OPA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, June 18, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes will hold a news media teleconference to discuss the next phase of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), including launching pilot efforts to establish cooperative agreements with Tribal governments. Hayes will be joined by Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn.

The Buy-Back Program implements the land consolidation provisions of the Cobell Settlement, which provides for a $1.9 billion Trust Land Consolidation Fund to consolidate fractional land interests across Indian Country. Allotments of land provided individual American Indians in the 19th and early 20th centuries now have hundreds and even thousands of individual owners, 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.

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WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services will offer the next in its series of training sessions for tribal court personnel on July 22-25, 2013, in Reno, Nev., with cases focusing on illegal narcotics. Because of a high level of interest, the Office of Justice Services (OJS) is continuing to provide legal training it successfully held in 2012 to new groups of tribal court prosecutors, defenders and judges to improve their trial advocacy skills. The training focuses on cases involving the trafficking of illegal narcotics, domestic violence and sexual assault on children and adults. The first two sessions in the 2013 Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Training Program series took place May 14-16 in Missoula, Mont., with a focus on domestic violence cases, and June 17-20 in Grand Forks, N.D., with cases concerning sexual assaults on children. Remaining training sessions and topics in the 2013 series are: August 6-9 in Philadelphia, Miss. (domestic violence) and December 2-5 in Oklahoma City (sexual assault on adults). All of the sessions include a roundtable discussion on the Violence Against Women Act. Tribal court trial advocacy training is mandated by the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and is being conducted under the Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Training Program – a joint effort of the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that furthers the mandate of the Act 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 the DOJ’s Access to Justice Initiative to offer trial advocacy training with courses designed specifically for tribal courts and

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free training to the judges, public defenders and prosecutors who work in them. Training will be conducted by working law professionals using instructional materials prepared by experts knowledgeable about tribal court issues. The program is unique for its public defenders training. President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act on March 7, 2013. It includes important provisions for federally recognized tribes to combat violence against Native women such as homicide, rape, assault and battery in the home, workplace and on school campuses throughout Indian Country.

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

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to empower tribal nations, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, on behalf of the United States, today signed an historic agreement at the Department of the Interior guaranteeing water rights for the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona. The agreement will also provide funding for infrastructure to deliver clean drinking water to the Reservation, as well as water security for the City of Phoenix and other downstream water users.

Joining Secretary Jewell were White Mountain Apache Chairman Ronnie Lupe and officials from the Tribe and the State of Arizona, including Representative Ann Kirkpatrick and former Senator Jon Kyl. The Secretary’s signature provides final Federal approval of the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Agreement, first authorized as part of the Claims Resolution Act of 2010.

The signing ceremony comes on the heels of the first meeting of the President’s new White House Council on Native American Affairs, chaired by Secretary Jewell yesterday and attended by other Cabinet members and senior Administration officials.

“Today we are taking a key step in fulfilling the Administration’s commitment to resolving water rights in a manner that benefits Indian tribes and provides certainty to water users,” said Secretary Jewell. “Perhaps most importantly, the agreement paves the way to ensuring that the White Mountain Apache Tribe will have clean drinking water in communities across the Reservation for the next 100 years.”

“On behalf of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, we thank Secretary Jewell, the Federal Negotiation Team, Governor Brewer, Salt River Project officials, the Phoenix Valley cities and irrigation districts, the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, Show Low, and our water rights team and attorney – with special thanks to former Senator Jon Kyl and Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick for helping us achieve a dignified and honorable quantification of our water rights,” said Chairman Lupe, who signed the agreement on behalf of the Tribe.

The White Mountain Apache Reservation includes more than 1.6 million acres in the headwaters of the Salt River basin in Arizona. The agreement resolves the White Mountain Apache Tribe’s claims to both the Gila and the Little Colorado Rivers in Arizona. The authorizing legislation includes substantial benefits for the Tribe, including funding of more than $200 million for the planning, design, construction, and operation and maintenance of the WMAT Rural Water System and an additional authorization for $78.5 million for a Settlement Fund for fish production, rehabilitation of recreational lakes, and other projects that will benefit the Tribe.

The rural drinking water system will extend from the town of Whiteriver in the east to the town of Cibecue on the west side of the Reservation. In addition, the agreement acknowledges the Tribe’s interest in and management of other valuable water and water-dependent resources on the Reservation such as lakes, springs and water- dependent fish and wildlife. This agreement establishes a firm foundation for improved irrigation water delivery on Reservation lands.

Today’s agreement is significant to the City of Phoenix and surrounding municipalities because the Salt River Water Project is dependent on the Tribe’s senior claims to the water.

“Reaching an agreement of this historic magnitude can only be accomplished through the collective and collaborative efforts of the state, tribe and local communities,” said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn. “I applaud the tribe’s commitment to resolving this issue and I look forward to the tangible benefits it will deliver to the White Mountain Apache Nation, both in terms of health and the economy.”

The agreement executed today is one of six Indian water agreements authorized since 2009 in legislation signed by President Obama, and one of four authorized in the Claims Resolution Act signed by President Obama on December 8, 2010.

The other three agreements authorized in the Claims Resolutions Act have been executed:

• On April 27, 2012, former Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar executed the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement in a signing ceremony at the Department of the Interior with Crow Chairman Cedric Black Eagle and Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. This compact settles all of the Crow Tribe’s claims to water in the State of Montana and provides funding for design and construction of a rural water system on the Crow Reservation and for rehabilitation and improvement of the Crow Irrigation Project, while also providing for administration and current and future use of water by all Indian and non-Indian water users on the Reservation.

• On July 11, 2012, Salazar executed three water contracts as part of implementation of the Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement, which includes the Taos Pueblo, the State of New Mexico, the Town Of Taos, various non-Indian water users and the United States. Provisions relating to this settlement in the 2010 law resolve water rights disputes in the Rio Pueblo de Taos and Rio Hondo stream systems in New Mexico.

• On March 14, 2013, Salazar executed the Aamodt Water Rights Settlement provisions related to the Rio Pojoaque Basin north of Santa Fe, New Mexico which is the homeland of the Tesuque, Nambe, Pojoaque and San Ildefonso Pueblos. Secretary Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn joined leaders of the four tribes and New Mexico Governor Susanna Martinez at the Santa Fe Indian School to execute and celebrate the agreement. It provided finality to the Pueblos’ water rights and certainty for non-Indian water rights in north central New Mexico.

Pictures from today’s signing ceremony are available here.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today issued final determinations for two petitioners under the existing Federal Acknowledgment process. The decisions include a final determination to acknowledge the petitioner known as the Pamunkey Indian Tribe (Petitioner #323) as a federally recognized Indian tribe, and a final determination on remand to decline acknowledgment for the petitioner known as the Duwamish Tribal Organization (DTO) (Petitioner #25).

The Pamunkey Indian Tribe, located in Virginia, was found to have met all seven mandatory criteria for Federal acknowledgment as set forth in 25 CFR Part 83.7. This is the second federal acknowledgement to take place during the Obama Administration. “This work reflects the most solemn responsibilities of the United States,” Washburn said. “Our professional historians, anthropologists, and genealogists spent thousands of hours of staff time researching and applying our rigorous acknowledgment criteria to these petitions.”

Specifically, the Department determined that the Pamunkey Indian Tribe has:

• Continuously identified as an American Indian body since 1900;
• Existed as a distinct community and maintained political influence over its members since historical times;
• Provided governing documents describing its governance procedures and membership criteria;
• Provided a list of its current members who descend from a historical Indian tribe and who are not also members of another federally recognized tribe;
• Never been subject to congressional legislation that expressly terminated or forbade the federal relationship.

The Pamunkey Indian Tribe has occupied a land base in southeastern King William County, Virginia - shown on a 1770 map as “Indian Town” - since the Colonial Era in the 1600s. Today, the area exists as a state Indian reservation. The Tribe has a current membership of 203 individuals and elects its own leaders.

The Department also issued a final determination on remand declining to recognize the Duwamish Tribal Organization. The Department reached the same conclusion in September 2001, declining to acknowledge the DTO following an evaluation under its 1978 regulations. The U.S. District Court in Western Washington vacated that decision in 2013 and remanded it back to the Department for review under 1994 revisions to the regulations or “explain why it declines to do so.” This final determination on remand concludes the administrative process: the DTO petitioner does not meet the requirements for Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe under either the 1978 or 1994 regulations. The DTO, which first formed in 1925, is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs has responsibility for fulfilling the Interior Department’s trust responsibilities and promoting self-determination on behalf of the federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments.

The Assistant Secretary also oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is responsible for providing services to approximately 1.9 million individual American Indians and Alaska Natives from the federally recognized tribes, and the Office of Federal Acknowledgment, which administers the Federal Acknowledgment Process. The Department recently issued new regulations governing the Federal Acknowledgment Process (25 CFR Part 83). Those regulations will be effective July 31, 2015.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In keeping with President Obama’s commitment to empowering tribal nations and strengthening their economies, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that he has approved land leasing regulations from the Makah Indian Tribe and the Squaxin Island Tribe in Washington State pursuant to the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership (or HEARTH) Act.

“As more tribes see the possibilities of using their lands that the HEARTH Act has made available to them, the Department will be able to further support their goals of meeting their communities’ needs and achieving economic self-sufficiency,” Washburn said. “I congratulate the leadership of the Makah Indian Tribe and the Squaxin Island Tribe on this success as they continue working for the greater economic good of all their peoples.”

The Assistant Secretary’s action authorizes the two tribes to enter into land leases without having to obtain approval by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA): Neah Bay-based Makah Indian Tribe for residential, business, wind and solar development, and other authorized purposes, and the Squaxin Island Tribe, headquartered in Shelton, Wash., for business.

“The Makah Tribal Council is looking forward to implementing the HEARTH Act. We will now be able to efficiently streamline the approval of leases that are of the utmost importance to our tribal development priorities,” said Makah Indian Tribe Chairman Timothy J. Greene Sr. “This exercise of sovereignty will encourage investment and economic development throughout our community.”

“It’s great to see leasing approval back with the Tribe,” said Squaxin Island Tribe Chairman David Lopeman. “I’m hopeful this new tool will help the Squaxin Island Tribe benefit the region with new jobs and opportunities.”

The HEARTH Act restores the authority of federally recognized tribes to develop and implement their own laws governing the long-term leasing of Indian lands for residential, business, renewable energy, and other purposes. Upon one-time approval of their regulations by the Department of the Interior, tribes then have the authority to process land leases without BIA approval, thereby greatly expediting leasing approval for homes and small businesses in Indian Country.

In addition, the principles supporting the federal preemption of state law in the field of Indian leasing and the taxation of lease-related interests and activities applies with equal force to leases entered into under tribal leasing regulations approved by the federal government pursuant to the HEARTH Act.

In accordance with Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. 465) and the Department’s regulations governing the surface leasing of trust and restricted Indian land, permanent improvements, leasehold or possessory interests, and activities on land leased under DOI-approved HEARTH Act tribal leasing regulations are subject to tribal, not state and local, taxation.

As the HEARTH Act was intended to afford tribes the flexibility to adapt lease terms to suit their business and cultural needs and to enable them to approve leases quickly and efficiently, assessment of state and local taxes would obstruct these express federal policies of supporting tribal economic development and self-determination as well as threaten tribal interests in effective tribal government, economic self-sufficiency and territorial autonomy.

With their new authority, the two tribes, whose reservations include fractionated lands, may now consider what uses they may wish to pursue with regards to fractional interests in trust land that were repurchased and restored to them by the Department under the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations. The Buy-Back Program, which was established by the historic Cobell Settlement, represents a federal policy initiative to restore tribal homelands in support of tribal sovereignty and self-government to the maximum extent possible on tribal trust lands. The fractional interests received by the Makah Indian Tribe and the Squaxin Island Tribe are equivalent to approximately 64 acres and 155 acres, respectively.

The Assistant Secretary’s action brings to 22 the number of federally recognized tribes whose land leasing regulations have been approved by the Department under the HEARTH Act. The tribes with approved leasing regulations are:

• Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Calif. (Business)
• Pueblo of Sandia, N.M. (Business)
• Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Mich. (Residential)
• Ak-Chin Indian Community, Ariz. (Business)
• Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians, Calif. (Business)
• Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Okla. (Business)
• Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians, Calif. (Business)
• Kaw Nation, Okla. (Business)
• Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Washington State (Business)
• Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, Calif. (Business)
• Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, Okla. (Business)
• Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut (Business)
• Navajo Nation General Leasing Regulations, Ariz., N.M. and Utah
• Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Calif. (Business)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida (Individual Business and Residential Ordinances)
• Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Washington State (Business)
• Oneida Indian Nation, N.Y. (Business)
• Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin (Business, Residential and Agricultural Codes)
• Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (Business)
• Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, Calif. (Business)
• Makah Indian Tribe, Wash. (Residential, Business, Renewable Energy)
• Squaxin Island Tribe, Wash. (Business)

Both the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe’s and the Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians’ regulations were approved in June 2015.

Congress passed the HEARTH Act with overwhelming bipartisan support, and it was signed by President Obama on July 30, 2012.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs oversees the BIA, which is headed by a director who is responsible for managing day-to-day operations through four offices – Indian Services, Justice Services, Trust Services, and Field Operations. These offices directly administer or fund tribally based infrastructure, law enforcement, social services, tribal governance, natural and energy resources, and trust land and resources management programs for the nation’s federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes through 12 regional offices and 81 agencies.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today issued the following statement on the passing of former Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Chief Executive Marge Anderson:

“Marge Anderson was a remarkable individual who will be forever remembered by her people and Indian Country as a trailblazer, a visionary and an undaunted defender of her tribe’s treaty rights. She was a formidable political leader who was elected twice to lead the Mille Lacs Band, and her courage and tenacity helped the Mille Lacs people regain, preserve and use their treaty rights.

“As the first female chief executive of any Minnesota tribe, Marge Anderson knew the importance of economic development in supporting and building Ojibwe families. Because she was not afraid to go the distance to bring job-creating businesses to her community, the Mille Lacs Band has been the beneficiary of her pursuit of long-term prosperity for her people.

“Marge Anderson was and will remain one of Indian Country’s most important tribal leaders of recent memory. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Anderson family and the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe community.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, July 30, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will sign an historic agreement at the Department of the Interior that will guarantee water rights for the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona and provide water security for the City of Phoenix and other downstream water users. The ceremony will be live-streamed to the public.

Secretary Jewell will be joined by White Mountain Apache Chairman Ronnie Lupe, Former Senator John Kyl, U.S. Representative Ann Kirkpatrick and other federal, tribal and state dignitaries.

The White Mountain Apache Reservation includes more than 1.6 million acres in the headwaters of the Salt River basin in Arizona. The agreement to be signed on Tuesday will provide funding for design and construction of a rural water delivery system on the Reservation and secure water flow for the city of Phoenix which depends on the same river basin for basic water needs. The agreement is one of four Indian water agreements authorized in the Claims Resolution Act signed by President Obama on December 8, 2010.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today issued the following statement on the passing of Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana Chairman Earl J. Barbry Sr.:

"Having given a lifetime of dedication and distinguished service to the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, Chairman Barbry will long be remembered as one of the great visionary and courageous leaders Indian Country has produced throughout history. He was a quiet and respectful man full of action who willingly shouldered the weight of responsible leadership, and worked tirelessly over the years to improve the lives of his people.

“As one of Indian Country’s longest serving elected tribal leaders, he successfully represented the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe at the highest levels of national American Indian discourse and policymaking, but did not forget the importance of family and tradition. His strong, faithful advocacy for tribal sovereignty and self-determination was reflected in his fight for and winning of federal recognition status for the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe.

“Thanks to his strong drive to build the future of the Tunica-Biloxi people, Chairman Barbry has left as his legacy a strong community that can be proud of its accomplishments and progress. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Barbry Family and the Tunica-Biloxi community.”

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WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services will offer the next in its series of training sessions for tribal court personnel on Aug. 6-9, 2013, in Philadelphia, Miss., with presentations that focus on domestic violence.

Because of a high level of interest, the Office of Justice Services (OJS) has continued to provide legal training it successfully held in 2012 to new groups of tribal court prosecutors, defenders and judges to improve their trial advocacy skills. The training focuses on cases involving the trafficking of illegal narcotics, domestic violence and sexual assault on children and adults.

The 2013 Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Training Program sessions already held took place on May 14-16 in Missoula, Mont., with a focus on domestic violence cases; June 17-20 in Grand Forks, N.D., with cases concerning sexual assaults on children; and July 22-25 in Reno, Nev., with cases concerning illegal narcotics. The last session in the 2013 series will take place Dec. 2-5 in Oklahoma City and focus on cases concerning sexual assaults on adults. All of the sessions include a roundtable discussion on the Violence Against Women Act.

Tribal court trial advocacy training is mandated by the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and is being conducted under the Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Training Program – a joint effort of the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that furthers the mandate of the Act 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 the DOJ’s Access to Justice Initiative to offer trial advocacy training with courses designed specifically for tribal courts and

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free training to the judges, public defenders and prosecutors who work in them. Training is being conducted by working law professionals using instructional materials prepared by experts knowledgeable about tribal court issues. The program is unique for its public defenders training.

President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act on March 7, 2013. It includes important provisions for federally recognized tribes to combat violence against Native women such as homicide, rape, assault and battery in the home, workplace and on school campuses throughout Indian Country.

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

-DOI-

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn announced that the Department is extending the opportunity for public comment on a Preliminary Discussion Draft of potential changes to the Federal Acknowledgment Process by more than 30 days to September 25, 2013. This extended period is in response to written requests as well as requests received at the tribal consultation sessions and public meetings held in July and August.

The discussion draft, initially issued on June 21, 2013, is a preliminary precursor to the rulemaking process and is intended to provide tribes and the public an early opportunity to provide input on potential improvements to the Part 83 process. Once the Department begins the rulemaking process, tribes and the public will have additional opportunities to provide comment. The discussion draft is available for review at http://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/ASIA/ORM/83revise/index.htm.

Comments on the discussion draft may be submitted by email to consultation@bia.gov (include “1076-AF18” in the message subject line) or by mail to: Elizabeth Appel, Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, N.W., MS4141-MIB, Washington, D.C. 20240 (include “1076-AF18” on the cover of the submission).

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