OPA

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Deputy Assistant Secretary − Indian Affairs Del Laverdure will be the Featured Speaker in Las Vegas, Nev., at the 24th Annual Reservation Economic Summit (RES 2010). The event runs from February 21-24, 2010. Laverdure will speak to the many accomplishments and projects being undertaken by the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs.

“We are proud to be a Presenting Sponsor to RES in this wonderful opportunity for networking and business transactions,” Echo Hawk said. “It provides a learning experience through the variety of workshops relevant to doing business in Indian country. Del Laverdure is actively engaged in our economic development efforts and is excited to share some of the wonderful programs we are conducting in Indian Affairs.”

The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED), which is located in the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, strives to encourage economic development in Indian Country. Following Laverdure’s Featured Speaking engagement are a series of panels and workshops over the course of the four day summit sponsored by IEED:

• Developing Powerful Trade Opportunities for American Indian Workforce
• Powerful Success Stories from the Public Law 102-477
• General Assistant “The Power of Energy in Indian Country”
• Building a Powerful Reservation Economy
• The Power of Native Women Entrepreneurs

Who: Del Laverdure, Deputy Assistant Secretary − Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.

What: Del Laverdure will be the Featured Speaker for the premier gathering of American Indian and Indigenous Entrepreneurs, tribal entrepreneurs, tribal representatives, corporations and government agencies at the 24th Annual Reservation Economic Summit (RES 2010) and American Indian Business Trade Fair.

When: Monday, February 22, 2010, 8:00-10:00 a.m. (EST)

Where: Las Vegas Hilton Hilton Ballroom 3000 Paradise Road Las Vegas, NV 89109 702-732-5111 (hotel)

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to this event. Please arrive thirty minutes before the event.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today lauded the final approval of the Cobell settlement and outlined steps that Interior will take to help implement the historic $3.4 billion settlement. The settlement resolves a long-running class action lawsuit regarding the U.S. government's trust management and historical accounting of individual American Indian trust accounts. It became final on November 24, 2012, following action by the Supreme Court and expiration of the appeal period.

“With the settlement now final, we can put years of discord behind us and start a new chapter in our nation-to-nation relationship,” said Salazar. “Today marks another historic step forward in President Obama’s agenda of reconciliation and empowerment for Indian Country and begins a new era of trust administration.”

The settlement includes a $1.5 billion fund to be distributed to class members for accounting and potential trust fund and asset mismanagement claims. The settlement also includes a $1.9 billion fund for a land consolidation program that allows for the voluntary sale of individual land interests that have “fractionated,” or split among owners, over successive generations. Fractionated land can have many owners – sometimes hundreds or more – diminishing the land’s value and making it difficult for individuals to use the land for agriculture, business development, or housing from which tribes can benefit. Up to $60 million of the $1.9 billion fund may be set aside to provide scholarships for American Indians and Alaska Natives to attend college or vocational school.

“This marks the historic conclusion of a contentious and long running period of litigation,” said Hilary Tompkins, Solicitor for the Department of the Interior. “Through the hard work and good will of plaintiffs, Interior and Treasury officials and Department of Justice counsel, we are turning a new page and look forward to collaboratively working with Indian country to manage these important funds and assets.”

Payments to Claimants

The Claims Administrator will now begin overseeing disbursement of the $1.5 billion to nearly 500,000 class members. The court previously approved GCG, Inc., as the Claims Administrator. The Department of the Treasury will transfer the $1.5 billion to an account at JP Morgan Chase, a bank approved by the court. Per the terms of the settlement agreement, Interior’s Office of the Special Trustee (OST) has assisted GCG with its database by supplying contact information of individual class members from its records.

“We will continue to work with GCG to ensure it has the information it needs to make expeditious and accurate payments,” Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes said. “At the same time, we’re focused on making meaningful improvements to our trust administration so that we’re more transparent, responsive and accountable in managing these substantial funds and assets.”

Trust Land Consolidation Program

The Department of the Interior will use $1.9 billion from the Trust Land Consolidation Fund to acquire interests in trust and restricted lands that have “fractionated” over successive generations since the 1880s.

Individual owners will be paid fair market value for such interests with the understanding that the acquired interests will remain in trust and be consolidated for beneficial use by tribal communities. Interested sellers may convey their fractional interests on a voluntary basis. Currently, there are over 2.9 million fractional interests owned by approximately 260,000 individuals.

While the settlement was pending, Interior held a series of consultation meetings with tribes in 2011 to ensure that this landmark program incorporates tribal priorities and promotes tribal participation in reducing land fractionation in a timely and efficient way. These discussions informed a draft land consolidation plan released in February of 2012. Interior is incorporating public comments and expects to release an updated plan by the end of the year for additional consultation.

“The land consolidation program is our chance to begin to solve a fractionation problem that has plagued Indian country for decades,” said Interior Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn. “We are anxious to get started. We know that Interior’s continued outreach through consultations with Indian Country is a crucial component to accomplishing truly open government-to-government communication”

Congress approved the Cobell settlement on November 30, 2010 as part of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010. President Obama signed the legislation on December 8, 2010. The district court approved the Cobell settlement on August 4, 2011 and it has been upheld through the appeals process.

For additional information about the individual class-action payments, please contact GCG, Inc. at 1-800-961-6109 or via email at Info@IndianTrust.com

For additional information on the Trust Land Consolidation Program, please visit http://www.doi.gov/cobell/index.cfm

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WASHINGTON – As part of President Obama’s commitment to empower tribal nations and strengthen their economies, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced final regulations that will streamline the leasing approval process on Indian land, spurring increased homeownership, and expediting business and commercial development, including renewable energy projects.

The comprehensive reform, informed by nation-to-nation tribal consultations and public comment, overhauls antiquated regulations governing the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ process for approving the surface leases on lands the federal government holds in trust for Indian tribes and individuals. As trustee, Interior manages about 56 million surface acres in Indian Country.

“This reform will expand opportunities for individual landowners and tribal governments to generate investment and create jobs in their communities by bringing greater transparency and workability to the Bureau of Indian Affairs leasing process,” Secretary Salazar said. “This final step caps the most comprehensive reforms of Indian land leasing regulations in more than 50 years and will have a lasting impact on individuals and families who want to own a home or build a business on Indian land.”

“This reform is about supporting self-determination for Indian Nations and was developed in close consultation with tribal leaders,” said Assistant Secretary Washburn. “The streamlined, commonsense rule replaces a process ill-suited for economic development of Indian lands and provides flexibility and certainty to tribal communities and individuals regarding decisions on the use of their land.”

The new rule complements and helps to implement the recently-passed Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act (HEARTH Act), which allows federally recognized tribes to assume greater control of leasing on tribal lands. The HEARTH Act was signed into law by President Obama on July 30, 2012.

Previous BIA regulations, established in 1961, are outdated and unworkable in today’s economy. They lacked a defined process or deadlines for review, which resulted in simple mortgage applications often languishing for several years awaiting approval from the federal government. These types of delays have been significant obstacles to homeownership and economic development on tribal lands.

The new regulation, effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, will fundamentally change the way the BIA does business, in many ways by minimizing BIA’s role and restoring greater control to tribal governments. The final rule provides clarity by identifying specific processes – with enforceable timelines – through which the BIA must review leases.

The regulation also establishes separate, simplified processes for residential, business, and renewable energy development, rather than using a “one-size fits all” approach that treats a lease for a single family home the same as a lease for a large wind energy project.

The new process provides a 30 day-limit for the BIA to issue decisions on residential leases, subleases, and mortgages. For commercial or industrial development, the BIA would have 60- days to review leases and subleases. If the BIA does not complete its review of subleases in this timeframe, those agreements will automatically go into effect.

The new rule increases flexibility in compensations and land valuations, with BIA deferring to the tribe’s negotiated value for a lease of tribal land rather than requiring additional, costly appraisals. Other changes eliminate the requirement for BIA approval of permits for certain short-term activities on Indian lands, and supports landowner decisions regarding the use of their land by requiring the BIA to approve leases unless it finds a compelling reason to disapprove.

Led by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Donald E. (“Del”) Laverdure, Interior conducted several rounds of consultation in 2011 and 2012 to develop the proposed and the final regulations. The comments received in writing and during the public meetings helped inform the final regulations being announced today.

For a Fact Sheet on the final rule, click here.

For a Q & A document on the final rule, click here.

For a comparison of existing and new regulations, click here.

For the final rule, click here.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary Ken Salazar today announced the Interior Department’s plan of actions, as directed by President Obama in his memorandum dated November 5, 2009, to implement Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments, which directs Executive Branch departments and agencies to develop policies on tribal consultation and cooperation. Under the Department’s plan Interior will establish a comprehensive, department-wide policy for meaningful consultation with the nation’s 564 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes in accordance with the Executive Order as well as any other applicable statutes and regulations.

“In keeping with President Obama’s memorandum of November 5, 2009, I am pleased to announce the Interior Department’s plan of actions to develop a department-wide policy on tribal consultation and coordination,” Salazar said. “Establishing a comprehensive, department-wide policy for meaningful consultation is vital to our goals of supporting tribal self-determination, ensuring tribal self-government, respecting tribal sovereignty and carrying out our federal trust responsibilities.”

The Department’s plan outlines guiding principles for a comprehensive policy to support Interior, its agencies and bureaus in conducting “regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration” with tribes as stipulated in the executive order and in the presidential memorandum. The policy will:

• Recognize the special legal status of tribal governments;
• Respect tribal sovereignty and support self-determination and self-governance;
• Honor the trust relationship between the United States and tribal governments;
• Demonstrate Interior’s commitment to improving communications while maximizing tribal input and coordination; Ensure that Interior consults on a government-to-government basis with appropriate tribal representatives;
• Identify appropriate Interior officials who are knowledgeable about the matters at hand and are authorized to speak for Interior;
• Ensure that Interior’s bureaus and offices conduct consultation in a manner consistent with the department-wide policy, thus harmonizing the consultation practices of Interior’s bureaus and offices;
• Be clear, understandable, and workable

The plan also includes a separate action item to create a Tribal Consultation Team, comprised of senior Department representatives and tribal leaders. The Tribal Consultation Team will draft the consultation policy document; ensure compliance with the President’s goal and policy of transparency during the policy development process; require the review and evaluation of Interior functions, policies, procedures and practices to identify policies with tribal implications; and require on-going review and comments from the tribes and general public on the draft policy.

The plan also requires the Department to identify an official who will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the plan, as well as progress on reporting and compliance with the Executive Order. The Department official will also be responsible for overseeing the development of supplemental consultation policies specific to each bureau and office and coordinating with other federal departments and agencies to bring greater efficiency and consistency to the consultation process throughout the federal government.

The presidential memorandum directs Executive Branch departments and agencies to implement Executive Order 13175 dated November 6, 2000. The President signed the memorandum at the White House Tribal Nations Summit held at the Interior Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., on November 5, 2009.

On November 23, 2009 the Department invited tribal leaders to participate in a series of tribal consultation meetings to discuss their experiences with federal consultation efforts, provide suggestions on the Department’s plan of actions, and make recommendations on improving its consultation practices. Meetings were held in seven cities from December 2009 through January 2010: Anchorage, Alaska (December 2); Portland, Ore. (December 9); Washington, D.C. (December 14), Ft. Snelling, Minn. (January 5); Oklahoma City, Okla. (January 7); Phoenix, Ariz. (January 12) and Palm Springs, Calif. (January 14). Approximately 300 tribal representatives and over 250 officials from Interior as well as the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of State, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies invited by the Department to hear the tribes’ ideas and concerns attended.

After the draft consultation policy has been circulated to tribes and tribal organizations for review and comment, the Department will publish the revised draft in the Federal Register with a 60-day comment period. Following the Department’s publishing of the final consultation policy within 90 days of the close of the comment period, the Secretary will issue a Secretarial Order directing all Interior bureaus and offices to comply with the department-wide policy and its guiding principles.

The text for the Department’s plan of actions can be found on our website at Tribal Consultation Plan.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As part of President Obama’s efforts to empower tribal nations and strengthen economies, on Tuesday, November 27, 2012, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will join Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn to make a major announcement regarding the regulation of surface leasing on Indian lands.

Media may participate by dialing 1-888-769-8791 and providing the access code INTERIOR.

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WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Jerold L. “Jerry” Gidner today announced that he has named Diane K. Rosen as Regional Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Midwest Regional Office in Ft. Snelling, Minn. Rosen, who has ancestry from two federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin, the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians where she is enrolled and the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, had been serving as the acting regional director since October 25, 2009. The Midwest Regional Office oversees four agencies serving 35 federally recognized tribes located within the states of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Her appointment became effective on February 28, 2010.

“Diane Rosen brings to the post of Midwest Regional Director extensive experience with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its mission to serve the federally recognized tribes,” Gidner said. “I am pleased to welcome her to my regional management team.”

“I want to express my deep appreciation to BIA Director Gidner and to Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk for giving me this tremendous opportunity to serve Indian Country,” Rosen said. “I am looking forward to working with the tribes of the Midwest Region, and I am committed to ensuring they receive the highest level of service from our regional office and agencies.”

Rosen’s 26-year federal career began in August 1979 at the BIA’s Great Lakes Agency in Ashland, Wisc., as a clerk in the Real Estate Services and Tribal Operations divisions working in a wide variety of subject areas including per capita payments, tribal enrollment, secretarial elections, attorney contracts, leasing and rights-of-way. At the Agency she progressed until attaining the position of Realty Specialist in May 1991.

In May 1994, she was promoted to Tribal Operations Officer, where she was in charge of the Branch of Tribal Operations assisting tribes with governance matters such as tribal constitutions, ordinances, laws, charters, enrollment, revenue allocation plans and attorney contracts, as well as trust funds, land consolidation, records management and labor data collection.

From June 2003 to March 2004, Rosen also served as the Acting Superintendent of the Great Lakes Agency, where she managed the full range of BIA programs, including forestry, probate, real estate services, natural resources and tribal operations, on behalf of ten federally recognized tribes with over 200,000 acres in federal trust and over 48,000 enrolled members.

She was named the Superintendent of the Great Lakes Agency in March 2004, a position she held until being named the acting Midwest Regional Director.

Rosen graduated from Washburn High School in Washburn, Wisc., in 1976 and attended the Secretarial Science/Account Clerk Program at Chippewa Valley Technical College in Eau Claire in 1979. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Northland College in Ashland in 2006, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Leadership.

Among the honors she has received are several federal employment and performance awards, as well as the Northland College Native American Studies Award for Academic Excellence in 2004 and the Northland College Merit Award for Management and Leadership in 2006.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will give the luncheon keynote address at the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Symposium on Child Protection in Indian Country being held March 9-11, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort at the Santa Ana Pueblo in New Mexico. He will speak on Tuesday, March 9, from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. (MST). The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which operates and funds tribally based social services, Indian child welfare, law enforcement and justice programs, and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), which operates a federal school system of 183 elementary and secondary schools for American Indian and Alaska Native students from the federally recognized tribes. '

The Assistant Secretary will discuss his Safe and Secure Schools Initiative for BIE campuses to provide safe and secure learning environments for students, faculty and staff; the Indian Affairs fiscal year 2011 funding request for additional BIA social workers; and the creation of child protection teams by the BIA’s Office of Justice Services (OJS).

The DOJ Office of Justice Programs (OJP) is convening the Symposium, which is being organized and sponsored by OJP’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the Santa Ana Pueblo. Teams from over 60 tribes comprised of individuals representing law enforcement, child protection and tribal leadership will gather to discuss approaches and efforts to prevent, interdict and respond to child abuse, neglect and exploitation.

WHO: Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior

WHAT: Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk will give the luncheon keynote address at the DOJ National Symposium on Child Protection in Indian Country.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 12:30-1:45 p.m. (MST)

WHERE: Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort, Room: Tamaya EFGH, 1300 Tuyuna Trail, Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.

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NOTE: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) and valid media credentials. Media inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to Sarah Matz of the DOJ at 202-598-3571.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development has awarded $3.7 million to tribes that are developing renewable energy resources for their communities. Access to these resources will allow these communities to develop jobs and additional economic opportunities on their reservations, while decreasing their reliance on fossil fuels.

“This President has made the development of renewable energy in America one of his highest priorities,” Salazar said. “Many tribes are in a unique position to benefit greatly from a variety of renewable energy sources and the Department is committed to helping these communities to achieve this goal.”

The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, in partnership with the Office of Trust Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has identified 13 tribes that have significant potential for quickly developing biomass, geothermal, or hydroelectric energy on their reservations. The tribes, resources and award amounts are listed in the attached table.

Salazar noted that tribal communities have shown exceptional interest in renewable energy development.

“This attests to the tribes’ desire to use their available energy resources for the benefit of its members,” he said. “It also indicates the willingness of tribes to help America reduce our dependence on foreign energy resources through domestic production.”

In addition to gaining access to the energy itself, all of these projects would also provide job opportunities for reservation residents. “The Department’s Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development is working hand-in-hand with tribes to provide technical assistance for energy, mineral, and economic development on reservations,” said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry EchoHawk. “The Office is using innovative and collaborative approaches to improve economic opportunities for the tribes, including renewable energy development, and to help promote new jobs, new businesses, and new capital on tribal lands.”

The proposed projects were identified by the individual tribes, which developed comprehensive proposals that were evaluated by the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development under a competitive process. The Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development is in the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs. Its mission is to foster stronger American Indian and Alaska Native communities by helping federally recognized tribes with employment and workforce training programs; helping tribes develop their renewable and non-renewable energy and mineral resources; and increasing access to capital for tribal and individual American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned businesses. For more information about IEED programs and services, visit http://www.indianaffairs.gov/IEED.

Geothermal (6)

• Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California - $350,000
• Benton Paiute Tribe - $350,000 • Cedarville Rancheria - $300,000
• Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe - $350,000
• Rosebud Sioux Tribe - $150,000
• Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe - $750,000

Biomass (4)

• Colville Confederated Tribes - $200,000
• Fond du Lac Reservation - $250,000
• Oneida Nation - $250,000
• Ho-Chunk Nation - $150,000

Hydroelectric (3)

• Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) of the Flathead Reservation - $260,000
• Cherokee Nation - $150,000
• Crow Tribe - Apsáalooke Nation - $200,000

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary Ken Salazar today announced that the Department of the Interior has moved to the next stage in its plan of actions to develop a department-wide tribal nations consultation policy by constituting a Tribal Consultation Team. The Team will consist of 12 tribal officials and alternates representing federally recognized tribes in each Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) region along with representatives from each DOI Bureau or Office. Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk notified tribal leaders by letter on March 23 and requested nominations.

“I am pleased to announce that we have reached the next stage in the Interior Department’s plan of actions to establish a comprehensive, department-wide policy on tribal consultation,” Salazar said. “Now that the Department is ready to establish the Consultation Team that will draft the new policy, I want to underscore the importance and urgency of responding to the call for tribal nominations so that we can move forward expeditiously.”

The tribes in each BIA Region are asked to nominate three tribal officials or delegates from their BIA region to serve on the Tribal Consultation Team and submit their nominees to the BIA Regional Director by April 30, 2010. Regional Directors will work with the tribes to select the nominees and provide any technical assistance, if needed. Regional Directors will forward nominations to the Secretary by May 5. The Secretary will appoint one tribal member and one alternative from each BIA region to the Team, as well as one federal member and one alternative from each Interior Bureau/Office by May 14.

Team members will have several months to draft the consultation policy, which will involve the review and evaluation of existing functions, policies, procedures and practices that have tribal implications and require on-going review and comments from the tribes and general public on the draft policy. Once the first draft of the policy is developed the Consultation Team will submit the draft policy to the tribes and publish it in the Federal Register for public comment.

The Interior Department’s plan of actions was developed as directed by President Obama in his memorandum, to implement Executive Order 13175 dated November 6, 2000, Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal Governments. The Executive Order directs Executive Branch departments and agencies to develop policies on tribal consultation and cooperation. The President signed the memorandum at the White House Tribal Nations Summit held at the Interior Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., on November 5, 2009.

On November 23, 2009, the Department invited tribal leaders to participate in a series of tribal consultation meetings to discuss their experiences with federal consultation efforts, provide suggestions on a departmental plan, and make recommendations on improving its consultation practices. Meetings were held in seven cities from December 2009 through January 2010. Approximately 300 tribal representatives and over 250 officials from and other federal agencies attended the meetings to hear the tribes’ ideas and concerns.

On February 22, 2010, Secretary Salazar announced the Interior Department’s plan to establish a comprehensive, department-wide policy for meaningful consultation with the nation’s 564 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes in accordance with its legal obligations and in fulfillment of its trust responsibilities.

After the draft consultation policy has been circulated to tribes and tribal organizations for review and comment, the Department will publish the revised draft in the Federal Register with a 60-day comment period. Following the Department’s publishing of the final consultation policy within 90 days of the close of the comment period, the Secretary will issue a Secretarial Order directing all Interior bureaus and offices to comply with the department-wide policy and its guiding principles.

The letter to tribal leaders dated March 22, 2010, along with a copy of the Interior Department plan and the Tribal Consultation Team nomination form may be viewed via the DOI website at http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/upload/Mar_22_2010-Tribal_Leader_letter.pdf.

On April 7, 2010 the Department of the Interior will launch the First Annual Federal Employment Workshop in partnership with Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute. In February, Secretary Salazar challenged the Interior bureaus to increase youth employment opportunities in 2010 by 50 percent over 2009 figures and in 2011 by 60 percent. A key component of the Secretary’s Youth in the Great Outdoors initiative, this new challenge will give a big boost to youth employment and education programs throughout the nation. The Federal Employment Workshop is the first of many job fairs that will be coordinated by the Department of the Interior to reach America’s youth and provide them with access to federal employment opportunities.

Who:

• Rhea Suh, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Alvin Warren, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs
• Valerie Montoya, Vice President Academic Programs, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI)
• Paul Tsosie, Chief of Staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior

What: Federal Employment Workshop for Native Americans When: 1:00 p.m., MST, Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Where: SIPI Auditorium, 9169 Coors Blvd. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87120

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to this event. Please arrive thirty minutes before the event.