Tribal Federal Relations
This page provides links to information and resources addressing efforts to
improve tribal - federal relations.
President Obama signed a memorandum on Tribal Consultation
at the November 5, 2009
White House Tribal Nations Conference which pronounced
Tribal consultations “a critical ingredient of a sound and productive
Federal-Tribal relationship.” The President’s Memorandum directs all Federal
agencies to develop a plan of action to implement President Clinton’s Executive
Order 13175 on “Consultation
and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments”
within ninety days (by
February 3, 2010).
Attorney General Announces Significant Reforms to Improve Public Safety in
Indian Country – Attorney General Eric Holder today announced
sweeping reforms intended to improve public safety on tribal land. The new
directive is part of a larger Justice Department initiative to create better
communication and coordination to fight crime and promote justice in Indian
Country. “The public safety challenges we face in Indian Country will not be
solved by a single grant or a single piece of legislation,” Holder said. “There
is no quick fix. While today’s directive is significant progress, we need to
continue our efforts with federal, state and tribal partners to identify
solutions to the challenges we face, and work to implement them.” The Attorney
General directed all U.S. Attorneys’ Offices with districts containing Indian
Country (44 out of 93) to: meet and consult with tribes in their district
annually; develop an operational plan addressing public safety in Indian
Country; work closely with law enforcement to pay particular attention to
violence against women in Indian Country and make these crimes a priority; and
to provide summaries of their operational plans to the Office of the Deputy
Attorney General and make those summaries available to the tribes in their
districts. The Attorney General also announced that the Justice Department’s FY
2010 appropriation includes an additional $6 million for Indian Country
prosecution efforts. At least 35 additional Assistant U.S. Attorneys and 12
additional FBI victim specialists will be added in offices with an Indian
Country caseload. These new resources will enable the Justice Department to
bring the federal justice system closer to Indian Country, including through a
Community Prosecution Pilot Project that the Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys
is currently developing.
More
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Kevin
Gover's Apology (in his role at the time as Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs
Department of the Interior) to Native Americans for the Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA) at the ceremony acknowledging the 175th anniversary of the establishment
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on September 8, 2000. (Text
of Speech) (Link to Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu52ig696L4)
A Quiet Crisis: Federal
Funding and Unmet Needs in Indian Country
reveals
that federal funding directed to Native Americans through programs at federal
agencies has not been sufficient to address the basic and very urgent needs of
indigenous peoples. Among the myriad unmet needs are: health care, education,
public safety, housing, and rural development. The United
States Commission on Civil Rights finds that significant disparities in
federal funding exist between Native Americans and other groups in our nation,
as well as the general population. Among immediate requirements for increased
funding are: infrastructure development, without which tribal governments cannot
properly deliver services; tribal courts, which preserve order in tribal
communities, provide for restitution of wrongs, and lend strength and validity
to other tribal institutions; and tribal priority allocations, which permit
tribes to pursue their own priorities and allow tribal governments to respond to
the needs of their citizens.
| On April 29, 1994, President and Mrs. Clinton, Vice President and
Mrs. Gore, and every member of the President's cabinet (other than the
Secretary of State) met with more than 300 Native American leaders of
"federally recognized Indian tribes" on the south lawn of the White
House. It was the first time in the nation's history that a President of
the United States had held such a meeting.
During the meeting, the President signed a memorandum (Government-to-Government
Relations with Native American Tribal Governments
)
directing the heads of all executive branch departments and agencies to
- "operate within a government-to-government relationship with
federally recognized tribal governments"
- "consult, to the greatest extent practicable and to the extent
permitted by law, with tribal governments prior to taking actions
that affect federally recognized tribal governments"
- "assess the impact of federal government plans, projects,
programs, and activities on tribal trust resources and assure that
tribal government rights and concerns are considered during the
development of such plans, projects, programs, and activities."
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The Office of Tribal Justice (OTJ) was established to provide a
single point of contact within the Justice Department for meeting the broad and
complex federal responsibilities owed to Indian tribes. The Office facilitates
coordination between Departmental components working on Indian issues, and
provides a permanent channel of communication for Indian tribal governments with
the Department of Justice. OTJ represents the Department in its dealing with
Indian tribes, federal agencies, Congress, state and local governments,
professional associations, and public interest groups. Because Indian issues cut
across so many entities within the Executive Branch, OTJ, in cooperation with
the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, serves to unify the federal response.
Building
on Common Ground: A National Agenda to Reduce Jurisdictional Disputes Between
Tribal, State, and Federal Courts is the formal report and recommendations
from a national leadership conference held in Santa Fe, New Mexico in September
1993 in which tribal, state, and federal leaders from throughout the United
States met to develop a national agenda for improvement of working relationships
between tribal, state, and federal judicial systems.
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In August 2002, the Tribal Relations Committee of the
Conference of Chief Justices adopted a resolution entitled
Resolution 27: To Continue the Improved Operating Relations Among Tribal,
State, and Federal Judicial Systems. This resolution was intended to
endorse continued efforts to Build on Common Ground, including the
endorsement of the following three principles:
- First, tribal state, and federal courts should continue cooperative
efforts to enhance relations and resolve jurisdictional issues.
- Second, Congress should provide resources to tribal courts
consistent with their current and increasing responsibilities.
- Third, tribal, state, and federal authorities should take steps to
include cross-recognition of judgments, final orders, laws, and public
acts of the three jurisdictions.
Walking on Common Ground
(WalkingOnCommonGround.org) is the most recent effort - sponsored by the
Conference of Chief Justices and many other state, tribal, and federal
organizations - to build upon the earlier
Building on Common Ground effort. The Walking on Common Ground mission
statement is: Tribal, federal, and state justice communities join together in
the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation, to promote and sustain
collaboration, education, and sharing of resources for the benefit of all
people. Some important documents found on this site are:
-
Revised Tribal-State Collaboration Efforts
(U.S. Department of
Justice, July 2003)
-
Teague Protocol
purpose is to effectively and efficiently allocate judicial
resources by providing a legal mechanism which clearly outlines the path
a legal dispute will follow when both a tribal court and a circuit have
jurisdiction over a matter. This protocol does not apply to any case in
which controlling law commits exclusive jurisdiction to either the
tribal court or the circuit court.
-
1993 Building on Common Ground Document
(Web
Version) - A Leadership Conference to
Develop A National Agenda to Reduce Jurisdictional Disputes Between
Tribal, State, and Federal Courts.
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The U.S. Government Printing Office
disseminates official information and publications from all three branches of
the Federal Government. Of particular interest to Native Americans are:
Native Americans under Browse Topics;
House
Committee on Natural Resources, and the
Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
Publications
- Consultation with Indian Nations by
American Indian Development Associates highlights successful strategies
that define the unique government-to-government relationship that exists
between the Indian nations and the U.S. government.
- Improving the Relationship Between Indian Nations, the Federal Government,
and State Governments, by Jerry Gardner
In order to effectively address criminal justice issues in Indian
country and services for victims of crime in Indian country, it is vital
that productive efforts are made to improve the relationship between Indian
Nations, the federal government, and state governments. The first step
required in any effort to improve these relationships is an understanding
and recognition of the unique sovereign status of Indian Nations. Second,
contemporary problems in the relationship between these governments should
be examined. Third, recent examples of efforts to improve the relationship
between these governments should be reviewed. Then, the potential use of
written cooperative agreements - such as Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs)
- to improve the relationship between these governments should be examined.
Finally, practical tips for developing and implementing written cooperative
agreements should be reviewed ...
- A Federal Commitment to Tribal Justice Systems, by Janet Reno
Litigation practice and a series of projects of the U.S. Department of
Justice support the federal government's longstanding policy of
self-determination for Indian tribes.
- Multiple Sovereignties: Indian Tribes, States, and the Federal Government,
by Judith Resnik
Although often unrecognized, three entities within the territory that
constitutes the United States - Indian tribes, states, and the federal
government - have forms of sovereignty. The rich and complex relationships
among these three sovereignties need to become integrated into the
discussion and law of federalism.
- A New Era of Federal - Tribal Court Cooperation, by J. Clifford Wallace
The Ninth Circuit Task Force on Tribal Courts is helping to encourage
dialogue and bring about changes beneficial to the federal judiciary and
tribal courts.
Agencies of the Federal Government and their American Indian and
Alaska Native Policies
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