OPA

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has issued a finding of no significant environmental impact from a proposed project to drill for oil or gas on land adjacent to the Coushatta Indian Reservation, in Louisiana.

The proposal calls for the drilling of a well on private land that is close enough to the Indian's trust land, that it would become part of the producing unit if oil or gas are located.

According to an environmental assessment completed by the Bureau, any potential impacts to use of the trust lands, wildlife habitats, and air/water qualities are judged to be either absent of insignificant. The drilling, development and production activity will be done under a proposal made by L&T Exploration Inc.

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The Bureau of Indian Affairs has announced that it is publishing in the Federal Register, July 21, 1982, regulations to govern the preparation of a membership roll of the Pribilof Islands Aleut Communities of St. Paul and St. George. The roll to be prepared will serve as a basis for a per capita distribution of judgment funds awarded to the communities by the U.S. Court of Claims.

For additional information, contact the Enrollment Coordinator, Enrollment Coordinating Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pouch 7-1971, Anchorage, Alaska 99510, telephone 907/271-3761.

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Revised regulations governing Indian fishing on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation are being published in the Federal Register, July 29, 1982, Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith said today.

The regulations, which become effective August 1, ban gillnet fishing during the fall chinook run from 9 a.m. Monday to 5 p.m. Wednesday of each week and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays.

Proposed regulations were published for review and comment June 1. The Federal Register notice includes information on changes recommended and made and those that were not made.

Normally, tribal governments are responsible for regulation of Indian fishing on a reservation. Such tribal regulation has not been possible on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation because not all tribes on the reservation have functioning governments. Consequently, the Department of the Interior issues regulations to protect the fishery resources and to establish procedures for the exercise of the fishing rights of the Indians of the reservation.

For further information contact Wilson Barber, Superintendent, Northern California Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, P.O. Box 367, Hoopa, California 95546 (916/625-4285).

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The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) today issued a proposed finding for Federal acknowledgement of The Nipmuc Nation headquartered in Sutton, Massachusetts, saying the Nation (petitioner) meets the seven criteria for Federal acknowledgement under 25 CFR Part 83. The positive proposed finding states that the petitioner exists as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law and meets the requirements for a government-to-government relationship with the United States. The Bureau found that a substantial portion of the petitioner’s members have ancestry from the contact-era Nipmuc bands, except through the twelve Nipmuc “praying towns” established by missionary John Eliot in the 1660s and 1670s. After the King Philip’s War of 1675-1676, there was continuity in the re-establishment of Hassanamisco and Chaubunagungamaug bands by prewar refugees who had gone to Natick, Massachusetts. There is continuity for both Hassanamisco and Chaubunagungamaug from the early 18th century through 1869, the date of the Massachusetts Enfranchisement Act and the commonwealth’s termination of trust responsibility over the land and funds of the two reservation bands.

The Nipmuc Nation, formerly The Nipmuc Nation, Hassanamisco Band, will now be subject to a 180-day public comment period and a 60-day response period after which the Bureau will issue a final determination. If this final determination is also positive, then members of The Nipmuc Nation will be eligible for certain rights and benefits accorded to tribes that have Federal recognition, which establishes that a special government-to-government relationship exists between the tribe and the United States. Currently, there are 561 Federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The address of The Nipmuc Nation is 156 -BIA-Worcester-Providence Road, Suite 28, Sutton Square Mall, Sutton, MA 01527.

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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – President Bush has proposed a $2.2 billion budget for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Fiscal Year 2002 that includes an increase of $65.9 million over the FY2001 appropriation. The increase will strengthen the commitment to replace, maintain and operate Indian schools, reform trust management, and ensure public safety in Indian Country. In addition, the request calls for increases in spending on Indian water and land claims settlements. “This request reflects the Bush administration’s determination to protect the rights of American Indian and Alaska Native citizens,” said James McDivitt, Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs.

The BIA, which has the major responsibility for Indian matters within the U.S. Department of the Interior, carries out the Federal trust responsibility for and provides services to approximately 1.4 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who are members of 561 federally recognized Tribes in the 48 contiguous United States and Alaska. The President’s FY2002 budget emphasizes areas of priority in Indian Country, including quality education within structurally sound and adequately equipped and maintained school facilities, continued improvement of trust management services, and implementation of recently authorized Indian lands and water rights settlements.

The Federal government is the sole funding source for two school systems: the Department of Defense schools for military dependents, and 185 elementary and secondary schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the education of American Indian children on reservations throughout the U.S. Over several decades, BIA schools have suffered from neglect and disrepair, which has had a direct impact on student learning and safety.

The FY2002 request for BIA School Construction is $292.5 million, an increase of $162,000 over the FY2001 enacted level. The construction budget includes $122.8 million for replacement facilities for six schools: Polacca Day School, Polacca, Ariz.; Holbrook Dormitory, Holbrook, Ariz.; Wingate Elementary School Dormitory, Ft. Wingate, N.M.; Santa Fe Indian School, Santa Fe, N.M.; Ojibwa Indian School, Belcourt, N.D.; and Paschal Sherman Indian School, Omak, Wash. The request also provides $5.0 million for advance planning and design of future replacement schools.

In addition to replacement school construction, the FY2002 budget request includes $161.6 million to address critical health and safety concerns at existing education facilities. The request, an increase of $13.6 million over 2001, will fund maintenance and repair projects to reduce the backlog of needed repairs to BIA school buildings. “This is one of Secretary Norton’s highest priorities and a positive step in the right direction to bring the BIA school system into the 21st century. Indian children deserve, as do all children, to be educated in safe and healthy learning environments,” said Acting Assistant Secretary James McDivitt.

The FY2002 School Operations budget supports the President’s commitment to “leave no child behind” by providing quality educational opportunities for American Indians and Alaska Natives from early childhood through adulthood. The request for School Operations, which funds operations at BIA schools and dormitories, is $504.0 million, including a program increase of $9.1 million over FY2001. The increase will ensure that BIA schools maintain accreditation and have access to computers and other critical learning tools. The request also provides a $1.0 million increase for operating grants to 25 tribally controlled community colleges.

As part of the Department’s ongoing Trust Management Improvement project, the BIA is working with the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians to reform current trust systems, policies, practices and procedures. To ensure trust management improvements are sustained, the FY2002 budget request includes $118.4 million for several BIA trust services programs and related efforts, an increase of $14.1 million over FY2001. Of the increase, $12.0 million is a program increase for BIA real estate services and appraisals, probate functions, land titles and records offices, tribal courts, background security checks for BIA employees and contractors, management support for national resources and trust land revenues, and information resource management and trust records security.

To meet Federal requirements for recently authorized settlements resolving longstanding claims to water and lands in California, Colorado, Michigan, New Mexico and Utah, the FY2002 budget request of $60.9 million includes an increase of $23.5 million to fund the Colorado Ute-Animas LaPlata settlement ($8.0 million), the Torres-Martinez settlement ($6.0 million), the Shivwitz Band settlement ($5.0 million) and the Santo Domingo Pueblo settlement ($2.0 million), and to complete the Federal commitment for tribal payments in the U.S. v Michigan Great Lakes fishing settlement consent decree ($6.3 million). The budget request also includes funding for the Ute Indian Rights Settlement ($24.7 million) and the Rocky Boy’s Reservation Indian reserved water rights settlement ($7.95 million). Furthermore, additional funds have been requested to provide continued support for the BIA’s Law Enforcement Program to improve public safety and justice in Indian Country. The FY2002 budget request of $160.7 million includes a $5.0 million increase for basic detention services, such as dispatchers and detention officers. The increase will assist Tribes with costs associated with the opening of new detention centers.

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WASHINGTON - The new Interior officials confirmed by the Senate last week will be sworn-in by Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton at a ceremony tomorrow, July 17, at 1:15 p.m. The ceremony will take place outside on the Department’s rooftop terrace.

“I am no longer home alone as was dubbed recently by the Washington press core,” said Norton. “These highly qualified and extraordinarily talented professionals represent the beginning of an outstanding team at the Department of the Interior. They all believe in communicating with people of good faith and cooperating and collaborating in the service of conservation. This leadership team will listen to local concerns and make responsible decisions that are committed to the wise stewardship of our precious lands for the sake of our children and for future generations of Americans.”

Note to Editors: Credentialed media covering the event should enter the Interior Department through the C Street entrance.

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(WASHINGTON) – Interior Secretary Gale Norton, accompanied by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb, will be the keynote speaker at the National Indian School Board Association’s 2001 Summer Institute conference on Tuesday, July 24, at 8:30 a.m. (PST) at the Doubletree Jantzen Beach Hotel in Portland, Ore.

NISBA’s members serve on local school boards that educate children in Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded schools. NISBA’s mission is to support quality education in a safe environment from early childhood through life in accordance with the Tribes’ needs for cultural and economic well-being, and to consider the spiritual, mental, physical and cultural aspects of a person with his or her family, community and tribe.

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NORTHERN NEW MEXICO: Under sunny skies, tribal leaders from the Taos, Picuris and Tesuque Pueblos met with Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb to discuss a number of different road projects the Bureau of lndian Affairs has implemented this year. The visit by the Assistant Secretary fulfills a promise to make these road projects a priority in the Southwest Region by providing the necessary resources to overcome past problems associated with private contractors and Bureau employees.

Thousands of visitors travel each year to visit the ancient Pueblos located in Northern New Mexico to witness the cultural festivals and various landmarks of the region and a well designed and maintained road system is essential to ensure their safety. Access to safe roads for local residents is necessary to increase the economic development opportunities of the region.

A two-lane paved road project for Tesuque Pueblo was completed in July, while bridge replacement projects at Picuris and Taos Pueblos will start in early August and is scheduled for completion later this year. Through meetings with the Bureau of lndian Affairs Transportation Department the tribes have had a lot of concerns addressed in the preliminary stages of design and construction enabling them to get projects that meet their needs and Federal requirements.

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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb today issued a proposed finding to decline to acknowledge the Ohlone/Costanoan Muwekma Tribe, also known as the “Muwekma Tribe,” the 400-member group based in San Jose, Calif. The Assistant Secretary found that the petitioner did not meet three of the seven mandatory criteria for Federal acknowledgement under 25 CFR Part 83, thereby automatically resulting in a proposed negative finding.

The Muwekma had filed a petition under the Bureau of Indian Affairs administrative process for Federal acknowledgment. Under the regulations, the petitioner has the burden to provide evidence under the seven criteria. In reviewing the evidence, Bureau experts found that the petitioner did not meet three of the criteria.

The first criterion requires that outsiders such as government officials, researchers, newspaper reporters and others would have identified them as an Indian entity on a continuous basis. No documents identified the petitioner as an Indian entity between 1927 and 1985 -- the year the Muwekma founded their current organization.

The second criterion requires the petitioner demonstrate that it lives in a social community. The evidence did not to show that the group constituted a community with a broad base of participation among members on varied issues. According to the petitioner’s own evidence, a majority of members were not part of the group before 1995.

The third criterion requires the petitioner to show named political leaders and that it has political influence over its members. The petitioner’s evidence did not to show that it had maintained group decision-making processes from 1927 to the present. No political activities or leaders were specified between 1927 and 1985. Since 1985, however, some members were involved in archeological monitoring and public displays of heritage, but little evidence was shown that decisions were made or problems solved using group processes that involved the membership as a whole.

However, the petitioner did meet four criteria: it submitted a governing document; submitted evidence that all of its members descend from individuals on residential censuses of Indian settlements near Pleasanton, Calif., between 1905 and 1910, or descend from siblings of those residents; its members are not enrolled with federally recognized tribes; and the group or its members have not been terminated by congressional act. Today’s proposed finding was made following a January 16, 2001, U.S. District Court decision ordering the Bureau to issue a proposed finding in the case by today. The Muwekma brought the suit to speed up the government’s processing of their petition. The public and interested parties may now submit comments until October 29, 2001, to the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, Attention: Branch of Acknowledgement and Research, 1849 C Street, N.W., MS-4660-MIB, Washington, D.C. 20240. After the Muwekma have had an opportunity to respond to the finding and public comments, the Bureau will issue a final determination by March 11, 2002.

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(CHICHILTAH, N.M.) – With the click of a mouse by Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb, the Chichiltah/Jones Ranch Community School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs facility located in Chichiltah, N.M., today officially opened its portal to the Internet. His action also successfully completed the BIA’s four-year effort to bring all of its schools online.

“This is a tremendous moment in the history of the BIA and Chichiltah Community School,” said McCaleb. “Now, Chichiltah’s students and teachers have access to online information resources that have long been available to their peers in schools across America.” Chichiltah/Jones Ranch Community School is a K-8 boarding and day school serving 206 students and is located on the Navajo reservation in northwestern New Mexico.

Assistant Secretary McCaleb was accompanied by William A. Mehojah, Jr., director of the Office of Indian Education Programs, which administers the Bureau’s 185-school system, and school principal Jenny Jimenez. Chichiltah students, parents and teachers were also present to witness the occasion along with community elders and Navajo Nation tribal officials.

Chichiltah/Jones Ranch Community School is the last Bureau school to gain Internet access. It did so through the Access Native America project, a program started by OIEP in 1997 to connect BIA schools to the Internet and provide connectivity for the communities where the schools are located.

“Connectivity gives our children an important learning tool: the Internet,” McCaleb said. “But, through the Access Native America project, a telecommunications infrastructure can begin to be developed in Indian Country. As I see it, connectivity will be vitally important for tribes to deliver government services and build their economies, and in developing the work force to support both, now and in the future.”

The Access Native America project started with the Tiospa Zina Tribal School on the Sisseton-Wahpeton Reservation in South Dakota. Since then, OIEP has cabled classrooms, dormitories, administrative offices and libraries in schools serving 48,693 elementary and secondary American Indian students located on 63 reservations in 23 states, some in the remotest areas of the nation, such as the Havasupai School at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Sixty-seven schools utilize satellite technology to access the Internet due to the lack of a telecommunications infrastructure on their reservations.

“As a result of these efforts, our students can now experience a learning channel of boundless limits that provide a full connection to the outside world,” said Mehojah. “The beauty of this project is that it can reveal the creative intent and scope which strongly reflects the culture, values and traditions of Indian people progressing in step with the information superhighway.”

The Bureau partnered with the ProjectNeat Foundation and the Microsoft and Intel corporations for hardware and software support to the schools, the Universities of Kansas and Texas for education content and teacher training on integrating technology with curriculum, the U.S. Geological Survey for network-engineering services, and the Laguna Pueblo Tribal Education Department for additional training opportunities.

“By joining forces to foster community solutions,” Mehojah said, “the BIA, academia and private industry organizations have worked together to set the foundation to prepare our schools and students for a 21st century education.”

Chichiltah is also the last of four remaining facilities to be connected. The three immediately prior to Chichiltah are: Baca Community School, Prewitt, N.M.; Jicarilla Dormitory, Dulce, N.M., and Winslow Dormitory, Winslow, Ariz. The Bureau wired and connected approximately 45 schools last year.

The BIA provides services to and carries out the federal government’s trust responsibility for the 558 federally recognized Tribal governments and approximately 1.4 million American Indians and Alaska Natives nationwide.

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