OPA

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Director Michael S. Black today announced that the Office of Indian Services (BIA-OIS) Division of Human Services was recognized by Computerworld for the Division’s case management automation initiative. The Laureate award bestowed on the Division recognizes visionary application of information technology promoting positive social, economic, and educational change. The presentation took place at the Annual Laureates Medal Ceremony & Gala Awards on Monday, June 20, 2011

“The Bureau’s obligations to Indian Country require constant adaptation to new technologies so that we provide the best possible services,” Black said. “I am pleased that the Office of Indian Services Division of Human Services now has the Financial Assistance and Social Services— Case Management System (FASS-CMS)—it will allow for the needs of many to be met with a more efficient mechanism in place and the award from Computerworld acknowledges the hard work that was undertaken to produce this system.”

“We are thrilled to be recognized for this honor,” said BIA-OJS Division of Human Services Chief Sue Settles. “The impact we will make goes far beyond business efficiency. With this new system, our social workers will be able to deliver our programs more effectively in some of the most isolated and economically depressed areas of the United States.”

To modernize and improve its case management capabilities, BIA-OIS Division of Human Services turned to Hitachi Consulting’s full lifecycle case management solution, built using Microsoft Dynamics® CRM and Microsoft SharePoint® technologies. With the help of this software, BIA has automated data management and access, streamlined operations, and integrated with other organizational units to allow case workers to be significantly more efficient and productive in providing social services for those in need.

The FASS-CMS uses technology familiar to most of BIA’s social workers but this is the first time the tools have been integrated to achieve the level of productivity, mobility, and work quality improvements needed to improve the performance of the Division of Human Services and meet its needs. Improved case load management and oversight, improved funding justification and reduced opportunities for fraud are just a few of benefits. The BIA-OIS Division of Human Services utilized the consulting services of Hitachi Consulting Corporation to produce the FASS-CMS.

Founded by International Data Group (IDG) in 1988, The Computerworld Honors Program is governed by the not-for-profit Computerworld Information Technology Awards Foundation. Computerworld Honors is the longest running global program to honor individuals and organizations that use information technology to promote positive social, economic and educational change. Additional information about the program and a Global Archive of past Laureate case studies and oral histories of Leadership Award recipients can be found at the Computerworld Honors website: http://events.computerworld.com/Honors2011.

The Human Services Program supports the Department’s Strategic Goal to Advance Quality Communities for Tribes and Alaska Natives by improving welfare systems for Indian Tribes and Alaska Natives. Human Services consists of direct funding and activities related to social services, welfare assistance, Indian child welfare, and program oversight. The objective of this activity is to improve the quality of life for individual Indians that live on or near Indian reservations and to protect the children, elderly and disabled from abuse and neglect. The activity also provides child abuse and neglect services and protective services to Individual Indian Monies (IIM) supervised account holders who are minors, adults in need of assistance, adults under legal disability, and adults found to be non compos mentis.

The Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for managing the BIA’s day-to-day operations through four offices – Indian Services, Justice Services, Trust Services and Field Operations – which administer or fund tribally based infrastructure, law enforcement, social services, tribal governance, natural and energy resources and trust management programs for 565 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes in 33 states through 12 regional offices and 85 agencies.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced the establishment of a new Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform that will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of Interior’s trust management and provide recommendations on how to improve performance. The announcement kicks off a 30-day period during which Secretary Salazar is seeking nominations and input from the public on individuals to serve on the new commission, as well as comments on the commission’s proposed charter.

“This Commission will play a critical role in our forward-looking, comprehensive evaluation of how Interior manages and administers our trust responsibilities to the First Americans,” Salazar said. “I look forward to working with the Commission as we move forward on President Obama's commitment to reconciliation and empowerment for American Indian nations.”

Today’s announcement fulfills one of the actions Salazar outlined in a 2009 Secretarial Order regarding steps to be taken upon approval by the U.S. District Court of the Cobell settlement. On June 20, 2011, the district court approved the $3.4 billion settlement, paving the way for payments to as many as half-a-million American Indians to resolve their class-action litigation regarding the federal government’s management of individual trust accounts and assets.

“Recent approval of the Cobell settlement by the U.S. District Court signaled the beginning of a new era in the U.S. Government’s relations with American Indian communities,” said Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes. “We must carry out our trust responsibilities in a pro-active and transparent manner, and the establishment of this commission is an important step in the process.”

The Secretarial Commission will examine Interior’s performance on trust management, seek input from affected individuals and tribes, identify opportunities for enhancing accountability, responsiveness, and efficiency, as well as provide recommendations on improvements to the current trust administration system.

Following the 30-day comment and nominations period, and in consultation with trust beneficiaries, Salazar will appoint a Commission Chair and four members. Members will have experience and/or expertise in trust management, financial management, asset management, natural resource management, and Federal agency operations and budgets, as well as experience as account holders and in Indian Country.

As part of the $3.4 billion Cobell settlement, a fund of $1.5 billion will be used to compensate class members for their claims regarding potential mismanagement of their trust funds and assets and historical accounting. The agreement also establishes a $1.9 billion fund for the voluntary buy-back and consolidation of fractionated land interests, which have been proliferating through succeeding generations. The program, to be administered by the Department of the Interior, provides individual American Indians an opportunity to obtain cash payments for small divided land interests and free up the “fractionated” land for the benefit of tribal communities. The settlement also provides for an Indian Education Scholarship Fund of up to $60 million for the benefit of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Next Friday in Billings, Montana, Secretary Salazar and Deputy Secretary Hayes will attend the first of six regional consultation meetings with tribal leaders to begin discussions on the land consolidation component of the settlement. These discussions will provide valuable input in developing and implementing a strategy to benefit tribal communities and help free up trust lands.

Washington, DC— On Monday July 11, 2011 at 10 AM, DC area and Native American youth will visit the White House for a South Lawn Series event highlighting Let’s Move! in Indian Country and celebrating lacrosse and its origins. Students will participate in lacrosse stations on the South Lawn that will demonstrate both the traditional and modern forms of the game. Leadership from the White House, Department of the Interior and the National Museum of the American Indian will join lacrosse stars Danny Glading, Matt Danowski, Brett Bucktooth, and Jenny Collins as well as Haudenosaunee traditional Lacrosse Stick Maker Alf Jaques, Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy Oren Lyons and Iroquois Confederacy Tadodaho Sid Hill. Representatives from Major League Lacrosse, the National Lacrosse League, Iroquois Nationals and Metro Lacrosse will also be in attendance. Media credential information can be received by emailing SouthLawnSeries@who.eop.gov by noon on Friday, July 8th. Media who do not have a White House hard pass must submit their full name, date of birth, Social Security number, country of citizenship, gender, country of birth, and city and state of residence.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced $4.4 million in grants from the Historic Preservation Fund to 117 American Indian tribes to assist with the preservation of important historic and cultural sites and to promote education and interpretation programs.

“As part of our commitment to empowering Indian nations to achieve the future of their choosing, we want to support the agendas of tribes to preserve, interpret, and enrich their heritage,” Secretary Salazar said. “These investments will help not only help protect cultural and historic sites, but also provide tools to spur new economic opportunities in tribal communities.”

The grants are derived from revenues from federal oil leases on the Outer Continental Shelf and are used by the National Park Service to make historic preservation grants to Tribal Historic Preservation Officers.

“Assisting tribal historic preservation efforts is one of several ways that we help American Indians recover and safeguard their cultural heritage,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “We are honored to collaborate with tribes on this important front.”

Tribes use the grants to fund projects such as nominations to the NPS's National Register of Historic Places, preservation education, architectural planning, historic structure reports, community preservation plans, and bricks-and-mortar repair to buildings. HPF grants are also made to State Historic Preservation Offices.

Grants and programs funded by the HPF encourage private and non-federal investment in historic preservation efforts nationwide. Recent HPF achievements can be found in its annual report at http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/hpg/downloads/2010_HPF_Report.pdf. For more information about NPS tribal preservation programs and grants, please visit http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tribal/.

Fiscal Year 2011 Historic Preservation Fund Grants to Indian Tribes

Absentee-Shawnee $31,060
Agua Caliente Band $32,696
Bad River Band - Chippewa $36,931
Bay Mills Indian Community $32,130
Bear River Band $30,100
Big Pine Paiute $30,647
Bishop Paiute Tribe $31,225
Blackfeet $43,921
Blue Lake Rancheria $29,909
Bois Forte Chippewa $37,001
Buena Vista Rancheria $30,128
Caddo $29,975
Catawba $31,310
Cheyenne-Arapaho $33,195
Cheyenne River $46,416
Chippewa Cree $36,855
Choctaw $33,709
Citizen Potawatomi Nation $31,353
Coeur d'Alene $39,592
Colville $43,602
Comanche $30,973
Coos, L. Umpqua & Siuslaw $30,343
Coquille Indian Tribe $59,311
Crow Creek Sioux $70,714
Crow Tribe of Indians $45,517
Dry Creek Rancheria $30,158
Eastern Cherokee $35,492
Elk Valley Rancheria $30,811
Flandreau Santee Sioux $57,615
Fond du Lac Band Chippewa $36,538
Fort Peck Tribes $82,402
Gila River Indian Community $39,454
Grand Portage Band of Chippewa $35,234
Grand Ronde Community $60,259
Ho-Chunk Nation $31,854
Hopland Band of Pomo $31,783
Hualapai $42,395
Jena Band of Choctaw $30,109
Jicarilla Apache $41,990
Karuk Tribe $31,186

Keweenaw Bay $35,451
Lac Courte Oreilles $36,065
Lac du Flambeau $36,384
Lac Vieux Desert Band $30,680
Leech Lake $41,160
Lower Sioux $31,664
Lummi $34,045
Makah $34,426
Mashantucket Pequot $31,620
Menominee $38,311
Mescalero Apache $40,035
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma $30,343
Mille Lacs $36,614
Muscogee Creek Nation $59,431
Narragansett $31,749
Navajo $56,430
Nez Perce $35,058
Nooksack $30,661
Northern Arapaho $44,355
Northern Cheyenne $39,970
Oglala Sioux $45,022
Oneida $32,899
Pala Band $33,280
Passamaquoddy $37,072
Pawnee Nation $31,582
Penobscot $36,074
Pinoleville Pomo Nation $30,252
Pit River Tribe $33,525
Poarch Band of Creeks $30,566
Pokagon Band $31,079
Ponca $30,417
Pueblo of Pojoaque $33,372
Pueblo of Santa Ana $65,503
Pueblo of Tesuque $33,767
Quapaw of Oklahoma $31,455
Red Cliff Chippewa $33,593
Reno Sparks Indian Colony $57,538
Rosebud Sioux $40,167
Salish/Kootenai $43,378
San Carlos Apache $36,289
Santee Sioux $36,813
Seminole Tribe of Florida $33,754 

Seneca $35,446
Sherwood Valley $30,768
Shingle Springs Rancheria $55,012
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate $33,959
Skokomish $32,494
Smith River Rancheria $29,988
Spokane $37,408
Squaxin Island $31,751
St. Regis Mohawk $33,754
Standing Rock Sioux $45,606
Stewart's Point Rancheria $29,987
Stockbridge-Munsee Band $33,726
Susanville Rancheria $31,358
Suquamish Tribe $32,876
Swinomish Tribe $33,220
Table Bluff – Wiyot $30,281
Three Affiliated Tribes $42,460
Timbisha Shoshone $16,533
Tohono O'odham $46,461
Trinidad Rancheria $30,190
Tunica-Biloxi $31,119
Turtle Mountain $36,024
Umatilla $38,448
Ute Mountain Ute $40,909
Wampanoag $30,811
Warm Springs $41,083
Washoe Tribe $32,347
White Earth Chippewa $41,828
White Mountain $44,253
Wyandotte $30,728
Yakama Nation $43,586
Yankton Sioux $35,490
Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation $55,370
Yurok $35,504
Zuni $40,050
Total $4,388,570 

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced $1,483,632 in grants to assist American Indian tribes, Alaska native villages, and museums with implementation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Of this amount, $1,422,515 is going to 19 recipients for consultation/documentation projects, and $61,117 is going to five repatriation projects.

“Returning human beings to their descendants and cultural items to their inheritors is unequivocally the right thing to do,” Secretary Salazar said. “These grants will help to rectify an offense committed against American Indians in the past.”

“I am proud that the National Park Service plays a key role in the implementation of NAGPRA,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “We take care of many places and objects that are part of our nation’s cultural heritage, and we are privileged to help American Indians enjoy their right to care for their heritage.”

Enacted in 1990, NAGPRA requires museums and federal agencies to inventory and identify American Indian human remains and cultural items in their collections, and to consult with culturally affiliated tribes, Alaska native villages and corporations, and native Hawaiian organizations regarding repatriation.

This year five repatriation grants, totaling $61,117, will go to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the Gila River Indian Community, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the University of Colorado, and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Repatriation grants help with costs associated with the transfer of human remains and cultural items from institutions to tribes. This year’s grants will fund the repatriation of 32 individuals’ remains and over 200 cultural items from museums across the country to tribes.

FY 2011 NAGPRA Consultation/Documentation Grant Recipients

Recipient Award

Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians $90,000

Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma $68,717

California State, Sacramento $89,905

Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes $90,000

Del Norte County Historical Society $51,085

Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota $90,000

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe $74,823

Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico $89,877

Organized Village of Kasaan $89,732

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology $90,000

Rochester Museum & Science Center $59,127

Sitka Tribe of Alaska $11,375

SUNY, College at Oswego $90,000

Susanville Indian Rancheria $90,000

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians $23,228

University of Colorado Museum, Boulder $59,120

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission $87,053

White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation $89,997

Wisconsin Historical Society $88,476

FY 2011 NAGPRA Repatriation Grant Recipients

Recipient Award

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation $9,996

Denver Museum of Nature & Science $14,868

Gila River Indian Community $14,407

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe $8,378

University of Colorado Museum, Boulder $13,468

BILLINGS AND CROW AGENCY, MT--At two events with tribal leaders in Montana today, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and other top Interior officials took what he called “the latest steps to implement President Obama’s pledge for reconciliation and empowerment for American Indian nations.”

In Billings this morning, Secretary Salazar and Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes hosted nation-to-nation consultations with tribal leaders from the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region to discuss the land consolidation component of the $3.4 billion Cobell Settlement. Sen. Jon Tester also participated.

Later in the day, Secretary Salazar and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor visited the Crow Indian Reservation to participate with a crowd of 200 celebrating the recently approved Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement. The water settlement will bring more than $460 million to the Crow Nation to ensure safe drinking water for the reservation and rehabilitate the irrigation project.

“Today’s events in Montana signal a new era in the U.S. government’s relationship with Indian Country nationwide,” Secretary Salazar said. “The Billings meeting and upcoming meetings with tribal leaders in other regions are just part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to re-invigorating nation-to-nation relationships with tribes. And this afternoon’s celebration in Crow Agency made me especially proud of our Administration’s support for water rights settlements that will deliver much-needed water to Indian communities such as the Crow Reservation.”

The land consolidation meeting in Billings today was the first in a series of six regional meetings. Additional tribal consultations will be scheduled through Oct. 15, 2011 in Seattle, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Albuquerque, and Oklahoma City. Today’s participants included leaders and representatives of a number of tribes. Joining Secretary Salazar and Deputy Secretary Hayes from the Interior Department were Associate Deputy Secretary Meghan Conklin, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Jodi Gillette and Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Mike Black.

At Crow Agency, Secretary Salazar and Commissioner Connor outlined how the water settlement will create jobs on the reservation while improving the Crow Irrigation Project; developing a municipal, rural and industrial water system; and supporting development of Crow Nation energy resources. Of the $460 million, Salazar announced that, at the request of Crow Chairman Cedric Black Eagle, the first $500,000 of the settlement funds appropriated by Congress was released to the tribe on July 8 and that $4.9 million in early funding for the settlement has been made available for future disbursement to the tribe.

The Secretary thanked Crow Chairman Black Eagle, Vice-Chairman Coolidge Jefferson, and Secretary Scott Russell and Interior’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Del Laverdure, also a member of the Crow Nation, for welcoming Interior officials to their homeland. He thanked Letty Belin, Counselor to the Deputy Secretary, and Pamela Williams, Director of the Secretary’s Indian Water Rights Office, for their leadership in the Department of the Interior in reaching the settlement.

BACKGROUND ON COBELL SETTLEMENT:

The $3.4 billion Cobell settlement was approved by Congress on November 30, 2010 (Claims Resolution Act of 2010) and signed by President Obama on December 8, 2010. The Cobell Settlement will address the Federal Government’s responsibility for an historical accounting of Individual Indian trust accounts and trust mismanagement claims on behalf of more than 300,000 individual Indians. A fund of $1.5 billion will be used to compensate class members for their historical accounting, trust administration and asset mismanagement claims.

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 $1.9 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. Up to $60 million of the $1.9 billion will be set aside to provide scholarships for post secondary higher education and vocational training for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

On May 27, 2011, U.S. Senior District Judge Thomas F. Hogan granted communication between representatives of the United States and Cobell class members only in regards to the Trust Land Consolidation component of the Settlement. This enabled the Department of the Interior to set up regional tribal consultations, the first of which was on July 15 in Billings, Montana. Additional tribal consultations will be held through Oct. 15, 2011 in Seattle, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Albuquerque, and Oklahoma City. More information on the upcoming consultations and other aspects of the Cobell settlement can be found at www.doi.gov/cobell.

BACKGROUND ON CROW WATER SETTLEMENT:

The omnibus law that resolved the Cobell litigation also included four major water rights settlements– totaling more than $1 billion—for American Indian tribes including the Crow Nation. The Crow Reservation encompasses more than 2 million acres, and is home to roughly two-thirds of the approximately 12,000 Crow tribal members.

The drinking water system on the Reservation has significant deficiencies in capacity and water quality and many tribal members must at times haul water. The Crow Irrigation Project (CIP), operated and maintained by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is in a state of significant disrepair and cannot support the Reservation's mainstay of farming and ranching. The Bureau of Reclamation will carry out activities to improve the CIP, which consists of nine diversion dams, one storage dam, nine canal systems, and other irrigation structures.

Litigation concerning the Tribe's water rights commenced in 1975 and will be brought to a close under the settlement. In 1985, the Tribe and the State of Montana entered into negotiations on this matter and reached agreement on the Crow-Tribe-Montana Water Rights Compact on June 22, 1999. President Obama signed legislation to approve the Compact in 2010.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk visited Marine Corporal Phillip Baldwin of Ft. Hall, Idaho, today at the Bethesda Naval Hospital.

Echo Hawk, himself a former Marine and past resident of Ft. Hall, visited with the wounded serviceman, a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, who lost both legs in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) incident on June 18, 2011. The incident occurred while Corporal Baldwin was on foot patrol near the Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

“It’s remarkable the resilience this young man has, to go through the ordeal he did and to be in such great spirits during our visit is a tribute to him and his family,” said Echo Hawk. “I wish Corporal Baldwin the best of luck in his recovery and for the future.”

Corporal Baldwin is in the First Battalion, Fifth Marines, out of San Diego, Calif. He will be returning there on July 20 to continue his rehabilitation. Bethesda Naval Hospital is located in Maryland just north of the nation’s capital.

WASHINGTON – Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Jodi Gillette today provided opening remarks at the Action Summit for Suicide Prevention/2nd Annual Methamphetamine and Suicide Prevention Initiative Conference running from August 1- 4, 2011, in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Summit is sponsored in part by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), the Indian Health Service (IHS), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

“The federal government must be a better partner in addressing this critical issue that afflicts Indian Country,” Gillette said. “This week’s summit is an important step toward positive engagement and collaboration with other government agencies and tribes as we work together to build healthier, stronger communities.”

One of the administration’s top priorities has been to ensure that Indian Affairs is an active partner in preventing and responding to suicide emergencies. During President Obama’s first tribal listening conference in November 2009, a number of tribal leaders asked that the federal government engage more fully on the issue of suicide prevention, especially among youth. Several tribes suggested that a summit would be an important step. The Action Summit in Scottsdale, is the fulfillment of that request. The Second Annual Methamphetamine and Suicide Prevention Initiative (MSPI) Conference has been incorporated into the Action Summit for Suicide Prevention programs and includes suicide and methamphetamine prevention learning labs from MSPI.

The Action Summit is intended to bring together mental health professionals with tribal leaders, teachers, law enforcement and other community leaders to provide information and training for those who work most closely with those at risk in Native communities.

In preparation for the Action Summit, Indian Affairs has worked closely with the IHS Office of Behavioral Health and with SAMHSA. In order to make the Summit most responsive to the interests and needs of the tribes, Indian Affairs held a series of 10 Listening Sessions throughout Indian Country from November 2010 through January 2011.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs has responsibility for helping the Secretary of the Interior to fulfill his trust responsibilities to tribal and individual trust beneficiaries and promoting self-determination and self-governance for the nation’s 565 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The Assistant Secretary oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), which administers one of two federal school systems and funding to tribal colleges and universities.