OPA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that Indian Affairs offices and bureaus have hired nearly 600 American Indian and Alaska Native veterans in Fiscal Year 2015, exceeding the goal set last year to increase the number of Native American veterans employed by these agencies from nine percent of the workforce to 12.5 percent.

“Our intent to build a 21st century Indian Affairs workforce depends upon attracting and retaining experienced and motivated personnel, and we know that America’s veterans are among the most capable, dedicated and well-trained individuals we need,” Washburn said. “I am very proud that we have not only met, but exceeded our goal of hiring American Indian and Alaska Native vets. We will continue to provide those veterans with opportunities to use their knowledge and skills in our mission of serving Indian Country.”

On June 14, 2014, Washburn announced the launch of a new initiative to hire more American Indian and Alaska Native veterans throughout Indian Affairs, which includes the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs (OAS-IA), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). The initiative targets veterans prior to their discharge from the U.S. Armed Forces and actively seeks members of the National Guard and reserves who are looking for careers that serve Indian Country.

Indian Affairs bureaus, regional offices and agencies provide a wide range of direct services to 566 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and thousands of Indian trust beneficiaries. Almost all Indian Affairs positions are filled with American Indians and Alaska Natives under a congressionally approved Indian Preference policy.

In total, Indian Affairs employees number approximately 7,940. They work throughout the United States not just with tribes, but also with state, local and other federal agencies in matters ranging from public safety, family and child welfare, and education to infrastructure maintenance, environmental protection, land and natural resources management, and other areas.

Two of those hired within the past year are decorated veterans William Wolf Tail, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe, who is a correctional officer with a BIA Office of Justice Services (OJS) facility in Browning, Mont., and Damar Dore, a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe-Pleasant Point in Maine, who joined the BIA as a supervisory information technology specialist in Aberdeen, S.D.

Despite his many accomplishments and experiences during his military career, Wolf Tail deems one event as holding particular significance for him: “My most fond moment would be graduating from the basic corrections officer training program at the BIA’s Indian Police Academy.” He is looking forward to continuing his professional growth with OJS.

“I took the position with the BIA to continue service by serving Native American communities,” said Dore, who, like Wolf Tail, has many years of military experience. “I spent the first portion of my life protecting the freedoms that all Americans enjoy, and now it is time to use this knowledge to help protect indigenous freedoms. The oath we take as military members is to protect all from foreign and domestic threats, and I intend on continuing to uphold my oath by providing solutions that have value to the agency and have a positive return on investment.”

For more information about Indian Affairs’ Hire American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans Initiative, visit www.bia.gov/Jobs/Veterans/ or call Nancy Nelson, Human Resources Specialist, Indian Affairs Office of Human Capital Management, at 202-208-6175.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs assists and supports the Secretary of the Interior in fulfilling the United States’ trust responsibility to the federally recognized tribes and individual Indian trust beneficiaries. The Office of Human Capital Management (OHCM) over sees human resources management, policy and operations for the OAS-IA, BIA and BIE. OHCM reports to the Deputy Assistant Secretary Indian Affairs – Management within the OAS-IA.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – William Mendoza, Director of the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education at the U.S. Department of Education, and Dr. Charles M. “Monty” Roessel, Director of the Bureau of Indian Education, today announced that the Pine Ridge School in South Dakota has received $218,000 at their request under the U.S. Department of Education’s Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grant program to aid in recovery from student suicides and suicide attempts.

The Pine Ridge School, which serves the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, requested assistance after experiencing a significant increase in the number of counseling referrals, suicide ideations, and suicide attempts between August 2014 and April 2015. Two of the students who committed suicide were high school students and two were middle-school age.

“We are heartbroken about the tragic loss of life and are committed to working with the Pine Ridge community as it heals. These funds will help Pine Ridge School’s continued efforts to restore the learning environment in the face of these great tragedies.” said Mendoza. “This Administration is committed to supporting tribes in their work to meet the needs of their students. We all must do more to address the challenges across Indian Country.”

“Children and youth need help in seeing that their lives have meaning and that they, too, have the power to create promising futures for themselves. No tribe can long endure the loss of its lifeblood, its children and youth, to suicide,” said Roessel. “Thanks to the Department of Education and the SERV Program, the Pine Ridge School will be able to begin to help its students and their families onto healthier life paths that lead to more positive outcomes.”

In line with the Obama Administration’s Generation Indigenous (“Gen-I”) initiative to improve the lives of Native youth by removing the barriers for their progress and academic success, the SERV grant will support a culturally appropriate approach to the recovery of Native youth at Pine Ridge School. The grant will enable the Pine Ridge School to hire additional counselors and social workers to help students during the summer school session and the next school year. It also will support implementation of a multi-faceted and holistic approach to healing that is based on Lakota traditional culture and relevant to Pine Ridge School students, who have dealt with the sudden loss of classmates to suicide or know those who have attempted suicide.

Pine Ridge School is a BIE-operated, on-reservation boarding school comprised of a high school and an elementary school, which together serve a total of nearly 800 students from the Oglala Sioux Tribe in grades K-12, and a dormitory which houses approximately 150 students during the school year. The Pine Ridge Reservation is home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe whose 30,000 members living on or near the reservation suffer from continually high rates of poor health, poor infrastructure, lack of opportunity, and higher than average suicide rates in all age groups. Project SERV funds short-term and long-term education-related services for school districts, colleges and universities to help them recover from a violent or traumatic event in which the learning environment has been disrupted.

Project SERV is administered by the Department’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students. The Department makes two types of Project SERV awards – Immediate Services and Extended Services. Immediate Services grants provide emergency, short-term assistance to affected school districts, colleges and universities. Extended Services assist school districts, colleges and universities in carrying out the long-term recovery efforts that may be needed following a significant, traumatic event. For more information about the Project SERV program, visit http://www2.ed.gov/programs/dvppserv/index.html.

The Obama Administration is committed to finding solutions to the pressing problems that confront Native youth, with an emphasis on education, economic development, and health. The President’s FY 2016 budget proposal calls for increased investments across Indian Country, including a total request of $20.8 billion for a range of federal programs that serve tribes – a $1.5 billion increase over the 2015-enacted level. The budget proposal includes $53 million for fiscal year 2016 – a $50 million increase from this year – to significantly expand the Native Youth Community Projects program.

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. For more information about the Bureau, visit www.bie.edu.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today released a final rule to reform the regulatory process by which the Department of the Interior officially recognizes Indian tribes. The updated rule promotes a more transparent, timely and consistent process that is flexible enough to account for the unique histories of tribal communities, while maintaining the rigor and integrity of the criteria that have been in place for nearly 40 years.

"Since the beginning of President Obama’s Administration, the Department has worked with tribal and government leaders on improving the federal acknowledgment process, which has been criticized as inconsistent, slow and expensive," Secretary Jewell said. “This Administration takes very seriously its important trust and treaty responsibilities to Native Americans and Alaska Natives. This updated process for important tribal recognition makes good on a promise to clarify, expedite and honor a meaningful process for federal acknowledgement to our First Americans."

"This updated rule is the product of extraordinary input from tribal leaders, states, local governments and the public," said Assistant Secretary Washburn. “We have a responsibility to recognize those tribes that have maintained their identity and self-governance despite previous federal policies expressly aimed at destroying tribes. This new process remains rigorous but it promotes timely decision-making through expedited processes and increases transparency by posting all publically available petition materials online so that stakeholders are well-informed at each stage of the process. Many of these improvements came from public comments by stakeholders and we are grateful for their guidance."

To maintain the substantive rigor and integrity of the current regulatory process (described in Part 83, Title 25 - Code of Federal Regulations), the final rule carries forward the current standard of proof and seven mandatory criteria that petitioners must meet to substantiate their claim to tribal identification, community and political authority. To promote fairness and consistent implementation, the new process provides that prior decisions, which found evidence or methodology sufficient to satisfy a particular criterion for a previous petitioner, are sufficient to satisfy that criterion for a present petitioner. The final rule further promotes consistent application by establishing a uniform evaluation period of more than a century, from 1900 to the present, to satisfy the seven mandatory criteria.

Key features of the final rule promote transparency by:

• Increasing public access to petition documents for Federal Acknowledgment;
• Expanding distribution of notices of petitions to include local governments; and
• Increasing due process by providing for an administrative judge to conduct a comprehensive hearing and issue a recommended decision for proposed negative findings

In a separate action, Assistant Secretary Washburn issued a policy statement explaining that the Department intends to rely on the newly reformed Part 83 process as to the sole administrative avenue for acknowledgment as a tribe as long as the new rule is in effect and being implemented.

To build public trust in the Federal Acknowledgement process, the Department has been working to reform the Part 83 process since the beginning of the Obama Administration. At that time in 2009, Interior initiated its own review and set a goal of issuing a proposed rule within a year. In 2012, the Department identified guiding principles of the reform effort. In recognition of the high level of interest, the Department used a transparent rule making approach and significant outreach effort. Before beginning the formal rulemaking initiative, Interior issued a discussion draft in 2013 to facilitate public input on how to improve the process.

Through the discussion draft and ensuing tribal consultations and public meetings, the Department obtained substantial feedback. In total, more than 2,800 commenters provided input on the discussion draft. The Department issued a proposed rule in May of 2014 and extended the public comment period on that proposal in response to requests from tribes, state and local governments, members of Congress and the public. In total, more than 330 unique comments were submitted on the proposed rule. The final rule reflects substantial changes to the discussion draft and the proposed rule in response to public comments.

Federal acknowledgment establishes the U.S. Government as the trustee for Tribal lands and resources and makes Tribal members and governments eligible for federal budget assistance and program services. Of the 566 federally recognized tribes, 17 have been recognized through the Part 83 process under Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Procedures for Establishing that an American Indian Group Exists as an Indian Tribe. Since 1978, the Department has recognized 17 tribes through the Federal Acknowledgment (Part 83) process, and has denied acknowledgment to 34 other petitioning groups.

Though far more tribes have been recognized through Executive or Congressional action, the Part 83 process is an important mechanism because it allows deliberative consideration of petitions by a staff of federal experts in anthropology, genealogy and history and ultimately allows for a decision by the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs. When petitioning groups that meet the criteria are officially "acknowledged" as Indian tribes, the U.S. Government accepts trusteeship of Tribal lands and natural resources. Tribal governments and members then become eligible to receive federal health, education, housing and other program and technical assistance.

The final rule and other information is online here.

Washington, D.C. * 11:00AM – The First Lady will deliver remarks at the first-ever Tribal Youth Gathering. The event will take place at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC. This event – cohosted by UNITY Inc., the largest Native youth organization in the country – focuses on creating a national dialogue around wellness, education, and opportunity for tribal youth. In her remarks, Mrs. Obama will speak to American Indian and Alaska Native youth from across the country about her Reach Higher initiative, the value of education, and the importance of pursuing their dreams.

As part of the President’s Generation Indigenous Initiative, the First Lady participated in a convening on Creating Opportunity for Native Youth. Additionally, as part of her effort to help build a healthier future for our next generation, Let’s Move! in Indian Country has partnered with 421 partners that represent community and tribal programs.

The First Lady’s remarks will be open press. Members of the media who wish to cover this event must RSVP HERE by 5:00pm ET on Wednesday, July 8th, 2015. For additional information about this event and media logistics, click HERE.

Friday, July 10, 2015

Updated: The White House * 11:00AM – As part of her Let’s Move! initiative, the First Lady will host the 2015 winners of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge, a nationwide recipe challenge for kids that promotes cooking and healthy eating, for the annual Kids’ “State Dinner.” The 55 aspiring young chefs and a parent or guardian will join the First Lady for a healthy lunch, featuring a selection of the winning recipes, and a special performance by the cast of Disney’s Tony Award-winning hit musical, Aladdin, followed by a visit to the White House Kitchen Garden.

“Reading over these winning recipes, two things become very clear,” says First Lady Michelle Obama. “America’s kids are passionate about not just eating healthy food, but about cooking healthy food, too. And we’re raising some truly inventive and talented chefs. I can’t wait to meet our 2015 winners and try some of their recipes at the Kids’ “State Dinner.’”

This is the fourth year of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge & Kids' "State Dinner" in which 8-12-year-old kids across the nation are invited to create a lunchtime recipe that is healthy, affordable, original, and delicious. In support of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, entrants were encouraged to reference information at ChooseMyPlate.gov to ensure recipes met the USDA’s recommended nutrition guidance. View a complete list of the 2015 Healthy Lunchtime Challenge winners HERE.

The winners’ announced arrivals on July 10 through the East Wing/Booksellers will be pooled press and the First Lady’s remarks at the lunch will be open press. Members of the media interested in covering this event must RSVP to FirstLadyPress@who.eop.gov with their full name, date of birth, social security number, gender, city and state of residence, and citizenship by 12:00pm ET on July 8th, 2015.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell joined Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Director Dr. Charles M. “Monty” Roessel today in announcing important funding to help further the Department of the Interior’s goal to transform and improve the quality of education students receive at tribal schools funded by the BIE.

A centerpiece of the transformation includes transferring control of BIE-funded schools from the BIE to the tribe the school serves. Local control will be facilitated through $1.45 million in grants to seven tribal nations who will use the funding to begin restructuring school governance, build capacity for academic success and develop curriculum that is both academically rigorous and culturally relevant to students. The Department received this funding in its FY2015 appropriation from Congress authorized under the Education Amendments Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2020).

“The future of Indian Country rests on ensuring American Indian and Alaska Native children receive a world-class education that honors their cultures, languages and identities as Native people,” said Secretary Jewell. “This funding reflects President Obama’s commitment to promote tribal self-governance and self-determination, enabling the BIE to more effectively support tribal nations who best understand the unique needs of their communities.”

Today’s announcement supports the Obama Administration’s Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative, which is intended to remove barriers to Native youth success. Today, in conjunction with the funding announcement, the White House is hosting its first-ever Tribal Youth Gathering. The gathering provides Native youth from across the country the opportunity to interact directly with senior Administration officials and the White House Council on Native American Affairs, chaired by Secretary Jewell.

“This funding will help keep students in school and on the path to graduation while furthering the President’s commitment to creating opportunities for Native students to receive a great education,” said Assistant Secretary Washburn. “It lays the foundation for instilling in all BIE students the belief that they can perform well in school, obtain a degree, and prepare for a promising future.”

The governance capacity and curriculum development grants are awarded to the following tribal nations:

• Hopi Tribe, AZ
• Navajo Nation, AZ
• Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, ND
• Pueblo of Acoma, NM
• Santa Clara Indian Pueblo, NM
• Oglala Sioux Tribe, SD
• Rosebud Sioux Tribe, SD

“The Tribal Education Departments National Assembly (TEDNA) applauds Congress and the Department for providing more opportunities for tribal nations to have more control over the education of their tribal members,” said TEDNA Executive Director Quinton Roman Nose. “These Section 2020 grants will help ensure that students attending BIE-funded schools will receive a culturally rich and academically rigorous education.”

Additionally, Interior is awarding $995,000 to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) to be disbursed among 20 Tribal Colleges and Universities and the two BIE-operated post-secondary schools (Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, N.M.). AIHEC works with more than 45 BIE-funded elementary and secondary schools to create college pathway programs that will help more K-12 BIE students graduate from high school and continue to college.

“As part of our continuing efforts to re-imagine the Bureau of Indian Education as a capacity-builder and service-provider to tribes in the education of their children, the Bureau will work in partnership with tribes and AIHEC to not only improve student performance and strengthen student preparedness for college, but to build a college-going culture throughout the BIE school system,” said Director Monty Roessel. “I want to thank AIHEC for supporting all BIE students by partnering with us to achieve these worthy goals.”

“AIHEC is thrilled to partner with the BIE through this cooperative agreement and support their overall efforts to increase tribal self-determination,” said AIHEC President and CEO Carrie L. Billy. “AIHEC and TCUs are ideally positioned to work with BIE schools to make a significant impact on AI/AN academic performance and participation, yet the benefits of our partnership are far greater – they go right to the core of who we are as Indian people today.”

In 2013, Jewell and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan convened the American Indian Education Study Group to propose a comprehensive reform plan to ensure that all students attending BIE-funded schools receive a quality education. Based on listening sessions held throughout Indian country, the Study Group issued a Blueprint for Reform in June 2014. The Blueprint recommends that BIE support tribal nations in their efforts to assume control over BIE-funded schools. To date, tribes are operating two-thirds of BIE-funded schools.

The Department will soon release a summary of the BIE’s progress on the five educational reform goals published in the Blueprint and the strides towards improving the education of students in BIE-funded schools. This report takes stock of the Department’s progress approximately one year after President Obama’s historic trip to Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Nation in Cannonball, N.D. in June 2014. The report affirms that while the BIE is making important progress, more work needs to be done, and the Department remains committed to improving the lives of Native youth across the country by providing students a world-class education at BIE-funded schools.

The BIE oversees 183 elementary and secondary schools, including 14 off-reservation boarding schools and peripheral dormitories 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. TEDNA is The Tribal Education Departments National Assembly, Co. (“TEDNA”), is a nonprofit organization.

TEDNA is a membership organization for the Education Departments of American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes. Since 2003, TEDNA serves its member tribal education departments by fostering effective relationships with other governmental and educational agencies, and supporting and encouraging each member nation’s right to define and reach its own educational goals for its students, families, and communities wherever they may be located.

AIHEC is a nonprofit organization that represents the nation's 37 Tribal Colleges and Universities – a unique community of tribally and federally chartered institutions working to strengthen tribal nations and make a lasting difference in the lives of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Since 1973, AIHEC serves its network of member institutions through public policy, advocacy, research, and program initiatives to ensure strong tribal sovereignty through excellence in American Indian higher education.

WASHINGTON – Following extensive environmental and economic analyses and robust tribal and public outreach, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Mike Connor today approved the Four Corners Power Plant (FCPP) and Navajo Mine Energy Project in northwestern New Mexico, under a plan that would minimize and mitigate the project’s projected environmental impacts while maintaining the substantial economic benefits of coal mining and energy production for the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe and local communities.

The executed Record of Decision (ROD) approves a 25-year site lease extension with the Navajo Nation for the Four Corners Power Plant, authorizes continued mining operations to supply the power plant’s remaining units, renews transmission line and access road rights-of-way on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations, and accepts the proposed mining plan for the Navajo Mine.

The project will support continued operation of the remaining two units at FCPP and is expected to support 2,340 jobs statewide and may produce as much as $40 to 60 million annually in direct revenue for the Navajo Nation. Of the action alternatives considered by DOI, the preferred alternative would permit the smallest area, minimize impacts to water resources and air quality and allow the fewest roadways compared to other proposed action alternatives. It also includes protections for wildlife, cultural and archaeological resources.

“Today’s decision includes a robust suite of mitigation measures designed to reduce the potential environmental impacts of the project to the greatest extent possible, while still supporting earlier pollution reduction measures, and promoting tribal self-determination and economic development,” said Deputy Secretary Connor.

The FCPP, an existing coal-fired electric generating station, that receives coal solely from the Navajo Tribal Coal Lease area, is jointly owned by five utilities, and currently generates 1,540 megawatts of energy for regional consumers. In response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Federal Implementation Plan for the Best Available Retrofit Technology for FCPP, the plant operators shut down three of the five units, and agreed to install selective catalytic reduction devises on the remaining two units. These actions significantly reduce emissions from the FCPP and decrease the amount of air pollutants emitted. The Navajo Nation’s Pinabete Permit Area includes previously permitted but undeveloped reserves that would supply coal to the power plant for up to 25 years, based on current projected customer needs. The permittee is the Navajo Transitional Energy Company, a wholly owned limited liability company of the Navajo Nation.

The ROD’s supporting Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), prepared by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), analyzes the project’s anticipated effects on air emissions, greenhouse gases, water quality and other resources. The EIS was developed in close cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Other Cooperating Agencies include: Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Park Service; the EPA; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe. The final EIS was published on May 1, 2015.

The project review process included substantial tribal consultation and public outreach. OSMRE also consulted with FWS on impacts to threatened and endangered species and identified reasonable and prudent measures necessary for four species and their habitat. In addition, OSMRE developed programmatic agreements with the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, the proponents, and other federal and state agencies to provide for appropriate mitigation of archaeological and cultural resources that may be encountered with this project.

Public announcements were made in Navajo, Hopi and English in local newspapers and radio stations and a scoping period from July 18, 2012, to November 1, 2012, included nine public meetings in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. From March 28, 2014 to June 27, 2014, the public comment period on the Draft EIS also included nine public meetings in those states. All meetings had Navajo and Hopi interpreters as needed. OSMRE also considered comments received after publishing the Final EIS on May 1, 2015. The ROD is available here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In keeping with President Obama’s commitment to empowering tribal nations, rebuilding their homelands and strengthening their economies, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that he has approved the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians’ probate code, which the Department of the Interior’s Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) will start applying when probating trust or restricted lands within the Fond du Lac Reservation in Minnesota. The OHA will use the tribe’s code to determine how an individual’s trust or restricted fee lands within the reservation will pass to his or her heirs upon the person’s death.

“I want to congratulate the Fond du Lac Band on becoming the next tribal government to establish its code under which trust estates within its reservation can be probated,” Washburn said. “Developing its own Tribal Probate Code is a significant exercise of tribal sovereignty and is fundamental to a tribe’s ability through that process to ensure that property is distributed according to their tribal member’s preferences.”

Approval of tribal probate codes is one of many steps the Obama Administration is taking within a larger effort to empower tribes by restoring tribal homelands while addressing the historical problems of land fractionation. Additional elements of this strategy include implementation of the Department’s Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, which carries out the land consolidation provisions of the historic Cobell Settlement, as well as Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership (or HEARTH) Act approvals, which allow federally recognized tribes with approved leasing regulations to negotiate and enter into leases without further Secretarial approvals, and prioritizing the land-into-trust process. The combination of these actions has the potential to unlock millions of acres of fractionated lands for the benefit of tribal communities.

"The Band's Probate Code will reduce land fractionation and improve its ability to make productive use of land on our reservation," said Fond du Lac Chairwoman Karen R. Diver, who met with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell Tuesday morning to discuss the Band’s Probate Code. "In the long run,” Diver told Secretary Jewell, “the Probate Code will provide additional services to our tribal members, help the Band to reduce its housing shortage and promote economic development.”

Application of tribal probate codes helps to make certain that tribal preferences for inheritance are applied during the probate process. Other crucial streamlining elements include proactive estate planning and increased participation by Indian trust property owners in the probate process. Having a will in place may help ensure that an individual’s trust property is distributed according to the person’s wishes and can vitally assist in the administration of the deceased’s estate. Also important is the cooperation of family members with the appropriate Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agency or regional office in the preparation of probate files, which further helps the OHA make progress in reducing its substantial probate caseload.

Under the American Indian Probate Reform Act (AIPRA) of 2004 federally recognized tribes have the ability to present the Department with their own tribally enacted probate codes that govern the descent and distribution of Indian trust properties within their jurisdictions. The Fond du Lac Band is only the third tribe to gain approval of its own probate code – the others are the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Montana and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon, which were approved in November 2014 and May 2008, respectively.

“The approval of an AIPRA-compliant tribal probate code for the Fond du Lac people is a good achievement as it will remind all Indian landowners that under AIPRA they need to have a written and properly executed will if they want to direct how their trust assets will be distributed to their heirs,” said Chris Stainbrook, president of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. “They also need to know that a number of tribes have pre-AIPRA partial probate codes that strictly limit inheritance of land interests to their tribal members.”

Lands allotted to individual American Indians in the 19th and early 20th centuries now have hundreds and sometimes even thousands of individual owners, thereby making it difficult to lease or develop the parcels. As a result, highly fractionated allotments lie idle, unable to be used for any economically beneficial purpose. Because fractionation often increases when an allotment property owner dies without leaving a will, individual owners and tribes can address in part the fractionation problem through careful attention to wills and probate issues, including adoption of tribal probate codes.

The Department of the Interior holds about 56 million acres of land in trust for American Indians, with more than 10 million acres held for individuals and nearly 46 million acres for federally recognized tribes. The Department holds this land in more than 200,000 tracts, of which about 92,000 (on approximately 150 reservations) contain fractional ownership interests subject to purchase by the Land Buy-Back Program. The Cobell Settlement provided $1.9 billion to purchase fractionated interests in trust or restricted fee land from willing sellers, at fair market value, within a 10-year period.

For more information on the probate and estate planning process, please visit www.bia.gov/yourland/. For more information on the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, please visit http://www.doi.gov/buybackprogram/index.cfm. A photo of Secretary Sally Jewell (at right) and Chairwoman Karen Diver can be viewed at https://flic.kr/p/wVzMoc.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn today announced that DOI University will pilot an interactive training course for Federal employees and tribal representatives engaged in tribal consultation, and will launch the course at the National Indian Programs Training Center in Albuquerque, N.M., on August 25-27, 2015.

The course, Consulting with Tribal Nations, was developed in response to the mandate found in the Department’s Policy on Consultation with Indian Tribes issued in December of 2011. That policy mandates training as a means of improving the government-to government relationship with Federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and increasing consultation regarding decisions that affect tribal interests. In 2012, DOI University convened a cross-Departmental team of subject matter experts who developed the Consulting with Tribal Nations course and the online prerequisite training to improve Interior’s capacity to promote communication, collaboration and consultation with tribes and execute the consultation provisions of Section VII of the Department‘s Policy on Consultation with Indian Tribes.

“As a Department, we have a great deal of experience in tribal consultation and yet we can continue to improve,” said Assistant Secretary Washburn. “The training course will provide the knowledge, skills and tools necessary for tribal and Interior staff to make consultation more productive. The online and classroom work is designed to increase awareness and understanding of tribal sovereignty, the federal trust responsibility to tribes and cross-cultural perspectives. Participants will come away with an understanding of how best to engage in tribal consultation and listen to tribes, improving the Department’s ability to make policy for Indian Country and beyond.”

The Departmental team, led by DOI University and comprised of representatives from eight Interior bureaus, created a tribal consultation competency model that became the framework for the training. The model includes seven competency clusters: Legal and Technical Expertise; Intercultural Communication; Building Relationships; Effective Consultation Practices; Interest-based Consultation; Decision-making; and Facilitation Skills, and 47 associated competencies. Using the competency model as a guide, the team developed the learning objectives and a draft course outline for the online prerequisite training and the classroom-based course. DOI University contracted with the Falmouth Institute, a consulting and training company dedicated to serving Indian Country, to complete the course development. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center was instrumental in helping with the production of the prerequisite training videos.

Consulting with Tribal Nations is open to Interior and other federal employees and to tribal members and will be offered at a variety of training sites across the country. The course builds on the knowledge gained in the online prerequisite training and provides an opportunity to participate in a mock consultation. The online prerequisite training is a series of three 45-minute videos that cover Tribal Sovereignty, Doctrine of Trust Responsibility, and an Overview of the Consultation process. These online videos are an excellent resource for those employees who are not involved in tribal consultations, but who need to be familiar with Interior’s commitment to tribal consultation. The two-and-a-half-day classroom-based Consulting with Tribal Nations is targeted to those who need more in-depth knowledge of the tribal consultation fundamentals, process and practices. Tuition is $525 per person. DOI employees can register through DOI Learn. Others can register at https://doiu.doi.gov/.

The obligation to engage in meaningful consultations with the Federally recognized tribes is rooted in the United States Constitution and Federal treaties, statutes, executive orders and policies. Federal agencies are required to consult with Federally recognized tribes on actions that will have substantial, direct effect or implications for them, including regulations, rulemakings, policy, guidance, legislative proposals, grant formula changes, and operational activities. The tribal consultation training will reinforce Interior’s commitment to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with the tribes and promote a new era of consultation.

Tribal consultations should emphasize trust, respect and shared responsibility; promote enhanced communication; and demonstrate a meaningful commitment to ensure continuity in the process. Enhanced consultations honor the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Indian tribes, and comply with the Presidential Memorandum of November 5, 2009, which obligates Interior to meet the spirit and intent of Executive Order 13175.

Interior’s Department-wide policy on tribal consultations seeks the appropriate level of decision-maker in the process; promotes innovative communication; details early tribal involvement in the design of a process that could affect tribal interests; and captures a wide range of policy and decision-making processes under the consultation umbrella. Inclusion of tribes in the Department’s decision-making processes help ensure that future Federal action is achievable, comprehensive, long-lasting, and reflective of tribal wisdom.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced a new Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS) program to assist federally recognized tribal social services agencies seeking to place children in safe homes.

“The BIA-OJS Purpose Code X Program will provide tribal social service agencies with the information they need to protect the children they place into care in emergency situations when parents are unable to provide for their welfare,” Washburn said. “This program provides BIA law enforcement personnel with the ability to provide our social service agency partners with much needed information to help to make sure children requiring emergency placements will be placed in safe homes.”

The BIA-OJS Purpose Code X Program arose out of a 2014 working group formed by the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and the Interior (DOI) to identify sustainable solutions that provide tribes access to national crime information that addresses criminal and civil needs of tribes. The outcome of this collaboration was the BIA-OJS Purpose Code X Program and DOJ Tribal Access Program for National Crime Information (TAP) TAP will allow tribes to more effectively serve and protect their communities by ensuring the exchange of critical data.

Under the BIA-OJS Purpose Code X Program, BIA-OJS dispatch centers will be available to provide 24-hour access to criminal history records, so name-based checks can be done immediately. Protocols for operating under the new program are being developed by BIA-OJS and will be tested by a select number of tribes prior to a nationwide implementation of the program.

BIA-OJS obtained authorization to perform these name-based checks from the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Council, an organization which has the legal authority to promulgate rules and procedures governing the exchange of criminal records for non-criminal justice purposes.

“The BIA Office of Justice Services and DOJ’s Office of Tribal Justice have made collaboration on improving tribal access to information a high priority over the last year, and I am grateful to the Compact Council for approving our request so quickly,” said BIA OJS Deputy Director Darren A. Cruzan.

OJS has also worked to improve tribal reporting to the Uniform Crime Report system and encouraged tribal participation in the National Data Exchange (NDEx) system.

All of these efforts underscore the importance of the exchange of information between law enforcement agencies to achieving public safety in all jurisdictions, including Indian Country.

The BIA-OJS’s mission is to address public safety concerns in Indian Country by funding law enforcement, correctional departments and tribal court services to the nation’s federally recognized tribes. It also coordinates emergency preparedness support on federal Indian lands by working cooperatively with other federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies throughout Indian Country. The BIA-OJS operates the Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M., which provides training and professional development to BIA and tribal law enforcement personnel.

Visit http://www.indianaffairs.gov/WhoWeAre/BIA/OJS/index.htm for more information about OJS and its work.

For more information on TAP, visit www.justice.gov/tribal/tribal-access-program-tap.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and the Tulalip Tribes of Washington will co-host a VAWA Tribal Trial Advocacy Skills Training session September 2-4, 2015, for tribal court judges, prosecutors and criminal defenders covering basic trial advocacy skills and the use of special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction (SDVCJ) authority granted federally recognized tribes by the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 (VAWA). The training will take place on the Tulalip Reservation.

“VAWA is a historic step forward in public safety because it recognizes the central role tribes must play if we are serious about addressing the chronic problem of domestic violence in Indian Country,” said Kevin K. Washburn, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs. “We support tribal governments addressing this problem because we know that some problems can only be solved within the community.”

Trainers include experienced judges, public defenders, prosecutors, law school faculty, and federal attorneys from the Interior Department and the U.S. Department of Justice. The training will cover basic trial advocacy skills from the point of view of the parties and the bench, as well as information about prosecuting non-Indian defendants under VAWA. The training will consist of joint skill lectures and separate skills practice for each cohort, and will end with a mock trial in the Tulalip Tribal Courthouse.

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 under the VAWA SDVCJ. The Intertribal Technical-Assistance Working Group (ITWG) is a voluntary working group of designated tribal representatives launched by the Department of Justice as part of the Pilot Project phase of VAWA SDVCJ implementation. For more information on the ITWG, visit www.ncai.org/tribal-vawa.

Tulalip is the second tribe to co-host the Directorate’s VAWA training series this year. In May, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona co-hosted the Directorate’s first training session, which utilized curriculum based on the Tribe’s experience from its first year of exercising SDVCJ authority.

Tulalip and Pascua Yaqui Tribes are among five tribes approved as pilot projects to exercise VAWA SDVCJ authority on an accelerated basis. The OJS Tribal Justice Support Directorate plans to continue the series with a training hosted by the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate in spring 2016 as well as plans to work with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to bring the VAWA training series to other parts of Indian Country.

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. 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. Furthermore, 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, defender, and judicial.

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 with The Tulalip Tribes of Washington a VAWA Tribal Trial Advocacy Skills Training session that will cover basic trial advocacy skills and the use of special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction (SDVCJ) authority granted to federally recognized tribes by the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 (VAWA).

WHEN: September 2-4, 2015 (PDT)

• Wednesday, Sept. 2 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Hilbulb Cultural Center
• Thursday, Sept. 3 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Hilbulb Cultural Center
• Friday, Sept. 4 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Tulalip Tribal Court

WHERE: Hilbulb Cultural Center, 6410 23rd Ave NE, Tulalip, WA 98271 Tulalip Tribal Court, 6103 31st Ave NE, Tulalip, WA 98271

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