OPA

WASHINGTON – The Joint Tribal Leaders/DOI Task Force on Trust Reform will hold its next meeting on July 22-24, 2002 in Portland, Ore. The task force was established in February of 2002 to review and propose plans for improving the Department’s management of individual Indian and tribal trust assets.

On June 5, 2002, task force members presented a progress report to Secretary Gale Norton on their efforts to review and evaluate proposals for improving the Department’s management of Indian trust funds and assets. The report, which identifies five options for trust management improvement by the Department along with comments and recommendations, was sent to tribal leaders throughout Indian Country for review and comment as part of the Department’s on-going tribal consultation process on trust reform.

At this meeting, the national task force will consider the results from regional tribal consultation meetings held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) during the past two months.

WHO: Joint Tribal Leaders/DOI Task Force on Trust Reform

WHAT: Meeting to review and propose plans for improving the Department’s management of individual Indian and tribal trust assets.

WHEN: July 22-24, 2002 10:00 a.m. (Local time)

WHERE: Embassy Suites Hotel-Airport, 7900 N.E. 82nd Avenue, Portland, Ore.

WASHINGTON - Interior Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs extended his gratitude to Special Trustee for American Indians Tom Slonaker, who resigned from his position earlier today. McCaleb thanked Slonaker for his record of public service:

"Tom Slonaker has been a good friend of mine and an effective ally for the people we serve across Indian Country. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

McCaleb also extended his congratulations to Donna Erwin, who was named Acting Special Trustee by Interior Secretary Gale Norton today:

"Donna Erwin is committed to our goal of effective trust management and she has a wealth of experience in the public and private sector that will serve her well in this position. She is also a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is where the lion's share of the Department of Interior's trust activity and the personnel conducting that work are located,"

Washington - The Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs will conduct a series of regional consultation meetings from August 9th to September 9,2002, to obtain comments, opinions, and ideas that will lead to the establishment of a Negotiated Rulemaking Committee to develop recommendations for proposed regulations under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

The purpose of the regional consultation meetings is to allow tribal officials, parents, teachers, administrators, and educators at Bureau-funded schools and school board members of tribes served by Bureau-funded schools to provide written or oral comments to the Secretary of the Interior on the content of regulations to be issued under Public Law 107-110.

The dates and the cities where the consultation meetings will be held are:

August 9, 2002 Tuba City, AZ August 21, 2002 Ft. Snelling, MN
August 12, 2002 Shiprock, NM August 23, 2002 Pierre, SD
August 13, 2002 Many Farms, AZ August 26, 2002 Choctaw, MS
August 14, 2002 Window Rock, AZ August 28, 2002 Mesa, AZ
August 15, 2002 Ft. Wingate, NM August 30,2002 Portland, OR
August 16, 2002 Albuquerque, NM September 5, 2002 Oklahoma City, OK
August 19, 2002 Bismarck, ND September 9, 2002 Washington, DC

Six sections of the Act that provide for negotiated rulemaking regarding Bureau-funded schools are:

(1) under Section 1124 - establish separate geographic attendance areas for each Bureau-funded school;

(2) under Section 1127 - establish a formula for determining the minimum annual amount of funds necessary to fund each Bureau-funded school;

(3) under Section 1130 - establish a system for the direct funding and support of all Bureau funded schools under the formula established under Section 1127;

(4) under Section 1136 - establish guidelines to ensure the constitutional and civil rights of Indian students regarding their right to privacy, freedom of religion and expression, and due process in connection with disciplinary action;

(5) under Section 1043 - establish a method for the administration of grants under the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988, as amended by Section 1043; and

(6) under Section 1116 (g) - determine Adequate Yearly Progress which is the essential measurement for determining that schools are providing quality education.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs operates 63 elementary and secondary schools and one peripheral dormitory. It provides funding to 108 elementary and secondary schools and, 13 peripheral dormitories that are operated by Indian tribes and tribal organizations under contract/grant through the BIA.

For more information on the consultation meetings, contact: Dalton Henry, Office of Indian Education Programs (202) 208-5820 or write OIEP, Bureau of Indian Affairs, MS-3512-MIB, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240.

WASHINGTON – Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb will address the pressing need for economic and employment growth throughout Indian Country at the National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies, which will be held September 16-19, 2002 in Phoenix, Ariz., at the Phoenix Civic Plaza. Norton and McCaleb are scheduled to speak on September 17.

“Tribes are an important part of America’s economy,” said Secretary Norton. “The National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies will be an opportunity for tribes, government and business to discuss how to develop, strengthen and sustain tribal economies while promoting job growth.”

The Summit, which is being sponsored by Tribes, Corporate America and Federal agencies, has the goals of creating 100,000 jobs in Indian Country by 2008 and establishing sustainable, market-driven tribal economies by 2020. The Summit also will showcase 120 successful Indian businesses. Summit objectives include creating a catalogue of tribal products and services as well as initiating alliances for creating business opportunities and living wage jobs in Indian Country.

“It is vital that tribes achieve lasting and self-sustaining reservation economies,” said Assistant Secretary McCaleb. “The National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies is about helping tribal leaders meet their economic and job development needs by bringing them together with business leaders and federal resources.”

Participants will be able to choose from a wide range of industry tracks in business areas such as fossil and renewable energy, manufacturing, agriculture, utilities and telecommunications, hospitality and tourism, aerospace, health care, construction, media and finance. Presentations will focus on the nuts and bolts of creating and sustaining economic systems in a tribal environment.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Tribal Budget Advisory Council, a committee comprised of representatives from Federally recognized tribes across the country, has been working with tribes, tribal organizations, Federal agencies and corporations to hold the summit as part of its efforts to remove barriers to progress and coordinate federal program resources.

In addition to Interior, Federal sponsors include the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) and Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), Department of Energy (DOE), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Bureau of the Census, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Education, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Community Development Investment Funds (CDIF).

For conference registration and other information visit www.doi.gov/special or www.lakotamall.com/nationalsummit.

WASHINGTON - The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb has announced that the Department of the Interior published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Indian Reservation Roads Program in the Federal Register on August 7, 2002. The proposed rule is the product of negotiated rulemaking between tribal representatives and Federal representatives from the Department of the Interior and the Department of Transportation under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century.

"Transportation is very important to public safety and to building reservation economies," said Assistant Secretary McCaleb. "This program will provide the necessary resources to rebuild and maintain transportation systems in order to improve public safety and attract potential businesses to the reservations."

The proposed rule would establish policies and procedures governing the Indian Reservation Roads (IRR) Program and a proposal for allocating the $275,000,000 in FY'03 funds. The program will expand transportation activities available to tribes and tribal organizations as well as provide guidance for planning, designing, constructing and maintaining transportation facilities.

The BIA Indian Reservation Roads Program provides funding for eligible transportation projects that provide access to or within Indian reservations, Indian lands, Indian communities and Alaska Native villages. The program consists of 55,944 miles of roads and 4,185 bridges, of which 24% of the bridges are deficient.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is holding a series of public education and information meetings on the proposed rule in the following list of cities:

Rapid City, SD August 20, 2002 Billings, MT August 22, 2002

Las Vegas, NV August 27, 2002 Sacramento, CA August 29, 2002

Gallup, NM September 4, 2002 Santa Fe, NM September 6, 2002

Anchorage, AK September 10, 2002 Portland, OR September 12, 2002

Tulsa, OK September 17, 2002 Oklahoma City, OK September 19, 2002

Minneapolis, MN September 25, 2002 Nashville, TN September 27, 2002

The schedule of meetings is published in the Federal Register. The comment period for the proposed rule ends October 6, 2002. Written comments may be mailed or hand delivered to: U.S. Department of Transportation, Dockets Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001 or submitted electronically at http://dms.dot.gov/submit. Docket Number FHWA -2002-12229 must be included at the top of all comments.

Washington -The Bureau of Indian Affairs Indian Reservation Roads Program is holding a series of meetings around the country to educate the public on the proposed rules that are the product of negotiated rulemaking between tribal representatives and Federal representatives from the Department of the Interior and the Department of Transportation under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century. The meetings on the proposed rules are being held in the following list of cities:

The BIA Indian Reservation Roads Program provides funding for eligible transportation projects that provide access to or within Indian reservations, Indian lands, Indian communities and Alaska Native villages. The program consists of 55,944 miles of roads and 4,185 bridges, of which 24% of the bridges are deficient.

The schedule of meetings is published in the Federal Register. The comment period for the proposed rule ends October 6, 2002. Written comments may be mailed or hand delivered to: U.S. Department of Transportation, Dockets Management Facility, Room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590-0001 or submitted electronically at http://dms.dot.gov/submit. Docket Number FHWA -2002-12229 must be included at the top of all comments.

Washington - The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb commended Walker River Paiute Reservation Chief of Police Ray East for his courageous act of rescuing the 10-year old California girl abducted from her home in Riverside, CA on Tuesday morning.

"It's great that the incident ended with the little girl safely being returned to her family," said the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs. "I commend Chief of Police East for his heroic effort and I believe his actions speak to the caliber of tribal police officers we have working remote reservations nationwide."

A 10-year veteran of the Walker River Reservation police force, Mr. East stopped the vehicle driven by the 68 year-old perpetrator 10 minutes after receiving notification from Nevada Highway Patrol that the blue pickup truck had been spotted in his area.

A father of five, East said the arrest was the pinnacle of his law enforcement career. "As a father, I'd be terrified if one of them were taken. All too often, bad things happen. This is a breath of fresh air." Overseeing the eight-person tribal police department that patrol residential and rural areas of the 1,200 square mile reservation located 100 miles south of Reno, Nevada. Chief of Police East never realized he would play such a role in this type of crime. "You go to work every day and not think that you can have such an impact on someone's life," he said. "It's a really good feeling to know that we did our job."

The Walker River Paiute Tribe operates their tribal police department under Public Law 93-638 and receives funding and training from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Law Enforcement Services. The BIA-OLES operates a central office and six districts that provides public safety, investigative and detention services for fifty-four of the two hundred American Indian law enforcement programs, many tribes operate their law enforcement department under Public Law 93-638 and original tribal agreements.

WASHINGTON – The Joint Tribal Leaders/DOI Task Force on Trust Reform will hold its next meeting on August 26-28, 2002 at the Hilton Anchorage Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska. At this meeting task force members will continue to look at reforming current trust management systems and processes to better serve American Indian and Alaska Native tribal and individual trust account beneficiaries.

The national task force was established in February of 2002 to review and propose plans for improving the Department’s management of individual Indian and tribal trust assets. On June 5, 2002, task force members presented a progress report to Secretary Gale Norton on their efforts to review and evaluate proposals for improving the Department’s management of Indian trust funds and assets. The report identified five options for trust management improvement by the Department along with comments and recommendations. The Department sent copies of the report to tribal leaders for review and comments as part of its on-going tribal consultation process on trust reform.

WHO: Joint Tribal Leaders/DOI Task Force on Trust Reform

WHAT: Meeting to review and propose plans for improving the Department’s management of individual Indian and tribal trust assets.

WHEN: August 26-28, 2002 8:30 a.m. (Local time)

WHERE: Hilton Anchorage Hotel, 500 West 3rd Ave., Anchorage, Alaska. Ph: 907-272-7411.

WASHINGTON - The National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies, which is scheduled for September 16-19,2002, in Phoenix, Ariz., supports President Bush's goal for creating economic security for all Americans. "The President will not be satisfied until every American who wants a job can find a job, and all Americans have economic security," said Ruben Barrales, the president's deputy assistant and director of Intergovernmental Affairs, in a letter to tribal leaders on August 15, 2002.

The National Summit, hosted by Interior Secretary Gale Norton, will seek ways to create 100,000 jobs in Indian Country by 2008 and establish sustainable, market-driven tribal economies by 2020. "The President's economic agenda invests in people by creating jobs, expanding opportunities to save and invest, and providing a good education," Barrales said. Chairing the conference's steering committee is Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb.

Presentations will focus on the nuts and bolts of creating and sustaining economic systems in a tribal environment. Participants will be able to choose from a wide range of industry tracks in business areas such as fossil and renewable energy, manufacturing, agriculture, utilities and telecommunications, hospitality and tourism, aerospace, health care, construction, media and finance. In addition, the event will showcase a myriad of successful Indian businesses. Projected outcomes from the summit include the creation of a catalogue of tribal products and services and initiating alliances for creating business opportunities and living wage jobs in Indian Country.

Federal agencies partnering with Interior to support the summit are the Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration, Minority Business Development Agency and Bureau of the Census; the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Transportation and Treasury; the Federal Communications Commission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Small Business Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Community Development Investment Fund and the Federal Reserve.

For conference registration and other information visit www.doi.gov/special or www.lakotamal1.com/nationalsummit.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb today announced he has issued a Notice of Final Determination whereby he declined to acknowledge that the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe (petitioner #111, formerly known as Ohlone/Costanoan Muwekma Tribe) located in San Jose, Calif., exists as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. The decision is based on a determination that the petitioner does not satisfy three of seven mandatory criteria set forth under 25 CFR Part 83, specifically 83.7(a), 83.7(b) and 83.7(c). The petitioner was evaluated under Section 83.8 because it was determined to have had unambiguous previous Federal acknowledgement until 1927.

Criterion 83.7(a) requires the petitioner to have been identified on a substantially continuous basis as an American Indian entity since 1900. Section 83.8(d)(1) requires the petitioner to have been identified on a “substantially continuous” basis since last Federal acknowledgment. Based on the available evidence, the Assistant Secretary determined that the petitioner had not been identified as an Indian entity on a “substantially continuous” basis since 1927.

Criterion 83.7(b) requires the petitioner to have maintained a continuous community from historical times until the present. Section 83.8(d)(2) requires the petitioner to demonstrate that it comprises a distinct community “at present,” but need not demonstrate its existence as a community historically. The Assistant Secretary determined that the petitioner did not submit documents or oral histories sufficient to demonstrate that it meets the requirement “at present.”

Criterion 83.7(c) requires the petitioner to have maintained political authority or influence on a substantially continuous basis from historical times until the present. The Assistant Secretary determined that the petitioner did not meet the requirements of Section 83.8(d)(3) and that it did not demonstrate that it has maintained “political influence or authority” over its members since 1927, and thus does not meet the requirements of criterion 83.7(c).

A Notice of Proposed Finding to decline to acknowledge the petitioner was published in the Federal Register on August 3, 2001. An order of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dated January 16, 2001 set the close of the period for comment on the proposed finding as October 29, 2001. Following two extensions granted by the Court in response to the petitioner’s motions, the end date for the comment period was set as January 27, 2002 and the end of the period for the petitioner to respond to third-party comments as March 28, 2002. The petitioner submitted comments on the proposed finding, but did not submit a response to the public comments. The Court granted the Department’s request for a 30-day extension to the August 8, 2002 due date for the issuance of a final determination to September 9, 2002. The final determination was made following a review of the petitioner’s comments and the public comments on the proposed finding, and was based on all of the evidence in the record.

Having completed his review, the Assistant Secretary will publish the Notice of Final Determination on the petitioner in the Federal Register. This determination is final and will become effective 90 days from the notice’s publication date unless a request for reconsideration is filed with the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA) pursuant to 25 CFR 83.11.