OPA

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced he has issued a final determination (FD) regarding the petition of the Central Band of Cherokee (Petitioner #227) for federal recognition as an Indian tribe. The final determination found that the petitioner, located in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., did not meet the mandatory criteria for acknowledgment under the Code of Federal Regulations.

The March 23, 2012, ruling is consistent with the Assistant Secretary’s proposed finding, issued in August 2010, that recommended against acknowledgment because Petitioner #227 did not demonstrate that its members descend from a historical Indian tribe or historical Indian tribes that combined.

The evidence shows the petitioner, with 407 members on its 2007 membership list, is a voluntary association formed of individuals who claim but have not documented Indian ancestry. There is no evidence that Petitioner #227 existed under any name prior to its emergence in 2000 as the “Cherokees of Lawrence County, TN Sugar Creek Band of the Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy, Inc.” Under the regulations, the Department may not acknowledge associations, organizations, corporations, or groups of any character formed in recent times.

The petitioner claims its members are descendants of Cherokee Indians who remained in Tennessee after 1806 when the historical tribe ceded its lands by treaty, or from Indians who returned to “their traditional lands” in the area of Lawrence County, Tenn., after evading or escaping from the Cherokee removal in the late 1830s. There is no primary or reliable secondary evidence to validate these claims. Instead, the evidence shows that the group’s ancestors were consistently identified as non-Indians, primarily White settlers coming to Tennessee in the early and mid-1800s from disparate locations. At no time were they identified as Indians or living in an Indian community. The evidence submitted in response to the proposed finding does not support the petitioner’s claims about its origins and do not demonstrate that Petitioner #227’s members descend from a historical Indian tribe or tribes that combined.

The FD will become final and effective as provided in the regulations 90 days from publication in the Federal Register, unless a request for reconsideration is received by the Interior Board of Indian Appeals under the procedures set forth in Section 83.11 of the regulations within that time.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs has responsibility for fulfilling the Interior Department’s trust responsibilities and promoting self-determination on behalf of the 566 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 the tribes and their members, approximately 1.9 million individual American Indians and Alaska Natives, and the Office of Federal Acknowledgment, which administers the federal acknowledgment process.

The final determination and Federal Register notice will be posted to the Office of Federal Acknowledgment section of the Indian Affairs web site at: https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/ofa.

WASHINGTON – Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Donald “Del” Laverdure honored three law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty, expressing his gratitude and appreciation to their family members, friends and colleagues at the 21st Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service.

Held May 3 at the U.S. Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M., the ceremony was hosted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services to remember and honor tribal, state, local and federal law enforcement officers working on federal Indian lands and in tribal communities who have died in the line of duty since the 1800s.

“Every officer memorialized here worked on behalf of the United States, on behalf of tribal communities and their citizens, and on behalf of those people living and working in Indian country,” Laverdure said. “President Obama, Secretary Salazar, and I are committed to improving public safety and justice, including officer safety, in Indian country. Through the Tribal Law and Order Act the President signed in 2010 and the Secretary’s Safe Indian Communities and High Priority Performance Goal Initiatives, we in Indian Affairs are working to help tribes address quality-of-life issues in their communities that can help law enforcement in its mission to protect lives and property.”

The officers’ names were added at the event to those inscribed on the Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial’s stone tablet monument, bringing the total to 99. The three are:

• Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives Federal Agent William Louis Pappan, who was killed on December 4, 1935, in Indian Territory while inspecting beer licenses near Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• San Carlos Apache Tribal Police Officer Aaron Daniel Peru, who died on February 13, 2011, on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona from injuries he received in a motor vehicle accident while on official business.
• Navajo Nation Tribal Sergeant of Police Darrell Cervandez Curley, who died on June 25, 2011, on the Navajo Nation Reservation from a gunshot wound he received while making an arrest in a domestic dispute.

In his remarks, Laverdure, who is a member of the Crow Tribe in Montana, noted that one of the names inscribed on the memorial belonged to BIA Law Enforcement Officer LeRoy A. Pine, Jr., a Northern Cheyenne tribal member who was assigned to the Crow Reservation. In 1988, Officer Pine assisted in breaking up a drinking party and was killed when a driver leaving the party struck his parked car. His name was added to the memorial on May 2, 1991.

The acting Assistant Secretary was accompanied by BIA Director Mike Black and OJS Deputy Bureau Director Darren Cruzan, and OJS Special Agents in Charge Matthew Pryor and Mario Red Legs.

The OJS holds the service in conjunction with other law enforcement organizations and agencies including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Indian Country Law Enforcement Section, the National Sheriffs’ Association, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).

In addition to Laverdure, Black and Cruzan, other speakers included Department of the Interior Director Polly Hansen, IACP Indian Country Law Enforcement Section Chairman Joe LaPorte, FLETC Deputy Director D. Kenneth Keene, ATF Assistant Director John Torres, Captain Jerry James of the San Carlos Tribal Police Department, Captain Bobby Etsitty of the Navajo Nation Police Department, and Artesia Mayor Phillip Burch.

Also speaking was Ted Quasula of the Indian Law and Order Commission, an advisory body established by the Tribal Law and Order Act charged with reporting to the President and Congress proposals to improve safety and justice for Native Americans living and working on Indian lands.

Following the service, relatives of the officers being added to the memorial were presented with American flags in honor of their loved ones: Agent Pappan’s son and daughter-in-law, Officer Peru’s parents, and Sergeant Curley’s wife and daughter.

The Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service was first held in 1991, and the memorial itself first dedicated on May 7, 1992, at the U.S. Indian Police Academy, when it was then in Marana, Ariz. The academy and the memorial were later moved to their present site on the FLETC campus in Artesia. The memorial was re-dedicated there on May 6, 1993.

The earliest name inscribed on the memorial dates back to 1852. In addition to BIA and tribal law enforcement, agencies represented include the U.S. Border Patrol, the New Mexico State Police, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Customs Bureau, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The list includes one female officer from the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety, who was killed in 1998; a father and son, both BIA officers, who died in 1998 and 2001, respectively; and two FBI agents killed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975.

The memorial’s design is based upon indigenous design concepts. Comprised of three granite markers sited within a circular walkway lined with sage, a plant of spiritual significance to many tribes, the memorial includes four planters filled with foliage in colors representing people of all races. The planters represent the four directions and are located near the walkway’s entrance.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The third public meeting of the Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform was held in Albuquerque, N.M., on June 11-12, 2012.

The five members of the Commission along with the Designated Federal Officer convened to move forward on their comprehensive evaluation of Interior’s management and administration of the nearly $4 billion in trust assets. The Commission is charged with providing recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior at the end of their two-year tenure on how best to improve the Department’s trust management and administration. Building upon the progress made with the historic Cobell Settlement, the Commission will help establish a new era of trust administration, stressing responsive, customer-friendly, accountable and transparent management of these substantial funds and assets.

The two day meetings were highly valuable sessions on the nature of the trust relationship and viewing other public and private sector trust models exploring the thoughts and ideas that may be applicable in Indian Country. There were panelists participating at the meeting such as Sam Deloria, Director, American Indian Graduate Center; Bank of NY Mellon, The Northern Trust Company, and Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation representatives; Intertribal Monitoring Association, Ross Swimmer, Swimmer Group, LLC, and Melody McCoy, Native American Rights Fund.

The Commission also engaged with various American Indian Youth Organizations in an evening session centered on creating a dialogue to discuss the future of Department of the Interior trust management. The session was held at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, an entity of the All Indian Pueblo Council. Keeping the youth informed and soliciting their input is a major goal of the commission. On June 13, 2012, Chair of the Commission Fawn Sharp (Quinault), commission members Dr. Peterson Zah (Navajo Nation), Tex G. Hall (Three Affiliated Tribes), and the Designated Federal Officer for the Commission and Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary at the Department of the Interior Lizzie Marsters participated live on the Native America Calling Radio show. They provided a summary of the two-day meeting, and outlined the objectives of the Commission.

Future meetings of the Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform will be held on September 13-14, 2012, Bismarck, N.D.; and December 6-7, 2012, Seattle, Wash. Tribal leaders, tribal organizations and individual Indians are invited to provide recommendations and possible solutions for trust management and administration to improve the delivery of services to Indian Country. For further information, please visit: http://www.doi.gov/cobell/commission/index.cfm.

The Commission values your feedback, to send your comments and recommendations for how to improve trust administration and management, send an email to trustcommission@ios.doi.gov.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Donald E. “Del” Laverdure today announced that he has named Thomas D. Thompson as director of the Indian Affairs Office of Budget Management at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Thompson, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, comes to the Interior Department from the Indian Health Service (IHS) in Phoenix, Ariz., where he had been serving as senior advisor to the area director since June 2010.

“The director of budget management for Indian Affairs plays a vital role in our effort to streamline the Indian Affairs organization to deliver efficient and cost-effective services to Indian Country,” Laverdure said. “Thomas Thompson is an experienced federal financial manager who has developed and deployed strategies that have increased efficiency, lowered costs, and raised productivity in federal programs. I am very pleased that he joined my team to help us achieve our financial management goals.”

“I am very grateful for this opportunity to return to the Interior Department to work with Acting Assistant Secretary Laverdure as part of his financial management leadership team,” Thompson said. “I have confidence the improvements made to Indian Affairs’ service delivery processes and systems will increase their overall effectiveness for Indian Affairs employees and the tribes we serve.”

The director of the Office of Budget Management provides leadership to ensure that Indian Affairs’ budget policy and appropriations support program continuity and are consistent with its mission. The director also establishes policies and procedures for the budget execution function that ensure compliance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements, and directs all budget management functions and formulation activities in collaboration with IA program and planning offices and the IA Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.

Thompson has over 14 years of federal service, starting in October 1997 as superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Ft. Belknap Agency in Harlem, Mont. In December 2000, he became director of the IHS Phoenix Area Office’s Division of Financial Management.

In 2002, he joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) as Finance Director, where he served as senior advisor to the director on all matters related to resource and financial management. As such, he played a major role in FDA’s efforts to modernize and update its administrative support services and program accountability systems.

In October 2003, Thompson returned to the IHS Phoenix Area Office as the financial management division director, a post he held until September 2005. While serving as senior financial advisor for health programs throughout the Phoenix Area he helped develop and implement a strategic plan to enhance patient services through increased revenues and more effective management practices.

Thompson was promoted in September 2005 to Chief Financial Officer and Director of the Office of Finance and Accounting in IHS’s headquarters in Rockville, Md., where he was responsible for a $4.1 billion health delivery network across Indian Country generating over $540 million in patient revenues. He oversaw the development of a performance-based budget formulation methodology to improve decision making for effective use of scarce resources and that linked budgets to performance to improve efficiency in program planning. In June 2010, he returned to the Phoenix Area as senior advisor to the area director, where he provided upper level program, operational, budgetary and financial analysis on special projects to senior management.

Prior to his federal career, Thompson held from July 1975 to August 1995 several management positions with the Cherokee Nation including financial controller, executive director of tribal operations, president and CEO of gaming operations, and secretary and treasurer. From January 1992 until October 1997, Thomas owned and operated an accounting firm, Thompson & Company, in Stilwell, Okla., which provided management, audit, accounting, and tax planning and preparation services to public and private sector and tribal clients.

Thompson received an associate’s degree in accounting from the Oklahoma State University School of Technical Training in Okmulgee (1973), and holds Certified Public Accountant licenses from the states of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Montana. He is a member of the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Arizona Society of Certified Public Accountants. He also has served on various boards and committees including the Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants Governmental Accounting Committee, the Tahlequah Chamber of Commerce, the Eastern Oklahoma Development District, the Cherokee Nation Outpost Corporation, the Cherokee Nation Trust Authority, Cherokee Nation Industries, and the Christian Children’s Fund.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform will hold a public webinar meeting on Nov. 7, 2012. The objectives of the meeting are to:

• Attend to Commission operations as needed,
• Report on outreach activities,
• Review and discuss revised draft documents to-date,
• Take public comments on the drafts, and
• Review and discuss the agenda for the Commission’s Dec. 6-7, 2012, meeting and related youth outreach session.

Attendance is open to the public, but limited space is available. Members of the public who wish to attend must RSVP by Nov. 6, 2012, by registering at the following web address: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/384347209. Instructions for joining the webinar will be emailed after registration occurs. A notice of this meeting was published in the Federal Register on Oct. 22, 2012.

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

WASHINGTON, DC – On February 15, 2013, President Obama will welcome to the White House the recipients of the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation’s second-highest civilian honor.

“It is my distinguished honor to award these individuals the 2012 Citizens Medal for their commitment to public service,” said President Obama. “Their selflessness and courage inspire us all to look for opportunities to better serve our communities and our country.”

This event will be open press and begin at 10:45AM ET. Members of the media who wish to cover this event must send NAME, MEDIA OUTLET, PHONE AND EMAIL for each person planning to cover the event to media_affairs@who.eop.gov by Wednesday, February 13th at 5:00 PM ET. If we are able to accommodate your request for credentials, we will send a confirmation with further instructions and logistical details after the RSVP deadline passes.

NOTE: Members of the media who do not have a White House hard pass must also submit their full name (including middle name), date of birth, Social Security number, gender, country of birth, country of citizenship and current city and state of residence.

The Citizens Medal was established in 1969 to recognize American citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens. President Obama is recognizing Americans whose work has had a significant impact on their communities but may not have garnered national attention. The President called on members of the public to nominate people in their lives who have performed exemplary deeds of service outside of their regular jobs, including individuals:

Who have a demonstrated commitment to service in their own community or in communities farther from home. Someone who has engaged in activities that have had an impact in their local community, on a community or communities elsewhere in the United States, or on fellow citizens living or stationed around the world.

Who have helped their country or their fellow citizens through one or more extraordinary acts. Individuals who have demonstrated notable skill and grace, selflessly placed themselves in harm’s way, taken unusual risks or steps to protect others, made extraordinary efforts to further a national goal, or otherwise conducted themselves admirably when faced with unusually challenging circumstances.

Whose service relates to a long-term or persistent problem. Individuals who have made efforts to combat stubbornly persistent problems that impact entire communities; for example, those who have taken innovative steps to address hunger, homelessness, the dropout crisis, lack of access to health care, and other issues that plague too many Americans.

Whose service has had a sustained impact on others’ lives and provided inspiration for others to serve. The ideal nominee for a Citizens Medal is a person whose work has had a meaningful and lasting impact on the lives of others.

For more information on the President’s Citizens Medal and to nominate someone for the 2013 Citizens Medal, visit www.whitehouse.gov/citizensmedal.

Nearly 6,000 public nominations were submitted, and the President has selected the following awardees:

Dr. T. Berry Brazelton (Boston, Massachusetts)

Brazelton is one of the foremost authorities on pediatrics and child development as well as an author and professor. One of Brazelton’s best known achievements was the development of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), which is now used worldwide to recognize the physical and neurological responses of newborns, as well as emotional well-being and individual differences. In 1993, he founded the Brazelton Touchpoints Center® (BTC) at Boston Children’s Hospital where he continues to promote strengths-based, family-centered care in pediatric and early education settings around the world.

Adam Burke (Jacksonville, Florida)

Burke is an Iraq combat veteran and recipient of the Purple Heart which he received for injuries occurred by a mortar attack while running combat operation in Iraq. In 2009 he opened "Veterans Farm," a 19 acre handicap-accessible farm that helps teach veterans of all ages how to make a living from the find healing in the land. He has been awarded numerous accolades for his work, including the 2011 Good Person of the Year award from the Good People Foundation and the Star of Honor from Work Vessels for Veterans.

Mary Jo Copeland (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Copeland founded Sharing and Caring Hands in 1985, which has served as a safety net to those in the Minneapolis area through the provision of food, clothing, shelter, transportation, medical and dental assistance. Sharing and Caring Hands assists thousands of people a month, and is staffed almost entirely by volunteers. Copeland, who currently receives no salary for her work, has served as its director since its opening and still greets every client entering the center and conducts intake interviews.

Michael Dorman (Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina)

Dorman is the founder and executive director of Military Missions in Action, a North Carolina-based non-profit that helps veterans with disabilities, both physical and mental, achieve independent living. All veterans who have served are eligible to receive services including home modification, rehabilitation and family assistance. Since 2008, the organization has completed more than 100 home modification projects and shipped thousands of care packages to soldiers.

Maria Gomez (Washington, DC)

Gomez founded Mary’s Center 25 years ago with the mission to build better futures through the delivery of health care, family literacy and job training. Mary’s Center is part of the working group launching First Lady Michelle Obama's “Let's Read Let's Move Campaign.” Prior to establishing Mary’s Center, Maria was a public health nurse with the D.C. Department of Health. She has also worked for the Red Cross, directing community education programming and disaster services, and with the Visiting Nurses Association. She currently serves as Regional Representative for the South East to the National Council of la Raza, and previously served two terms on the board of the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington.

Pamela Green Jackson (Albany, Georgia)

Green Jackson is the Founder and CEO of the Youth Becoming Healthy Project (YBH), a non-profit organization committed to reducing the epidemic of childhood obesity through nutrition, fitness education and physical activity programs. YBH was created in memory of Pamela Green Jackson's only brother, Bernard Green, who died in 2004 from obesity-related illnesses. YBH provides resources for during and after school wellness programs for elementary and middle school students as well as a summer wellness camp where the students learn about exercise, nutrition and can participate in martial arts, walking club and dance programs.

Janice Jackson (Baltimore, Maryland)

Jackson is the creator and program director of Women Embracing Abilities Now, (W.E.A.N.) a nonprofit mentoring organization servicing women and young ladies with varying degrees of disabilities. She is also a professor at The University of Baltimore. Jackson has actively advocated on behalf of people with disabilities and currently serves on the board of directors for The League for People with Disabilities, the Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics at the University of Baltimore, and The Image Center of Maryland. She also serves on the Community Advisory Council at the Maryland Center for Developmental Disabilities at Kennedy Krieger Institute, and is a counselor at Kernan Rehabilitation Center. She has also founded two support groups, We Are Able People (W.R.A.P.) and Women On Wheels & Walking (W.O.W.W.).

Patience Lehrman (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Lehrman is an immigrant from Cameroon and the National Director of Project SHINE (Students Helping in the Naturalization of Elders), an immigrant integration initiative at the Intergenerational Center of Temple University. SHINE partners with 18 institutions of higher learning, community-based organizations, and county and city governments across the country. SHINE engages college students and older adults to provide language and health education, citizenship and civic participation lessons to immigrant communities. Lehrman also mentors inner-city high school students, provides free meals to low-income children in the summer and serves as an election official. She holds three Masters Degrees from Temple University.

Jeanne Manford (Queens, NY)

Manford and her husband, Jules, co-founded in 1972 a support group for parents of gay children that grew into the national organization known as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Manford had always supported her son Morty, but was inspired to act after the police failed to intervene while Morty was beaten and hospitalized during a Gay Activists Alliance demonstration in April 1972. In the years that followed, Manford continued to march and organize, even after losing Morty to AIDS in 1992. Today, PFLAG focuses on creating a network of support and advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Manford passed away in early January at the age of 92.

Billy Mills (Fair Oaks, California) Mills co-founded and serves as the spokesman for Running Strong for American Indian Youth, an organization that supports cultural programs and provides health and housing assistance for Native American communities. Mills gained prominence during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, when he unexpectedly won a Gold Medal in the 10,000 meter run. Today, he remains the only American to ever win this event. At the time Mills competed in the Olympics, he was a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. After the Olympics, Mills, an Oglala Lakota, was made a warrior by his tribe. In 1986, Mills and Eugene Krizek, president of Christian Relief Services, joined forces to found Running Strong.

Terry Shima (Gaithersburg, Maryland)

Shima was drafted into the US Army on October 12, 1944 as a replacement for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This unit was composed of Japanese Americans who volunteered for combat duty. In November 2011, the US Congress awarded the Congressional Gold Medal collectively to the 442nd RCT, the 100th Battalion and the Military Intelligence Service. Shima served as Executive Director of the Japanese American Veterans Association (JAVA), a nonprofit organization that publicizes and assists Japanese American military veterans and their families, from 2004 to 2012 and is now chair of its Outreach and Education Committee.

Harris Wofford (Washington D.C.) Wofford served as a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania from 1991 to 1995, and from then to 2001 was the chief executive officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service. From 1970 to 1978 he served as the fifth president of Bryn Mawr College. He is a noted advocate of national service and volunteering. He began his public service career as counsel to the Rev.Theodore Hesburgh on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and was an early supporter of the Civil Rights movement in the South in the late 1950s. He became a volunteer advisor and friend of Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1961, Kennedy appointed him as special assistant to the President for civil rights. He was instrumental in the formation of the Peace Corps and served as the Peace Corps' special representative to Africa and director of operations in Ethiopia. On his return to Washington in 1964, he was appointed associate director of the Peace Corps. In 1966 he became the founding president of the State University of New York's College at Old Westbury.

Rachel Davino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, and Victoria Soto (Newtown, Connecticut) On December 14, 2012, the names of six courageous women were forever etched into the heart of our Nation as unthinkable tragedy swept through Newtown, Connecticut. Some of these individuals had joined Sandy Hook Elementary School only weeks before; others were preparing to retire after decades of service. All had dedicated themselves to their students and their community, working long past the school bell to give the children in their care a future worthy of their talents.

Albuquerque, N.M. -- Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) will undergo a comprehensive evaluation visit October 7-9, 2013 by a team representing The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The public is being invited to submit comments on the school until September 9, 2013. SIPI is currently in “candidacy” status and is a candidate for initial accreditation by the Commission.

The Higher Learning Commission is one of six accrediting agencies in the United States that provide institutional accreditation on a regional basis. Accreditation is the primary means for assuring accountability; it certifies institutional quality and protects the institution’s academic freedom. Institutional accreditation evaluates an entire institution and accredits it as a whole. Accreditation is voluntary. The Commission is recognized by the U.S Department of Education.

For the past three and half years, SIPI has been engaged in a process of self-study, addressing the Commissions requirements and criteria for accreditation. The evaluation team will review SIPI’s ability to meet the Commission’s Criteria for Accreditation. The team will make a recommendation to the Commission; following a review process, the Commission itself will take the final action.

Comments should be sent to:

Third Party Comment on Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute

The Higher Learning Commission

230 South LaSalle Street, Suite 7-500

Chicago, Ill. 60604-1411

The public may also submit comments on the Commission’s website at http://www.aihec.org/

Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of SIPI or its academic programs. Comments must be in writing. Written, signed comments must be received by September 9, 2013.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Donald E. “Del” Laverdure today issued a final determination on a petition for federal acknowledgment, declining to acknowledge the Brothertown Indian Nation (Brothertown) as an Indian tribe under federal law. Brothertown is located in Wisconsin and first submitted its petition in 1980.

In the final determination on the Brothertown petition, the acting Assistant Secretary determined that the group previously had a relationship with the United States, but had its tribal status terminated by an 1839 Act of Congress. The Department’s regulations prohibit the Assistant Secretary from acknowledging a petitioning group where Congress previously terminated the tribal status of that group. Only Congress may restore the tribal status of Brothertown and its government-to-government relationship with the United States.

“This decision was made after a careful review of the facts in the record,” Laverdure said. “As our regulations prohibit us from acknowledging Brothertown through the Department’s process, only Congress can restore the tribal status of Brothertown under federal law.”

The Department’s regulations require a petitioning group to satisfy seven mandatory criteria, including a requirement that the group had not previously been the subject of legislation terminating their tribal status or prohibiting a relationship with the United States. In this case, Brothertown could not overcome this requirement. Because Brothertown could not satisfy one of the seven mandatory criteria for federal acknowledgment, the Department did not look to the other criteria in making its final determination.

This determination will become final and effective 90 days after its publication as a notice in the Federal Register unless the petitioner or any interested party requests reconsideration with the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA) within that time period. The Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs has responsibility for fulfilling the Interior Department’s trust responsibilities and promoting self-determination on behalf of the 566 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.

Copies of the final determination and Federal Register notice will be posted on the Department of the Interior website at https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/ofa/recent-acknowledgment-actions.