OPA

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) awarded over $5 million to 34 tribal projects that will assist in the development of energy and mineral resources on tribal lands. The awards include funding for renewable hydroelectric projects that will provide low-cost clean power to tribal members and other customers, and help to expand tribal economies by opening new business opportunities.

“Economic development is crucial to addressing the challenges on Indian reservations, including joblessness, substance abuse and even suicide,” Washburn said. “These grants assist tribes in realizing and maximizing the potential of their energy and mineral resources. They provide financial support for locating and evaluating energy and mineral assets, and eventually bringing them to market.”

Through the Energy and Mineral Development Program (EMDP), IEED’s Division of Energy and Mineral Development (DEMD) awards annual funding to assist tribes and American Indian allottees with evaluating energy and mineral resource potential on their lands. Tribes use this information to determine whether or not they wish to develop energy projects or extract and market commercially or strategically valuable minerals.

Earlier today, Washburn also announced $1.5 million in grant funding under IEED’s Tribal Energy Development Capacity (TEDC) grant program, which assists tribes, Alaska Native corporations and tribal energy resource development organizations with obtaining the technical and regulatory capacity needed to develop energy resources and to properly account for energy resource production and revenues, as provided for under Title V of the Energy Policy Act.

DEMD solicits proposals from tribes and, through a competitive review process, selects qualified projects for funding. The program’s grant amounts are dependent upon appropriations. The projects announced today were selected from among 54 EMDP applications submitted during the FY 2015 funding cycle.

According to the Department of the Interior’s Economic Contributions Report released on July 11, 2014, energy and mineral development has the second highest economic impact in Indian Country. In 2013, energy and mineral development contributed $17 billion to Indian Country economies, more than 91 percent of the total economic impact from development of natural resources in Indian Country. In the same year, energy and mineral development supported over 67,000 jobs, more than 83 percent of the natural resource jobs in Indian Country.

The 2015 EMDP grant awardees by tribe name, award amount and purpose are:

• Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation ($75,000) – For a feasibility study on marketing solar power.
• Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians of California ($46,250) – For a photovoltaic solar feasibility study.
• Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians of California ($50,375) – For a biofuel energy feasibility study.
• Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Big Valley Rancheria, ($150,000) – For a biomass resource assessment with community solar and micro-grid feasibility study.
• Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation, ($50,000) – For a biomass renewable energy feasibility study.
• Cherokee Nation ($1,523,600) – For a W.D. Mayo Lock & Dam #14 Hydroelectric Project Phase VI feasibility study.
• Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon ($580,000) – For a Phase Two assessment of the Warm Spring geothermal system.
• Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana ($70,125) – For an alternative energy feasibility study.
• Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians ($318,220) – For a demonstration project proposal to expand study of municipal solid waste, wood compost and tires, and create enough base oil to run several vehicles over three to four months.
• Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation ($18,100) – For a mineral assessment, feasibility study, business plan, and plan of operations and environmental assessment for a sand, gravel and rock operation.
• Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, ($16,052) – For a flagstone assessment.
• Klamath Tribes ($118,500) – For an inventory of available land and pre-development studies for two large solar installations.
• Klamath Tribes ($113,832) – For an inventory and market assessment for the development of tribal timber and woody biomass resources.
• Metlakatla Indian Community, Annette Island Reserve ($55,000) – For a detailed assessment of economic risks and financial viability of the Metlakatla-Ketchikan electrical Intertie.
• Metlakatla Indian Community, Annette Island Reserve ($135,000) – For the Metlakatla Indian Community Solid Water and Waste-to-Energy Plan Phase II.
• Metlakatla Indian Community, Annette Island Reserve ($20,000) – For a market study on the flavored water market and best use of a water bottle processing plant location.
• Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians ($95,000) – For a biomass pellet mill development plan - Phase II.
• Mooretown Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California ($290,800) – For the next phases of an existing renewable energy project.
• Navajo Nation ($50,000) – For the evaluation of helium projects defined in the multiyear Navajo Nation project to access the hydrocarbon potential and other economic resources on Navajo Nation lands.
• Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah ($32,995) – For the Kanosh Photovoltaic Solar Power Facility.
• Passamaquoddy Tribe - Indian Township ($75,000) – For a biomass pellet mill feasibility study.
• Passamaquoddy Tribe - Pleasant Point ($141,657) – For analysis of the Tribe's bio-mass resource and inventory of tribal trust land to determine the location of a facility to produce a bio-fuel and secondary products.
• Pueblo of Cochiti ($50,000) – For the evaluation of financing and development options for a small community-scale photovoltaic solar plant.
• Pueblo of Jemez ($263,250) – For a high-performance adobe assessment.
• Pueblo of Picuris ($61,200) – For a renewable energy planning proposal of a community scale 1 MW solar array.
• Pueblo of Zia ($65,000) – For a distributed generation solar/micro-grid project evaluation.
• Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Rincon Reservation, ($48,136) – For a mineral resource assessment of newly acquired tribal lands.
• Seneca Nation of Indians ($30,000) – For a natural gas assessment: development potential and economic model for the Allegany Territory.
• Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation ($30,290) – For an aggregate resource evaluation.
• Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota ($70,125) – For an evaluation of wind- and solar energy-powered telecommunications towers with battery backup.
• Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of California ($70,000) – For a distributed generation solar/micro-grid project evaluation.
• Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, ($154,000) – For a hydropower feasibility assessment of the Tribe's water resources.
• Walker River Paiute Tribe of the Walker River Reservation ($200,000) – For a geothermal exploration.
• Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Indian Reservation ($69,850) – For a specialty aggregate, potential business alliance, and asphalt plant study and assessment.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs oversees the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, which implements the Indian Energy Resource Development Program under Title V of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. IEED’s mission is to foster stronger American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities by helping federally recognized tribes develop their renewable and nonrenewable energy and mineral resources; increasing access to capital for tribal and individual American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned businesses; assisting tribes in building the legal infrastructure necessary for their economic progress; and enabling tribally and individual AI/AN-owned businesses to take advantage of government and private sector procurement opportunities.

For more information about IEED programs and services, visit the Indian Affairs website at http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/AS-IA/IEED/index.htm.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) awarded more than $1.5 million to 10 federally recognized tribes for projects expanding their capacity to develop and regulate energy projects on tribal lands.

“Tribal self-governance goes hand-in-hand with economic development,” Washburn said. “These capacity grants help tribes develop rules and regulatory regimes for energy development and for protection of their own energy assets.”

The IEED’s Tribal Energy Development Capacity (TEDC) grant program assists eligible applicants, which include federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native corporations and tribal energy resource development organizations, obtain the technical and regulatory capacity needed to develop energy resources and to properly account for energy resource production and revenues, as provided for under Title V, Section 503, of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It also helps fund the development of codes, regulations and other legal infrastructure necessary for economic progress. The program is funded through annual appropriations.

IEED solicits proposals, and through a competitive review system, selects qualified projects for funding. IEED’s Division of Energy and Mineral Development (DEMD) provides grantees with technical assistance and monitors grants to ensure that the best possible product is obtained for the funds allocated. The 10 announced grantees were selected from among 22 TEDC applications submitted during the FY 2015 funding cycle.

Energy and mineral development on federal Indian lands plays a critical role in creating jobs and generating income in Indian Country while also contributing to the national economy. According to the Department of the Interior’s Economic Contributions Report released on July 11, 2014, the economic impact of energy and mineral development in Indian Country is second only to that of gaming.

In 2013, the total economic contribution in Indian Country from energy and mineral development was more than $17 billion, more than 91 percent of the total economic impact from development of natural resources in Indian Country. In the same year, energy and mineral development supported over 67,000 jobs, more than 83 percent of the natural resource jobs in Indian Country.

The 2015 TEDC grant awardees by tribe name, award amount and purpose are:

• Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation ($79,000) – To establish a regulatory infrastructure that will support the development and management of a major biomass facility.
• Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians of the Big Valley Rancheria, ($217,375) – For a feasibility study on establishing a tribal utility authority.
• Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation ($164,062) – To form a tribal power exchange as a joint powers authority.
• Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation, ($160,500) – For an assessment on how to build a successful tribal solar business.
• Passamaquoddy-Indian Township ($150,000) – For a feasibility study on establishing a tribal utility authority.
• Pueblo of Jemez ($250,000) – For a feasibility study on establishing a tribal utility authority.
• Pueblo of Zia ($188,000) – For a feasibility study on establishing a tribal utility authority.
• Spirit Lake Tribe ($139,000) – For a feasibility study on establishing a tribal utility authority to accelerate the development of a 20 MW wind farm currently under development.
• Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation ($131,072) – For the promulgation of tribal hydraulic fracturing regulations.
• Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska ($78,600) – For a feasibility study of the Tribe’s ownership and management of electric distribution assets.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs oversees the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development, which implements the Indian Energy Resource Development Program under Title V of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. IEED’s mission is to foster stronger American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities by helping federally recognized tribes develop their renewable and nonrenewable energy and mineral resources; increasing access to capital for tribal and individual American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned businesses; assisting tribes in building the legal infrastructure necessary for their economic progress; and enabling tribally and individual AI/AN-owned businesses to take advantage of government and private sector procurement opportunities.

For more information about IEED programs and services, visit the Indian Affairs website at http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/AS-IA/IEED/index.htm.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of President Obama’s Generation Indigenous (“Gen-I”) and Tiwahe initiatives, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced he is calling for September 10 to be known as Hope for Life Day to raise awareness in Indian Country about suicide prevention during National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Suicide strikes Native youth especially hard. The suicide rate among American Indians ages 15 to 34 is more than two times higher than the national average.

“Suicide wounds every person, family and community it touches,” Washburn said. “Native communities suffer from a suicide rate that is more than twice the national average. There is no greater tragedy in Indian Country. Our President has heard about the effects of suicide on Native communities, and has directed his Administration to work harder to address it. There are no easy cures and it will require a broad commitment to address it. Hope for Life Day will bring greater awareness of this issue in Indian Country, and provide information about suicide prevention to help save lives.”

Last month, the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s (NAASP) American Indian and Alaska Native Task Force announced the first National American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Suicide Prevention Hope for Life Day. Going forward, the Hope for Life Day will be held annually on September 10 in conjunction with World Suicide Prevention Day.

President Obama’s Generation Indigenous initiative focuses on removing the barriers that stand between Native youth and their opportunity to succeed, using a comprehensive, culturally appropriate approach to help improve the lives and opportunities for Native youth. The Tiwahe Initiative, launched in Fiscal Year 2015, addresses family welfare and poverty issues, invests in education, economic development, sustainable stewardship of natural resources, and advances a strategy to reduce incarceration in Indian Country.

The Hope for Life Day is part of the Action Alliance’s AI/AN Task Force’s efforts to change the conversation about suicide and promote hope, life, cultural resiliency, and community transformation. It is an effort specifically designed for tribal communities to raise awareness about suicide and seek ways to address it, particularly among the teens and adults who are at a high level of risk for taking their own lives.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC):

• Suicide is the second leading cause of death for American Indians and Alaska Natives ages 15 to 34 years, and
• The suicide rate among American Indian and Alaska Native adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 34 is 2.5 times higher than the national average for that age group.

The Task Force has developed the Hope for Life Day toolkit to assist health professionals and grassroots organizers working in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

The AI/AN Task Force is a public partnership formed to advance the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention as it pertains to AI/AN communities. The Assistant Secretary is joined in coleading the Task Force by Indian Health Service (IHS) Principal Deputy Director Robert G. McSwain.

The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention is the public-private partnership working to advance the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and make suicide prevention a national priority. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, through the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), operates the Secretariat for the Action Alliance, which was launched in 2010 by former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates with the goal of saving 20,000 lives in five years.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which directly administers or funds tribally based infrastructure, economic development, law enforcement and justice, social services (including child welfare), tribal governance, and trust land and natural and energy resources management programs for the nation’s federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.

The Assistant Secretary also oversees the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), which operates the federal 183-school system for American Indian and Alaska Native elementary and secondary students from federally recognized tribes and provides post-secondary education opportunities to them through higher education scholarships, operational support funding to over 20 tribal colleges and universities and two tribal technical colleges, and the Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, N.M.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior) today announced a $940 million proposed settlement with a nationwide class of Native American Tribes and tribal entities that, if approved by the federal district court, would resolve a 25-year-old legal dispute related to contract support costs for tribal agencies. The proposed settlement would address claims that the United States contracted with tribes to run programs but did not pay the full amounts required by law.

“This landmark settlement represents another important step in the Obama Administration’s efforts to turn the page on past challenges in our government-to-government relationship with tribes,” said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. “Tribal self-determination and self-governance will continue to be our North Star as we navigate a new chapter in this important relationship and we are committed to fully funding contract support costs so that tribal contracting can be more successful. Congress can and should make this happen. Today’s announcement resolves past claims and allows money wrapped up in litigation to be used more productively.”

The proposed settlement, announced today by Interior Secretary Jewell, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, would address claims that the government contracted with tribes and tribal agencies to run Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) programs like law enforcement, forest management, fire suppression, road maintenance, housing, federal education and other support programs, but failed to appropriate sufficient funds to pay the costs under the agreements. Native American tribal agencies manage these programs under the Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975.

“The Department of Justice is pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to finally resolve this litigation that has spanned four administrations,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mizer. “This agreement was long in the making – reached only after years of complex negotiations – and both sides can be proud of the result."

This proposed settlement was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and will require court approval. The proposed settlement would resolve the government’s liability and avoid years of tedious contract-by-contract litigation that would require tens of thousands of hours of work by federal and tribal attorneys as well as expert auditors and accountants.

The claims arose because of a mismatch between federal self-determination laws and available appropriations. While the federal government has signed contracts that provided for certain amounts to cover administrative costs of implementing contracts – such as workers’ compensation costs for tribal employees – Congress capped appropriated funds available to pay for these costs. This funding gap was one of the sources of the claims, which were raised in a class action lawsuit filed in 1990.

“Time and again, we have seen that when a tribal government runs a federal program, the program is more successful and more responsive to the tribal community,” said Assistant Secretary Washburn. “Today’s proposed settlement, together with President Obama’s request for full, mandatory funding of tribal contract support costs in the future, removes one of the significant obstacles to tribal self-determination and self-governance. Tribes can now be confident that the federal government will pay sufficient costs to allow them to be successful in running federal programs.”

In 2012, the issue reached the Supreme Court, which ultimately agreed with the Tribes that the government was liable for the payments, regardless of whether Congress had appropriated adequate funds. Since 2012, the United States has been negotiating with tribal entities to find a fair and efficient resolution of this dispute and to pay the money owed.

In the president’s fiscal year 2016 budget request to Congress for the Departments of the Interior and Health and Human Services, the administration proposed a long-term solution to this persistent problem: mandatory, non-discretionary funding, beginning in fiscal year 2017, for contract support costs.

The proposed settlement marks another significant effort by the Obama Administration to address long-running litigation concerning federal policy in Indian Country, so that Tribes and the federal government can enjoy a more fruitful and constructive relationship in the future. Since 2010, the Departments of Justice and the Interior have settled the Cobell class action lawsuit, and more than 80 similar lawsuits brought by various American Indian tribes, alleging breach of trust for federal mismanagement of their financial assets and natural resources.

WASHINGTON – Today, Thursday, September 17, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will lead a press conference call to discuss a landmark settlement with a nationwide class of tribes and tribal entities. Jewell will be joined by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn and U.S. Department of Justice Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer.

WHO: Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior

Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs

Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice

WHAT: Press conference call to discuss landmark settlement with tribes and tribal entities

WHEN: TODAY, Thursday, September 17, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

MEDIA: Members of the media who wish to join this call should dial 1-800-857-9677 and use the passcode INTERIOR.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today issued a decision approving a request by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe to acquire 170 acres of land into trust in the town of Mashpee, Mass., for tribal governmental, cultural and conservation purposes, and 151 acres in trust in the City of Taunton, Mass., for the purpose of constructing and operating a gaming facility and resort. The lands in both Mashpee and Taunton will become the tribe’s first lands held in trust.

In addition to the casino/resort, the tribe’s plans for the site in Taunton includes three hotels, an event center, restaurants, retail stores, and a water park. The project would create at least 3,500 full-time (permanent) and part-time positions, and 287 construction jobs.

“The tribe’s origins in southeastern Massachusetts predate the arrival of Europeans on this continent,” Assistant Secretary Washburn said in his decision. “At the time of initial European contact, the tribe’s ancestors occupied all of modern-day Bristol, Barnstable, and Plymouth Counties.” Washburn said that the tribe’s descendants were dispersed and lost much of their land in these areas to English settlers.

The land to be acquired in Mashpee is located near the tribe’s historical Indian community during the colonial and revolutionary periods. Traditionally, they used the lands in Mashpee, and in the vicinity of the Taunton, for subsistence use and occupancy. With the acquisition in trust of the lands in Mashpee and Taunton, the tribe can enjoy the restoration of lands similar to those it lost long ago.

The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land in trust for Indian tribes. Pursuant the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), a tribe may conduct gaming on trust land if the land is the “initial reservation” of an Indian tribe. The lands in Mashpee and Taunton will be the first lands acquired in trust and, upon issuance of a Reservation Proclamation, the first proclaimed reservation for the tribe, which received federal acknowledgment and re-establishment of a government-to-government relationship with the United States in 2007.

In reaching today’s decision, the Department conducted a thorough review of the tribe’s history and application, as well as the administrative record and comments submitted by numerous interested parties. The Department also developed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that included an in-depth analysis of potential effects of the proposed casino/resort and required mitigation measures to address any potential impacts.

The Department also determined that the lands in Mashpee and Taunton met the “initial reservation” exception of IGRA, and, thus, the tribe may conduct gaming. (Further, the Department determined that it is authorized to acquire the lands in Mashpee and Taunton in trust pursuant to the IRA, and in keeping with the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.)

Washburn noted that as a result of acquiring these lands in trust, the tribe will benefit from longterm and stable economic development as well as opportunities for self-governance and self-determination. Acquisition will enable the tribe to meet the needs of its members by providing employment, housing, and educational opportunities, and will enable the tribe to meet other critical tribal needs. Economic development also will greatly enhance the tribe’s ability to preserve its history and community by funding the preservation and restoration of culturally significant sites. Washburn praised the constructive government-to-government cooperation between the tribe and the Town of Mashpee and the City of Taunton.

The Office of Trust Services administers the BIA’s land-into-trust and other trust land-related regulations. For more information about the Office of Trust Services and its mission, visit https://www.bia.gov/bia/ots.

The Office of Indian Gaming handles gaming issues related to land-into-trust decisions for the Office of the Assistant Secretary. For more information about the Office of Indian Gaming and its mission, visit https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/oig

WASHINGTON – Today, Thursday, September 24, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will join U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a press conference call to discuss more than $5 million in funding to help Native American and Alaska Native youth become college- and career ready. Under a new Native Youth Community Projects (NYCP) program, the Department of Education is making grants to a dozen recipients in nine states that will impact more than 30 tribes and involve more than 48 schools, some of which are schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Education.

Parts of this funding will also help in the transition from federal control of Bureau of Indian Education schools to tribal control, an ongoing effort to establish educational self-determination for tribal communities. These awards are a demonstration of President Obama’s strong commitment to improving the lives of American Indian and Alaska Native children and a key element of his Generation Indigenous “Gen I” Initiative to help Native American youth.

Secretaries Jewell and Duncan will also be joined by Ahniwake Rose, the Executive Director of the National Indian Education Association, and Gloria O'Neill, President and CEO of Cook Inlet Tribal Council, a grant recipient.

Also today, Secretary Jewell will participate in the National Tribal Energy Summit. The Summit is a White House Council on Native American Affairs interagency effort and includes participation from the U.S. Department of the Interior, as well as the U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture. The two-and-a-half day event will explore energy development and security issues identified by tribes and DOE’s Indian Country Energy and Infrastructure Working Group.

WHO: Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior

Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education

Ahniwake Rose, Executive Director, National Indian Education Association

Gloria O'Neill, President and CEO, Cook Inlet Tribal Council

WHAT: Press conference call to discuss Native youth community education project grants

WHEN: TODAY, Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

MEDIA: Members of the media who wish to join this call should dial 1-888-469-0506 and use the passcode EDUCATION.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Education today, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of the Interior, announced the award of more than $5 million in grants to help Native American youth become college- and career-ready.

Under the new Native Youth Community Projects (NYCP) program, the Department of Education is making grants to a dozen recipients in nine states that will impact more than thirty tribes and involve more than 48 schools. These awards are a demonstration of President Obama’s strong commitment to improving the lives of American Indian and Alaska Native children and a key element of his Generation Indigenous “Gen I” Initiative to help Native American youth. “These grants are an unprecedented investment in Native youth, and a recognition that tribal communities are best positioned to drive solutions and lead change,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

“These grants are a down payment on President Obama’s commitment last summer at his historic trip to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota to create new opportunities for American Indian youth to cultivate the next generation of Native leaders.”

“The investments we're announcing today underscore the Obama Administration's commitment to self-determination by putting tribal communities in the driver’s seat for developing a strong and prosperous future for Indian Country,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, who joined Education Secretary Arne Duncan in announcing the funding awards today and is responsible for the management of more than 180 Bureau of Indian Education Schools, three of which are recipients of these Native Youth Community Projects program grants. “These grants provide tools to tribes to not only assist in the transition from federal to tribal control of school operations and management but also ensure college-readiness for the next generation of Native American leaders.”

Each grant will support a coordinated, focused approach chosen by a community partnership that includes a tribe, local schools, and other organizations. For example, the program allows tribes to identify culturally-appropriate, community-specific supports for college and career readiness – whether it’s early learning, language immersion or mental health services.

The President’s FY 2016 budget proposal calls for increased investments across Indian Country, including a total request of $20.8 billion for a range of federal programs that serve tribes – a $1.5 billion increase over the 2015-enacted level. The budget proposal includes $53 million for fiscal year 2016 – a $50 million increase from this year’s budget – to significantly expand the Native Youth Community Projects program.

For more on the Administration’s investment in Native American issues, visit www.whitehouse.gov/nativeamericans.

Among the projects:

Alaska Cook Inlet Tribal Council Inc., $600,000 – The Cook Inlet Tribal Council, in partnership with the Anchorage School District, will administer Journey Ahead, a middle-school intervention designed to improve the college and career readiness of Alaska Native and American Indian students in Anchorage. The project will stress outcomes key to developing college and career readiness, including academic achievement, attendance, and a respectful school climate with caring adults.

North Dakota (Wahpeton) Circle of Nations School, $440,217 – The Circle of Nations School Native Youth Community Project will improve education indicators for college and career readiness through a community-wide approach providing academic, social, health, and other supports promoting school engagement and commitment to learning, which the project partners identified as the primary barrier among students at the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education-funded boarding school that serves students in grades 4-8.

New Mexico Native American Community Academy Foundation, $472,806 – The Native American Community Academy Foundation (NACA) will expand its network of high-performing schools dedicated solely to Indigenous education in Northwest New Mexico. Following a 3-year piloting phase, the NACA-Inspired Schools Network emerged out of community efforts to establish the first network of high-performing schools that seek to reimagine what Indigenous education and the school experience can be for Native students by creating schools of academic excellence and cultural relevance Following are all of the grant recipients and levels of funding.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Interior announced today a proposal to create an administrative procedure and criteria that the Secretary of the Interior would apply if the Native Hawaiian community forms a unified government that then seeks a formal government-to-government relationship with the United States. Under the new proposal, the Native Hawaiian community — not the Federal government — would decide whether to reorganize a Native Hawaiian government, what form that government would take, and whether it would seek a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

“The United States has a long-standing policy of supporting self-governance for Native peoples, yet the benefits of the government-to-government relationship have long been denied to Native Hawaiians, one of our nation’s largest indigenous communities,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. “Today’s proposal is testament to the Obama Administration’s strong support for our nation’s Native peoples’ right to self-determination.”

The proposal, which takes the form of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), builds on more than 150 Federal statutes that Congress has enacted over the last century to recognize and implement the special political and trust relationship between the United States and the Native Hawaiian community. The NPRM comes on the heels of a robust and transparent public comment period as part of an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) process that began last year and included public meetings. More than 5,000 members of the public submitted written responses to the ANPRM, and they overwhelmingly favored creating a pathway for reestablishing a formal government-to-government relationship.

“We’ve listened to the feedback we received during the public meetings and in writing and worked to improve the proposal to reflect those comments,” added Jewell. “We appreciate the many voices on this topic and look forward to hearing from the public on this proposal.”

If a government-to-government relationship is reestablished, it can provide the community with greater flexibility to preserve its distinct culture and traditions and special status under Federal law that enables the community to exercise powers of self-government over many issues directly impacting community members.

The Native Hawaiian community has not had a formal government since the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1893. In 1993, Congress enacted the Apology Resolution, which offered an apology to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the United States for its role in the overthrow and committed the Federal government to a process of reconciliation. As part of that reconciliation process, in 2000 the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice jointly issued a report identifying as its lead recommendation the need to foster self-determination for Native Hawaiians under Federal law.

Today’s proposal is available for review at www.doi.gov/ohr, and public comments on it will be accepted for the next 90 days. Members of the public are encouraged to read the proposal and provide comments in writing by email to part50@doi.gov, on www.regulations.gov (docket no. DOI-2015-0005), or by U.S. mail/hand delivery to the Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior, Room 7228, 1849 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20240. The public is also encouraged to participate in teleconferences on the proposed rule, a schedule of which is available here.

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior today announced that an additional $10 million has been transferred to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund (the Fund), bringing the total amount contributed so far to nearly $30 million. Funded in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), and authorized by the Cobell Settlement, the Fund is designed to be a permanent endowment which provides financial assistance through scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary and graduate education and training.

“I am thrilled that the first Cobell scholarships have been awarded. Graduating from college and law school was life changing for me, and wouldn't have been possible without financial support,” said Interior Solicitor Hilary Tompkins, a member of the Navajo Nation, who negotiated the Cobell settlement for the Interior Department. “The Cobell scholarship program is key to advancing self-determination by opening doors to the next generation of leaders in Indian Country.”

The Fund, administered by the American Indian Graduate Center (AIGC), will disburse approximately $2 million in funds in its first round of awards over the next several months. Scholarship recipients represent more than 80 tribal nations who will be attending more than 175 different academic institutions. The Cobell Board of Trustees is responsible for the oversight and supervision of the activities of the fund’s administering organization.

The Buy-Back Program was created to implement the land consolidation component of the Cobell settlement, which provided $1.9 billion to purchase fractionated interests in trust or restricted land from willing landowners. Consolidated interests are transferred to tribal government ownership for uses benefiting the reservation community and tribal members.

Interior makes quarterly transfers to the scholarship fund – up to a total of $60 million – as a result of Land Buy-Back Program sales. The amount contributed is based on a formula required under the terms of the Cobell settlement that sets aside funding contributions based on the value of the fractionated interests sold.

“AIGC has been working diligently over the last few months to receive, process and distribute the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund,” said Joan Currier, Interim Executive Director of the AIGC. “We received more than 2,500 applications from talented students, and we were able to award $2 million in scholarships to more than 340 undergraduate and graduate students for 2015/2016. This truly is an exciting opportunity for Indian students. We are working with the Cobell Board of Trustees and are reviewing the application and selection process as we look towards the next academic year. We encourage all students to reapply for 2016/2017, starting in January 2016, at AIGCS.org.”

“We are delighted with the significant transfer to the Cobell Scholarship Fund. The latest distribution aids our mission of carrying out the vision of Elouise Cobell to enhance educational opportunities for American Indians and Alaskan Native students,” said Alex Pearl, Chairman of the Cobell Board of Trustees. “With the beginning of the new school year and the initial distribution of funds to recipients, we are aware now more than ever of the quality, capabilities, and talents of our tribal youth. Indian Country is not immune from the national concern about rising student debt and access to education. Our Board understands the financial aid needs in Indian Country are enormous. We are committed to creating a uniquely tuned scholarship program attentive to the needs and issues of Native students. The Cobell Board is grateful for the leadership demonstrated by Solicitor Hilary Tompkins and looks forward to continue working with her and the Department of the Interior in this unique shared effort to minimize the barriers faced by Native students in accomplishing their educational goals.”

Providing Native youth with increased access to higher education opportunities supports the Obama Administration’s Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative to remove barriers to Native youth’s success.

Since 2013, the Buy-Back Program has paid nearly $685 million to individual landowners and restored the equivalent of more than 1.4 million acres of land to tribal governments.

Landowners can contact the Trust Beneficiary Call Center at 888-678-6836 or visit their local Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) to update their contact information, ask questions about their land or purchase offers, and learn about financial planning resources.

More information and detailed frequently asked questions are available at http://www.doi.gov/buybackprogram to help individuals make informed decisions about their land.