OPA

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Tara Katuk Sweeney approved the Coquille Indian Tribe’s Indian Trust Asset Management Plan (ITAMP) and tribal forestry regulations in a virtual signing ceremony held with Coquille Chief Don Ivy on October 16, 2020. The approval is the Department’s first Indian Trust Asset Management Demonstration Project.

On February 22, 2019, Coquille, whose reservation is located on the coast of Oregon, became the first federally recognized tribe to be approved to participate in the demonstration project. On June 9, 2020, it also became the first to submit an ITAMP.

“The Indian Trust Asset Management Demonstration Project, another important way for tribes to exert sovereignty over their trust lands, had been unused until now. Thanks to its willingness to be a trailblazer in utilizing this project, the Coquille Indian Tribe now can take control of its trust forest land and resources, and manage them in a way that meets their needs,” said Assistant Secretary Sweeney.

"This is a great day for the Coquille Tribe and for tribal self-determination in general," said Coquille Chairperson Brenda Meade. "We're grateful for the opportunity to prove that we can meet our members' needs while managing a diverse, sustainable forest. We're going to show people a better way to do things."

The demonstration project was established under the Indian Trust Asset Reform (ITAR) Act of 2016. Title II of the act authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to establish and carry out an Indian Trust Asset Management Demonstration Project. Under the project, tribes engaged in forest land management and/or surface leasing activities on trust lands may apply to participate in it. If selected, a tribe must submit an ITAMP for the management of its trust assets.

A proposed tribal ITAMP must have provisions that:

• Identify the trust assets that will be subject to the proposed plan;
• Establish trust asset management objectives and priorities for Indian trust assets that are located within the reservation, or otherwise subject to the jurisdiction, of the tribe;
• Allocate trust asset management funding available for the Indian trust assets subject to the proposed plan in order to meet the trust asset management objectives and priorities;
• If the tribe has contracted or compacted functions or activities under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) relating to the management of trust assets, identify the functions or activities that are being, or will be, performed by it under contracts, compacts, or other agreements under that Act, which may include any of the surface leasing or forest land management activities authorized by the proposed plan;
• Establish procedures for nonbinding mediation or resolution of any dispute between the tribe and the United States relating to the proposed plan;
• Include a process for the tribe and the federal agencies affected by the plan to conduct evaluations to ensure that trust assets are being managed in accordance with the proposed plan; and
• Identify any federal regulations that will be superseded by the proposed plan.

The BIA’s Division of Forestry and Wildland Fire Management (DFWFM), which, with the Department’s Solicitor’s Office, reviewed Coquille’s plan, also provided technical assistance to the tribe during the ITAMP’s development.

With its ITAMP approved, the Coquille Indian Tribe now has the authority to conduct forest land management activities on forest lands held in trust by DOI for it without further approval from the Secretary.

“We are very excited that the Coquille Indian Tribe chose to participate in this demonstration project and allow the BIA and the Interior Department to support their efforts to develop their Indian Trust Asset Management Plan. As with HEARTH leasing regulations and Tribal Energy Resource Agreements, an ITAMP is another tool the Department has that promotes tribal sovereignty and self-determination,” Sweeney said.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs advises the Secretary of the Interior on Indian Affairs policy issues, communicates policy to and oversees the programs of the BIA and the BIE, provides leadership in consultations with tribes, and serves as the DOI official for intra- and inter-departmental coordination and liaison within the Executive Branch on Indian matters.

The Division of Forestry and Wildland Fire Management (DFWFM) in the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Trust Services (OTS) oversees the National Indian Forestry and Wildland Fire Management Program, which is a cooperative effort of the Interior Department, the OTS Deputy Bureau Director, the Division of Forestry and Wildland Fire Management, the Intertribal Timber Council, and reservation-based tribal governments. The Division is responsible for providing coordination, management, planning, oversight, and monitoring for all activities, including the National Wildland Fire Program, related to the development and protection of trust forest resources.

####

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Tara Katuk Sweeney today announced the establishment of the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration (BTFA) which will report directly to her office. The new BTFA will assume responsibility for financial operations and functions currently performed by the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) effective today. The new Bureau will maintain the current OST fiduciary functions and reflects the Department of the Interior’s efforts to reform and modernize its accountability and management of Indian funds held in trust.

“Twenty-six years after Congress enacted the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994, this Administration has finished the work necessary to modernize and professionalize the federal government’s handling of its fiduciary responsibilities for tribal and individual Indian trust fund accounts,” said Tara Sweeney, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. “These reforms – the higher standard of care and best practices necessary for fulfilling the Secretary’s trust responsibility – must be institutionalized and made permanent. I am proud that this reorganization was accomplished consistent with President Trump’s vision to reorganize the federal government in a commonsense way, making the executive branch more lean, accountable, and efficient while still allowing the government to deliver core services.”

Established by the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-412), OST was created to improve the accountability and management of Indian funds held in trust by the federal government. As trustee, DOI has the primary fiduciary responsibility to manage both tribal trust funds and Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts.

In evaluating the potential transition of these functions, the Department engaged in multiple meetings and forums with tribes and stakeholders. In addition, numerous formal government-to-government consultations were conducted and one Listening Session held throughout Indian Country as part of the implementation of the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act (ITARA) Section 304(a), codified at 25 U.S.C. § 5635, which requires that the Secretary prepare a transition plan and timetable for the termination of OST.

The mission of the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration is to manage the financial assets of trust beneficiaries. This effort is integrally related to DOI's goal of meeting its responsibilities to American Indians. BTFA carries out its mission in pursuit of the following vision—We Excel, Native America Prospers.

####

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Tara Katuk Sweeney announced today that the fifth of seven offices being established under the Operation Lady Justice Task Force to investigate cold cases involving missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives will be located at the Gila River Indian Community Police Department in Sacaton, AZ. The Task Force’s first tribally housed cold case office opened August 13.

Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump joined Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt for the launch of the first cold case office in Bloomington, MN, on July 27 highlighting President Trump’s commitment to forgotten men and women across our country and actions taken to end the violence against American Indians and Alaska Natives.

“I want to thank Governor Stephen Lewis for agreeing to house the Operation Lady Justice Task Force’s Phoenix cold case office at the Gila River Indian Community’s police department,” said Assistant Secretary Sweeney. “These cold case offices are a major development in addressing unsolved cases of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives that are heartbreaking for their families and communities.”

“The Gila River Indian Community is pleased to house the new Cold Case office for the Western Region. The entire Region will benefit from bringing together federal resources specifically designated to address this crisis of Missing and Murdered Native Americans,” said Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen R. Lewis. “This is a positive first step in reinforcing the trust relationship between the federal government and tribal nations and addressing this longstanding issue in Indian Country. The Community looks forward to helping ensure the success of the Cold Case office within the Gila River Police Department.”

“The Hopi Tribe is thrilled to know the work of the recently established Operation Lady Justice Task Force will move forward with addressing the astounding number of cases of murdered and missing American Indians and Alaska Natives in Tribal communities,” said Hopi Tribal Chairman Timothy Nuvangyaoma. “We are looking forward to supporting our national law enforcement agencies with this much needed coordination and to continue advocating for those who have been silenced by the crimes against our native people.”

“The Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah is grateful that under Operation Lady Justice, MMIP Cold Case units are opening regionally and assisting Indian Country in identifying and finally finding closure for families that for years have not found justice or closure for their loved one,” said PITU Chairperson Tamra Borchardt-Slayton. “It has finally become a priority to finally address issues that are on-going with MMIP and the multitude of unresolved cases.”

“Native Americans, particularly women, suffer from disproportionately high levels of violence across the country—a crisis that is exacerbated by jurisdictional challenges and the lack of a unified national database to track indigenous missing persons cases,” said United States Senator Martha McSally. “In fact, Arizona has the third largest number of cases of missing and murdered indigenous women. This is unacceptable and our tribal communities deserve better. The establishment today of a Missing and Murdered Native Americans Cold Case Task Force office in Phoenix is a critical step toward delivering justice to our native populations.”

The Gila River Indian Community is located on the south side of the city of Phoenix in Pinal County, which is within the Phoenix metropolitan area. The cold case office will be co-located with the Gila River Indian Community Police Department and staffed by two agents from the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS).

“The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services works closely with its partners in tribal, state, local and federal law enforcement agencies to address violent crime in Indian Country communities,” said BIA Deputy Bureau Director for OJS Charles Addington. “I want to add my thanks to Governor Lewis and the Gila River Indian Community Police Department for their willingness to house the Operation Lady Justice Task Force’s Phoenix cold case office.”

In addition to Bloomington, cold case offices were opened in Rapid City, SD, on August 4; in Billings, MT, on August 6; and in Albuquerque, NM, on August 11, 2020. Future office openings are planned for Anchorage, AK, and Nashville, TN.

President Trump's Executive Order established the Operation Lady Justice Task Force, a multi-agency effort co-chaired by Secretary Bernhardt and U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr. Its purpose is to enhance the operation of the criminal justice system and address the staggering number of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives in tribal communities.

The cold case teams have been established in accordance with Executive Order 13898 which President Trump signed on November 26, 2019, to address this crisis. They will be staffed with law enforcement personnel and newly appointed special agents from the BIA-OJS.

A way for top federal officials to engage, coordinate and work with tribal governments on developing strategies to address the crisis, the Operation Lady Justice Task Force is working to collect and manage data across jurisdictions; establish protocols for new and unsolved cases; establish multi-jurisdictional cold case teams; improve the response to investigative challenges; and provide clarity on the roles, authorities and jurisdiction for those involved. It is also charged with providing a report to the President of its work and accomplishments in meeting the executive order’s mandate.

Since 2019, the Department of the Interior and the BIA have undertaken a number of efforts to address the crisis, conducting criminal investigations, stopping illicit drug activity and solving missing and murdered cases.

The BIA-OJS and its partners have opened 200 percent more drug cases across Indian Country than in the last year of the Obama Administration, and their tribal law enforcement officers have seized approximately 6,000 pounds of narcotics worth $30 million in the past two years. Preventing further violence against American Indians and Alaska Natives is largely predicated on ending illicit drug activities, alcohol abuse and sex trafficking.

The BIA-OJS's partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, known as NamUs, has led to the development and implementation of new tribal-affiliation data fields to assist law enforcement with capturing information to track missing persons in Indian Country. Since the addition of these new data fields last year and NamUs’ extensive outreach to states with large tribal populations with the result that they are inputting data directly into the system, there has been a 60 percent increase in Native-person entries in NamUs.

The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs advises the Secretary of the Interior on Indian Affairs policy issues, communicates policy to and oversees the programs of the BIA and the BIE, provides leadership in consultations with tribes, and serves as the DOI official for intra- and inter-departmental coordination and liaison within the Executive Branch on Indian matters.

On behalf of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Bureau of Indian Education, I extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the late-Senator John McCain’s family. We appreciate their selfless willingness to share his short time on this earth with us to make our Nation better. We will miss his voice, but his spirit will live with us forever.

Over the entirety of Senator McCain’s career, he undoubtedly earned a great legacy built upon asking the tough questions and making tough decisions. As a member of the Senate Committee of Indian Affairs since 1987, which is one of our oversight committees, he often asked DOI Indian Affairs the tough questions involving the welfare of tribal communities. His mentor, the late-Congressman “Mo” Udall famously told Senator McCain, “Don’t forget the Indians,” and during his tenure he held true to that promise.

Senator McCain’s legacy has shaped the world in which we at Indian Affairs operate today. He was influential in development of the Indian Self-Determination Contract Reform Amendments, Trust Reform, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and Indian Education. He was critical, yet thoughtful, of whether and how diligently the federal government carried out the trust responsibility, especially when it came to the future of our Native youth. The Senator commented in 2016, “I have been a member of this Committee for many, many years. We have not seen a significant improvement. It is not because of dedicated men and women who work in these BIE schools but it is a system, I think, that deserves some new approaches.” Although many competing recommendations exist for improving federal services provided to the American people, including our tribal communities, we hold a common end goal to create an improved system of delivery that upholds our trust responsibilities.

Senator McCain touched our lives. This week, DOI Indian Affairs staffers in the many stages of their careers shared stories about the late-Senator. Stories that I had personally heard ranged from his willingness to launch the careers of aspiring young Native students by offering internships in his Senate office and stories of how our program directors and staff contributed information to answer his tough questions. These stories have been a great tribute to his memory.

As the Chairman of the Senate Committee, he shared some heartfelt words that I hope we as federal public servants can find inspiration from, “While remembering our past wrongs is important, it is also important that we answer those wrongs with vigorous actions and policies that actively promote the well-being of Native Americans today.”

In closing, I want to thank the late-Senator for not only remembering the Indians, but for working hard to support and strengthen tribal sovereignty and tribal self-determination.

###

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Tara Mac Lean Sweeney will address the 28th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Service taking place Thursday, May 2, 2019, at the United States Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M.

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

The 28th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Service will be live-streamed. To view the event, visit the service’s website and type in the password “biamemorial.”

WHO: Tara Mac Lean Sweeney, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI); Master of Ceremony Charles Addington, Deputy Bureau Director, BIA-Office of Justice Services, DOI; Thomas J. Walters, Director, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), Glencoe, Ga.; Bill Denke, Indian Section Chairman, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP).

WHAT: Assistant Secretary Sweeney will address attendees to the 28th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial Service where the names of three fallen law enforcement officers will be added to the memorial.

WHEN: Thursday, May 2, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. MDT.

WHERE: BIA Indian Police Academy, DHS Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, 1300 West Richey Avenue, Artesia, N.M. Phone (505) 748-8151 for directions.

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

To view an image of the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officer’s Memorial and a list of the officers’ names inscribed on it, visit the FLETC website.

The event is held annually on the first Thursday in May. BIA-OJS conducts the memorial service in conjunction with IACP’s Indian Country Law Enforcement Section and other law enforcement organizations and agencies including the National Sheriffs’ Association and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers in Artesia, where the monument, academy and memorial service are located. The names of three officers will be added at this year’s ceremony bringing the total number listed on the memorial to 119:

• Sac & Fox Nation Police Department Officer Nathan B. Graves who, on January 24, 2017, was killed when his patrol car was struck head-on by an oncoming vehicle that was attempting to pass another car.
• Omaha Nation Law Enforcement Services Police Sergeant Uga’shon Curtis W. Blackbird who, on March 26, 2017, was killed in a vehicle crash that occurred when he was responding to a call and, while driving along a closed section of Nebraska Highway 94 in a period of dense fog, his patrol car struck a construction crane.
• Salt River Police Department Officer Clayton Joel Townsend who, on January 8, 2019, was struck and killed while approaching a vehicle on a traffic stop. The subject driver who struck him admitted to texting and driving at the time of the crash.

-DOI-

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has announced the appointment of Joe M. Parker, a Chickasaw Indian, as Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Tahlequah, Oklahoma Agency. Parker, who has been Acting Superintendent at the Agency since January 12, replaces Joe Ragsdale who has retired.

A native of Ada, Oklahoma, Parker graduated from East Central state College of Oklahoma in 1960 with a degree in economics and accounting. He worked as an Internal Revenue Agent until 1973 when he moved to the Bureau of Indian Affairs as an accountant in the Area Office at Muskogee, He subsequently was a Program Analyst and the Accounting Officer Oklahoma for the Muskogee Area.

Parker, 42, served four years in the United States Navy. He has twice received awards for sustained superior performance in his work

The Administration's Water Policy Message sent to Congress today by President Carter recommended that States put up a front-end share of the cost of all Federal water projects.

The President said that State governments should assume a share of the cost over and above existing cost-sharing of Federal water projects. The proposal was among several initiatives the President announced to achieve a new national emphasis on water conservation, enhance Federal State cooperation, increase attention to environmental quality, and improve Federal water resource programs.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus, in a follow-up comment, strongly endorsed the President's recommendation that States share up-front costs of water projects.

"By contributing to the initial costs of water projects, States will exercise great influence over the location of Federal dams as well as play a leading part in deciding the priority rights of projects," Andrus said.

For project purposes with vendible outputs, such as water supply or hydroelectric power States would contribute 10 percent of the costs, proportionate to and phased with Federal appropriations.

For project purposes without vendible outputs, such as flood control, States' financing share would be 5 percent.

There would be a limit on State participation of 1/4 of 1 percent of the State's general fund revenue per project per year, so that a small State would not be precluded from having a very large project located in it.

"Cost-sharing will occupy a critical role in the President's new water policy," Andrus said. "It is a genuine reform that will assure more even-handed cooperation between States and the Federal Government."

The State cost sharing proposal would apply on a mandatory basis to projects not yet authorized. However, for projects in the authorized backlog, States which voluntarily enter into cost-sharing arrangements would achieve expedited consideration and priority for project funding, as long as other project planning requirements were met.

Soil Conservation Service projects will be completely exempt from the State cost-sharing proposal, the President said.

Specific initiatives spelled out for Federal agencies include:

Adding water conservation as consideration in the Principles and Standards which govern the planning of water resource projects.

- Making water conservation a condition of the municipal water supply and sewage treatment programs of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce.

Integrating water conservation into the housing programs of the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Administration, and Department of Agriculture.

Using existing programs of the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development to provide technical assistance to farmers and urban dwellers on how to conserve water. Requiring water Conservation in Federal buildings and facilities. Asking all Federal agencies to examine and implement appropriate opportunities for water conservation.

The president also recommended that Congress provide $25 million annually in matching grants for technical assistance to States for water conservation purposes.

Environmental protection initiatives in the message included a directive to the Secretary of the Interior and other Federal agencies to vigorously implement the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act and other environmental statutes; implementation of Executive Order 11988 on flood plain management; cooperation with States to protect instream flows and groundwater through provision of data and where possible, operation of Federal projects.