Tag: Bureau of Indian Affairs

Photo shows, book trace the story of the American Indian Movement

The American Indian Movement (AIM) stopped making headlines long ago, but it’s still making history.

Provided by Minnesota Historical Society Press. Photos by Dick Bancroft ‚ A group of AIM women protest at the front door of the US Courthouse in Minneapolis. This is a black-and-white photo of people holding signs outside the courthouse. One with back to camera wears a coat with sign on back saying‚”Indian Brotherhood.”
Provided by Minnesota Historical Society Press. Photos by Dick Bancroft ‚ A group of AIM women protest at the front door of the US Courthouse in Minneapolis. This is a black-and-white photo of people holding signs outside the courthouse. One with back to camera wears a coat with sign on back saying‚”Indian Brotherhood.”
Article by: MARY ABBE
Star Tribune
May 30, 2013

 Last year the organization began planning an interpretive center to house the photos, artifacts and stories that document AIM’s importance in restoring Indian civil rights, identity and pride. This spring a sample of that material is showcased in two exhibitions: a powerful, emotionally stirring show of about 100 photos plus memorabilia (posters, buttons, articles) at All My Relations Gallery in south Minneapolis and a smaller display of about 25 photos downtown at the Mill City Museum. Accompanying them is a handsome new book, “We Are Still Here: A Photographic History of the American Indian Movement,” from the Minnesota Historical Society Press.

This Dick Bancroft portrait of a man at a 1981 treaty-rights conference serves as the cover for “We Are Still Here: A Photographic History of the American Indian Movement,” from the Minnesota Historical Society Press.
This Dick Bancroft portrait of a man at a 1981 treaty-rights conference serves as the cover for “We Are Still Here: A Photographic History of the American Indian Movement,” from the Minnesota Historical Society Press.

Founded in Minneapolis in 1968, AIM was ambitious in its goals and fortunate in its leaders. Responding to endemic poverty, racism, police harassment and centuries of broken treaties, the fledgling organization set out to reclaim native pride, much as the civil rights movement was doing for black Americans. Its goals encompassed everything from improved housing, education and employment for urban Indians to encouraging native people to assume responsibility and engage in civic affairs.

Now, 45 years later, its legacy is especially visible on revitalized Franklin Avenue in south Minneapolis, where banners announcing an American Indian Cultural Corridor flutter on new light poles, and Indian businesses and civic organizations (Northland Native American Products, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Native American Community Development Institute) anchor an increasingly upscale neighborhood.

Tough times documented

There was nothing upscale in the lives of urban Indians in the 1960s, as documented in “I’m Not Your Indian Anymore” at All My Relations. The earliest black-and-white images show the poverty and danger — junked cars, rickety stairs, holes in floors — in which Indians often struggled to raise their families. AIM’s early marches, rallies and confrontations were recorded at Minneapolis City Hall, the village of Wounded Knee, S.D., and at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C.

The emotional power of the shows comes in the unvarnished authenticity and you-are-there candor of the grainy images, including a wedding, a funeral, and a clutch of camouflage-clad U.S. military men arriving at Wounded Knee. In a particularly striking picture by Kevin McKiernan, an elderly woman named Cecilia Jumping Bull proudly clutches a folded U.S. flag and photos of two young men, presumably her sons, in military uniforms. A bullet hole disfigures one of the portraits, prompting her remark: “The government shoots my house; they have no respect for me.”

Stacy LaBlanc, John Blue Bird and Tom LaBlanc in front of the FBI building in Washington, D.C., in 1978 during the Longest Walk, a cross-country protest march.
Stacy LaBlanc, John Blue Bird and Tom LaBlanc in front of the FBI building in Washington, D.C., in 1978 during the Longest Walk, a cross-country protest march.

Other images document police beatings and harassment, protests at a Wisconsin power dam that had flooded tribal lands, and a long 1972 march to Washington known as the Trail of Broken Treaties Caravan. But AIM had broader goals, too, as evidenced in Roger Woo’s 1975 photo of kids being tutored at the Red School House, a St. Paul school for Indian youths, and of a boy being cared for at an Indian Health Board Clinic.

The earliest black-and-white pictures were taken by a variety of photographers, most notably Woo and McKiernan. Most of the color images, including a preponderance of those in the book, are by Dick Bancroft, who became the movement’s unofficial photographer.

Complex conflicts

Not surprisingly, the back story of many of the photos is complex. Official tribal leaders of the time often sided with federal bureaucrats against AIM, trying to discredit it as a ragtag group of “urban Indian” agitators, even though it enjoyed support of many traditional elders.

The magnitude of AIM’s reach became apparent in 1977 when an international delegation of indigenous people took their concerns to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Among the delegates was Winona LaDuke, then an 18-year-old Harvard student who had researched uranium and coal mining on Indian lands. “I was in awe of everybody,” she recalls in the book. “I’d never been exposed to all this cool political leadership.”

•ÄúAn unidentified woman listening to translated testimony on the sterilization of Indian women.‚Äù This pix of a lovely young woman crying was taken apparently at a United Nations International NGO Conference on Indigenous Peoples and the Land in Geneva, Switzerland, Sept. 15 ‚Äì 18, 1981. provided by Minnesota Historical Society Press. Photos by Dick Bancroft
• ÄúAn unidentified woman listening to translated testimony on the sterilization of Indian women.‚Äù This pix of a lovely young woman crying was taken apparently at a United Nations International NGO Conference on Indigenous Peoples and the Land in Geneva, Switzerland, Sept. 15 ‚Äì 18, 1981. provided by Minnesota Historical Society Press. Photos by Dick Bancroft

The 13-point resolution the group presented became the basis of a U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People that was approved, finally, 30 years later.

Like all history, AIM’s story will doubtless be debated and interpreted for years to come. These compelling exhibitions and the engrossing, meticulously researched book are an essential foundation for that discussion.

 

I’m Not Your Indian Anymore

What: An impressive photographic history of the American Indian Movement (AIM), featuring images by Dick Bancroft, Roger Woo and Keri Pickett.

When: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sat. Ends June 29.

Where: All My Relations Gallery, 1414 E. Franklin Av., Mpls. www.allmyrelationsarts.com or 612-235-4970.

Admission: Free.

 

Mary Abbe • 612-673-4431

BIA proposes regulation to address land-into-trust appeals

Indianz.com

The Obama administration is proposing a new regulation to address land-into-trust appeals in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Salazar v. Patchak.

In Patchak, the Supreme Court ruled that opponents can sue the Bureau of Indian Affairs for up to six years after the land is placed in trust. As a result, the administration says it is no longer necessary to wait 30 days for any appeals.

“Specifically, this rule deletes the 30-day waiting period for implementation of decisions to acquire land in trust after such decisions are final for the [Interior] Department,” a forthcoming notice in the Federal Register states.

“Following the Patchak decision, this 30-day waiting period is now unnecessary because parties may seek, to the extent it is available, judicial review of the Secretary’s decision … even after the land is acquired by the United States in trust,” the notice states.

Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn, the head of the BIA, said the new regulation will bring more clarity to the land-into-trust process. Tribes are invited to submit comments.

“The principal purpose of this proposed rule is to provide greater certainty to tribes in their ability to develop lands acquired in trust for purposes such as housing, schools and economic development,” Washburn said in a press release. “For such acquisitions, the proposed rule will create a ‘speak now or forever hold your peace moment’ in the land-into-trust process. If parties do not appeal the decision within the administrative appeal period, tribes will have the peace of mind to begin development without fear that the decision will be later overturned.”

Forthcoming Federal Register Notice:
Land Acquisitions: Appeals of Land Acquisition Decisions (To Be Published May 29, 2013)

Washburn Proposes Changes to Land-into-Trust Procedures to Achieve Greater Transparency, Clarity and Certainty for Tribes

Proposal Released for Public Review and Comment for 60 days
 
WASHINGTON – Today, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn issued for public comment a proposed rule designed to demonstrate the Administration’s commitment to restoring tribal homelands and furthering economic development on Indian reservations.  The proposed rule will provide for greater notice of land-into-trust decisions and clarify the mechanisms for judicial review depending on whether the land is taken into trust by the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, or by an official of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  During the public comment window, Indian Affairs will also conduct tribal consultation.
 
For the Bureau of Indian Affairs trust acquisition decisions, which are generally for non-gaming purposes and constitute the vast majority of land-into-trust decisions, the proposed rule will ensure that parties have adequate notice of the action and clarifies the requirement that exhaustion of administrative remedies within the Department is necessary to seek judicial review. 
 
“The principal purpose of this proposed rule is to provide greater certainty to tribes in their ability to develop lands acquired in trust for purposes such as housing, schools and economic development,” said Assistant Secretary Washburn. “For such acquisitions, the proposed rule will create a ‘speak now or forever hold your peace moment’ in the land-into-trust process.  If parties do not appeal the decision within the administrative appeal period, tribes will have the peace of mind to begin development without fear that the decision will be later overturned.” 
 
For decisions made by the Assistant Secretary, which generally are for gaming or other complex acquisitions, the proposed rule clarifies that the Assistant Secretary’s decision is a final decision and allows the Assistant Secretary to proceed with taking the land-into-trust with no waiting period.  Because a simple change in ownership status itself is not an act that causes irreparable harm in many cases, it will place the burden on litigants to come forth and demonstrate such harm if they wish to prevent the trust acquisition from occurring, while not affecting the right to judicial review of the basic decision. 
 
The proposed rule issued today would also effectively repeal a 1996 procedural provision by omitting a 30-day waiting period which, as a result of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision, now is unnecessary. 
 
In 1996, the Department revised its land-into-trust regulations in Part 151 by establishing a 30-day waiting period following publication of a Departmental determination to take land into trust for an Indian tribe.  At that time, prevailing federal court decisions held that the Quiet Title Act (QTA), 28 U.S.C. 2409a, precluded judicial review of such determinations after the United States acquired title to the land in trust.  The waiting period was intended to ensure that interested parties had the opportunity to seek judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 704) before the Secretary acquired title to land in trust.  See 61 FR 18082 (Apr. 24, 1996). 
 
The legal landscape changed, however, on June 18, 2012, when the Supreme Court issued its decision in Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak, 132 S. Ct. 2199 (2012).  In that decision, the Supreme Court held that the Quiet Title Act does not bar Administrative Procedure Act challenges to the Department’s determination to take land in trust even after the United States acquires title to the property, unless the aggrieved party asserts an ownership interest in the land as the basis for the challenge.  Following Patchak, the 1996 procedural rule establishing a 30-day waiting period before taking land into trust to allow for Administrative Procedure Act review is no longer needed.  Unless judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act is precluded on some other basis, such as standing, timeliness, or a failure to exhaust administrative remedies, judicial review of the Secretary’s decision is available under the Administrative Procedure Act even after the Secretary has acquired title to the property.
 
The proposed rule will be available in the federal register at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection.  Public comments may be submitted to the Department for sixty days following the proposed rule’s publication in the Federal Register.  Tribal Consultation on the proposed rule will occur on June 24, 2013, in Reno, Nevada.
 

BIA is late to publish annual list of federally recognized tribes

Monday, May 6, 2013

Indianz.com Staff

The Bureau of Indian Affairs published its annual list of federally recognized tribes in the Federal Register today but once again it was late.

The Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 requires the BIA to publish the list “annually on or before every January 30.” But the agency has missed the deadline for several years in a row — in 2012, it was published in August and in 2011, it wasn’t published at all.

In 2010, the BIA published the list in October and in 2009, it was published in August. The agency came close to the deadline in 2008 — the list was published in April — and in 2007 — it was published in March.

The BIA didn’t publish the list in 2006. In 2005, it was published in November.

The 2013 list contains 566 federally recognized tribes in the Lower 48 and Alaska.

“The listed entities are acknowledged to have the immunities and privileges available to other federally acknowledged Indian tribes by virtue of their government-to-government relationship with the United States as well as the responsibilities, powers, limitations and obligations of such tribes,” the notice in the Federal Register states.

View PDF here Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs

Senators Confirm Sally Jewell to Lead Interior; Predict She Will be Good for Indian Country

By Rob Capriccioso, Indian Country Today Media Network

Senators are speaking out after confirming Sally Jewell April 10 by a vote of 87 – 11 to become the next secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, saying she will be strong on American Indian issues as she encounters them in her new position—a position that includes oversight of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Jewell, 57, was most recently the CEO of an outdoor gear and clothing company called Recreational Equipment Inc., and she is a former commercial banker and oil company engineer, as well as a longtime advocate for conservation and outdoor recreation.

In her previous positions, Jewell hasn’t done a lot of specific work on Indian-related issues, which she admitted during her confirmation hearing, yet some Indian leaders say she has done enough to know that she will be a positive advocate. For instance, she was part of the Board of Regents at the University of Washington, which approved the construction of the university’s new $5.8 million longhouse.

Billy Frank, a Native American environmental advocate, has issued his strong support, as have Fawn Sharp, Chris Stearns, and other Indian leaders.

Several senators also say they believe Jewell will be good for Indian country.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, has met with Jewell multiple times and has discussed a number of issues important to Indian country, according to the senator’s staff. On March 7, at Jewell’s confirmation hearing, Cantwell asked Jewell for her “comments on the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which will be part of your responsibilities. And whether you would commit to protecting treaty rights and incorporating tribal input into the Interior resource decisions?”

“I’m fully committed to upholding the sacred trust responsibilities that we have to Indian tribes and Indian nations,” Jewell replied. “And building and strengthening the nation-to-nation relationship that we have with tribes. I know this is a very important part of the Department of the Interior. … I’m certainly very interested in becoming more steeped in those issues and it has come up across the board in almost every one of my meetings with senators so far. So I very much look forward to taking this part of the role extremely serious.”

Cantwell further asked Jewell whether she supports energy development on Indian lands.

“Some tribes are blessed with natural resources and I think leaning into those resources to help the tribes economically as well as help the country by finding sources of energy development are really important,” Jewell said. “I know that businesses and tribes want certainty, in terms of the regulations. And I know that there have been issues with the Bureau of Land Management on how the leases occur. And I certainly will look into furthering that development.”

The comments from Jewell were not enough to convince Sen. John Barrasso (D-Wyo.), the vice-chair of SCIA, to vote for her confirmation. He was tough on her ties to conservation groups during her confirmation hearing, and he ended up being one of the 11 Republicans to vote against her confirmation.

Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-Mont.) office said he is interested in bringing Jewell to Montana to see firsthand the issues involving his state’s tribes. Based on conversations prior to her confirmation, Tester believes she will be a strong advocate for Indians, his spokeswoman said.

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M), a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, predicted in a press release that Jewell will be an “outstanding” secretary.

“As fellow engineer, I am confident that Ms. Jewell will use science as her guide in addressing the challenges that lie ahead, including managing our nation’s land and water, and expanding safe and responsible energy production,” Heinrich said. “Ms. Jewell shares my commitment to Indian country and to protecting our natural heritage for our children and for generations to come. And she knows firsthand that conservation and growing the Western economy are inextricably linked.”

On the House side, Don Young (R-Alaska), the leader of the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs, has not yet met with Jewell, but he has plenty of thoughts on how she can work to strengthen Indian country.

“One of the most important things she can do as Secretary is reorder the pecking order of the bureaus within the Department to give Indian Affairs equal standing with the others,” Michael Anderson, a spokesman for Young, said. “Additionally, one of the Department’s most solemn obligations is to ensure federal laws and policies dealing with tribes are beneficial to American Indians and Alaska Natives, and Congressman Young looks forward to promoting that message and building a strong relationship with Secretary Jewell in the days and months ahead.”

Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii), the ranking member of the Indian-focused subcommittee is also interested in meeting with Jewell as soon as possible, according to the congresswoman’s staff.

President Barack Obama, upon receiving word that the Senate had confirmed Jewell, also mentioned her impending relationship with Indian country in a statement.

“Sally’s commitment to energy and climate issues, her belief in our strong government-to-government relationship with Indian country, and her understanding of the inherent link between conservation and good jobs ensure that she will be an exceptional Secretary of the Interior.”

Jewell was sworn in April 12 in a closed-door ceremony, immediately replacing outgoing Secretary Ken Salazar. She is the 51st Secretary of the Interior.

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/04/15/senators-confirm-sally-jewell-lead-interior-predict-she-will-be-good-indian-country

President’s Fiscal Year 2014 Indian Affairs Budget Focuses on Strengthening and Supporting Tribal Nations

Request supports Indian Affairs’ mission to serve federally recognized tribes and individual Indian trust beneficiaries

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior

WASHINGTON – President Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget request for Indian Affairs, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), is $2.6 billion – a $31.3 million increase above the FY 2012 enacted level. The proposed budget maintains the President’s commitment to meeting the government’s responsibilities to the 566 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, while exercising fiscal responsibility and improving government operations and efficiency.

“The President’s budget request for Indian Affairs reflects his firm commitment to keeping our focus on strengthening and supporting tribal nations, and protecting Indian Country,” said Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn. “While realizing the benefits from improvements to Indian Affairs program management, the request supports our mission to federally recognized tribes, particularly in the areas of trust lands and natural resource protection. The request also promotes economic development, improves education, and strengthens law enforcement and justice administration.”

Strengthening Tribal Nations Initiative

The Strengthening Tribal Nations Initiative is a comprehensive, multi-year effort to advance the President’s commitments to American Indians and Alaska Natives to improve conditions throughout Indian Country and foster economic opportunities on Indian reservations.

The FY 2014 budget request includes $120 million in increases for this initiative to support sustainable stewardship and development of natural resources in Indian Country, public safety programs that apply lessons learned from successful law enforcement pilot programs, operations at new and expanded detention facilities, contract support costs to facilitate tribal self- governance, and new and expanded payments for water rights settlements. Additionally, it

provides increased funding for post-secondary education and an elementary and secondary school pilot program based on the U.S. Department of Education’s turnaround schools model and concepts.

Advancing Nation-to-Nation Relationships

The FY 2014 budget request for Contract Support Costs is $231 million – a $9.8 million increase over the FY 2012 enacted level. The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, as amended, allows federally recognized tribes to operate federally funded programs themselves under contract with the United States – an expression of the federal government’s policy to support tribal self-determination and self-governance. Tribes rely on contract support costs funds to pay the costs of administering and managing contracted programs. It is a top priority for many tribes.

In light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Salazar v. Ramah Navajo Chapter, the FY 2014 budget request includes the Administration’s proposed interim solution to budgeting contract support costs. The Administration proposes Congress appropriate contract support costs on a contract by contract basis and will provide Congress with a contract funding table for incorporation into the Department’s FY 2014 appropriations legislation. Through tribal consultation, this interim step will lead to a long-term solution that will result in a simpler and more streamlined contract support costs process.

Protecting Indian Country

The FY 2014 budget request for BIA Public Safety and Justice programs is $363.4 million with targeted increases over the 2012 enacted level of $5.5 million for Law Enforcement Operations, $13.4 million for Detention Center Operations and $1.0 million for Tribal Courts.

The request also includes a $3.0 million programmatic increase in BIA Human Services to address domestic violence in tribal communities. A partnership between BIA Human Services and Law Enforcement will address the needs at tribal locations with high levels of domestic violence. The initiative will improve teamwork between law enforcement and social services to more rapidly address instances of domestic violence, and expand services that help stem domestic violence in Indian Country and care for its victims.

The FY 2014 budget request for Law Enforcement Operations is $199.7 million, a $5.5 million programmatic increase over the FY 2012 enacted level. The increased funding for Criminal Investigations and Police Services will enable the BIA to hire additional bureau and tribal law enforcement personnel. The request includes $96.9 million for Detention Center Operations, a program increase of $13.4 million over the FY 2012 enacted level. The additional funding for staffing, training and equipment will strengthen BIA and tribal capacity to operate existing and newly constructed detention facilities.

The request also includes $24.4 million for Tribal Courts, an increase of $1.0 million above the 2012 enacted level. The funding will be used for judges, prosecutors, public defenders, court

clerks, probation officers, juvenile officers, and support staff, as well as for training and related operations and administrative costs for tribal justice systems and Courts of Indian Offenses.

The FY 2014 budget request also supports the BIA’s successful pilot program, launched in 2010, that carries out the President’s Priority Goal of reducing violent crimes by at least five percent within 24 months on four initial reservations. The targeted, intense community safety program successfully reduced violent crime by an average of 35 percent across the four reservations. In 2012, the program was extended to two additional reservations. After a year, the two new sites have experienced an increase in reported crime – a trend similar to that seen at the initial four sites. The BIA will continue to support the efforts of all six programs in 2014 with funding, technical assistance, monitoring and feedback.

Improving Trust Land Management

Taking land into trust is one of the most important functions the Department undertakes on behalf of federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, whose homelands are essential to their peoples’ health, safety and economic well-being. The BIA’s trust programs assist tribes and individual Indian landowners in the management, development and protection of trust lands and natural resource assets totaling about 55 million surface acres and 57 million acres of subsurface mineral estates.

In 2012 and 2013, the Department undertook the most substantial overhaul of the federal fee-to- trust process in over half a century. In 2012, Interior placed 37,971 acres of land into trust on behalf of tribes and individual Indians and approved 299 fee-to-trust applications. Over the past four years, Indian Affairs has processed more than 1,000 separate applications and acquired over 196,600 acres of land in trust.

The FY 2014 budget request for the Trust – Natural Resources Management program, which assists tribes in managing, developing and protecting their trust lands and natural resources, is $189.2 million, a programmatic increase of $34.4 million over the FY 2012 enacted level. The increases support sustainable stewardship and development of natural resources and will support resource management and decision making in the areas of energy and minerals, climate, oceans, water, rights protection, and endangered and invasive species.

The FY 2014 budget request for Trust – Real Estate Services is $128.9 million, a programmatic increase of $7.7 million increase over the FY 2012 enacted level. This program carries out the BIA’s trust services, probate, and land titles and records functions, as well incorporates the Department’s trust reform improvement efforts. The request proposes a $5.5 million increase to fund authorized activities related to the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement at $7.0 million and provides $1.5 million for litigation support for Indian natural resource trust assets management.

Advancing Indian Education

The FY 2014 budget request for the Bureau of Indian Education of $802.8 million, a program increase of $6.7 million above the FY 2012 enacted level, advances the Department’s continuing

commitment to the education of American Indians and Alaska Natives from the federally recognized tribes. The Advancing Indian Education initiative addresses the full spectrum of educational needs throughout Indian Country from elementary through post secondary levels and adult education. The 2014 budget supports student academic achievement in BIE schools by initiating a $15.0 million pilot program to turnaround lower performing elementary and secondary schools, provides $2.5 million in increased funding to meet the needs of growing enrollment at tribal colleges, and provides $3.0 million in new funding for a Science Post- Graduate Scholarship Fund. The budget also proposes an additional $2.0 million for tribal grant support costs.

Achieving Better Results at a Lower Cost

Administrative Cost Savings Over the last few years, Indian Affairs has taken significant steps to reduce the administrative costs associated with the wide range of services it delivers. In addition to $7.1 million in cost-saving measures from information technology standardization and infrastructure consolidations, the FY 2014 budget request includes a reduction of $19.7 million to reflect anticipated cost savings from streamlining operations. The request also includes $13.8 million in savings from reductions to contracts, fleet management, awards, and travel.

Indian Arts and Crafts Board The budget proposes to transfer the $1.3 million funding for the IACB from the Office of the Secretary to Indian Affairs, thereby allowing Indian Affairs to oversee the implementation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, as amended, which contains both criminal and civil provisions to combat counterfeit activity in the American Indian and Alaska Native arts and crafts market, and the Board’s management of three museums in the Plains Region dedicated to the promotion, integrity and preservation of authentic American Indian art and culture.

Program Reductions and Eliminations:

  • Housing Improvement Program (-$12.6 million) Eliminates the HIP. Tribes are not precluded from using HUD funding to provide assistance to HIP applicants.
  • Law Enforcement Special Initiatives (-$2.6 million) Reflects decreased participation on collaborative activities such as intelligence sharing.
  • The Indian Student Equalization Program (ISEP) (-$16.5 million) Offsets $15.0 million for a turnaround school pilot program.
  • Replacement School Construction (-$17.8 million) The construction program will address improving physical conditions of existing school facilities through the Facilities Improvement and Repair program.
  • The Indian Guaranteed Loan Program (-$2.1 million) The funding level of $5.0 million will guarantee over $70 million in loans.

    Indian Affairs’ responsibility to the federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes is rooted in Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution, as well as in treaties, executive orders, and federal law. It is responsible for the management, development and protection of Indian trust land and natural resources, providing for public safety and justice in Indian Country, and promoting tribal self-determination and self-governance. Through the

Bureau of Indian Education, it funds 183 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools, of which two-thirds are tribally operated, located on 64 reservations in 23 states and serving in School Year 2011-2012 a daily average attendance of 41,000 students. It also provides funding to 27 tribal colleges and universities and two tribal technical colleges, operates two post- secondary institutions of higher learning and provides higher education scholarships.

Duwamish Chairwoman Speaks About Fighting for Federal Recognition and Getting Another Chance

 

Duwamish Chairwoman Cecile Hansen has been fighting for federal recognition for her tribe for 36 years. On March 22, a federal district judge ruled the tribe was wrongfully denied federal recognition under the Bush Administration in 2001 giving them another chance.
Duwamish Chairwoman Cecile Hansen has been fighting for federal recognition for her tribe for 36 years. On March 22, a federal district judge ruled the tribe was wrongfully denied federal recognition under the Bush Administration in 2001 giving them another chance.

ICTMN Vincent Schilling

 

 

 

March 28, 2013

 

Nearly 36 years ago in 1977, the Duwamish Tribe, the people of Chief Seattle, petitioned the Bureau of Indian Affairs for federal recognition. Originally told their quest to be recognized would probably take only about five years, the Duwamish tribe fell victim to multiple changes in the BIA’s process ultimately ending in denial in 2001. However, the Duwamish now have a second chance at gaining federal recognition.

On Friday March 22, 2013, Seattle federal district court Judge John Coughenour ruled that the Bush Administration’s Bureau of Indian Affairs wrongly denied the Duwamish Tribe of Seattle’s petition for federal recognition in 2001. Citing the denial was “arbitrary and capricious” Judge Coughenour ordered the Bureau of Indian Affairs to re-evaluate the petition.

According to Chris Stearns, (Navajo) Chairman of the Seattle Human Rights Commission and former Attorney for the Federal House Committee on Natural Resources who has followed the progress of the Duwamish, “After a decade-long battle in the courts to get the Bush Administration’s 2001 decision thrown out, Duwamish Tribal Chairwoman Cecile Hansen has won. She didn’t win federal recognition outright, but she now has a shot at least. The Obama Administration will now get a crack at deciding whether the Duwamish should be a federally recognized tribe in Seattle.”

Throughout the entire 36-year quest to be federally acknowledged, the Duwamish have faced several ups, downs and broken promises in the process.

In 1996, Clinton Administration’s Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Ada Deer, issued a preliminary ruling against the Duwamish. As the Administration was preparing to leave office in January of 2001, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover reversed a preliminary finding of Ada Deer against another Washington tribe, the Chinook. His Deputy, Michael Anderson took over for Gover and on January 19, 2001, the last day of the Clinton Administration, Anderson reversed Deer’s preliminary finding against the Duwamish and ordered them recognized.

Anderson personally called Duwamish Chairwoman Cecile Hansen to tell her the tribe was recognized. However, Anderson did not sign his approval statement and returned three days after the Bush Administration had taken over. While waiting in a car outside the Interior Department, Anderson retroactively signed the approval statement which was dated January 19, 2001.

Unfortunately for the Duwamish tribe the new Bush Administration put a hold on all new regulations and determinations that had not yet been published in the Federal Register. The Duwamish approval was held, never made it to the Federal Register, and thus never took effect.

On September 25, 2001, the Bush Administration’s Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Neal McCaleb, reversed the Anderson approval and formally issued a final decision refusing the Duwamish’s bid to be recognized.

Since 2003, Seattle Congressman Jim McDermott has introduced a bill every two years to restore recognition to the Duwamish which has never made it out of the House Committee on Natural Resources.

According to Nedra Darling, Spokeswoman at the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, when asked about their stance on the issue, she stated ‘It is the Department of the Interior’s policy not to discuss matters that are currently under litigation.”

In an interview with Indian Country Today Media Network, Chairwoman Cecile Hansen shared her thoughts of a nearly 36-year battle in seeking recognition for her tribe.

 

How did the petition for recognition begin?

We were fighting for fishing rights and we naïvely believed that we were going to get recognized and get our fishing rights given back. That was the whole point of us getting into this process.

Read more here

 

Judge orders BIA to reconsider Duwamish Tribe recognition

Posted on Indianz.com

Monday, March 25, 2013

 

For the first time, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been ordered to explain why it denied federal recognition to a tribal petitioner.

The BIA has been successful in beating back lawsuits from groups that were refused recognition. But a federal judge said the agency didn’t do a proper job of explaining why the Duwamish Tribe of Washington, whose leaders filed a petition in 1977, didn’t make the cut.

“As previously discussed, the [Interior] Department‘s decision not to acknowledge the Duwamish is an extremely weighty one for the Duwamish people,” Judge John C. Coughenour wrote in the 19-page decision that was issued on Friday. “Moreover, concerns about the basis for the Department‘s acknowledgment decisions have plagued the process and undermined confidence in that process.”

Under former assistant secretary Ada Deer, the BIA proposed to deny recognition to the tribe in 1996. But in the final days of the Clinton administration, acting former assistant secretary Michael Anderson said the tribe deserved federal status.

The new Bush administration, however, put a hold on the decision and former assistant secretary Neal McCaleb denied the tribe in September 2001. Coughenour said the move was “arbitrary and capricious” because McCaleb evaluated the petition under a different set of rules than Anderson.

“Plaintiffs should not be left to wonder why one administration thought their petition should be considered under both sets of rules, but a second did not,” Coughenour wrote.

Coughenour ordered the BIA to re-evaluate the petition under the rules that led Anderson to grant recognition or to explain why it won’t do so.

Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case, Hansen v. Salazar.

Source Indianz.com

Tribal chairman: Land transfer will benefit timber counties

“The tribe could be the recipient of 14,500 acres of federal timberlands under a proposed transfer”

by Thomas Moriarty, The World

COOS BAY — The chairman of the Confederated Tribes said its proposed acquisition of more than 14,000 acres of federal timberlands will ultimately benefit Oregon timber counties.

The tribe could be the recipient of 14,500 acres of federal timberlands under a proposed transfer circulated for discussion this month by Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Bob Garcia, chairman of the tribal council for the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, said its goal is long-term stewardship of culturally important lands.

“We believe our active management will put more people on the ground than are currently there,” Garcia said. “We’re talking more foresters, more biologists, people working on stream restorations.”

None of the lands under consideration for transfer are currently impacted by a federal injunction to protect marbled murrelet populations. “Our attempt was to try to find lands that were non-controversial.”

The chairman said the timberlands will be managed under a very similar model to that currently used in the status quo — including the completion of environmental impact statements.

“We’re talking about lands going from the Bureau of Land management to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, still within the federal government.”

One initial concern, raised by Association of O&C Counties President Doug Robertson, was that O&C counties would lose timberlands, potentially harming county revenue.

The lands in question currently fall under the O&C Act of 1937, which set aside millions of acres of timber land for economic activity in 18 Oregon counties. The act covers land reclaimed by the government in 1916 after the Oregon & California Railroad Company violated the terms of a federal grant.

In a statement Wednesday, Sen. Wyden committed to a no-net-loss policy regarding O&C lands, saying the total acreage will remain the same under any tribal land conveyance legislation

The difference, Garcia said, is that the land will receive much more active management under tribal control than it does under current federal forest planning. And that means more jobs.

The chairman said he believes the tribes and the O&C counties ultimately have similar intentions.

“We’re talking about how we can put people to work and how we can make Oregon counties prosper,” he said. “Tribal control is local control.”

Source

 

Reporter Thomas Moriarty can be reached at 541-269-1222, ext. 240, or by email at thomas.moriarty@theworldlink.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty.

Inslee guarded on tribe casino, Governor says he hasn’t made decision

By Jim Camden of The Spokesman-Review

Article:
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/feb/07/inslee-guarded-on-tribe-casino/

Feb 7, 2013

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee wouldn’t say Wednesday which way he’s leaning on the Spokane Tribe’s proposed casino on the West Plains. Inslee has the final ability to block the project near Fairchild Air Force Base even if federal officials sign off on it.

“It will be important for me to make the decision based on the facts and the evidence,” he said.

Inslee, taking questions at a morning news conference, said he would make “the right decision” but quickly added: “I won’t tell you what that is right now, because I have not made it.”

The decision will come after a “clean, academic, dispassionate review” but beyond that, he said he believed it was best not to discuss the casino or whether he would support more gambling facilities in the state.

“There are ramifications for the state beyond this specific application. I will be considering those in the decision,” Inslee said.

In his campaign for governor, Inslee received support from both the Spokane Tribe, which wants to build the casino, and the Kalispel Tribe, which owns the nearby Northern Quest casino and is opposed to the proposed facility. Each tribe gave Inslee $3,600, the maximum contribution from an individual source.

Overall, Indian tribes contributed $60,675 to Inslee’s gubernatorial campaign compared to $11,600 to his Republican opponent, Rob McKenna. Neither the Spokanes nor the Kalispels contributed to McKenna’s gubernatorial campaign.

Last week the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs released an environmental impact statement that said its preferred alternative was the largest of three construction options the Spokane Tribe has proposed for land north of U.S. Highway 2, across from the base. The agency continues to take comments before issuing its “record of decision,” after which the secretary of the interior must decide whether the casino is in the best interests of the tribe and the surrounding community. After that, Inslee must agree with the secretary’s decision before gambling can occur on the property.

The bureau looked at three construction options as well as building nothing on the property. It said a plan for a casino with about 98,500 square feet for electronic gaming devices and tables, a 300-room hotel with a 145-foot tower, restaurants, bars, convention space and a 96,000-square-foot shopping