OPA

WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of the Interior today announced it has transferred more than $12 million to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund, bringing the total amount transferred so far to $17 million. Authorized by the historic Cobell Settlement, and funded in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), the Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance through scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary and graduate education and training.

“With every transfer to the Scholarship Fund, we are making valuable investments in the training and education that Native students need to succeed in today’s world,” said Interior Deputy Secretary Michael L. Connor. “This program is a lasting tribute to Elouise Cobell, whose vision, leadership and concern for tribal students and their families has created a living legacy for future generations of tribal leaders.”

“The Department is thrilled that the Cobell Scholarship Fund is growing quickly so that Native students can pursue their academic dreams to go to college or graduate school,” said Hilary Tompkins, Solicitor of the Department of the Interior and one of the lead negotiators of the Cobell Settlement. “The expertise, abilities and skills these students gain can help to advance self- determination and shape future leaders in Indian Country.”

The Scholarship Fund is administered by the American Indian Graduate Center (AIGC) located in Albuquerque, N.M. The five-member Cobell Board is responsible for the oversight and supervision of the activities of the fund’s administering organization. Interested applicants should consult the AIGC website at AIGCS.org.

The Cobell Scholarship Fund is overseen by the Cobell Board of Trustees. Alex Pearl, the Chairman of the Cobell Board, said, “This is meant to be a perpetual fund so that Indian students will be able to attend college and receive Cobell Scholarship Funds long after we’re gone. The transfer that the Interior Department is making today will nearly triple the size of the Scholarship Fund precisely when the Board is in the process of deciding what funds can be made available for scholarships for the upcoming academic year beginning this fall.” Pearl went on to say, “The Board is now working with the American Indian Graduate Center to determine the eligibility criteria, but one thing is certain—as required by statute, Cobell Scholarship Funds will be available only to American Indian and Alaska Native students.”

“We at AIGC are eager to establish a working relationship with the Cobell Board of Trustees and to fund applicants for the Cobell Scholarship Program. We are hoping to begin funding with this fall’s term. The provision of a scholarship program in conjunction with the Cobell Settlement was an inspired idea, and we are pleased to have been selected to administer the program,” said Sam Deloria, Director of the American Indian Graduate Center.

Interior makes quarterly transfers to the Scholarship Fund as a result of Buy-Back Program sales, up to a total of $60 million. The amount contributed is based on a formula set forth in the Cobell Settlement that sets aside a certain amount of funding depending on the value of the fractionated interests sold. These contributions do not reduce the amount that an owner will receive for voluntarily consolidating their interests. Thus far the Buy-Back Program has paid more than $360 million to individual landowners and restored the equivalent of almost 570,000 acres of land to tribal governments.

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.

Turk Cobell, the President of the Cobell Board, stated that “applications for scholarships for the fall semester will be made available shortly online through the American Indian Graduate Center.”

Buy-Back Program offers are currently pending for fractional interest owners at the Umatilla Indian Reservation (deadline: April 13), Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (deadline: April 20), and Rosebud Indian Reservation (deadline: May 16).

Landowners can contact the Trust Beneficiary Call Center at 888-678-6836 to update their contact information, ask questions about their land or purchase offers, and learn about the financial implications of consolidating land. Individuals can also visit their local Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) or Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) office, or find more information at www.doi.gov/buybackprogram/landowners in order to make informed decisions about their land.

Grants to Help Native Americans Identify and Repatriate Human Remains, Cultural Objects

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service today announced the award of eight Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Repatriation grants totaling $74,348. The grants will assist in the repatriation of individuals and sacred objects, objects of cultural patrimony and funerary objects back to the tribes.

“The work funded by these grants is a step toward addressing past violations of the treatment of human remains and sacred objects of native peoples, while restoring the ability of American Indian and Native Hawaiian peoples to be stewards of their own ancestral dead and cultural heritage,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis.

Enacted in 1990, NAGPRA requires museums and federal agencies to inventory and identify Native American human remains and cultural items in their collections, and to consult with culturally affiliated Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, and Native Hawaiian organizations regarding repatriation. Section 10 of the Act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to award grants to assist in implementing provisions of the Act.

For additional information about NAGPRA and these grants, please visit: www.nps.gov/nagpra.

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About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 407 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In furthering President Obama’s efforts to support American Indian and Alaska Native families and protect tribal communities, Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn and Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Administrator Robert L. Listenbee today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Department of Justice are seeking to update the 1988 Model Indian Juvenile Code designed to assist federally recognized tribes in creating individual codes focused on juvenile matters and specifically addressing issues affecting Indian youth arrested for alcohol and/or drug-related offenses in Indian Country.

“Like the BIA’s guidelines and regulations for state courts and agencies that implement the Indian Child Welfare Act, the Bureau’s Model Indian Juvenile Code has long needed updating,” said Assistant Secretary Washburn. “Tribes know best what will work in their communities, but the model will be updated to provide better federal guidance to tribes in an effort to insure proper respect for the rights and responsibilities of Indian juveniles arrested for alcohol or drug-related offenses and those of their parents, guardians or custodians. It also will provide tribes and their court systems greater clarity and flexibility in dealing with such cases.”

“Safeguarding the fair and equitable treatment of all youth in the juvenile justice system is paramount to the mission of DOJ’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,” said Administrator Listenbee. “This is an important step forward in ensuring tribal courts have the resources they need to respond effectively to at-risk and delinquent youth in Indian Country, and is a direct result of our collaboration with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.”

The BIA’s Office of Justice Services Tribal Justice Support Directorate (TJSD) has been working with the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention since 2012 to update the existing 1988 Model Indian Juvenile Code. That code was published in 1988 following passage of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5601 et seq.) and pursuant to the law (25 U.S.C. 2454) directing the Secretary of the Interior to develop a Model Indian Juvenile Code, including provisions relating to the disposition of cases involving Indian youth arrested or detained by BIA or tribal law enforcement for alcohol or drug-related offenses. The Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has provided significant insight into the new draft provisions.

The Interior and Justice departments are seeking to develop an updated code that reflects changes in the field of juvenile justice since 1988, particularly with the enactment in 2010 of the Tribal Law and Order Act (P. L. 111-211) and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P. L. 111-148), and to comply with a provision in a 2011 Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Memorandum of Agreement between the Interior and Justice departments to develop such a code in accordance with 25 U.S.C. 2454.

Starting this month, TJSD will circulate a discussion draft embodying an updated Model Indian Juvenile Code to gather comment and suggestions from tribal leaders and interested parties. The discussion draft is based on a Model Juvenile Code developed in 2013 by Professor Ron Whitener of the University of Washington School of Law. Whitener also serves as chairman of the Center of Indigenous Research and Justice in Seattle. This new Model Code has been modified with input from the departments of Justice and Interior and presents a comprehensive and flexible code which encourages the use of alternatives to standard juvenile delinquency, truancy, and child-in-need of services. The Model Code also reflects a core commitment to providing tribes with examples of juvenile statutes designed to assure the fundamental rights of children and their parents, guardians and custodians and focus on allowing the opportunity for restorative diversion at each decision point in the juvenile process.

Professor Whitener presented the discussion draft at the Federal Bar Association’s 40th Annual Indian Law Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., on April 9.

TJSD will provide additional opportunities for comments and input from the public at other national American Indian and tribal justice conferences during 2015. These additional opportunities for comment on the discussion draft are slated for the summer and fall of 2015. The exact dates will be published in the near future. Following this information-gathering phase, TJSD will revise the discussion draft based on the comments and information it has received and publish the new draft in preparation for conducting formal tribal consultation sessions on it.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs oversees the BIA, which is headed by a director who is responsible for managing day-to-day operations through four offices – Indian Services, Justice Services, Trust Services, and Field Operations. These offices directly administer or fund 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 through 12 regional offices and 81 agencies.

The Office of Justice Services Tribal Justice Support Directorate furthers the development, operation, and enhancement of tribal justice systems by providing guidance, technical support, and advisory services to tribal courts and Courts of Indian Offenses (also known as CFR courts). For more information, visit http://indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/BIA/OJS/ojs-services/ojstjs/index.htm.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the U.S. Department of Justice provides national leadership, coordination, and resources to prevent and respond to juvenile delinquency and victimization. OJJDP supports states and communities in their efforts to develop and implement effective and coordinated prevention and intervention programs and to improve the juvenile justice system so that it protects public safety, holds offenders accountable, and provides treatment and rehabilitative services tailored to the needs of juveniles and their families. For more information, visit http://www.ojjdp.gov/.

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service has proposed to modify the regulation governing the gathering of plants in national parks. The rule would allow members of federally recognized Indian tribes with traditional associations to areas within specific units of the National Park System to gather and remove plants or plant parts for traditional purposes. The gathering and removal allowed by the rule would be governed by agreements that may be entered into between the National Park Service and the tribes, and would also be subject to permits that identify the tribal members who may conduct these activities. The rule would prohibit commercial uses of gathered materials.

To be published Monday April 20 in the Federal Register, 36 CFR Part 2, Gathering of Certain Plants or Plant Parts by Federally Recognized Indian Tribes for Traditional Purposes, will be open for public comment for 90 days through Monday, July 20, 2015.

“The proposed rule respects tribal sovereignty and the government-to-government relationship between the United States and the tribes,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “It also supports the mission of the National Park Service and the continuation of unique cultural traditions of American Indians.”

Many units of the National Park System contain resources important to the continuation of American Indian cultures. Indian tribes have actively sought the ability to gather and use plant resources for traditional purposes such as basketry and traditional medicines while ensuring the sustainability of plant communities in parks. At the same time, park managers and law enforcement officers need clear guidance regarding their responsibilities for enforcing park regulations with respect to the use of park resources by American Indians. The proposal provides an approach to plant collecting by members of federally recognized tribes that can be applied across the National Park Service.

In drafting the proposed rule, National Park Service staff met with or contacted more than 120 Indian tribes. Tribal consultation that followed indicates that the approach taken in the proposed rule would address the need for gathering while respecting tribal sovereignty.

Comments on the proposed rule should reference the National Park Service and Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 1024-AD84, and can be submitted online through the Federal Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov, which provides instructions for submitting comments; or by mail to: National Park Service, Joe Watkins, Office of Tribal Relations and American Cultures, 1201 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC 20005. The National Park Service will accept public comments on the proposed rule through Monday, July 20, 2015.

Comments and suggestions on the information collection requirements in the proposed rule should be sent to the Desk Officer for the Department of the Interior at OMB-OIRA by fax at (202) 395-5806 or by e-mail to OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov. Please provide a copy of your comments by email to madonna_baucum@nps.gov or by mail to: Information Collection Clearance Officer, National Park Service, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240. Please reference “1024-AD84” in the subject line of your comments. You may review the Information Collection Request online at http://www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to review Department of the Interior collections under review by OMB. Comments on the information collection requirements must be received by Wednesday, May 20, 2015.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Advancing President Obama’s ongoing commitment to work with tribal leaders to build strong economies, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today released final regulations that will ensure tribal communities receive all the royalties they are owed from oil production on their lands, reduce administrative costs and provide greater predictability to the oil industry.

“As part of our trust and treaty responsibilities, these commonsense regulations will help protect and fairly value Indian oil assets, support exploration and development, and reduce administrative costs,” said Jewell, who chairs the White House Council on Native American Affairs. “This rule reflects the President’s strong commitment to tribal sovereignty and self-governance, offering greater simplicity, certainty, clarity and consistency for energy companies that operate on tribal lands, while potentially boosting royalties to Indian Country.”

The Negotiated Rulemaking Committee was formed in late 2011 and charged with bringing clarity and consistency to oil valuation regulations governing production on American Indian lands. The committee included representatives from American Indian Tribes, individual Indian mineral owner associations, the oil and gas industry, Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Negotiated Rulemaking Committee met nine times through 2012 and 2013, reaching agreement on a proposal to base royalties on the higher of gross proceeds or an index-based formula that captures a unique provision of Indian lease terms referred to as ‘major portion price’ that refers to the highest price paid for the oil produced from a field or area. ONRR estimated that Indian lessors could experience significant increases in royalty returns as a result of the new rule.

The draft rule was published in the Federal Register on June 19, 2014, and ONRR carefully considered all of the public comments that it received during the rulemaking process before finalizing the rule, which becomes effective July 1, 2015. The final rule can be accessed today and will be published tomorrow in the Federal Register.

The Office of Natural Resources Revenue, part of the Department’s Office of Policy, Management and Budget, is responsible for collecting and disbursing revenues from energy production that occurs onshore on Federal and American Indian lands and offshore in the Outer Continental Shelf. During Fiscal Year 2014, the agency disbursed more than $13.4 billion to states, American Indian Tribes and individual Indian mineral owners, and to various Federal accounts, including the U.S. Treasury, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Reclamation Fund.

Washington, D.C. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona will hold a VAWA Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Training focusing on the challenges that occur when a tribe uses its special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction (SDVCJ) authority as authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 (VAWA) to prosecute offenders. The training is scheduled for May 5-7 on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation in Tucson.

The OJS Tribal Justice Support Directorate took note from the Intertribal Technical-Assistance Working Group’s collaborative discussions on implementing VAWA SDVCJ and saw the value in supporting the concept that tribal experts should train other tribes interested in prosecuting the VAWA SDVCJ. Thus, with the support of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, the OJS Tribal Justice Support Directorate began to collaborate with the Pascua Yaqui Justice Department to design a curriculum based on the first jury trial executed under VAWA SDVCJ.

The training, titled “Lessons Learned from the 1st Non-Indian Jury Trial in a Tribal Court under Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction,” provides the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s criminal justice system with an opportunity to share its experiences from its first year of exercising its SDVCJ authority under VAWA.

VAWA authorizes federally recognized tribes to exercise “special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction” over certain defendants, regardless of their Indian or non-Indian status, who commit acts of domestic or dating violence or violate certain protection orders on federal Indian trust lands. The Pascua Yaqui Tribe was one of five tribes approved as pilot projects to exercise VAWA SDVCJ authority on an accelerated basis, which it has been doing since February 2014.

Under VAWA SDVCJ authority a tribe must protect the rights of defendants under the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, including the right to due process, which requires including a fair cross-section of the community in jury pools which does not systematically exclude non-Indians. Further, the due process rights also require informing defendants detained by a tribal court of their right to file federal habeas corpus petitions.

Substantive trial training will be provided specific to VAWA prosecutions including training on jurisdictional considerations, witness recantation, and evidence considerations, and will focus on three tracks: prosecutor, defense attorney, and judicial. Practical training skills and application of learned skills will take place in Pascua Yaqui tribal courtrooms.

The general session will include VAWA-specific training on criminal jurisdiction, evidence, and ethics by University of Arizona professors Melissa Tatum, a contributor to the Handbook of Federal Indian Law by Felix S. Cohen; Thomas Mauet, renowned evidence and trial litigation expert; and Jim Diamond, adjunct professor and author.

WHO: Tribal Justice Support Directorate, Office of Justice Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior

WHAT: The Tribal Justice Support Directorate in the BIA’s Office of Justice Services will co-host tribal court trial advocacy training on the challenges and lessons learned when a tribe exercises special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction authority as authorized by the Violence Against Women Act. The Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona will provide valuable lessons learned and the training is designed to improve the trial advocacy skills of tribal court prosecutors, defenders and judges.

WHEN: May 5-7, 2015 (Mountain Standard Time Zone)

• Tuesday, May 5 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. General Session (Open)
• Wednesday, May 6 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Skills Training
• Thursday, May 7 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Skills Training

WHERE: Casino Del Sol Resort, 5655 W. Valencia Road, Tucson, Ariz. 85757. Phone: (855) 765-7829.

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

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor will deliver the keynote address at the 24th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service being held Thursday, May 7, 2015, at the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M. Also scheduled to speak is BIA Director Michael S. Black.

The Memorial Service honors tribal, state, local, and federal law enforcement officers working on federal Indian lands and in tribal communities who have given their lives in the line of duty. It also is the occasion when the names of officers who will be added to the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial monument located at the academy are formally announced.

This year, five individuals will be added bringing the total number of officers listed on the memorial to 108:

• Alaska Village Public Safety Officer Ronald Zimin who on October 22, 1986, was ambushed and shot while responding to a domestic violence crime.
• Alaska State Trooper Sergeant Patrick Johnson who on May 1, 2014, was shot and killed while investigating reports of a person brandishing a firearm in the village of Tanana.
• Alaska State Trooper Gabriel Rich who on May 1, 2014, was ambushed while investigating reports of a person brandishing a firearm in the village of Tanana.
• Officer Jair Cabrera of the Salt River Police Department in Arizona who on May 24, 2014, was shot inside his vehicle while conducting a traffic stop.
• Special Agent Colin Clark of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services (OJS) who on March 21, 2004, died during a drug enforcement operation in Michigan.

OJS holds the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service in conjunction with other law enforcement organizations and agencies including the International Association of Chiefs of Police Indian Country Law Enforcement Section, the National Sheriffs’ Association, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, home to the memorial, service and academy.

The Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial was first dedicated on May 7, 1992, at the Indian Police Academy then located in Marana, Ariz. The academy and memorial later moved to their present site, where the latter was re-dedicated on May 6, 1993.

The memorial’s design is based on indigenous design concepts. Comprised of three granite markers sited within a circular walkway lined with sage, a plant of spiritual significance to many tribes, the memorial includes four planters filled with foliage in colors representing people of all races. The planters represent the four directions and are located near the walkway’s entrance.

The earliest inscribed name dates back to 1852. In addition to those from the BIA and tribal law enforcement, officers listed represent numerous law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Border Patrol, the New Mexico State Police, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Navajo County (Ariz.) Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Customs Bureau, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The list includes one female officer from the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety who was killed in 1998; a father and son, both BIA police officers, who died in 1998 and 2001, respectively; and two FBI agents killed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1975.

The 24th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service will be livestreamed. To view the event, visit http://www.ksvpradio.com/BIA/ and type in the password “biamemorial.” To view the memorial and a list of the officers’ names inscribed upon it, visit http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/BIA/OJS/fallen/index.htm.

WHO: Mike Connor, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior Michael S. Black, Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, DOI

WHAT: Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor will deliver the keynote address at the 24th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service where the names of five fallen officers being added to the memorial will be formally announced. Also scheduled to speak is Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Michael S. Black.

WHEN: Thursday, May 7, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. MDT

WHERE: BIA Indian Police Academy, DHS Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, 1300 West Richey Avenue, Artesia, N.M. Phone (505) 748-8153 for directions.

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives, who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to this event. Press seating will be provided. Credentialed media covering the event should be in place by 9:45 a.m. for the program beginning at 10:00 a.m.

LAWRENCE, KS – On Friday, May 8, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will deliver the commencement address at the Haskell Indian Nations University 2015 Graduation Ceremony. Haskell is commemorating its 130th year of providing education and opportunity to Native American communities nationwide.

Secretary Jewell will be the first Secretary of the Interior to speak at Haskell Indian Nations University. As Secretary of the Interior, Jewell upholds trust responsibilities to the 566 federally recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives. Jewell also serves as chair of the White House Council on Native American Affairs.

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

WHAT: Haskell Indian Nations University Commencement Address

WHEN: Friday, May 8, 2015 9:00 a.m. – Media check-in at welcome table in Coffin Sports Complex for press passes 10:00 a.m. – Ceremony begins 12:00 p.m. – Media availability

WHERE: Haskell Indian Nations University Coffin Sports Complex 155 E Indian Avenue Lawrence, KS 66046

MEDIA: Credentialed members of the media are encouraged to RSVP here

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that grants ranging from $25,000 to $150,000 per fiscal year are available for federally recognized tribes and their education departments. The grants are designed to help tribes assume control of Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-funded schools in their communities, promote tribal education capacity, and provide academically rigorous and culturally appropriate education to Indian students on their reservations and trust lands.

Eligible tribal governments may apply for these grants by responding to the Request for Proposals that the BIE published on May 15, 2015, in the Federal Register.

“This grant program reflects President Obama’s commitment to tribal self-governance and self-determination, and will support tribal educators who best understand the unique needs of their communities as they strengthen their capacity to assume full control of BIE-funded schools on their reservations,” said Secretary Jewell, who chairs the White House Council on Native American Affairs. “It is a critical step in redesigning the BIE from a direct provider of education into an innovative organization that will serve as a capacity-builder and service-provider to tribes with BIE-funded schools.”

“With this announcement, we are taking the next major step in our efforts to return the education of Indian children to their tribes,” Assistant Secretary Washburn said. “We understand that tribal leaders, educators and parents have the greatest need to ensure that their children receive a world-class education, and with this effort, we will see to it that tribes can assume total control over the BIE-funded schools in their communities to improve the educational outcomes for their students. We're grateful Congress understands the importance of this process and appropriated funding to support this effort.”

“This grant solicitation carries out recommendations of Secretary Jewell and Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s Blueprint for Reform to transform the Bureau of Indian Education from a school administrator into a capacity builder and service provider to support tribes in educating their children and youth,” said BIE Director Dr. Charles M. “Monty” Roessel. “These grants will help tribes and their tribal departments of education to assume control of the BIE-funded schools serving their communities.”

The Blueprint for Reform, issued in June 2014 following consultation with tribal leaders, is an initiative of the White House Council on Native American Affairs, chaired by Secretary Jewell. President Obama established the Council as part of his commitment to engage in a true and lasting government-to-government relationship with federally recognized tribes in a more coordinated and effective manner, including promoting and sustaining prosperous and resilient tribal communities.

Jewell then issued a Secretarial Order to begin restructuring BIE from solely a provider of education to a capacity-builder and education service-provider to tribes. The goal of this transformation is to give tribes the ability themselves to provide an academically rigorous and culturally appropriate education to their students, according to their needs.

The Blueprint made several recommendations regarding the BIE’s budget. Interior should invest in the school system’s infrastructure, including new school construction, and align its budget to support tribal self-determination by requesting and increasing tribal grant and Tribal Grant Support Costs for tribally controlled grant schools.

Under the solicitation announced today, grants will range from $25,000 to $150,000 per fiscal year depending on the project, number of educational programs impacted, project design, and expected outcomes. Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, grants will be provided for three years and, depending on performance, may be renewed for additional two-year terms.

Grant funds will support program goals for the following areas that promote tribal education capacity-building:

• To provide for the development and enforcement of tribal educational codes, including tribal educational policies and tribal standards applicable to curriculum, personnel, students, facilities, and support programs;
• To facilitate tribal control in all matters relating to the education of Indian children on reservations and on former reservations in Oklahoma; and
• To provide for the development of coordinated educational programs on reservations and on former reservations in Oklahoma by encouraging tribal administrative support of all BIE-funded educational programs, as well as encouraging tribal cooperation and coordination with entities carrying out all educational programs receiving financial support from other federal agencies, state agencies or private entities.

Top priority will be given to applicants that meet the following conditions:

• Serves three or more BIE-funded schools (less priority will be given if the applicant has less than three schools, but with at least one BIE-funded school).
• Provides coordinating services and technical assistance to all relevant BIE-funded schools.
• Monitors and audits its grant funds by or through its Tribal Education Department (TED)
• And offers a plan and schedule that provides for:
  • Its TED to assume all assets and functions of the Bureau agency office associated with the tribe to the extent the assets and functions relate to education;
  • The termination by the BIE of all such functions and office at the times of such assumption; and
  • The assumption to occur over the term of the grant, unless mutually agreeable to the tribal governing body and the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, the period in which such assumption is to occur may be modified, reduced or extended after the initial year of the grant.

The BIE will assist tribes in the development and operation of TEDs for the purpose of planning and coordinating all educational programs of the tribe. Each proposal must include a project narrative, a budget narrative, a work plan outline, and a project coordinator to serve as the point of contact for the program. The project coordinator is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the TED fulfills the obligations of its grant.

The BIE will provide pre-grant application training at several sites to support tribes and TEDs in applying for grants. Details on location and times will be made available.

The BIE oversees 183 elementary and secondary schools, located on 64 reservations in 23 states, serving more than 48,000 students. Of these, 59 are BIE-operated and 124 are tribally operated under Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act contracts or Tribally Controlled Schools Act grants. BIE also funds or operates off-reservation boarding schools and peripheral dormitories near reservations for students attending public schools.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced today that the Miccosukee Indian School (MIS) has received flexibility from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), to use a different definition of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) that meets their students’ unique academic and cultural needs. The Miccosukee Indian School in Florida is funded by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).

As part of the Obama Administration’s Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative to remove barriers to Native youth success, granting flexibility for the Miccosukee Indian School to define AYP specifically for their students is an important step in making the BIE work better to support individual tribal nations and Native youth. This is the first tribal school to be approved to use a definition of AYP that is different from the state in which it is located, and the flexibility is the first of its kind from the Department of Education.

“The plan that Miccosukee put forward will support culturally-relevant strategies designed to improve college and career readiness for Native children and youth,” said Secretary Duncan. “We believe that tribes must play a meaningful role in the education of native students. Tribal communities are in the best position to identify barriers and opportunities, and design effective, culturally-relevant strategies to improve outcomes for Native students.”

This flexibility builds on the work that MIS has already accomplished through its transition to higher standards and more rigorous assessments, and will allow MIS leaders to further their work to ensure students graduate high school college- and career-ready. MIS serves approximately 150 students in grades kindergarten through 12 and is the only school of the Miccosukee Indian Tribe.

“I applaud Chairman Billie and the Miccosukee Indian School for developing this innovative and culturally-relevant plan for guiding and measuring their students’ academic progress,” said Secretary Jewell. “This flexibility will help the Miccosukee Nation achieve their goal of maintaining a unique way of life, cultural customs and language by transmitting the essence of their heritage to their children. This not only advances Tribal self-determination but can also serve as a model for other tribes within the Bureau of Indian Education school system seeking to achieve the same goal for their students.”

The announcement was made during a ceremony at the Department of the Interior with Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn, BIE Director Dr. Charles ‘Monty’ Roessel, Director of the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education William Mendoza, Chairman Colley Billie of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, and MIS Principal Manuel Varela.

According to recent U.S. Department of Education statistics, the graduation rate for American Indian students has increased by more than four percentage points over two years, outpacing the growth for all students. The graduation rate for American Indian students increased from 65 percent in 2010-11 to 69.7 percent in 2012-13. Despite these gains, the graduation rate for American Indian students is lower than the national rate of 81 percent.

A 2014 White House Native Youth Report cites Bureau of Indian Education schools fare even worse, with a graduation rate of 53 percent in 2011-12. To address the critical educational needs of these students, the Obama Administration’s Blueprint for Reform, an initiative of the White House Council on Native American Affairs chaired by Secretary Jewell, is restructuring Interior’s BIE from a provider of education to a capacity-builder and education service-provider to tribes.

In addition to reforming the Bureau of Indian Education into a service-provider to tribal schools, the Obama Administration is supporting other efforts to improve educational opportunities for Native communities, through initiatives such as:

• Generation Indigenous (Gen-I): focuses on improving the lives of Native youth by removing the barriers that stand between Native youth and opportunities to succeed.
• Native Youth Community Projects: provides an estimated $4 million in grants from the Department of Education to help prepare Native American youth for success in college, careers and life as part of Gen-I.
• National Tribal Youth Network: supports leadership development and provides peer support through an interactive online portal.
• Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Completion Initiative Guidance: permits states to share FAFSA completion rates with tribes to help Native American students apply for college financial aid as part of President Obama’s FAFSA Completion Initiative.

Later today, Secretary Jewell will convene the sixth meeting of the White House Council on Native American Affairs (Council), formed by Executive Order of the President, to work more collaboratively and effectively with American Indian and Alaska Native leaders to help build and strengthen their communities. Obama Administration Cabinet Secretaries and other senior officials will continue discussions focused on several core objectives for the Council, such as reforming the Bureau of Indian Education, promoting sustainable tribal economic development, and supporting sustainable management of Native lands, environments and natural resources. The discussion will also include follow-up from additional areas of focus based on consultation with tribal leaders.