerous honors for her work including: Honorary Commander (for community service), Kirtland Air Force Base (1999); induction into the Council for Exceptional Children Hall of Fame, New Mexico Chapter, Division of Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners (1999); YWCA Woman on the Move nominee, Albuquerque (1998); University of Oklahoma Faculty Leadership Institute Fellowship recipient (1997); U.S. Department of Education Patricia Roberts Harris Academic Fellowship recipient – doctoral program (1992-1994); National Native American Honor Society (1993-1994); Who’s Who in American Colleges: Recognition for Scholastic Achievement (1994) and the National Bojack Humanitarian Award, Flagstaff, Ariz. (1991).

Allison, who is from Shiprock, holds a Bachelor of Social Work from New Mexico State University (1980), a Master of Arts in Education from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff (1984) and a Doctorate of Education-Educational Leadership from NAU (1994).

Allison and her husband have three children and three grandchildren. The couple, whose children are grown, reside in Albuquerque.

The Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute is a National Indian Community College funded through the Bureau of Indian Education in the Department of the Interior. SIPI was established in 1971 at the request of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico and other federally recognized tribes to help train American Indians and Alaska Natives for employment. It is advised by a national, tribally appointed Board of Regents. SIPI provides career technical training and transfer degree programs to students from the nation’s 564 federally recognized tribes. It offers competitive job training programs; granting of Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees; and opportunities to transfer into four-year degree programs. SIPI’s fall 2009 enrollment is 657 students from over 150 tribes.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of the Interior proposes to acknowledge the Shinnecock Indian Nation of Southampton, New York as a federally recognized Indian tribe, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs George T. Skibine announced today. The Department will issue a notice of this proposed finding in the Federal Register.

The Shinnecock petitioner has met all seven mandatory criteria for Federal acknowledgment as set forth in 25 CFR Part 83.7. Those criteria include the following: that the Shinnecock has been continuously identified as an American Indian entity since 1900; has been a distinct community since historical times; has maintained political influence over its members; has a governing document describing its governance procedures and membership criteria; and has provided a list of its current members who descend from an historical Indian tribe and are not members of another federally recognized tribe.

The petitioner has occupied a land base in Southampton, New York that was formally defined in 1703, reduced in size in 1859, and exists today as a state Indian reservation. Since 1792, when the State of New York established a political system by which the Shinnecocks would annually elect three members as trustees to manage Shinnecock lands, the trustees have acted to protect Shinnecock interests. The Shinnecock has an official membership of 1,066 individuals.

The proposed finding meets the Dec. 15, 2009, deadline the petitioner and United States negotiated in a settlement agreement that the Court approved on May 26, 2009, in Shinnecock v. Salazar, No. CV-06-5013 (E.D.N.Y.). There is a 90-day comment period during which the petitioner or any individual or organization may submit comments on the proposed finding.

However, either the Shinnecock petitioner or an interested party may request, in writing, that the comment period remain open for 180 days. A copy of the court order, “Stipulation and Order for Settlement of Plaintiff’s Unreasonable Delay Claim,” describing these and other modifications, is found in Appendix B of the proposed finding. The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs is responsible for fulfilling the Interior Department’s trust responsibilities and promoting self-determination on behalf of the 564 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments.

The Assistant Secretary also oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is responsible for providing services to the tribes and their members, about 1.9 million individual American Indians and Alaska Natives, and the Office of Federal Acknowledgment, which is responsible for administering the acknowledgment process.

The Assistant Secretary has delegated authority to sign some Federal acknowledgment findings, including this proposed finding, to the Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs effective June 4, 2009. The Department will post copies of the proposed finding and Federal Register notice on its Indian Affairs website at http://www.indianaffairs.gov.

Washington, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced the schedule for the month of January 2010 for the Interior Department’s series of tribal consultation meetings to develop a Department-wide tribal consultation policy.

The Assistant Secretary noted two changes in the January schedule: the January 5 meeting will be held in Ft. Snelling, Minn., instead of Minneapolis and the January 14 meeting will be held in Palm Springs, Calif., instead of Sacramento.

The January schedule of tribal consultation meetings is as follows (all times are local time):

Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 Times: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon/1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Location: Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Bldg., One Federal Drive, Ft. Snelling, Minn. 55111

Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010 Times: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon/1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Location: Embassy Suites Oklahoma City – Will Rogers World Airport, 1815 South Meridian, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73108 405-682-6000

Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 Times: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon/1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Location: Embassy Suites Phoenix Airport, 1515 North 44th Street, Phoenix, Ariz. 85008 602-244-8800

Date: Thursday, January 14, 2010 Times: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon/1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Location: Palm Springs Convention Center, 277 N. Avenida Caballeros, Palm Springs, Calif. 92262 760-325-6611

This series of tribal consultation meetings began on December 2 in Anchorage, Alaska. Two additional meetings have been held this month: December 9 in Portland, Ore., and December 14, in Washington, D.C.

For more information, contact the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs at 202-208- 7163 or visit the “Current Tribal Consultations” page on the Indian Affairs website at http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/AS-IA/Consultation/index.htm.

Washington, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that on December 21 the Bureau of Indian Affairs began its 2009 drunk-driving prevention campaign, “Don’t Shatter the Dream,” which is being conducted by BIA and tribal law enforcement in Indian Country through January 3, 2010.

“I can think of no better effort by Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal law enforcement agencies to keep drunk drivers off Indian Country’s roads than the ‘Don’t Shatter the Dream’ mobilization effort,” said Echo Hawk. “I want to thank our officers and tribal police departments for working hand-in-hand to keep everyone safe during this holiday season.”

The “Don’t Shatter the Dream” Indian State Impaired Driving Mobilization is a joint effort by the BIA’s Office of Justice Services (OJS), the Indian Affairs Indian Highway Safety Program (IHSP) and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to reduce injuries and save lives. The campaign seeks to send a message across Indian Country that driving while impaired will not be tolerated throughout the holiday season, and that tribal officers are on alert to protect drivers on reservation roadways.

This is the fifth year that the OJS has worked with tribal law enforcement personnel to set up enhanced enforcement, such as checkpoints and saturation patrols, on federal Indian lands in an effort to reduce motor vehicle crash injuries and fatalities, especially those attributed to drunk drivers.

A new tool being deployed this year is the BAT (Breath Alcohol Testing) mobile, four of which were delivered in November to three OJS law enforcement districts based in Billings, Mont., Albuquerque, N.M., and Muscogee, Okla., for use by tribal law enforcement. The districts serve 77 federally recognized tribes, with a combined population of 581,756, in seven states.

The 40-foot long mobile units, which cost approximately $300,000 apiece, use state-of-the art lighting, camera and communications systems. Each has an Intoxilyzer 8000 to precisely measure breath alcohol levels, a containment cell to transport suspects and an interior camera to produce court-quality videos of the testing process. Each unit also is decorated on the outside with colors and design elements that reflect American Indian culture, with police identification on the back and sides, and has space on the back for a user-tribe’s seal. The units were manufactured by Farber Specialty Vehicles of Ohio.

According to the NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, in the five-year period from 2002 to 2006, 3,262 Native Americans lost their lives in motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of those, 1,864 (or 57 percent) involved an alcohol-impaired driver or motorcycle operator who was at or above the legal limit of .08.

However, impaired driving is one of the deadliest problems not just in Indian Country, but in America. The NHTSA estimates that in 2007 there were approximately 13,000 total fatalities in crashes involving a driver or motorcycle rider with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or higher. And the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimates that there were about 1.5 million DWI (driving while impaired) arrests in 2007 – an average of 167 arrests per hour.

The BIA Office of Justice Services is responsible for managing the Bureau’s law enforcement, detention facilities and tribal courts programs, either directly in tribal communities or by funding tribally administered programs through contract and grants.

The IHSP, a part of the Indian Affairs Office of Facilities, Environmental and Cultural Resources Division of Safety and Risk Management, is charged with meeting the traffic safety needs of the 564 federally recognized tribes. One of its goals is to decrease alcohol-related motor vehicle crash injuries and fatalities in Indian Country.

NHTSA’s mission is to save lives, prevent injuries and reduce economic costs due to road traffic crashes, through education, research, safety standards and enforcement activity. For more information, visit www.nhtsa.gov.

Half a millennium ago, when European explorers amazed their compatriots with stories of a New World, what they actually described was a land that had long been home to America's native peoples. In the Northeast part of this country and along the Northwest coast, generations of tribes fished and hunted; others farmed the rich soils of the Southeast and Great Plains, while nomadic tribes roamed and foraged across the Great Basin. In the arid Southwest, native peoples irrigated the desert, cultivating what land they could. Each tribe formed a thriving community with its own customs, traditions, and system of social order.

The contributions that Native Americans have made to our Nation's history and culture are as numerous and varied as the tribes themselves. Over the years, they have added to their ancient wealth of art and folklore a rich legacy of service and achievement. Today we gratefully recall Native Americans who helped the early European settlers to survive in a strange new land; we salute the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II and all those Native Americans who have distinguished themselves in service to our country; and we remember those men and women of Indian descent—such as the great athlete, Jim Thorpe and our 31st Vice President, Charles Curtis—who have instilled pride in others by reaching the heights of their respective Helds. We also celebrate, with special admiration and gratitude, another enduring legacy of Native Americans: their close attachment to the land and their exemplary stewardship of its natural resources. In virtually every realm of our national life, the contributions of America's original inhabitants and their descendants continue.

During 1992, we will honor this country's native peoples as vital participants in the history of the United States. This year gives us the opportunity to recognize the special place that Native Americans hold in our society, to affirm the right of Indian tribes to exist as sovereign entities, and to seek greater mutual understanding and trust. Therefore, we gratefully salute all American Indians, expressing our support for tribal self-determination and assisting with efforts to celebrate and preserve each tribe's unique cultural heritage.

The Congress, by Public Law 102-188, has designated 1992 as the "Year of the American Indian" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this year.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim 1992 as the Year of the American Indian. I encourage Federal, State, and local government officials, interested groups and organizations, and the people of the United States to observe this year with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixteenth.

GEORGE BUSH

Source: Proc. 6407, Year of the American Indian, 1992 – Mar. 2, 1992, 106 Stat. 5229

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary- Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today provided the Department’s draft Tribal Consultation Policy to the leaders of the nation’s 565 federally-recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes for their review and comment. Receiving input from Indian country on the draft policy will guide the Department in carrying out President Obama’s directive to all federal departments to develop ways to improve communication and consultation with Tribal leaders in order to develop positive solutions for issues affecting the First Americans.

“Our goal is a comprehensive, transparent and effective policy on which the Tribes can rely,” Secretary Salazar said. “We must have a policy that embodies the best consultation practices available, responds to the needs of Tribal leaders to be more engaged in policy development and promotes more responsible decision-making on issues affecting American Indians and Alaska Natives,” Salazar said. “The success of this policy depends greatly on the depth of input received from Indian Country.”

“Meaningful, good faith consultation makes the Department’s operations and governance practices more efficient and effective,” said Assistant Secretary- Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. “Forging a strong role for Indian Tribes’ involvement at all stages in the government’s decision-making process will benefit Federal Indian policy for generations to come.”

The draft policy contains detailed requirements and guidelines for Interior officials and managers to ensure they are using the best practices and most innovative methods to achieve meaningful consultation with Indian Tribes. The Department will identify and seek to address impediments, both external and internal, to improving its consultation processes. In order to increase accountability, bureaus and office heads will implement training, performance standards, and comprehensive annual reporting to the Secretary on the results of their consultations, including the scope, cost and effectiveness of these efforts.

The draft policy was developed in response to President Obama’s Nov. 5, 2009 White House Memorandum on Tribal Consultation, which signaled this Administration’s commitment to strengthening the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Tribal nations. The President’s memorandum supported tribal consultation as “a critical ingredient of a sound and productive Federal-tribal relationship” and called on all federal agencies to develop plans of action to establish tribal consultation policy.

Secretary Salazar directed departmental and bureau officials to conduct an assessment of current policy and convene a series of meetings with tribal representatives aimed at improving current tribal consultation practices. The process included extensive meetings in seven cities with 300 tribal representatives and more than 250 federal officials participating.

With the input gained in these meetings, Salazar established a Tribal Consultation Team (TCT) to draft the new, comprehensive consultation policy. This team included tribal representatives from each Bureau of Indian Affairs region in addition to Departmental representatives. Brian Patterson, Clan Representative of the Oneida Nation, Robert Tippeconnie, Secretary/Treasurer of the Comanche Nation, and Governor Norman Cooeyate of the Zuni Pueblo served as co-chairs of the TCT and along with the other tribal representatives were integral to the success of the process, ensuring that the draft policy is a direct result of collaboration with tribal leaders.

The policy creates a framework for synchronizing the Department’s consultation practices with its bureaus and offices by providing an approach that applies in all circumstances where statutory or Administrative opportunities exist to consult with American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes. Each Interior bureau and office will be required to examine and change their own consultation policies to ensure they are consistent with the final approved departmental policy.

The 60-day Tribal comment period ends on March 14. There will also be an additional 60-day public comment period beginning in April. The draft policy also will be submitted to Interior bureaus for a 14-day period of employee review and comment. All comments will be evaluated and considered as improvements are made to the current draft policy.

The final Tribal Consultation Policy will be signed by Secretary Salazar and added to the Departmental Manual. To view the Draft Tribal Consultation Policy, click HERE.