OPA

WASHINGTON – As part of President Obama’s commitment to honoring a nation-to-nation relationship with Indian Country, four cabinet-level departments today joined the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation in releasing an action plan to strengthen the protection of Indian sacred sites and provide greater tribal access to these heritage areas. The interagency plan is required by the Memorandum of Understanding signed in December 2012 by the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation regarding coordination and collaboration for the protection of sacred sites.

“The federal family has a special, shared responsibility to respect and foster American Indian and Alaska Native cultural and religious heritage, and this action plan will guide us in that important role,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. “We have dedicated considerable staff and resources to address this important issue and will continue to work with the tribes and their spiritual and religious leaders to carry-out the action plan.”

"The Obama administration has taken a number of steps to ensure that American Indians and Alaska Natives have full access to the programs and services offered across the federal government,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Since 2009, USDA has stepped up Tribal consultation efforts. We understand the importance of these sites and will continue to make sure Tribes have full access to the resources they need in their communities.”

"Protecting America's air and water and our nation's heritage is an important part of the Energy Department's commitment to Tribal Nations across the country, particularly those that are neighbors to the Department's National Laboratories, sites and facilities," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "I look forward to continuing this important work and collaborating with other federal agencies and Tribal Nations to protect Indian sacred sites throughout the United States."

"Through collaboration and consultation, the signatory agencies are working together to raise awareness about Indian sacred sites and the importance of maintaining their integrity,” said Milford Wayne Donaldson, chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. “The tools to be developed under this action plan will help agencies meet their Section 106 responsibilities while affording greater protections for sacred sites. The Advisory Council is very pleased to be part of this historic initiative to address the protection and preservation of Indian sacred sites." The MOU, unveiled at the White House Tribal Nations Conference in 2012, will be in effect for five years.

The MOU commits the signatory agencies to work together to achieve enhanced and improved interdepartmental coordination and collaboration to improve the protection of and tribal access to Indian sacred sites. Among other things, the MOU commits the participating agencies to work together on developing guidance on the management and treatment of sacred sites, on identifying and recommending ways to overcome impediments to the protection of such sites while preserving the sites’ confidentiality, on creating a training program for federal staff and on developing outreach plans to both the public and to non-Federal partners.

The Action Plan includes:

• A Mission Statement that commits the agencies to work together to improve the protection of and tribal access to Indian sacred sites, in accordance with Executive Order 13007 and the MOU, through enhanced and improved interdepartmental coordination, collaboration and consultation with tribes;
• A list of actions the agencies will undertake together;
• A commitment to consultation with Indian tribes in developing and implementing the actions outlined in the plan to ensure meaningful strategies for protecting sacred sites;
• The establishment of a standing working committee made up of designated senior staff from the participating agencies, as well as other subject matter experts from the participating agencies as needed, to carry out the stipulations of the MOU; and

The commitment of the Agencies to designate senior level officials to serve as members of a Core Working Group, which the Department of the Interior will Chair.

Secretary Salazar also announced that Interior plans to provide a report on the Department’s Tribal Listening Sessions on Sacred Sites. Last year, the Department held several Tribal Listening Sessions across the country to elicit tribal and spiritual leaders concerns regarding sacred sites. A copy of the action plan is available here.

WASHINGTON – The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform will hold its next public meeting Feb. 12-13, 2013, Seattle, Wash. The meeting will be preceded by a public youth-outreach session the evening of Feb. 11.

“The Department of the Interior has a very important role to play in administering the federal trust responsibility, and the Commission is looking forward to discussing with the public how we can work together on ways to improve the Department’s management of Indian trust lands and assets,” said Commission Chair Fawn Sharp.

Commission members will hear from invited speakers on the management and administration of probate and real estate services administered through compacts and contracts; the management and administration of natural resources held in trust; and trust reform, including other trust models and the trust relationship. At the youth-outreach session, they will hear from young adults and students about their ideas and recommendations for improving the Department’s performance and services to Indian trust beneficiaries.

Members of the public who wish to attend in person, as well as those wishing to participate via teleconference or webinar, should RSVP to trustcommission@ios.doi.gov by Feb. 8, 2013. Visit http://www.doi.gov/cobell/commission/index.cfm for more information about the Commission’s work and the Feb. 11-13 events.

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. All of the Commission’s meetings are open to the public.

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

-DOI-

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services/Tribal Justice Support (BIA-OJS/TJS) and the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) have partnered with the Federal Reserve Banks of Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Kansas City, Mo., to present three training workshops designed specifically for tribal judges and attorneys on the topic of secured transactions.

The “Commercial Law for Tribal Judiciary: The Model Tribal Secured Transactions Act” workshops are designed to provide intensive training to tribal judges, attorneys and court staff on specific issues that arise in secured transaction litigation. The two-day workshops, which are free and open to the public, will be held from January through May 2013 in three cities.

“In order for tribes to develop sustainable economies, it is vital they create a solid foundation that respects and enforces the rights of sellers, buyers and lenders,” Washburn said. “The ‘Commercial Law for Tribal Judiciary: The Model Tribal Secured Transactions Act’ training will provide a greater understanding and appreciation in the tribal court judiciary system for the roles, rights and responsibilities of consumers, businesses and tribal government in Indian Country in the area of secured transactions.”

“I am deeply grateful to the Federal Reserve Banks for partnering with us to provide this training, and to all of those who have worked with the federally recognized tribal governments on this important matter,” Washburn said. Outreach has begun to past participants in OJS/TJS training sessions, tribal courts and other agencies listed in OJS databases. In this collaborative effort, the OJS/TJS is fulfilling its statutory responsibility under 25 USC 3602 to provide training and technical assistance to tribal courts.

Tribal secured transactions commercial codes enable tribal businesses and individuals residing on federal Indian trust lands to obtain credit for making off-reservation purchases, such as cars, appliances and other durable goods, by allowing sellers to enforce liens or security interests in such items after they have been transported onto a reservation. The Model Tribal Secured Transactions Act (MTSTA) covers, among other things, the use of all types of personal property as collateral for lenders and sellers, and the conditions which must be satisfied for an enforceable interest in collateral to arise.

The dates and locations for the workshops are:

January 30-31, 2013 Seattle, Wash.

March 21-22, 2013 Oklahoma City, Okla.

May 8-9, 2013 Minneapolis, Minn.

The MTSTA was designed to assist tribes in identifying roadblocks and solutions to securing business transactions in Indian Country, explaining the significance of commercial laws to borrowers, and discussing why lenders and sellers must have the ability to secure their transactions.

The tribal court MTSTA workshops build on MTSTA training to tribal governments, tribally affiliated organizations and American Indian businesses by training tribal court judges and tribal attorneys on the scope and application, as well as specific nuances, of tribal secured transaction codes. Training will be based on materials developed by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), a principal sponsor of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which have been used to inform tribal governments considering or that have enacted secured transactions laws based on MTSTA.

The ULC developed the Model Tribal Secured Transactions Act based on principles derived from Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code with the aid of tribal attorneys and economic development officers and the support of the Minneapolis Fed, who, along with other sponsors, has helped the ULC train tribal governments. The principal lecturers for the tribal courts training will be William H. Henning, a Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law and ULC member, and Professor Maylinn Smith, director of the University of Montana Indian Law Clinic. Professor Henning served on the ULC committee that drafted the MTSTA as nationally recognized expert in secured transactions law and Professor Smith has worked extensively on secured transaction models for tribal entities and tribal organizations.

Key to any modern secured transactions regime is a central filing system that serves as the place for lenders and sellers to file public notices of their interests in collateral. The workshops will provide attendees with an understanding of how the system works and the consequences of filing or failing to file. They also will be instructed on the importance of understanding the rights, in the event of a default, of a lender or seller to realize on its collateral, as well as the protections provided to a defaulting borrower or buyer.

The IEED has funded several federally recognized tribes in developing their own tribal secured transactions commercial codes. They include the Blackfeet Tribe, the Crow Nation and the Chippewa-Cree Tribe in Montana; the Sac and Fox Nation and the Seminole Nation in Oklahoma; the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon; the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota; the Tulalip Tribes in Washington State; and the Shoshone and Arapaho Tribes of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.

The Secretary of the Interior created the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development to encourage economic development in Indian Country. The IEED’s mission is to foster strong tribal communities by creating jobs, American Indian-owned businesses and a trained workforce, helping tribes develop their energy and mineral resources, and increasing tribes’ access to capital. The IEED believes that thriving economies and opportunities for work are the best solutions to Indian Country’s economic and social challenges.

The BIA Office of Justice Services’ mission is to enhance public safety and protect property in Indian Country by funding or providing law enforcement, corrections and tribal court services to the nation’s federally recognized tribes. It also coordinates emergency preparedness support on federal Indian lands by working cooperatively with other federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies throughout Indian Country. It also operates the Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M., which provides training and professional development to BIA and tribal law enforcement personnel.

For information on the Commercial Law for Tribal Judiciary: The Model Tribal Secured Transactions Act workshops, please contact Danica D. Kaydahzinne, IPA Training, at 575-746- 5751 or Danica.Kaydahzinne@bia.gov, or Katherine Scotta, BIA Office of Justice Support, Office of Tribal Justice, at 202-208-6711.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced the collaborative initiative between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Spirit Lake Tribe of North Dakota to improve the health, safety and welfare of children being placed in foster care through the use of mobile fingerprinting units. Under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, all adults in a household where minor children are to be placed must be fingerprinted as an integral part of the background investigation.

“The collaboration by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Spirit Lake Tribe to expedite the fingerprinting process for foster homes demonstrates our joint commitment to protect the children while improving the efficiency of foster care services on the Fort Totten Indian Reservation,” Washburn said. “I thank the Tribe’s leaders for their cooperation and support in ensuring that Spirit Lake’s children will be placed with adults who will protect and nurture them.”

“The Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe is looking forward to the continued collaboration with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on this project as we move forward to strengthen the protection afforded the most vulnerable citizens in our tribe,” said Spirit Lake Chairman Roger Yankton.

On January 8, 2013, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Great Plains Region and Office of Justice Services provided fingerprint training to tribal and BIA Social Services staff at the BIA Fort Totten Agency. The Agency has received three mobile fingerprinting units that its social services staff will utilize for in-home fingerprinting of adults in foster homes where children in protected care may be placed.

BIA-Spirit Lake Initiative – Page 2

These mobile fingerprinting units will serve as a positive influence throughout the communities and the reservation by lessening the burden on potential foster families who currently have to devote large amounts of time and engage in extensive travel to provide this critical service.

In September 2012, the BIA agreed to Spirit Lake’s request to assume administrative responsibility for the Tribe’s social services program. In a September 14, 2012 letter, the Tribe stated it “would be in the best interest of the Tribe, its children, and its families, to voluntarily return the program to the Secretary of [the] Interior.”

A retrocession means the return to the Secretary of a contracted program, in whole or in part, for any reason, before the expiration of the term of the contract by an Indian tribe or tribal organization, either one year from the date of the request, the date the contract expires, or a mutually agreed-upon date. The effective date of the retrocession of the Spirit Lake Social Services Program was October 1, 2012. The BIA has continued to work with the Tribe since that time to ensure an effective transition of the program from the Tribe to the BIA.

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.

WASHINGTON – The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform will hold its next public meeting on April 29, 2013, in Nashville, Tennessee. An online component of the meeting will be available for those who are unable to attend.

“The Department of the Interior has a very important role to play in administering the federal trust responsibility, and the Commission is looking forward to discussing with the public how we can work together on ways to improve the Department’s management of Indian trust lands and assets,” said Commission Chair Fawn Sharp.

Commission members will hear from invited speakers on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and international trust models, and the vision of the Department’s Trust Management model. The Commission also will hear from representatives of the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) who will discuss advancing the federal trust responsibility into the future.

Members of the public who wish to participate via virtual meeting should register by 7:00 a.m. CDT on April 29 at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/893317865. Virtual participation will be limited to 100 participants. For more information about the Commission’s work and the April 29 meeting, visit http://www.doi.gov/cobell/commission/index.cfm.

The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform was established 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. All of the Commission’s meetings are open to the public.

WHO: DOI Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform Members:

• Fawn Sharp (Quinault), Chair
• Tex G. Hall (Three Affiliated Tribes), Member
• Stacy Leeds (Cherokee Nation), Member
• Dr. Peterson Zah (Navajo Nation), Member
• Robert Anderson (Minnesota Chippewa Tribe-Boise Forte Band), Member
• Lizzie Marsters, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary and Designated Federal Officer for the Commission, DOI

WHAT: Public meeting Number Five of the DOI Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform

WHEN: Monday, April 29, 2013, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. CDT.

WHERE: One Century Place Conference Center, Conference Room #104, 26 Century Blvd., Nashville, Tenn. 37214.

ONLINE ACCESS: To participate via virtual meeting, please register by 7:00 a.m. CDT on April 29, 2013, at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/893317865. Once you register, you will receive an email with a link to access the meeting online. The call number is 1-866-642- 0396. Use access code 563322.

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

-DOI-

Sixty tribal groups recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the U. S. Department of the Interior have qualified to participate in a $881,160 Tribal Government Development Program, Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced today.

Participating tribes are in the States of Alaska, Arizona California, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada) New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington a Wisconsin.

Some of the projects to be funded by the program are: Training in parliamentary procedure for tribal council members at the school decided upon by the tribe; development of ordinances for the Indian reservation governed by the tribal council; development of a constitution for a tribe; development of budgetary processes by the tribal government; and studies started of factors in tribal government with an eye to highlighting trouble spots.

Franklin said the goal of the national policy toward the Indian people as outlined by President Nixon in his Message to the Congress on Indians delivered shortly after he began his first term in office, is to strengthen the Indian's sense of autonomy without threatening his sense of community. The President said: "We must make it clear that Indians can become independent of Federal control without being cut off from Federal concern and Federal support."

The foundation for this kind of self-determination is a strong tribal government, Franklin added.

Through contracting procedures, the tribes will be given funds to accomplish goals they themselves set. These goals will improve effectiveness of the tribe's governmental function. In some cases, this money will also be "seed money" through which tribal governments will find other sources of funding for their projects, the Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs indicated.

The 60 tribal groups that will benefit from this program qualified from among 144 applicants on the basis of need. Qualifying factors were the economic level of the tribe and the number of enrolled members of the tribe.

The participants are:

Visitors travelling to the Pacific Northwest will find many reasons for lingering beyond their visit to the Seattle World Fair in a special informational pamphlet being readied by the Department of the Interior.

The booklet details points of interest such as national parks and monuments, dams and recreational areas, fish hatcheries, public land camp sites, and Indian reservations administered by the Department. It indicates the availability of hotels, camping and picnicking areas, and point of entry communities offering accommodations. Special regulations regarding fishing, fires, mountain climbing, and pets are listed.

The publication will soon be available from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C., for 20 cents.

Continued sale of the booklet is planned for post-fair years, and similar booklets on other sections of the Nation are planned.

"Many potential visitors to the Pacific Northwest who have heard of Mount Rainier or Yellowstone park are not acquainted with the many other outstanding attractions available en route," Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall said. "We are hopeful that as part of the Kennedy Administration's program for encouraging outdoor recreation many more Americans will become acquainted with their unique heritage."

Secretary Udall said a listing of attractions, all easily available from main highways, include Department of the Interior Recreation areas at Grand Coulee Dam, where 32 public camping grounds and nearby motels and hotels provide visitors with access to tours of the massive dam as well as camping, swimming, boating trips up the 151-mile long Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, and viewing the illuminated dam at night. A listing of similar attractions at Hungry Horse Dam in Montana is included.

Lesser-known attractions range from details of the Oregon Caves National Monument with its striking stalagmites and miniature waterfalls, the strikingly different Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho, the restored frontier fort at Fort Simcoe, Washington, various rodeos, dances and other events at Indian reservations, and historic sites such as the Old Hudson Bay Company headquarters at Fort Vancouver National Monument in Washington and the Custer Battlefield National Monument in Montana.

The complete listing includes details on:

NATIONAL PARKS: Mount Rainier and Olympic (Wash.); Crater Lake (Ore.); Yellowstone (Ida., Mont., Wyo.); Grand Teton (Wyo.); and Glacier (Mont.).

NATIONAL MONUMENTS AND HISTORIC SITES: Oregon Caves, Fort CIatsop, and McLoughlin House (Ore.); Whitman and Fort Vancouver (Wash.); Big Hole and Custer (Mont.); and Craters of the Moon (Ida.).

RESERVOIR RECREATIONAL AREAS: Grand Coulee (Wash.) and Hungry Horse (Mont.).

INDIAN RESERVATIONS: Nez Perce (Ida.); Umatilla and Warm Springs (Ore.); Colville, Lummi, Spokane, Swinomish, Quinault, Tulalip and Yakima (Wash.); Wind River (Wyo.); and Blackfeet, Fort Belknap, Fort Peck, Flathead, Crow, Rocky Boy's and Northern Cheyenne (Mont.).

FISH HATCHERIES (Open to visitors): Hagerman (Ida.); Estacada (Ore.); and Longview, Carson, Entiat, Leavenworth, Cook, Quilcene, Underwood, Winthrop, and Yakima (Wash.)

Fleming Begaye, Sr., 47, Chinle, Arizona, a Navajo Indian, was presented the Indian Small Businessman of the Year award May 17, by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. The ceremony took place in the auditorium of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. as a part of Small Business Week, May 17 - 21.

As he presented the Indian Small Businessman of the Year plaque the Commissioner said: "An ex-Marine code-talker, Mr. Begaye has pyramided the small savings he began with into a complex of businesses grossing about $750.000 last year. He has provided the "Heart of Navajo land" with a modern service station, hardware, feed, auto parts, sporting goods store, general merchandise store, restaurant, an office building, and a working ranch."

Begaye's annual payroll alone is now 32 times his original investment, Commissioner Bruce pointed out, and added: "This allows him 24 full-time employees and six part-time employees. All but two are Navajo."

Peter MacDonald, Navajo Tribal Chairman, Paul Parrish, President of the Navajo Association, and John Nelson Dee, Navajo Tribal member attended the ceremonies. Bernard Kulik, Director, Office of Program Development, Office of Minority Enterprises represented the Small Business Administration.

MacDonald, With the Navajo Area Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, appointed the committee to select an Indian Small Businessman of the Year from the Navajo Area. At the ceremony, he pointed out that Begaye's special abilities enabled him to by-pass formal training and feasibility studies.

Begaye started his complex with $3.000 he saved while working for 14 years as a guidance counselor in the Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school system on the Navajo Reservation. He built his first small service station, of cinderblocks, in 1960 at the junction of the Chinle-Many Farms highways where his large modern business complex now stands. His present service station is modern and has three bays.

In 1963, using profits from the service station, Begaye and his family built a general merchandise store. Again, with profits, they added a restaurant in 1964. The following year they added a hardware auto parts, and sporting goods store and in 1967 built professional offices. Begaye also has a cattle and sheep ranching business he has maintained and expanded.

The Navajo businessman was selected for his long, sustained record of success and business growth. He has one of the most extensive and well-run business enterprises on the entire Navajo Reservation, which is the size of West Virginia.

His business complex creates a large number of jobs, held largely by Indians. He has had to borrow almost no capital, and has consistently put profits back into the sound expansion of this outstanding enterprise.

His wife also a Navajo is the general manager of the Begaye business complex. Their three children also work in the enterprise.

Begaye is one of the most active people in civic affairs on the reservation. He has supplied help and information to t tribal, state, and federal agencies, and has been active in efforts to establish a branch bank in Chinle. He is also an active member of the Navajo Businessmen's Association. This Indian businessman is on the executive board of the Office of Navajo Economic Opportunity, an active member of the Chinle Planning Board, and a former member of the Chinle Public School Board.

He has contributed financial backing and goods to the Navajo Community College, Navajo Police Department, local rodeos, the community basketball teams, churches, and schools. Begaye also maintains an active interest in the Navajo Youth Baseball league.

Runners-up for the award were Clarence E. Brooks, Cherokee Indian owner and manager of Brooks Cleaners, Owasso, Oklahoma and Popovi Da San Ildefonso Pueblo, owner and operator of Popovi Da Studio, which deals in pottery, turquoise, and silver jewelry in San Ildefonso Pueblo.

Popovi Da started in business after World War II with the first GI Loan granted to an Indian in the Albuquerque area. He expanded his business to all parts of the United States and Europe by exhibits at fairs and art shows. He now has agents in Chicago and other large cities of the United States who wholesale his pottery.

Others nominated for the 8Ivard were Russell Edwin Smith, member of the Confederated Tribe’s of the Harm Springs Reservation, Oregon, owner and operator of the Russell Smith Logging Company; Ralph Perdue.

Athabascan Indian, Fairbanks, Alaska, owner and operator of a jewelry store; and Lee Thomas, Hopi Indian, owner and operator of a business complex at Orabi, Arizona which includes a laundromat, trailer park cafe, and building construction business.

Other outstanding small businessmen were Nick O. Nick, Eskimo, trading post owner and operator at Nunapitchuk, Alaska; Ralph Simon, Kickapoo Indian, owner and operator of the Simon Roofing Company, Horton, Kansas; Dr. Frank L. Enos, Shoshone, veterinarian of Landen, Wyoming near the Wind River Reservation.

Also included were: John Trottier, Sr., Turtle Mountain Chippewa who operates a turkey breeding flock operation in Benson County, North Dakota; Maynard Whitebird, Odanah, Wisconsin, member of the Bad River Tribe, owner and operator of Whitebird, Incorporated, a tool and die shop; and Leo D. Calae, member of the Rincon Band of Mission Indians, San Diego County, California, owner and operator of two Indian arts and crafts shops in California -- one in Escondido and the other in Palm Springs, California.

WASHINGTON – Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development – Indian Affairs George T. Skibine today announced the publication of a Notice of an Amended Proposed Finding declining to acknowledge that a group known as Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe in Louisiana is an Indian tribe according to federal law. This finding determined that the petitioner does not meet three of seven mandatory criteria for federal acknowledgment under the regulations governing the federal acknowledgment process at 25 CFR Part 83, and therefore does not meet the requirements for a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

The Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe (PACIT), petitioner #56b, claims to be the continuation of a historical Indian community that settled in the mid-19th century on the boundary of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes. It has described its members as descendants of the Chitimacha, Acolapissa, Atakapa, Choctaw, and Biloxi Indian tribes. It does not claim to descend from the Houma tribe, although its members and ancestors have been called “Houma” Indians since at least 1907. The PACIT has never had a treaty or other formal relationship with the federal government.

Most of the PACIT’s 682 members were part of the United Houma Nation (UHN), petitioner #56, in 1994, when it received a proposed finding declining acknowledgment. The PACIT organized separately and submitted a letter of intent to petition for federal acknowledgment in 1996. The Department told the PACIT in 1997 that it would issue an “amended Proposed Finding” after the PACIT had responded to the UHN proposed finding as it applied to their petition. The Department also told the PACIT that it would evaluate them “as a petitioner with a proposed finding.”

The PACIT petitioner meets criterion 83.7(a) requiring petitioners to be identified as an American Indian entity since 1900. The PACIT finding concluded that identifications of a “Houma” population or group and other identifications of Pointe-au-Chien as a “Houma” settlement demonstrated continuous identifications of the PACIT as an Indian entity since 1900

The petitioner also meets three other criteria. It meets criterion 83.7(d), which requires petitioners to submit its governing documents, and criterion 83.7(f), which requires that a petitioning group be composed principally of persons who are not members of any already acknowledged Indian tribe. It also meets criterion 83.7(g), which prohibits the Department from acknowledging petitioners with congressional legislation forbidding a government-to-government relationship with them. The petitioner has not been the subject of such legislation. The petitioner also meets three other criteria. It meets criterion 83.7(d), which requires petitioners to submit its governing documents, and criterion 83.7(f), which requires that a petitioning group be composed principally of persons who are not members of any already acknowledged Indian tribe. It also meets criterion 83.7(g), which prohibits the Department from acknowledging petitioners with congressional legislation forbidding a government-to-government relationship with them. The petitioner has not been the subject of such legislation.

The PACIT petitioner does not meet three criteria. It does not meet criterion 83.7(b) requiring the petitioning group to comprise a distinct community from historical times to the present. The evidence does not show that the petitioner’s ancestors lived together in a community before 1830. After 1830, the PACIT meets criterion 83.7(b) during all periods. Between 1830 and 1940, it meets this criterion based on the 1994 UHN proposed finding, and after 1940, it meets it based on available evidence. Because the PACIT failed to meet criterion 83.7(b) before 1830, it has not demonstrated that it meets the requirements of this criterion.

The PACIT petitioner does not meet criterion 83.7(c) requiring that the petitioner show political influence and authority over members from historical times to the present. The PACIT has not demonstrated that it maintained political influence over its historical ancestors before 1830, but it meets this criterion between 1830 and 1940 based on the 1994 proposed finding on the UHN petitioner. For the period since 1940, the evidence available is sufficient to demonstrate the PACIT meets this criterion only since 1988.

The PACIT petitioner does not meet criterion 83.7(e) requiring that petitioners submit an official membership list and demonstrate that its members descend from a historical Indian tribe or tribes that combined and functioned as an autonomous political entity. The petitioner submitted a membership list of 682 members. An analysis of selected members showed most of them descend from at least one of two historical “Indians,” but those two individuals have not been shown to be part of a historical Indian tribe, or tribes that combined.

The Notice of Proposed Finding on the group known as the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe will be published in the Federal Register. As provided by the acknowledgment regulations at 25 CFR 83.10(i), the petitioner or any individual or organization wishing to challenge or support the proposed finding has 180 days after the notice’s publication date to submit arguments and evidence to rebut or support the proposed finding before a final determination is issued.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Donald “Del” Laverdure today issued decisions on two tribal gaming applications in California, determining that one of the proposed gaming sites meets the legal and regulatory requirements and one does not.

Laverdure approved a gaming application for the Ione Band of Miwok Indians in Amador County, Calif., that includes authorization for land to be acquired in trust for gaming purposes under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’s (IGRA) “Equal Footing Exceptions.”

“The Ione Band of Miwok Indians’ gaming application received a careful and thorough review, allowing us to determine that it met the stringent conditions set out by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act,” Laverdure said. “The Ione Band has demonstrated both a modern and historical connection to the lands it sought to have placed in federal trust, as well as a reasonable temporal connection between the date the land is acquired and the date the tribe was restored to federal recognition status.”

The Acting Assistant Secretary also determined that an application submitted by the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians in Lake County for a 30-acre parcel in Contra Costa County, Calif., does not qualify for gaming under IGRA’s equal footing exceptions. The Band had sought to develop a gaming facility near the city of Richmond, Calif., approximately 80 miles from the town of Lakeport in Lake County, where the tribe’s government headquarters are located.

“After closely reviewing the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians’ fee-to-trust application for a gaming facility in Contra Costa County, we determined that the Band’s parcels near the city of Richmond did not qualify as restored lands under IGRA’s equal footing exceptions because it could not demonstrate it had a significant historical connection to the site,” Laverdure said.

The Ione Band of Miwok Indians’ headquarters in Amador County is located approximately 40 miles east of Sacramento, and the tribe does not have any lands held in trust by the United States. It does own 40 acres of non-trust land near the city of Ione that are used for residential purposes.

In 2005, the 750-member Ione Band submitted an application to have approximately 228 acres of land acquired in trust for a Class III gaming operation near Plymouth, Calif., which is about 11 miles from the city of Ione. In 2006, the Department determined that the Band constituted a “restored tribe” and that its application satisfied IGRA’s “restored lands” exception because it had once been under federal jurisdiction but was effectively treated as a terminated tribe by the Department for many years. In 1994, the Department reaffirmed that the Ione Band of Miwok Indians was federally recognized, renewing the government-to-government relationship with the tribe. This action effectively “restored” the tribe for purposes under IGRA.

The Ione Band decision marks the first Indian gaming application completed under IGRA’s restored lands exception since September 2008.

For more information concerning each of these decisions, please click on the following links:

Ione Band of Miwok Indians

Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians