OPA

Albuquerque, N.M. — The first of five in a series of listening sessions will begin Monday, August 13, 2012. The Obama Administration recognizes that the protection of sacred sites on federal lands is integral to traditional religious practices, tribal identities and emblematic of sovereign tribal nations. These sacred site listening sessions are intended to assist in developing policies that result in effective, comprehensive and long-lasting federal protection of, and tribal access to, the places that are so important to the fabric and culture of tribal nations.

To address tribal concerns regarding sacred sites issues, Interior will conduct listening sessions on sacred sites in general, as well as knowledge relating to specific sites on Interior-managed tribal trust and other federal lands. The Department will be better equipped to make decisions that are sensitive to the ceremonial use and physical integrity of sacred sites through the benefit of tribal input and views on such matters.

Because many Indian tribes have belief systems that discourage or even prohibit the disclosure of the location or other information about sacred sites and places, Interior will respect tribal requests that information about such locations be kept confidential and only share this information with appropriate agency personnel.

For all those unable to attend any of these listening sessions, please send your input/suggestions by September 21, 2012, via email to consultation@bia.gov or the U.S. Department of the Interior, attn.: Mr. Dion Killsback, Counselor to the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4141-MIB, Washington, DC 20240. Should you have additional questions, Mr. Killsback can be reached at (202) 208-6939.

CREDENTIALS: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) and valid media credentials.

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Albuquerque, N.M. — The first consultation on the Buy Indian Act will begin Tuesday, August 14, 2012. The Buy Indian Act provides Indian Affairs with the authority to set-aside procurement contracts for qualified Indian-owned businesses. This proposed rule describes uniform administrative procedures that Indian Affairs will use in all of its locations to encourage procurement of goods and services from eligible Indian economic enterprises, as authorized by the Buy Indian Act.

This rule has been in development for decades. The Bureau proposed this rule in the Federal Register on several prior occasions, but never succeeded in publishing a final rule. In 2010, Indian Affairs distributed a new draft of the rule and held three consultation sessions in preparation for the updated proposed rule.

The current proposed rule incorporates much of the previous consultations. Indian Affairs is committed to finalizing the rule by the end of the calendar year and is seeking written comments on this proposed rule to consultation@bia.gov by September 17, 2012, and/or hopes tribal representatives can attend one of the consultation sessions.

For more information contact: Jonodev Chaudhuri, Office of the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs, (202) 208–7163; jonodev.chaudhuri@bia.gov; or David Brown, Office of Acquisitions—Indian Affairs, (703) 390–6605, David.Brown@bia.gov.

CREDENTIALS: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) and valid media credentials.

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Billings, Mont. — The second of five in a series of listening sessions will begin Thursday, August 16, 2012. The Obama Administration recognizes that the protection of sacred sites on federal lands is integral to traditional religious practices, tribal identities and emblematic of sovereign tribal nations. These sacred site listening sessions are intended to assist in developing policies that result in effective, comprehensive and long-lasting federal protection of, and tribal access to, the places that are so important to the fabric and culture of tribal nations.

To address tribal concerns regarding sacred sites issues, Interior will conduct listening sessions on sacred sites in general, as well as knowledge relating to specific sites on Interior-managed tribal trust and other federal lands. The Department will be better equipped to make decisions that are sensitive to the ceremonial use and physical integrity of sacred sites through the benefit of tribal input and views on such matters.

Because many Indian tribes have belief systems that discourage or even prohibit the disclosure of the location or other information about sacred sites and places, Interior will respect tribal requests that information about such locations be kept confidential and only share this information with appropriate agency personnel.

For all those unable to attend any of these listening sessions, please send your input/suggestions by September 21, 2012, via email to consultation@bia.gov or the U.S. Department of the Interior, attn.: Mr. Dion Killsback, Counselor to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4141-MIB, Washington, DC 20240. Should you have additional questions, Mr. Killsback can be reached at (202) 208-6939.

CREDENTIALS: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) and valid media credentials.

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Sacramento, CA — The third consultation on the Buy Indian Act will begin Tuesday, August 21, 2012. The Buy Indian Act provides Indian Affairs with the authority to set-aside procurement contracts for qualified Indian-owned businesses. This proposed rule describes uniform administrative procedures that Indian Affairs will use in all of its locations to encourage procurement of goods and services from eligible Indian economic enterprises, as authorized by the Buy Indian Act.

This rule has been in development for decades. The Bureau proposed this rule in the Federal Register on several prior occasions, but never succeeded in publishing a final rule. In 2010, Indian Affairs distributed a new draft of the rule and held three consultation sessions in preparation for the updated proposed rule.

The current proposed rule incorporates much of the previous consultations. Indian Affairs is committed to finalizing the rule by the end of the calendar year and is seeking written comments on this proposed rule to consultation@bia.gov by September 17, 2012, and/or hopes tribal representatives can attend one of the consultation sessions.

For more information contact: Jonodev Chaudhuri, Office of the Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs, (202) 208–7163; jonodev.chaudhuri@bia.gov; or David Brown, Office of Acquisitions—Indian Affairs, (703) 390–6605, David.Brown@bia.gov.

CREDENTIALS: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) and valid media credentials.

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Prior Lake, Minn. — The third of five in a series of listening sessions will be held in the afternoon of Thursday, August 23, 2012. The Obama Administration recognizes that the protection of sacred sites on federal lands is integral to traditional religious practices, tribal identities and emblematic of sovereign tribal nations. These sacred site listening sessions are intended to assist in developing policies that result in effective, comprehensive and long-lasting federal protection of and tribal access to the places that are so important to the fabric and culture of tribal nations.

To address tribal concerns regarding sacred sites issues, Interior will conduct listening sessions on sacred sites in general, as well as knowledge relating to specific sites on Interior-managed tribal trust and other federal lands. The Department will be better equipped to make decisions that are sensitive to the ceremonial use and physical integrity of sacred sites through the benefit of tribal input and views on such matters.

Because many Indian tribes have belief systems that discourage or even prohibit the disclosure of the location or other information about sacred sites and places, Interior will respect tribal requests that information about such locations be kept confidential and only share this information with appropriate agency personnel.

For all those unable to attend any of these listening sessions, please send your input/suggestions by September 21, 2012, via email to consultation@bia.gov or the U.S. Department of the Interior, attn.: Mr. Dion Killsback, Counselor to the Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4141-MIB, Washington, DC 20240. Should you have additional questions, Mr. Killsback can be reached at (202) 208-6939.

CREDENTIALS: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) and valid media credentials.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Donald E. “Del” Laverdure today announced that, in addition to ongoing efforts by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to address reported child safety and protection deficiencies at the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, he is sending in a strike team of senior BIA officials from its Central Office to assess and evaluate efforts to improve the Tribe’s social services program. The decision to deploy senior officials to the region came at the urging of U.S. Senator Kent Conrad.

“In light of the continuing need to improve child safety and protection on the Spirit Lake Reservation, I have directed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to send in a ‘strike team’ of senior leadership officials who will conduct an in-depth assessment and evaluation of the ongoing efforts to assist the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe with improving its social services program,” Laverdure said. “While the BIA has been working closely with the Tribe and other stakeholders on this for several months, I feel it is incumbent upon me as the acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs to bring additional resources to bear on this critical matter for the people of Spirit Lake.”

Senior leadership officials being deployed include BIA Director Mike Black, Office of Indian Services (OIS) Deputy Bureau Director Hankie Ortiz, OIS Social Services Chief Sue Settles, and Office of Justice Services (OJS) Deputy Bureau Director Darren Cruzan.

The BIA OIS has been working with the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe since August 2011 to help it improve and strengthen its child safety and program compliance while respecting the Tribe’s inherent right of self-governance. The Tribe has administered the social services program under a Public Law 93-638 contract with the BIA since 2001.

In August 2011, the BIA’s Great Plains Regional Office’s (GPRO) Division of Human Services in Aberdeen, S.D., conducted its regular annual review of the program and found serious deficiencies in contract performance, including failing to follow regulations, a lack of documentation for critical child safety activities, and improper expenditures. A corrective action plan was issued and the Tribe has been working on addressing these deficiencies, with an intensive focus on critical child safety activities, with the BIA, the State of North Dakota Department of Human Services and the Indian Health Service (IHS).

Since the initial corrective action plan was issued by the BIA to the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribal Social Services program in November 2011, with a more detailed plan issued on April 23, 2012, the Bureau has provided financial, training, and technical assistance resources to the program.

In April 2012, the BIA provided one-time funding for a temporary social services worker to help the Tribe with addressing the deficiencies cited in its corrective action plan. Since then, the Bureau has detailed social workers from its Rosebud and Standing Rock Agencies in South Dakota and Rocky Mountain Regional Office in Billings, Mont., to Spirit Lake to work with the tribal social services program and oversee its efforts to improve compliance and reporting. It also has provided funding to the tribe for an additional Child Protection Worker as well as to the GPRO to hire another Child Welfare Specialist to provide intensive support to the tribes in the Great Plains Region, particularly the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe.

The BIA also has worked cooperatively, and continues to do so, with the Tribe and other stakeholders to ensure the program is gaining access to federal and state resources, and to provide the Tribe with additional assistance to help it address jurisdictional issues and training needs. For example, it formed a supportive coalition of stakeholders that includes the Spirit Lake Tribal Social Services program, the BIA Central Office, GPRO and Fort Totten (N.D.) Agency, the IHS, the North Dakota Department of Human Services, Ramsey County Social Services, Benson County Social Services, and state and local law enforcement.

It also has been working with the IHS to develop a tracking and coding system for suspected child abuse and neglect reports and to ensure that children under the tribal social services program can access the full range of IHS services. In addition, the GPRO has been and continues to monitor the program as it works on correcting deficiencies while coordinating BIA personnel and resources to support the Tribe’s efforts at improvement.

With the assistance of the BIA and other stakeholders, the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe Social Services program has made progress in the areas where it was deficient, and the BIA will continue to provide technical assistance, staffing and training to the program for the foreseeable future and as resources allow. Future efforts include:

• A follow-up program review by the GPRO during the week of September 10, 2012,

• Recruiting BIA social workers to assist with on-site monitoring and technical assistance for up to one year contingent on funding,

• Coordinating with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) on resources for the Tribe,

• Working with IHS on training for mandatory reporters,

• Establishing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, the BIA and law enforcement to complete National Crime Investigation Center federal background checks for each foster care placement, and

• Sending tribal social service child protection workers to the University of North Dakota for Child Welfare Certification training next month.

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 – that administer or fund tribally based infrastructure, law enforcement, social services, tribal governance, natural and energy resources and trust management programs for the nation’s federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages through 12 regional offices and 85 agencies.

-DOI-

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Donald E. “Del” Laverdure today issued the following statement on the recent passing of Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Chairman Stanley R. Crooks:

“Stanley Crooks, the late chairman of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minnesota, takes his place among the thoughtful, far-seeing and decisive tribal leaders that Indian Country has produced throughout history.

“He was a vigorous and dedicated advocate of tribal sovereignty and self-determination, and his commitment to the Dakota principle of sharing with others made him a leader in tribal philanthropy that helped to improve lives in many tribal communities in addition to his own. As the son of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s first chairman, Norman N. Crooks, and as a member of the U.S. Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a time of great peril for the United States, Chairman Crooks had the timber to be a great leader.

“His efforts to improve the lives of his people and others across Indian Country, and his leadership and vision on matters affecting all American Indians, will be deeply and sorely missed.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Donald E. “Del” Laverdure today announced additional actions that Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officials are taking to aid the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe in its efforts to improve child safety and protection on its reservation. On August 24, Laverdure announced that he was sending in a “strike team” of senior BIA officials to assess and evaluate efforts to improve the Tribe’s social services program at the urging of U.S. Senator Kent Conrad.

The team, comprised of BIA Director Mike Black, Office of Indian Services (OIS) Deputy Bureau Director Hankie Ortiz, OIS Human Services Chief Sue Settles, and Office of Justice Services (OJS) Deputy Bureau Director Darren Cruzan, accompanied by officials from the Bureau’s Great Plains Regional Office (GPRO) and Fort Totten Agency, arrived at the Fort Totten Reservation in North Dakota on August 26. On August 27 they met all day with the tribal chairman and other tribal representatives. Ortiz and Settles stayed the following day to meet with the Tribe’s new social services director to provide technical assistance, discuss a corrective action plan issued by the BIA to the Tribe in April 2012, and share the Bureau’s expectations for improvement.

“Protecting the youngest and most vulnerable tribal citizens is a high priority in our efforts to improve public safety in Indian Country,” Laverdure said. “I want to thank the Spirit Lake leadership for working with us to improve their social services program. I also want to thank our BIA employees who have been and are detailed to the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe for their dedication to the safety and protection of all children.”

The BIA will conduct a program review the week of September 10 and generate an internal report shortly thereafter that will give an assessment of the Tribe’s progress on the corrective action plan. The Bureau will then determine what steps are appropriate going forward. The goal is to help the Spirit Lake Tribe safely and successfully operate its social services program.

Settles will return to the reservation on September 3 where she will remain for the next two weeks to assist the Tribe and supervise BIA social workers detailed to the Tribe’s social services program. Starting on September 4, two supervisory social workers will arrive to assist tribal program staff in conducting home visits, following up on child protection referrals, and documenting such activities through appropriate protocols and forms.

BIA social workers also will continue assisting the program’s new director with developing policies and procedures to address deficiencies identified in the corrective action plan issued by the Bureau to the Tribe in April. Tribal social service child protection workers will be attending a series of training sessions starting next month at the University of North Dakota to attain Child Welfare Certification.

The Tribe has been conducting weekly meetings with community stakeholders on collaborative approaches to meeting the needs of its children.

The BIA OIS has been working with the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe since August 2011 to help it improve and strengthen its child safety and program compliance while respecting the Tribe’s inherent right of self-governance. The Tribe has administered the social services program under an Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistant Act (ISDEAA) Title I contract with the BIA since 2001.

In August 2011, the BIA’s Great Plains Regional Office’s Division of Human Services in Aberdeen, S.D., found serious deficiencies in contract performance. Since the initial corrective action plan was issued by the BIA to the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribal Social Services program in November 2011, with a more detailed plan issued on April 23, 2012, the Bureau has provided financial, training, and technical assistance resources to the program.

The BIA will continue to provide such assistance for the foreseeable future and as resources allow. Ongoing and future efforts include:

• Recruiting BIA social workers to assist with on-site monitoring and technical assistance for up to one year contingent on funding,
• Coordinating with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) on resources for the Tribe,
• Working with IHS on training for mandatory reporters, and
• Establishing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, the BIA and law enforcement to complete National Crime Investigation Center federal background checks for each foster care placement.

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 – that administer or fund tribally based infrastructure, law enforcement, social services, tribal governance, natural and energy resources and trust management programs for the nation’s federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages through 12 regional offices and 85 agencies.

-DOI-

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform will hold its next public meeting on Sept. 13-14, 2012, in Bismarck, N.D. It will be preceded by a public facilitated discussion hosted by Commissioner Tex Hall in the afternoon of Sept. 12 in New Town, N.D., for members of the public to share their perspectives about trust management and administration. In addition, a youth-outreach session will be held the evening of Sept. 13 at the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) in Bismarck.

The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform was established by Secretary Salazar in 2011 to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the Department’s management and administration of nearly $4 billion in American Indian trust assets over two years and to offer recommendations on improvements in the future. Building on progress made with the historic Cobell Settlement, the Commission will help to establish a new era of trust administration: one that stresses responsive, accountable, transparent, and customer-friendly management of these substantial funds and assets.

For more information about the Commission and its work, please visit the Interior Department website at http://www.doi.gov/cobell/commission/index.cfm.

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

-DOI-

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (OJS) will hold the third of six training sessions to improve the trial advocacy skills of tribal court prosecutors, defenders and judges on September 11-13, 2012, in Great Falls, Mont. This training session will focus on cases dealing with the sexual assault of children and adults.

The training is being conducted under the Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Training Program, a joint effort by the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice that furthers the mandate of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 (TOLA) to strengthen tribal sovereignty over criminal justice matters on federal Indian lands by sharpening the skills of those who practice within the tribal court system.

The program is the result of a collaborative effort by the OJS and DOJ’s Access to Justice Initiative (AJI) to offer trial advocacy training with courses designed specifically for tribal courts and free training to the judges, public defenders and prosecutors who work in them. Training is provided in three areas – domestic abuse, illegal narcotics and sexual assault on children and adults – with faculty and instructional materials prepared by experts knowledgeable about tribal court issues. The program is unique because it also has training specifically for public defenders.

NOTE: The dates and locations for two of the three remaining sessions have changed. The fourth session will now be held October 23-25 in Chinle, Ariz., and the fifth session will be held Nov. 13-15 in Seattle, Wash. The sixth and last session is still scheduled for January 15-17, 2013, in Albuquerque, N.M. The first and second sessions were held July 24-26 in Duluth, Minn., and August 14-16, in Ignacio, Colo.

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

-DOI-