OPA

The Bureau of Indian Affairs will celebrate its 175th Anniversary tomorrow, Friday, September 8, 2000, at 10:00 a.m. (EDT) at the U.S. Department of the Interior headquarters, 1849 ‘C’ Street, N.W., Washington, D.C., in the Sydney R. Yates Auditorium with the theme “Reconciling the Past, Trusting the Future: A Renewed Commitment to Indian Tribes for the 21st Century.” The program will include a discussion on the BIA’s past, present, and future.

Ojibwe artist Sam English will be on hand to autograph commemorative posters featuring artwork he created specifically for the 175th Anniversary. At 1:30 p.m. the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs’ corridor in the Department’s main building will be dedicated as the “Hall of Tribal Nations” where tribal flags will be put on permanent display.

Note to Editors: The morning portion of the program will be broadcasted at the following coordinates:

Date: Friday, September 8, 2000

Uplink Times: 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (EDT)

Satellite: Galaxy 4 (C Band) Transponder: 22 (99 degrees west)

Downlink Frequency: 4140 Vertical

Audio Frequencies: 6.2 – 6.9

Program agenda and significant participants:

10:00 a.m.: Welcome - Sharon Blackwell, Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of Indian Affairs

-- Panel Discussion: Past, Present, and Future of the BIA

1:30 p.m: “Hall of Tribal Nations” dedication ceremony (4100 Corridor, main Interior building)

Credentials: Please bring your sanctioned media credentials and if possible, wear on your shirt collar or around your neck for easy viewing. This will assist our staff. Media are advised to be in place by 9:30 a.m. on September 8. Press seating will be provided. The program will not begin until 10:00 a.m.

The program is open to the public and can be easily accessed via the department’s ‘C’ Street (South) entrance.

In a powerful and moving speech at a ceremony commemorating the Bureau of Indian Affairs' l75th anniversary, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Gover today apologized for the ethnic cleansing and cultural annihilation the BIA had wrought against American Indian and Alaska Native people in years past. Speaking before an estimated audience of 300 people, most of whom were BIA employees, he observed that the event was not an occasion for celebration, but a time for reflection and contrition.

"We desperately wish that we could change this history," Gover said, "but of course we cannot. On behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, I extend this formal apology to Indian people for the historical conduct of this agency."

Gover pointed out that the agency's lengthy cultural assault on American Indians and Alaska Natives for most of its history, particularly on the children sent to BIA boarding schools and their parents, has yielded a trauma of shame, fear, and anger that has passed from generation to generation fueling the alcohol and drug abuse and domestic violence that continues to plague Indian country. "These wrongs," he said, "must be acknowledged if the healing is to begin."

Gover noted a healing process is crucial to letting go of the past and laying the groundwork for the future. "The Bureau of Indian Affairs was born in 1824 in a time of war on Indian people," he said. "May it live in the year 2000 and beyond as an instrument of their prosperity."

Gover also presided at a ceremony dedicating the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs' corridor in the Department's headquarters as the "Hall of Tribal Nations" where tribal flags from across the country will be on permanent display.

Note to Editors: The full text of Assistant Secretary Gover's speech is on the BIA's web site

The Department of the Interior provided its determination to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the bones of the 9,000 year-old human skeletal remains known as Kennewick Man be given to the five Indian tribes that have collectively claimed him as their ancient ancestor. The decision was announced in a letter from Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt to Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera and represents the culmination of a thorough process of scientific examinations and investigations. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently is responsible for the skeletal remains, which are now located at the Burke Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Seattle. Under an agreement with the Corps, the Interior Department agreed to determine the proper disposition of the remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA).

"This is a unique case on so many levels," Babbitt said. "The bones are of great antiquity and were found in the shallows of the Columbia River without an archaeological context. The Department completed a careful, detailed series of scientific investigations involving world-class experts to learn as much as possible. All that information is now available to anyone, and is posted on the Internet. After evaluating this complex situation, I believe that it is reasonable to determine that the Kennewick Man remains should be transferred to the Tribes that have jointly claimed him -Tribes that have inhabited, hunted and fished this area around the confluence of the Columbia and the Snake Rivers for millennia."

Secretary Babbitt based his determination on two grounds. First, he concluded that the remains were culturally affiliated with the five Tribes making a joint claim. " Although ambiguities in the data made this a close call, I was persuaded by the geographic data and oral histories of the five tribes that collectively assert they are the descendants of people who have been in the region of the Upper Columbia Plateau for a very long time," Babbitt explained.

Second, Secretary Babbitt concluded that the land adjacent to the river shallows where the more than 380 pieces of bone were found scattered had been determined by the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) to be the aboriginal land of a number of the five tribes that are currently claiming the skeletal remains. The land is currently federal land managed by county government as Columbia Park in Kennewick, Washington.

University of California at Davis and the University of Michigan. None of the laboratories was able to extract DNA for analysis due to the antiquity and mineralization of the more than 9,000 year-old bone. "Clearly, when dealing with human remains of this antiquity, concrete evidence is often scanty , and the analysis of the data can yield ambiguous, inconclusive or even contradictory results," Babbitt said "We worked hard to gather and analyze all information and evidence that might possibly be relevant and these investigations and documentation were essential to my determination.. If the remains had been 3,000 years old, there would be little debate over whether Kennewick Man was the ancestor of the Upper Plateau Tribes. The line back to 9,000 years, with relatively little evidence in between, made the cultural affiliation determination difficult."

The Secretary's determination would preclude further study of the remains by the public. His letter and other accompanying documents, scientific expert reports, and radiocarbon and DNA analysis reports are available on the Department of the Interior's web site, with a web link off the Interior home page or at htm://www.cr.nps.gov/aad/kennewick/

The Bureau of Indian Affairs will hold a historic signing ceremony to formalize consultation procedures for the agency, as to agency actions effecting the 558 federally recognized tribes. The procedures establish guidelines to be used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs when consulting with the tribes on policy, regulatory statutes and executive orders. The ceremony is being held on December 13, 2000 at the Daybreak Star Center, Discovery Park in Seattle, Washington.

Although the Government-to-Government relationship is not new, a formal policy on consultation will assist each party in eliminating misunderstandings and misgivings. It is vital to the government-to-government relationship that all contacts and consultation with Indian tribal leaders be conducted in a professional and respectful manner and in accordance with the guidelines.

What: Government-to-Government Consultation Policy Signing Ceremony

Where: Daybreak Star Center, Discovery Park, Seattle, Washington

When: December 13, 2000 Time: 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

A traditional Salmon Luncheon will be held at Noon

The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Public Information. 202-208-3710

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has received $2.1 billion in funding for FY2001, a 15% increase over FY2000, the largest increase in several years. The BIA administers programs for and provides services to federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and individuals. BIA programs receiving significant increases include new school construction, trust fund management and law enforcement.

Assistant Secretary Kevin Gover expressed his appreciation to the President, Congress, tribes and Indian organizations for supporting BIA programs critical to Indian and Alaska Native people. "The BIA is now in a position to begin addressing long-standing problems of concern to Indian people, thanks to the support of President Clinton, Secretary Babbitt, Congress, and tribes and Indian organizations across the country. I also want to acknowledge the hard-working BIA employees who do their jobs despite limited budgets with grace and dedication."

The BIA School Construction program got its largest funding increase ever to $293 million, up 120% from the FY2000 level of $133.3 million. Most of the BIA's 185 schools, which serve over 50,000 Indian elementary and secondary students, need major repairs and new construction, at an estimated cost of over $2.4 billion dollars. "With this funding we can start to address the concerns of parents, teachers and tribal leaders over the condition of BIA-funded schools, and the welfare of their students," said Gover. "However, funding must remain significant if we are to meet the trust responsibility for education and complete the task of rebuilding our schools. Indian children deserve no less than healthy and safe learning environments."

Schools slated for replacement include Tuba City Boarding School and Second Mesa Day Schools in Arizona: Zia Day School, Baca Consolidated Community School and Wingate Elementary School in New Mexico; and Lummi Day School in Washington State. In addition, funding was increased from $67.8 million in FY2000 to $148.3 million in FY2001 to address a major backlog in BIA school maintenance and repair projects. Furthermore, the nation's 31 tribal colleges will receive $38.2 million in FY 2001, an 8% increase over their FY2000 enacted level of $35.3 million.

The BIA also received $104.5 million for trust management, a 44% increase over its FY2000 enacted level of $72.5 million. "These funds will allow the work on fixing the trust fund management system to continue," Gover said.

The BIA's law enforcement program was funded at $152.9 million, an 8% increase over its FY2000 enacted level of $141.1 million. These additional funds will be used to improve law. enforcement and public safety in Indian Country, including strengthening core law enforcement functions such as uniformed police, communications, basic detention services and detention officers. "With funds we will continue to strengthen law enforcement capabilities in tribal communities throughout Indian Country. Our law-abiding citizens and men and women in uniform need to know that we are taking seriously their concerns about public safety. Our message is clear: Crime will not be tolerated in Indian Country," said Gover.

The BIA' s budgets were severely limited during the period that the Administration and Congress sought to balance the federal budget. Having reached that goal, the Congressional Budget Office is now projecting budget surpluses over the next several years. "We are grateful for the increase in the BIA budget for FY2001 and hope for continued support to fulfill the Nation's trust responsibility to American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in the new century," said Gover.

More information on the FY2001 budget can be found on the BIA's website at www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html or by calling the Office of Public Affairs at 202-208- 3710.

On Monday, December 18, 2000, at 11:00 a.m. (EST), Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Gover will formally open the Ely S. Parker Building, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) new facility in Reston, Virginia, with the unveiling of a plaque naming the building for the first American Indian to serve as Commissioner for Indian Affairs. The facility will house the BIA’s Office of Management and Administration and Office of Information Technology, and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Business Center (NBC).

"The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Business Center are pleased to have the opportunity to recognize Commissioner Ely S. Parker, a man of great talent and intellect who strived against bigotry and racism to serve his people and his country," said Assistant Secretary Gover, "I consider it a tremendous honor that the Tonawanda Seneca Nation and the Department of the Interior have supported our efforts to remember Do-Ne-Ho-Geh-Weh, Ely S. Parker - in this way."

Ely Samuel Parker (1828-95), a citizen of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation, was born into the Wolf Clan on the Tonawanda Reservation in New York State. Parker, who was made the sachem for his tribe in 1852 and given the title Do-Ne-Ho-Geh-Weh, or "Keeper of the Western Door of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy)," was a remarkable person for his era. In a time when American Indians could not become U.S. citizens and were rarely seen in the professions, Parker represented his nation in treaty matters before the federal government and earned degrees in law and engineering.

While his lack of American citizenship prevented him from practicing law, Ely Parker’s engineering degree led to a career supervising public works projects in Galena, Illinois, in the late 1850s. It was there that he met and formed a personal friendship with the future general and president, Ulysses S. Grant. When Grant became commander of the Union Army during the Civil War, he chose Ely Parker as his military secretary, and it was Parker who recorded the terms of surrender that ended the war at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865. After his election as president, Grant appointed Ely Parker as Commissioner of Indian Affairs in April 1869, where he served until August 1871.

Assistant Secretary Gover will give welcoming remarks and the keynote address. Guest speakers will be Lisa Guide, Acting Assistant Secretary-Policy, Management and Budget, U.S. Department of the Interior; Sharon Blackwell, Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and Deborah Maddox, Director, Office of Management and Administration, Bureau of Indian Affairs; and Tim Vigotsky, Director, National Business Center.

Special guest speakers will be Norman Hill ("Taa-Wonyas"), Wolf Clan Runner, Tonawanda Seneca Nation, who will give the Nation’s "opening words" in the Seneca language; Evelyn Jonathan ("Einjhonesh"), Wolf Clan Mother, Tonawanda Seneca Nation, who will interpret for Mr. Hill and will give the Nation’s official greeting; and Bernadette Hill ("Go-Seni-Sas"), Heron Clan Mother, Cayuga Nation.

WHO: Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Business Center, USDOI

WHAT: Grand opening ceremony for the BIA-NBC Ely S. Parker Building.

WHEN: Monday, December 18, 2000, at 11:00 a.m. (EST).

WHERE: 2051 Mercator Drive, Reston, VA (Directions from the Main Interior Building are attached).

Credentials: Please bring your sanctioned media credentials and, if possible, wear on your shirt collar or around your neck for easy viewing. Media are advised to be in place by 10:30 a.m. on December 18. Press seating will be provided.

Tours of the facility will be offered after the ceremony.

Also on Monday, the Department of the Interior Museum will be showing the video "Warrior in Two Worlds," the life of Ely S. Parker, produced by WXXI Public Broadcasting Council in collaboration with the Rochester Museum & Science Center. Viewing times for the 56-minute film are 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. in the Interior Department Museum, which can be reached via the Department’s south entrance at 1849 C Street, N.W. in Washington, D.C. For more information, call Anne James, Assistant Curator, at 202-208-4659.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb today announced his approval of the reconsidered final determination in favor of Federal acknowledgment for the Cowlitz Indian Tribe of Washington. The reconsidered final determination, which McCaleb signed on December 31, 2001, affirms the final determination signed by his predecessor, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin Gover, on February 14, 2000 acknowledging that the Cowlitz Indian Tribe exists as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law.

The 1,482-member tribe, which is located in southwestern Washington State, submitted a request for Federal acknowledgment to the Bureau of Indian Affairs on September 17, 1975. After the Federal Acknowledgment Project (now the Branch of Acknowledgment and Research, or BAR) was established in 1978, the tribe’s petition was transferred to the new office for evaluation under 25 CFR Part 83, the Federal acknowledgment regulations.

The Quinault Indian Nation, a Federally recognized tribe located in western Washington, filed a request for reconsideration of the February 14 final determination with the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA). In an opinion issued on May 29, 2001, the IBIA affirmed the final determination while at the same time referring three issues to Interior Secretary Gale Norton as outside of its jurisdiction. After receiving comments from the BAR, the Quinault Indian Nation and the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Secretary Norton on September 4, 2001 referred one issue and part of a second issue to Assistant Secretary McCaleb as grounds for reconsideration of the final determination.

The first issue dealt with whether two misstatements contained in the final determination technical report concerning Cowlitz “metis’” or “mixed-bloods” with French Canadian heritage appearing on 1878 and 1880 Indian censuses had an effect on the BIA’s analysis and, ultimately, on the Assistant Secretary’s decision. Assistant Secretary McCaleb found that the misstatements did not impact the result of the final determination.

The second issue considered by Assistant Secretary McCaleb concerned whether the BIA misapplied the burden of proof under 25 CFR 83.6(d). The Secretary had limited her referral of this issue to “the portion that pertains to the application of the burden of proof in the context of unambiguous previous federal recognition.” The Assistant Secretary determined the Cowlitz Indian Tribe demonstrated by substantial evidence that the Lower Cowlitz tribe and the Upper Cowlitz tribe had been recognized separately at different times during the 1800s, and that the government had amalgamated these two bands by 1880. He also determined that there was a reasonable likelihood that the Cowlitz Indian Tribe had evolved from these previously acknowledged tribes.

The Cowlitz Indian Tribe is an amalgamated tribe descended from two historically amalgamated bands of Cowlitz: the Salish-speaking Lower Cowlitz Indians and the Sahaptin-speaking Upper Cowlitz, or Taidnapam, Indians. Cowlitz Indian Tribe villages ranged a distance of 60 miles from the source to the mouth of the Cowlitz River with an important center at the well-known landmark of the Cowlitz Indian Mission.

In 1855, Cowlitz representatives took part in the Chehalis River Treaty negotiations with Governor Isaac Ingalls Stephens, but refused to sign the proposed treaty because the Cowlitz Indians did not consent to be transferred away from their traditional territory to a Federally established reservation. In subsequent years, agents of the Office of Indian Affairs, the forerunner of the BIA, recorded the tribe’s members on census and other records, but the tribe continued to refuse placement on a reservation. Between 1855 and 1900, the tribe had several well-known leaders.

In 1904, the surviving traditional chiefs and younger members of the tribe began the process of filing a claim against the Federal government for compensation for the taking of the tribe’s land. The claim was resolved in 1973 by an Indian Claims Commission judgment award, which has not yet been disbursed pending determination of the tribe’s acknowledgment status.

In 1910, the tribe reorganized itself along modern lines with elected officers and a board of directors. This structure was formalized in 1912. For many years thereafter the chairman was chosen alternately from descendents of the Lower Cowlitz and the Upper Cowlitz. Known as the Cowlitz Indian Tribe since 1973, the tribe was previously called the Cowlitz Tribal Organization and the Cowlitz Tribe of Indians.

The reconsidered final determination supplements the original final determination and supersedes it to the extent the original is inconsistent with the reconsidered final determination. In conjunction with the original final determination, the reconsidered final determination is an amended final determination for the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and is effective upon publication of the notice of the reconsidered determination in the Federal Register.

The Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs has responsibility for fulfilling the Department’s trust responsibilities and promoting self-determination on behalf of tribal governments, American Indians and Alaska Natives. The Assistant Secretary is also responsible for providing services to approximately 1.4 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who are members of the now 559 Federally recognized tribes.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb and Deputy Assistant Secretary Wayne Smith will meet with tribal leaders on Thursday, January 10, 2002 in Rapid City, S.D., at the fourth in a series of consultation meetings on the Department’s plan to improve the management of Indian trust assets. The meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza (505 N. 5th St.) starting at 9:00 a.m. (MST).

On November 15, 2001, the Department announced plans to transfer and consolidate Indian trust asset management functions currently administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other Interior agencies within a new Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management. The Department also announced the establishment of an Assistant Secretary for Indian Trust Assets Management to oversee BITAM and a new Office of Indian Trust Transition to implement the transfer and consolidation plans.

Consultation meetings have already taken place in Albuquerque, Minneapolis and Oklahoma City. Additional meetings will be held in San Diego, Calif., on January 17; Anchorage, Alaska, on January 23 and in Washington, D.C (Arlington, Va.) on February 1. A notice with meeting dates and locations was published in the December 11 Federal Register.

WHO: Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb and Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Wayne Smith.

WHEN: 9:00 a.m. (MST), Thursday, January 10, 2002.

WHAT: Interior Department tribal consultation meeting on improving the management of Indian trust assets.

WHERE: Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza, 505 N. 5th St., Rapid City, S.D.