OPA

WASHINGTON – Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs George T. Skibine has issued a proposed finding not to acknowledge the petitioner known as the Tolowa Nation (TN), Petitioner #85, located in Fort Dick, Calif., as an Indian tribe under the regulations governing the federal acknowledgment process at 25 CFR Part 83. The evidence in the record is insufficient to demonstrate that Petitioner #85 meets the criterion 83.7(b), one of the seven mandatory criteria of the regulations for a determination that the petitioning group is an Indian tribe. In accordance with the regulations, the failure to meet all seven criteria requires a determination that the petitioning group is not an Indian tribe within the meaning of federal law. Therefore, the Interior Department proposes to decline to acknowledge Petitioner #85 as an Indian tribe.

The petitioner has approximately 88 members. The evidence shows the petitioner is a voluntary association formed in 1982 of individuals who claim descent from the Tolowa, an Athabascan speaking group of Indians residing in Del Norte County, Calif.

The petitioner maintains that its membership and its ancestors existed continuously as a tribe of Indians known as “Tolowa” from first sustained contact in 1853 to 2010. The petitioner also maintains that they are descended from those Indians who were not enrolled at the Smith River Rancheria and the Elk Valley Rancheria, established in 1906 and 1908, respectively. To meet criterion 83.7(b), the petitioner must demonstrate that a predominant portion of its group comprises a distinct community and has existed as a community from historical times until the present.

The Indian Affairs Office of Federal Acknowledgment reviewed Petitioner #85’s claims and documentation, and examined federal census records from 1860 to 1930, Bureau of Indian Affairs enrollment records for the Elk Valley and Smith River rancherias from 1918 to 1937, BIA enrollments conducted by Special Field Agent Henry Roe Cloud in 1939, BIA correspondence, recollections gathered from interviews during its site visit in 2010, and meeting minutes from the petitioner and from the Del Norte Indian Welfare Association (DNIWA), claimed by the petitioner as its precursor known to have existed from 1941 to 1968.

The Department will publish a notice of the proposed finding in the Federal Register. The regulations provide that the petitioner or any interested party will have 180 days after the publication of the notice to submit comments to rebut or support the proposed finding. After the comment period, the petitioner will have an additional 60 days to respond to comments from third parties for additional consideration by the Department.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs has responsibility for carrying out the Secretary of the Interior’s trust responsibilities to the nation’s 565 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and individual Indian trust beneficiaries, as well as supporting tribal self-determination. In addition to the BIA and the Bureau of Indian Education, the Assistant Secretary also oversees the OFA, which administers the federal acknowledgment process.

The proposed finding and Federal Register notice will be posted on the Indian Affairs website at http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/AS-IA/OFA/RecentCases/index.htm.

WASHINGTON – Indian Affairs will hold the second of three training workshops designed for tribal judges and attorneys on the topic of secured transactions. The training, to be held on May 8-9, 2013, in Bloomington, Minn., will be conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Office of Justice Services/Tribal Justice Support (BIA-OJS/TJS) and the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED).

The workshops, entitled Uniform Commercial Codes: Bringing the UCC to Tribal Courts, are designed to provide intensive training to tribal judges, attorneys and court staff on specific issues that arise in secured transaction litigation under the Model Tribal Secured Transaction Act (MTSTA).

This law covers, among other things, the use of all types of personal property as collateral for lenders and sellers, and the conditions which must be satisfied for an enforceable interest in collateral to arise. The tribal court workshops will be based on materials developed by the Uniform Law Commission, a principal sponsor of the Uniform Commercial Code. These information materials have been used to inform tribal governments that have enacted secured transaction laws based on the Model Tribal Secured Transactions Act or are considering such laws.

Tribal secured transactions commercial codes enable tribal businesses and individuals residing on federal Indian trust lands to obtain credit for making off-reservation purchases, such as cars, appliances and other durable goods, by allowing sellers to enforce liens or security interests in such items after they have been transported onto a reservation.

The training was developed by the OJS and IEED in partnership with the Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Kansas City, Mo. The first training session in this series was held Jan. 30-31, 2013, in Seattle, Wash. The third and last session in 2013 is scheduled for December with dates and location to be announced.

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to credentialed media representatives, who must display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to the event.

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Washington, D.C. - Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today lauded Senate approval of legislation to authorize implementation of the Cobell Settlement, a $3.4 billion agreement that will resolve the long-running and highly contentious class action lawsuit regarding the U.S. government's trust management and accounting of individual American Indian trust accounts.

Salazar also commended the Senate for approving four major water rights settlements – totaling more than $1 billion - for American Indian tribes that will help deliver clean drinking water to Indian communities and provide certainty to water users across the West. The settlements were included in an omnibus package that cleared the Senate today.

“With the Senate’s approval of the Cobell settlement and the four Indian water rights settlements, this is a day that will be etched in our memories and our history books,” said Secretary Salazar. “The Cobell settlement honorably and responsibly addresses long-standing injustices and is a major step forward in President Obama’s agenda of reconciliation and empowerment for Indian nations. I am also deeply proud of the passage of the four water rights settlements that will deliver clean drinking water to Indian communities, end decades of controversy and contention among neighboring communities, and provide certainty to water users across the West. The progress we have made over the last two years in reaching critical Indian country settlements is unprecedented and I am hopeful that the House will soon act to pass these settlements as well.”

“The water settlements that passed today are nothing short of historic for Indian nations,” said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. “The parties to these settlements are to be commended for their willingness to work together rather than stay locked in an endless cycle of litigation. These settlements will meet the needs of tribes as well as neighboring communities through provisions for sharing shortages and investing in critical infrastructure needs.”

Background on the Cobell Settlement

Over the past 14 years, the class action litigation, filed by Elouise Cobell in 1996, included hundreds of motions, seven full trials, 22 motions and dozens of rulings and appeals. Under the negotiated agreement announced on Dec. 8, 2009, litigation would end regarding the federal government’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 of $1.4 billion would 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, 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 American Indians with an opportunity to obtain cash payments for divided land interests and free up the land for the benefit of tribal communities.

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.doi.gov/ost

Background on the Four Indian Water Rights Settlements that Passed Today

Federal law provides that Tribes have a right to water to meet the needs of their reservations. These rights can be quantified through either litigation or settlement. The Obama Administration has re-energized the federal government’s commitment to addressing the water needs of Native American communities through Indian water rights settlements. Following negotiations
involving States, Tribes, and other stakeholders, all four of the settlements approved today were supported in letters sent by the Administration. This level of Administration support for Indian water rights settlements in a single Congress is unprecedented.

The four settlements contained in the legislation approved by Congress today include:

White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona: The centerpiece of the settlement is the construction of the White Mountain Apache Tribe rural water system, which will greatly expand the current water delivery system to meet the very critical needs of the reservation.

Crow Tribe in Montana: This settlement will ensure safe drinking water for the reservation as well as provide for the rehabilitation of the Crow Irrigation Project, which is in a dire state of disrepair. The existing drinking water system on the Crow reservation has significant deficiencies in capacity and water quality that have resulted in health problems.

Aamodt in New Mexico: The Aamodt settlement ends one of the longest running water rights cases in the federal court system, with nearly 43 years of litigation yielding little in the way of results. The settlement provides for the construction of a regional water system to serve the Pueblos of Tesuque, Nambe, Pojoaque, and San Ildefonso as well as surrounding communities in northern New Mexico, with a non-federal cost share of 40 percent.

Pueblo of Taos in New Mexico: The Taos settlement solidifies and makes permanent water sharing arrangements between the Pueblo of Taos and neighboring communities. The settlement also protects and restores the Pueblo of Taos’s Buffalo Pasture, a culturally sensitive and sacred wetland.

Following action in the Senate, the House is expected to take up the omnibus package after the Thanksgiving recess. The Department of the Interior would begin implementation of settlements once they are signed into law by the President.

WASHINGTON – On May 15, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn will participate in a roundtable discussion with tribal, state and other federal government representatives to discuss the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The discussion will help lead to a greater understanding of ICWA’s purpose and implementation. This discussion is part of the Great Plains ICWA summit: Bring Our Children Home and Keep Our Families Strong that will take place May 15-17, 2013, at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel and Convention Center in Rapid City, S.D.

“The Great Plains Indian Child Welfare Summit is a venue to continue to address the critical issues of the well-being and safety of American Indian and Alaska Native children and their families,” Washburn said. “I look forward to sitting down with tribal leaders and our public and private partners to exchange ideas on how to better implement the Indian Child Welfare Act and protect Indian country’s children.”

The Summit's attendees will include: the Honorable James Abourezk, former U.S. Senator during the development of ICWA; United States Attorney for the District of North Dakota, Timothy Q. Purdon; and senior leadership from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of the Solicitor.

Other participants will include representatives of the U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. Department of Justice; Casey Family Programs, The Annie E. Casey Foundation; tribal and state judges; Washington State Office of Indian Policy; and the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Tribes, Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families. Representatives from tribes in the States of South Dakota, Washington, Oklahoma and Minnesota will also participate. Also invited to speak are representatives from the National Indian Child Welfare Association and the Minneapolis American Indian Center in Minnesota which administers an internet-based Indian child welfare case management system known as “QUICWA.”

The Great Plains Indian Child Welfare Summit is sponsored by the Great Plains Tribal Chairman’s Association in conjunction with officials and ICWA directors of the 16 federally recognized tribes in the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Great Plains Region States of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. The three-day Summit will assist in the development of proactive strategies to foster collaboration among stakeholders, identify areas for communities to improve implementation of ICWA’s intent to protect the best interests of Indian children, and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs BIA, which is headed by a director who is responsible for managing day-to-day operations through four offices – Indian Services, Justice Services, Trust Services and Field Operations. Through 12 regional offices and 85 agencies, the BIA administers or funds tribally-based infrastructure, law enforcement, social services (including child welfare), tribal governance, natural and energy resources and trust management programs for the nation’s federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages.

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WASHINGTON – For the first time in their histories, the National Museum of the American Indian and the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services will co-host a special exhibit of the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial during the 2013 National Police Week. The special exhibit will be located in the Museum’s Potomac Atrium from May 13 through 17.

“National Police Week is an important opportunity to educate the public about the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and honor those in law enforcement who have given their lives in the line of duty in Indian Country,” said Kevin K. Washburn, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs. “I want to thank the National Museum of the American Indian and its director, Kevin Gover, for co-hosting this special exhibit on the Memorial.”

“The National Museum of the American Indian is pleased and proud to host this special exhibit of the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in conjunction with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services,” said Museum Director Kevin Gover (Pawnee). “It is only fitting that the Museum, which is home to so much of Indian Country’s history, should acknowledge during National Police Week those law enforcement officers who have given their lives to protect Indian people.”

The Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial includes the names of 101 tribal, state, local and federal law enforcement officers working on federal Indian lands and in tribal communities who have died in the line of duty since the mid-1800s. It is located at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, N.M.

First dedicated on May 7, 1992, at the United States Indian Police Academy then in Marana, Ariz., both the Memorial and Academy were moved to their present site on the Center’s Artesia campus and re-dedicated there on May 6, 1993. Each year since 1991, the Office of Justice Services has hosted a service at the site to honor the officers on the Memorial.

The special exhibit, which is maintained by the Office of Justice Services at its headquarters in the Department of the Interior building in Washington, D.C., includes a plaque with all of the names inscribed on the Memorial, a binder with officer profiles, a display case of police badges, and a Book of Remembrance that visitors can sign.

According to the website of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, President John K. Kennedy in 1962 proclaimed May 15th as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date fell as National Police Week. Established by a joint resolution of Congress the same year, National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others.

Established in 1989 through an Act of Congress, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian is an institution of living cultures dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of the lives, languages, literature, history and arts of the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere. For more information about the museum and its public program schedules, visit www.AmericanIndian.si.edu.

The BIA Office of Justice Services’ mission is to enhance public safety and protect property in Indian Country by funding or providing law enforcement, corrections and tribal court services to the nation’s federally recognized tribes. It operates 36 law enforcement programs, oversees 152 tribally operated law enforcement programs, coordinates emergency preparedness support on federal Indian lands by working cooperatively with other federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies throughout Indian Country, and provides training and professional development to BIA and tribal law enforcement through the U.S. Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M.

Visit the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center website at http://www.fletc.gov/aboutfletc/locations/artesia/indian-country-law-enforcement-officers-memorial.html to view the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and a list of officers’ names.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Michael S. Black today announced that he has named Amy L. Dutschke as Regional Director of the BIA’s Pacific Regional Office in Sacramento, Calif. Dutschke, an enrolled member of the Ione Band of Miwok Indians in California, had been serving as the Office’s Deputy Regional Director for Trust Services since June of 2000. The Pacific Regional Office oversees four agencies serving 103 federally recognized tribes located within the state of California. Her appointment became effective on October 10, 2010.

“Amy Dutschke’s extensive experience in federal budget, administration and program management, combined with her strong background in federal-tribal relations, makes her a solid addition to my regional management team,” Black said.

“I want to thank BIA Director Mike Black and Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk for their confidence in giving me this opportunity,” Dutschke said. “I am looking forward to working with them and with all of the tribes in the Pacific Region to improve the delivery of BIA services.”

As the Deputy Regional Director, Dutschke was responsible for the day-to-day management of the BIA’s trust programs including real estate services, natural resource management, water rights, range management, land titles and records, probate, fire management, forestry and endangered species. She also represented the Interior Department on the team for the San Luis Rey Water Settlement, an agreement between the federal government and five tribes resolving their water rights issues.

Prior to becoming the Deputy Regional Director, Dutschke had worked in the BIA’s Sacramento Area Office (now the Pacific Regional Office) and at its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

From February 1996 to May 1999 she served as the Area Self-Determination Officer and was the lead negotiator for tribal self-governance compacts region-wide.

In May 1998, Dutschke began a stint as Deputy to the Director of the BIA’s Office of Management and Administration in D.C. As the Deputy Director she was responsible for developing policy and guidance for BIA managers on administrative matters. Following the completion of her assignment, Dutschke returned to the Sacramento Area Office, where she was promoted in May 1999 to Area Administrative Officer.

As the Area Administrative Officer she served as the principal advisor to the Area Director on administrative matters, and was responsible for the oversight and supervision of budgets, contracts, property, finance, records and safety. Her duties included meeting with tribes annually to develop budget requirements for submission to the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs.

Dutschke began her federal career with the BIA in December 1975 and served in a variety of positions within the Sacramento Area Office including Tribal Operations Clerk, Tribal Operations Specialist and Self-Determination Specialist.

In June 1985, Dutschke was appointed as the Tribal Operations Officer with the Bureau’s Northern California Agency in Redding. In March 1989, she was named the Agency’s permanent Administrative Officer, a position she held until April 1991. In addition to her budget, personnel, procurement and other administrative responsibilities, Dutschke also served as the person responsible for coordinating activities involved with preparing the settlement roll required by the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-580).

From July to December 1990, she also served as the Acting Assistant Area Director for Administration in the Sacramento Area Office, where she was responsible for the day-to-day management of the office’s administrative functions, including oversight of contracts, budgets, property, records, information resources management, self-determination and finance.

In April 1991, Dutschke was named the Sacramento Area Office’s Assistant Area Director for Administration, where, in addition to her other duties and responsibilities, she was an advisor to the Area Director on policy formulation and program development. She held the Assistant Area Director post until February 1996.

Dutschke has received numerous awards and recognition throughout her career including recognition from the California State office of the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Reclamation for her role in the development of a consolidated human resources office.

She also has been recognized for her work in the development and support of the California Indian Forest and Fire Management Council, which serves in an advisory capacity to the Pacific Regional Office on forestry- and fire-related matters.

In addition, Dutschke was instrumental in the development of the California Trust Reform Consortium and the California Fee to Trust Consortium, which are models of the BIA and tribes working cooperatively to identify issues and develop processes to accomplish mutual goals.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The joint Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service (IHS) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) listening sessions for tribes on suicide prevention that began this month will continue through December and into early February of 2011. The sessions seek input from tribal leaders on how the agencies can effectively work within their communities to prevent suicide, and will lead up to a national conference on the topic early next year.

“American Indians and Alaska Natives have a suicide rate that is 72 percent higher than the general U.S. population,” said Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. “We need to better understand the causes of suicide and find ways to turn the tide on this terrible tragedy within Indian Country. I want to thank IHS and SAMHSA for working with us in this effort, and to encourage tribal leaders to attend these very important listening sessions.”

A joint letter from Echo Hawk, IHS Director Yvette Roubideaux and SAMHSA Administrator Pamela Hyde was sent in mid-November to tribal leaders announcing the listening sessions and the national conference.

The listening sessions, which are being held in each Indian Affairs region, will help the agencies gather first-hand information on suicide prevention needs, concerns, programs and practices from community members. Input from the sessions will shape the agenda and goals for a national conference on suicide prevention in Indian Country, which will provide an opportunity for the Interior Department, DHHS and tribal leaders to develop strategies and best practices for suicide prevention and intervention in American Indian and Alaska Native tribal communities.

Sessions have already been held in the following locations: Navajo Region, Window Rock, Ariz. (Nov. 15); Midwest Region, Prior Lake, Minn. (Nov. 19) and Rocky Mountain Region, Billings, Mont. (Nov. 23).

Listed below is the schedule of the remaining sessions (all times are local time):

Alaska Region

Date: Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Times: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: Egan Convention Center, 555 West 5th Ave., Anchorage, Alaska 99501

Great Plains Region

Date: Thursday, December 2, 2010

Times: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: Best Western Ramkota Hotel and Convention Center, 2111 N. LaCrosse St., Rapid City, D.C. 57701

Eastern Oklahoma and Southern Plains Regions

Date: Monday, December 13, 2010 Times: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: Embassy Suites – Meridian, 1815 South Meridian, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73108

Pacific Region

Date: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 Times: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: Federal Building, Cottage Conference Rm., 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, Calif. 95825

Southwest Region

Date: Monday, January 10, 2011

Times: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: National Indian Programs Training Center (NIPTC), 1011 Indian School Rd., N.W., Albuquerque, N.M. 87104

Northwest Region

Date: Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Times: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Northwest Regional Office, 911 Federal Building Auditorium, 911 N.E. 11th Ave., Portland, Ore. 97232

Eastern Region

Date: Thursday, February 10, 2011

Times: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Location: United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) Conference, Marriott Crystal Gateway, 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Va. 22202

To view the November 12, 2010, letter to tribal leaders visit the Indian Affairs website at http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/AS-IA/Consultation/index.htm.

Washington, D.C. - Today, the Departments of Justice, Interior and Agriculture applauded the bipartisan House passage of the Claims Settlement Act. The Act, which recently passed the Senate, will provide long-awaited funding for the agreements reached in the Pigford II lawsuit, brought by African American farmers; the Cobell lawsuit, brought by Native Americans over the management of Indian trust accounts and resources; and four separate water rights suits made by Native American tribes. President Obama has said that he will sign the legislation into law.

“These are truly historic settlements that do not only resolve litigation, but also offer a new relationship between many deserving Americans and the federal agencies that play an important role in their lives,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “Bringing this litigation to a close has been a priority for this Administration, and today’s vote in Congress is a significant, historic achievement. These cases provide fair deals for the plaintiffs and for the American taxpayers.”

“Congress’ approval of the Cobell settlement and the four Indian water rights settlements is nothing short of historic for Indian nations,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. “The settlements honorably and responsibly address long-standing injustices and represent a major step forward in President Obama’s agenda to empower tribal governments, fulfill our trust responsibilities to tribal members and help tribal leaders build safer, stronger, healthier and more prosperous communities.”

“President Obama and I made a firm commitment not only to treat all farmers fairly and equally, but to right the wrongs in USDA's past,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “I applaud those who took this historic step to ensure black farmers who faced discrimination by their government finally receive justice. And I commend those who led this fight in the U.S. Congress and I am thankful for their unwavering determination. Today’s vote will help the Department of Agriculture move beyond this sad chapter in history. The bill that passed the Senate and House includes strong protections against waste, fraud, and abuse to ensure integrity of the claims process. In the months and years ahead, we will not stop working to move the Department into a new era as a model employer and premier service provider. We also must continue the good work we started to resolve all remaining administrative claims.”

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today praised President Obama’s signing of five major settlements for Indian Country, calling the agreements a milestone in empowerment and reconciliation for the Nation’s First Americans.

The Claims Resolution Act of 2010 signed into law today includes the $3.4 billion Cobell settlement regarding the U.S. government's trust management and accounting of Native American trust accounts and resources; and four water rights agreements, totaling more than $1 billion, that will deliver clean drinking water to tribes in New Mexico, Arizona and Montana and end decades of water allocation controversy among neighboring communities.

"Today the President has taken another giant step toward fulfilling this Administration’s pledge to meet our trust responsibilities, empower tribal governments and help build safer, stronger and more prosperous tribal communities," Secretary Salazar said. "These historic settlements mark a new chapter in our work to strengthen the nation to nation relationship with Indian Country.”

"This Administration’s support for four water rights settlements in a single Congress is unprecedented," said Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. “The agreements reflect the commitment of a wide range of stakeholders, including states, tribes and local communities, to work together constructively with the Administration rather than stay locked in an endless cycle of litigation. Step by step we are making steady progress in empowering Indian Country."

The Cobell agreement resolves the 14-year, highly contentious class action lawsuit regarding the U.S. government's trust management and accounting of individual Native American trust accounts and resources. The settlement honorably and responsibly addresses long-standing injustices and demonstrates President Obama’s commitment to reconciliation and empowerment for Indian nations.

Under the settlement, $1.5 billion will be distributed to class members in compensation for their historical accounting claims and to resolve potential claims that the United States mismanaged the administration of trust assets. The agreement also establishes a $1.9 billion fund for the voluntary buy-back and consolidation of fractionated land interests to address the continued proliferation of thousands of new trust accounts caused by the division of land interests through succeeding generations.

The land consolidation program will provide individual Indians with an opportunity to consolidate and transfer divided ownership interests to their tribal governments, where they will remain in trust for the benefit of tribal communities. Individual Indians will receive cash payments for these transfers and, as an additional incentive, transfers will trigger government payments into a $60 million dollar Indian scholarship fund.

The Cobell settlement is the beginning of true trust reform, noted Salazar, who is establishing a Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform in consultation with tribes. This Commission will undertake a forward-looking, comprehensive evaluation of how the Interior Department manages and administers its trust responsibilities. “We need to be more transparent and customer-friendly,” the Secretary said. “The status quo is not acceptable.”

The four Indian water rights settlements contained in the legislation will provide permanent water supplies and offer economic security for the Taos Pueblo and Aamodt case pueblos, including the Pojoaque, Tesuque, San Ildefonso, and Nambe pueblos in New Mexico; as well as the Crow Tribe of Montana and the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona. The agreements will build and improve reservation water systems, rehabilitate irrigation projects, construct a regional multi-pueblo water system, and codify water-sharing arrangements between Indian and neighboring communities.

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

WASHINGTON – Because of a high level of interest, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (OJS) is providing legal training it successfully held last year to new groups of tribal court prosecutors, defenders and judges to improve their trial advocacy skills. The training focuses on cases involving the trafficking of illegal narcotics, domestic violence and sexual assault on adults and children.

The first session in the 2013 OJS Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Training Program will take place on May 14-16 in Missoula, Mont., with cases on domestic violence. It will include a roundtable discussion on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

The remaining 2013 training schedule and topics are: June 17-20 in Grand Forks, N.D. (sexual assault on children); July 22-25 in Reno, Nev. (illegal narcotics), Aug. 6-9 in Philadelphia, Miss. (domestic violence); and Dec. 2-5 in Oklahoma City (sexual assault on adults). As with the May session, each will include a roundtable discussion on VAWA.

Tribal court trial advocacy training is mandated by the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and is being conducted under the Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Training Program – a joint effort by the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that furthers the mandate of the Act to strengthen tribal sovereignty over criminal justice matters on federal Indian lands by sharpening the skills of those who practice within the tribal court system.

The program is the result of a collaborative effort by the OJS and DOJ’s Access to Justice Initiative to offer trial advocacy training with courses designed specifically for tribal courts and free training to the judges, public defenders and prosecutors who work in them. Training will be conducted by working law professionals using instructional materials prepared by experts knowledgeable about tribal court issues. The program is unique for its public defenders training.

President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act on March 7, 2013. It includes important provisions for federally recognized tribes to combat violence against Native women such as homicide, rape, assault and battery in the home, workplace and on school campuses throughout Indian Country.

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to credentialed media representatives, who must display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to the event.

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