OPA

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Director Keith Moore announced today that the Circle of Nations-Wahpeton Indian Boarding School in Wahpeton, N.D. and the Baca/Dlo' Ay Azhi Community School in Prewitt, N.M. have been nominated to receive the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Green Ribbon Schools award.

“I am pleased to see the BIE’s schools meeting the challenging and competitive standards of the Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools pilot program,” said Moore. “To be considered candidates for the Green Ribbon Schools award is an honor in itself and allows us to showcase how BIE schools are creating healthier learning environments for our students.”

The Green Ribbon Schools (GRS) program was recently launched by ED to recognize schools that save energy and reduce operating costs, create environmentally friendly learning spaces, promote student health, and provide environmental education to incorporate sustainability into their curricula. The recognition award is part of a larger ED and BIE effort to identify and disseminate knowledge about practices proven to result in improved student engagement, academic achievement, graduation rates, and workforce preparedness, as well as a government-wide aim to increase energy independence and economic security. To date, 35 state agencies, which include the BIE, have announced their participation. Each participating agency has its own unique application meeting ED’s program requirements.

The BIE worked with the Environmental Protection Agency regional offices to review and evaluate the applicants from its schools using a rubric and scoring method assessing the schools’ activities in each of the GRS pillar areas. From here, ED will be assessing all nominations and making a final selection for the awards. Winning schools will be invited by Secretary Duncan to visit DC for the GRS award ceremony in May 2012.

According to ED guidance, Green Ribbon Schools receiving the national award will have achieved or made considerable progress toward the three pillars established in the program:

1) energy efficient buildings;

2) healthy students and school environments; and

3) environmental literacy of all graduates. The combined achievement in these three areas will be the basis for the Green Ribbon Schools award. All schools must meet high college and career-ready standards, be in compliance with federal civil rights laws, and all federal, state and local health and safety standards and regulations.

The Circle of Nations school is one of the select few schools nationwide to achieve the Gold Award for the Let’s Move! cornerstone component known as the HealthierUS School Challenge The Challenge establishes rigorous criteria for schools’ food quality, participation in meal programs, physical activity opportunities and nutrition education–the key components that make for healthy and active kids. BIE Director Moore sent a memorandum out encouraging all BIE funded schools to apply for this challenge. The Gold level is a tremendous achievement. Also noteworthy of great achievement is the Baca/Dlo' Ay Azhi Community School, which has won a number of awards for its environmental and energy efficient buildings and overall approach to the environment within the school and community. The school was the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified building in the entire State of New Mexico.

The bureau has posted additional information on their website, including the BIE Green Ribbon Schools application, training opportunities, and program timeline. For more information about the bureau’s participation in the program visit http://www.bie.edu/greenribbonschools/index.htm or visit the ED Green Ribbon Schools website at www2.ed.gov/programs/green-ribbon-schools to learn more about the program.

As part of this effort to promote a comprehensive approach to creating a healthier school environment in all BIE-funded schools, the bureau committed to the Let’s Move! in Indian Country initiative in 2010 and encouraged all BIE-funded schools to sign up to become Team Nutrition Schools. The LMIC website http://www.letsmove.gov/indiancountry includes information about resources, grants and programs available to assist schools in becoming healthier places of learning.

Immediate questions or inquiries regarding the BIE’s participation in the Green Ribbon Schools initiative can be emailed to greenribbonschools@bie.edu.

The Bureau of Indian Education in the U.S. Department of the Interior implements federal education laws, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, in and provides funding to 183 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools and peripheral dormitories located on 64 reservations in 23 states and serves approximately 48,000 students from the nation’s federally recognized tribes. Approximately two-thirds of the schools are tribally operated with the rest BIE-operated. The bureau also serves post secondary students through higher education scholarships and provides support funding to 26 tribal colleges and universities and two tribal technical colleges. It also directly operates two post secondary institutions: Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, N.M.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will be leaving the Department of the Interior after nearly 3 years of leadership. Echo Hawk, an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, will resign his position effective April 27, 2012 to assume a leadership position in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Larry has done an extraordinary job at Interior, opening a new chapter in our nation-to-nation relationship with American Indian and Alaska Natives tribal governments and carrying out President Obama’s vision for empowering Indian nations,” Salazar said. “During his tenure, the Department accelerated the restoration of tribal homelands, improved public safety in tribal communities, resolved century-old water disputes, made critical investments in education, and reached many more milestones that are helping Indian nations pursue the future of their choosing. We thank Larry for his exemplary leadership and wish him all the best as he begins a new chapter in his life.”

“The opportunity to participate in remedying the negative perceptions of the federal government in Indian Country was a formidable challenge at first, but I am proud to say that I have served my country as an agent for change here in Indian Affairs,” said Echo Hawk. “I believe at the end of this Administration, the work we accomplished will leave a lasting legacy for American Indian and Alaska Natives. I want to thank President Obama, Secretary Salazar, the American Indian and Alaska Native tribal nations and the many devoted employees at Interior who supported my leadership and allowed me the opportunity to serve Indian Country.”

Donald “Del” Laverdure, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, will serve as Acting Assistant Secretary until President Obama nominates a new Assistant Secretary to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Laverdure is a member of the Crow Nation and has served in a leadership role at Interior since 2009.

“Del has played a key role in many of Interior’s meaningful accomplishments over the past three years, and I am confident that he is the right person to lead Indian Affairs as we continue to fulfill President Obama’s vision for reconciliation and empowerment for Indian nations,” Salazar added.

Under Echo Hawk’s leadership, Interior has reenergized its commitment to fulfilling this nation’s trust responsibilities to Native Americans. The Department has broken the logjam on trust land applications and streamlined the process as part of the most substantial overhaul of the Department’s leasing process in 50 years. Since 2009, the Department has acquired more than 158,000 acres of land in trust on behalf of tribal nations.

Interior is also working to implement the landmark Claims Resolution Act of 2010 that included the Cobell Settlement, a $3.4 billion settlement that honorably and responsibly addresses long-standing injustices.

Echo Hawk has worked to meet the critical water needs of Native American communities, helping to reach historic water rights settlements that offer a fair resolution to decades of conflict and litigation. For communities, like the Taos Pueblo and Aamodt case pueblos in New Mexico; the Crow Tribe of Montana and the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona, the permanent water supply will vastly improve the quality of life and offer greater economic security.

During his tenure, Echo Hawk worked across the federal government, including the Department of Justice, to help build safer communities and implement the Tribal Law and Order Act that President Obama signed into law in 2010. Echo Hawk strengthened law enforcement and launched an intense community policing pilot program on four reservations experiencing high crime rates. The Safe Indian Communities initiative, a two-year program, has so far achieved a 35 percent overall decrease in violent crime across the four communities.

Echo Hawk has also led the way in drafting a comprehensive and transparent consultation policy for the Department that will provide a strong, meaningful role for tribal governments at all stages of federal decision-making on Indian policy.

President Obama nominated Echo Hawk on April 20, 2009 and the Senate confirmed him as the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs on May 19, 2009. He was sworn into office by Secretary Salazar on May 22, 2009.

Echo Hawk was elected Attorney General of Idaho in 1990, the first American Indian in U.S. history to achieve that distinction. He also served two consecutive terms in the Idaho House of Representatives, from 1982 to 1986. A former U.S. Marine, Echo Hawk began his law career as a legal services attorney working for impoverished Indian people in California, then opened a private law office in Salt Lake City. He also served as the Chief General Legal Counsel for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Idaho from 1977-1986.

Echo Hawk received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Utah in 1973; and attended Stanford Graduate School of Business’s MBA Program, 1974-1975. Echo Hawk, 63, and his wife Terry have six children and 24 grandchildren.

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WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the settlement of lawsuits filed by 41 federally-recognized tribes against the United States, in which the tribes alleged that the Department of the Interior and the Department of the Treasury had mismanaged monetary assets and natural resources held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the tribes. The announcement followed a 22-month-long negotiation between the tribes and the United States that has culminated in settlements between the government and tribes totaling more than $1 billion.

These settlements resolve claims dating back more than 100 years and will bring to an end protracted litigation that has burdened both the plaintiffs and the United States. Ending these long-running disputes about the United States’ management of trust funds and non-monetary trust resources will allow the United States and the tribes to move beyond the distrust exacerbated by years of litigation. These settlement agreements represent a significant milestone in the improvement of the United States’ relationship with Indian tribes.

“These settlements fairly and honorably resolve historical grievances over the accounting and management of tribal trust funds, trust lands, and other non-monetary trust resources that, for far too long, have been a source of conflict between Indian tribes and the United States,” said Attorney General Holder. “Our commitment to tribes is the cornerstone of the Department of Justice’s policies and initiatives in Indian Country, and these settlements will enable the tribal community to pursue the goals and objectives they deem to be appropriate while marking another step in our shared future built upon mutual respect and strong bonds of trust between tribal governments and the United States.”

“These important settlements reflect President Obama’s continuing commitment to ensuring empowerment and reconciliation for American Indians,” said Secretary Salazar. “It strengthens the government-to-government relationship with Tribal nations, helps restore a positive working relationship with Indian Country leaders and empowers American Indian communities.

I want to commend Attorney General Holder, our Interior Solicitor Hilary Tompkins and other key officials who were involved in the long negotiations leading to these historic agreements. I look forward to working with Tribal leaders to further strengthen our government-to-government relationship based on mutual respect and a shared concern for the proper management of tribal trust assets and funds.”

The Department of the Interior manages almost 56 million acres of trust lands for federally recognized tribes and more than 100,000 leases on those lands for various uses, including housing, timber harvesting, farming, grazing, oil and gas extraction, business leasing, rights-of-way and easements. Interior also manages about 2,500 tribal trust accounts for more than 250 tribes.

Starting in the fall of 2009, lawyers for many of the tribes with litigation pending against the United States wrote to the president and asked the administration to engage in expedited settlement discussions with their clients. In April 2010, Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division Ignacia Moreno, Interior Department Solicitor Hilary Tompkins and Treasury Department General Counsel George Madison met with attorneys for the tribes, and the parties embarked on a settlement process that the tribes termed the “Settlement Proposal to Obama Administration,” or “SPOA,” which led in part to today’s announcement.

In addition to the SPOA process, the Departments of Justice, Interior and Treasury have been engaging in other settlement processes involving other litigating tribes. Those processes have been both positive and productive, resulting in the past settlement of other tribal trust accounting and management cases and the processes will continue for other ongoing cases. The United States is committed to resolving the trust accounting and trust management claims of the tribes in a manner that is fair, honorable, and reasonable to the tribes and the United States.

Under the negotiated settlement agreements, litigation will end regarding the Department of the Interior’s accounting and management of the tribes’ trust accounts, trust lands and other natural resources. With monies from the congressionally-appropriated Judgment Fund, which is used to pay settlements or final judgments against the government, the United States will compensate the tribes for their breach of trust claims, and the tribes will waive, release and dismiss their claims with prejudice. The parties have agreed to information sharing procedures that will strengthen the management of trust assets and improve communications between tribes and the Department of the Interior. The settlement agreements also include dispute resolution provisions to reduce the likelihood of future litigation.

The sum total of the settlements with the 41 tribes is approximately $1.023 billion

The 41 tribes are:

1. Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation

2. Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

3. Blackfeet Tribe

4. Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians

5. Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians of Colusa Rancheria

6. Coeur d'Alene Tribe

7. Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Reservation

8. Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

9. Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

10. Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation

11. Hualapai Tribe

12. Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians of Arizona

13. Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas

14. Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

15. Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Indians

16. Makah Tribe of the Makah Reservation

17. Mescalero Apache Nation

18. Minnesota Chippewa Tribe

19. Nez Perce Tribe

20. Nooksack Tribe

21. Northern Cheyenne Tribe

22. Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine

23. Pawnee Nation

24. Pueblo of Zia

25. Quechan Indian Tribe of the Fort Yuma Reservation

26. Rincon Luiseño Band of Indians

27. Round Valley Tribes

28. Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community

29. Santee Sioux Tribe

30. Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation

31. Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians

32. Spirit Lake Dakotah Nation

33. Spokane Tribe

34. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of the Fort Yates Reservation

35. Swinomish Tribal Indian Community

36. Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone Indians

37. Tohono O'odham Nation

38. Tulalip Tribe 39.Tule River Tribe

40. Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

41. Ute Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation

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WASHINGTON—The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will hold a memorial ceremony on Wednesday, May 11, 2011, to honor the first Native American, post-Prohibition era, ATF investigator killed in the line of duty. The name of William Louis Pappan, a member of the Kaw Nation, who was killed 75 years ago, will be unveiled at the ATF Headquarters Memorial Wall in Washington.

ATF’s unveiling ceremony is in conjunction with National Police Week activities and will include a presentation of colors, a wreath laying ceremony, taps and a Native American blessing. Pappan’s 82-year-old son, who was 6 years old at the time of his father’s death, will attend along with other members of the family.

Pappan was killed on Dec. 4, 1935, as he conducted late-night beer license inspections at a Tulsa, Okla., night club. At the time of his death, he was weeks shy of his 41st birthday and just four months into his job as an investigator with the Department of Treasury, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Alcohol Tax Unit (the precursor of ATF).

WHO: ATF Acting Director Kenneth Melson Department of Justice, Office of Tribal Justice, Deputy Director Chris Chaney National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund Pappan family members WHAT: Louis Pappan Memorial Observance

WHERE: ATF Headquarters – Memorial Wall 99 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20026

WHEN: Wednesday, May 11, 2011

TIME: 10:00 a.m.

NOTE: Reporters/media outlets are encouraged to RSVP by 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 10, 2011, to joyce.patterson@atf.gov, or (202) 648-7912. All media must present media credentials and/or other photo identification at the ATF Visitors Entrance. More information about ATF and its programs is available at www.atf.gov.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Director Keith Moore will visit Flagstaff, Arizona on Tuesday to announce the winner of the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA). Levi Horn of the Chicago Bears, who is representing Nike N7, the company’s commitment to bring access to sport to Native American and Aboriginal communities, will join Director Moore in presenting the award to the Kinlani Bordertown Dormitory. PALA is a six week physical fitness challenge managed by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.

“This event commemorates the positive and inspirational efforts of our children to begin to address the many health concerns that currently face Indian Country,” said Director of the BIE Keith Moore. “Sticking to anything for six weeks is hard, but to have virtually an entire dormitory and staff succeed at this challenge is quite remarkable and really speaks to the character of the Kinlani Dorm.”

The PALA Challenge ran from February 9 through April 29, 2011. To successfully complete the challenge, children under the age of 18 had to complete 60 minutes of physical activity five days a week for six weeks, and adults had to complete 30 minutes of physical activity for the same duration. For more information see www.presidentschallenge.org.

WHO:

• Keith Moore, Director of the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Levi Horn, Chicago Bears football player, member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and representative of Nike N7, the company’s comprehensive program and commitment to bring access to sport and all of its benefits to members of Native American and Aboriginal communities, with a focus on youth.

WHAT: Award presentation and ceremony to the BIE School PALA Challenge Winner— Kinlani Bordertown Dormitory.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 17, 2011, 3 - 5 p.m. (MST)

WHERE: Thorpe Park (next to the Kinlani Bordertown Dormitory) 245 North Thorpe Road Flagstaff, AZ 86001 (928) 779-7690

MIAMI, FLORIDA — The first government-to-government tribal consultation regarding the Indian Affairs Administrative Organizational Assessment Draft Report and Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education streamlining plans starts today at the Miccosukee Resort in Miami, Fla. The two-day consultation is the first of seven that will take place around the country in Arizona, Washington, South Dakota, Oklahoma, California and Alaska.

Tribal leaders have said that organizational changes are needed in the administration of Indian Affairs programs and services to better meet the needs of the federally recognized tribes throughout Indian Country. The Department of the Interior’s Indian Affairs officials have heeded these concerns and undertaken an extensive review of the organization of the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).

The culmination of this review is a draft Administrative Organizational Assessment Report compiled by an independent, third-party contractor. The draft report identifies several ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the delivery of services to Indian Country. The goal is to support a consolidated organization while improving Interior responsiveness to all Tribal needs. The BIA and BIE are seeking tribal input on ways to streamline their respective organizations to meet budgetary constraints and to increase efficiency.

For more information, please visit: http://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/ASIA/Consultation/index.htm.

CREDENTIALS: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) and valid media credentials.

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WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) Challenge was given to the KinLani Bordertown Dormitory in Flagstaff, Ariz., a Bureau of Indian Education-funded facility. BIE Director Keith Moore, NFL player Levi Horn of the Chicago Bears, who is the ambassador for Nike N7, Nike, Inc.’s program to bring access to sports to Native American and Aboriginal communities in the United States and Canada, were in attendance to present the award.

“It gives me great pleasure to see such positive engagement in addressing obesity and other health-related issues that afflict Indian Country,” Echo Hawk said. “KinLani Bordertown Dormitory’s successful PALA Challenge is truly remarkable and one which all of our BIE schools can admire and seek to replicate.”

“Every student needs support and encouragement to overcome challenges, and this event demonstrates the KinLani student community’s commitment to success,” Moore said. “We encourage the families of our students to be active participants in all areas of their children’s lives and in their community, including addressing childhood obesity in our schools.”

The BIE PALA Challenge was launched in February 2011 by the BIE and Nike N7 Ambassador Horn. To successfully complete the challenge, children under the age of 18 had to complete 60 minutes of physical activity five days a week for six weeks, and adults had to complete 30 minutes of physical activity for the same duration. BIE schools across Indian Country had eight weeks to complete their challenges. A total of 6,000 students from across the BIE school system completed the challenge. KinLani Bordertown Dormitory had 100 percent completion by their student body as well as PALA achievements from teachers and staff.

The launch incentive for this particular challenge involved an award to the winning school and a visit by Levi Horn. The larger goal of the PALA Challenge was launched yesterday by Horn: For Indian Country to get 25,000 people to complete PALA by September 2011. This PALA Challenge gets Indian Country involved and supports the President’s one million participants PALA challenge by August 2012.

On February 9, 2011, Horn spoke to students across the BIE school system via an interactive broadcast. He encouraged students to eat healthy and make positive choices, sharing with them his own personal story of working for and achieving academic and athletic success. He also encouraged students to pursue things they are passionate about and to avoid peer pressures that could keep them from leading active and healthy lifestyles.

“It is truly a great feeling to be a part of such an initiative that helps to address the health of children and families in Indian Country,” said Horn. “I am pleased to see that the KinLani Bordertown Dormitory set its goals high and achieved this great accomplishment. They have paved an inspirational foundation for others to follow. ”

The BIE also is engaged in Let’s Move Outside!, the outdoor activity component of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to end childhood obesity. Led by the Departments of Interior and Agriculture, Education and the Human Health Services, Let’s Move Outside! is working with government agencies and other organizations to help America’s kids and families get moving in the great outdoors. Traditional outdoor activities such as archery, canoeing, and lacrosse allow Native youth to improve their health while connecting with their heritage.

In May 2010, Nike, Inc. and the BIE signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in creative and inspirational ways to address health and social lifestyle choices in American Indian and Alaska Native communities that contribute to poor health. Nike began its N7 program for Native people in the U.S. and Canada more than 10 years ago with a commitment to bring sports and its benefits to their communities and with a focus on youth. The program allows Native American and Aboriginal health programs to purchase Nike products, including its specially designed Nike Air Native N7, at reduced prices via nike.net as incentives for health promotion and disease prevention. The Nike N7 fund provides grants to fund youth sports and physical fitness programs, and the Nike N7 collection raises awareness for the Nike N7 fund. For more information, visit www.niken7.com.

For more information on the President’s Challenge, visit www.presidentschallenge.org.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs oversees the Bureau of Indian Education which operates the federal school system for American Indian and Alaska Native children from the nation’s 565 federally recognized tribes. The BIE implements federal education laws and provides funding to 183 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools and peripheral dormitories located on 63 reservations in 23 states and serving approximately 41,000 students. The BIE also serves post secondary students through higher education scholarships and support funding to 27 tribal colleges and universities and two tribal technical colleges. The BIE also directly operates two post secondary institutions: Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, N.M. For more information, please visit www.bie.edu or www.indianaffairs.gov.

NEW YORK, NY—Donald “Del” Laverdure, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, today addressed the United Nations on U.S. support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He emphasized that President Obama holds his Administration to a high standard of action on Native American issues.

Laverdure’s remarks at the Tenth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues followed a statement at Monday’s opening session by Kimberly Teehee, Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs in the Domestic Policy Council at the White House. Laverdure’s appearance represented the first time that an Interior official has spoken at this forum.

Teehee, a member of the Cherokee Nation, and Laverdure, a member of the Crow Nation, both emphasized President Obama’s statement when he announced U.S. support for the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on December 16, 2010 at the second White House Tribal Nations Conference. “What matters far more than words -- what matters far more than any resolution or declaration – are actions to match those words,” the President stressed in the December announcement.

Laverdure reaffirmed that the United States is committed to actions that provide meaningful improvement to the lives of Native Americans. He wore his family headdress to commemorate President Obama's adoption by the Crow Nation.

WASHINGTON – As part of President Obama’s commitment to empowering Indian nations, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that their Departments will begin tribal consultations on a draft agreement to help expand educational opportunities and improve academic achievement for American Indian and Alaska Native students.

The draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) would frame a partnership to implement the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education which seeks to close the achievement gap between Indian students and non-Indian students; decrease the alarmingly high dropout rates of all American Indian and Alaska Native students; and help preserve and revitalize Native languages, histories and cultures. The initiative commits federal agencies to work closely with tribal governments and use the full range of their education expertise, resources and facilities to achieve the initiative’s goals.

“Education is key to the fabric of healthy communities,” said Secretary Salazar, who co-chairs the President’s initiative. “But we need to do better when it comes to meeting the academic and cultural needs of our American Indian and Alaska Native students across the nation. These tribal consultations will be critical in developing the most effective framework to raise the bar for Indian Country education.”

Education Secretary Duncan said, "The strength of tribes and our nation's future prosperity are inextricably tied, and together we can dramatically improve the lives of our Native students. These consultations will be invaluable and will continue our efforts to listen to, and learn from, the tribal leaders who know these communities best."

The President’s initiative, established by Executive Order on December 2, 2011, addresses the Federal Government’s trust responsibility to protect the unique rights and promote the well-being of the Nation's tribes, while respecting their sovereignty. One of the specific outcomes called for in the Initiative is the establishment of an MOU to provide a means for the Departments of the Interior and Education to work together with tribal leaders, as well as continue a framework for transferring statutory education grant funds from Education to Interior.

The Department of Education has substantial expertise and resources to help improve Indian education, specific experience with federally funded programs and a responsibility to work with Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) school system to ensure excellence in education. The Bureau of Indian Education, which directly operates or provides grants to tribes to operate an extensive primary, secondary, and college level school system, has an interest in enhancing access to federal funding programs and expertise.

The education initiative addresses critical issues and unique challenges affecting the quality of instruction, student achievement, high dropout rates and tribal languages on the verge of extinction. The expected educational outcomes would help preserve and revitalize native languages, ensuring students the opportunity to learn their languages, cultures and histories, while receiving complete and competitive educations that prepare them for higher education and fulfilling careers.

Among the strategies proposed to achieve these outcomes are capacity building for tribal educational agencies, enhanced teacher training and recruitment, pilot demonstration projects, effective reforms, improved accountability, partnerships with public, private and philanthropic groups, and national networks to share best practices. The initiative would improve educational opportunities for all American Indian and Alaska Native students, including those attending schools operated and funded by BIE, those attending public schools in cities and in rural areas, and those attending postsecondary institutions, including tribal colleges and universities.

The upcoming tribal consultations build upon four recent roundtable discussions with federal officials, tribal leaders and Indian educators on best practices to improve Indian education.

To view the draft MOU, click here. The President’s Executive Order is available here. For more information on the Department’s tribal consultation policies please visit: http://www.doi.gov/tribes/Tribal-Consultation-Policy.cfm and www.edtribalconsultations.org.

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