Green Paper (Bureau of Indian Affairs)

This report on the BIA, focuses on the organization through the lense of corrupt government officials and bad policy in the hope to see blantant disregard for morals and ethics and the effects those activities have on human life. Lastly I hope to provide meaninful solutions to better government.Picture of Slade Gorton from http://www.hcn.org/issues/189/10029Picture of Jack Abramoff testifying in front of the Indian Affairs Committee, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abramoff_SIAC_20040929_2.jpgPicture of Tom Delay from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_DeLayPicture of Indian Boarding School from http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/index.htm

Lets end the rumors

• Indians do not receive free government moneys in payment to individuals for being “native american.”– They receive support payments for social

services just like the rest of us.• The battle for sovereignty continues.– Said sovern nations not experiencing exact

sovernty.• Token sovernty, government still makes decisions

over land and trust funds.

Misrepresentation in Government

• Of 86 poorest districts, 24 are reservations.–Who advocates on their behalf?

• Tom Delay (Senate) and Jack Abramoff (Lobbyest) connections to violating ethics and robbing.

• Slate Gorton, Washington State.

Poorest Indian Communities (rankings include non-indian communities)

1. Crow Creek Indian Reservation, South Dakota. Racial makeup is 81.59% Native. Conditions comparable to Third World.

2. Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota. Normally first on the list, but conditions above worsened. Racial make –up is 94.20% native.

3. Standing Rock Indian Reservation, South Dakota. Unemployment is 70%. Many homes lack indoor plumbing, heating systems, and electricity. Many more don’t have adquate food and clothing. Racial make-up is 72.29% native.

Five of the 10 poorest districts are reservations within South Dakota.

Of the poorest 86 districts 24

are Reservations.

Where is their Representation?

John McCain is the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Abramoff pled guilty on January 3, 2006, to three criminal felony counts in a Washington, D.C., federal court related to the defrauding of American Indian tribes and corruption of public officials.[4] The four tribes Abramoff and his associates persuaded include: Michigan's Saginaw Chippewas, California's Agua Caliente, the Mississippi Choctaws, and the Louisiana Coushattas. Abramoff is accused of defrauding the tribes of tens of millions of dollars on issues associated with Indian gaming.

Jack Abramoff: "Fire up the jet baby, we're going to El Paso!!" Mike Scanlon: "I want all their MONEY!!!""I have to meet with the monkeys from the Choctaw tribal council. You need to close the deal... with the client...“"These mofos are the stupidest idiots in the land for sure.”"we need to get some money from those monkeys!!"

There are unsubstantiated rumors that DeLay may be one of the targets of the Justice Department investigation into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's actions.[citation needed] Abramoff allegedly provided DeLay with trips, gifts, and political donations in exchange for favors to Abramoff's lobbying clients, which included the government of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Internet gambling services, and several Native American tribes.[55] Two of DeLay's former political aides, Tony Rudy and Michael Scanlon, as well as Abramoff himself, pleaded guilty in 2006 to charges relating to the investigation.

"American Indian Equal Justice Act"

Attorney General of Washington1969–1981

United States Senator (Class 3) from Washington1981–1987

United States Senator (Class 1) from Washington1989–2001

“Senator Gorton, a hard-worker, has served not only on the Senate Approriations Committee, where he chairs the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, but on the Budget Committee, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Indian Affairs Committee.” (Carl Levin, 2000)

The tribes say Congress is trying to erode their sovereignty because of a perception that Indian reservations are prospering with casino gambling, disregarding the fact that most of them remain among the poorest places in the nation.The architect of the two riders, Senator Slade Gorton of Washington, a Republican who has had a running dispute with Indians in his home state for 25 years, says the measures are part of a campaign to force a fundamental change in Indian affairs.''I find nothing in any Indian treaty that says they must be continuously supported by the Federal taxpayers,'' Mr. Gorton said in an interview. Mr. Gorton is chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, which passed a $13 billion spending bill last month that contains the Indian riders and many provisions dear to the Clinton Administration.

Cultural Insensitivity ContextBalad of Ira Hayes….http://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqN28elSzCU&feature=fvw

• What does this clip say about the existence of two cultures?– How about water rights issues that exist even to

this day?– How about someone who served and may not

have gotten proper medical attention after war?• How about today? Is there lessons to be learned or do

we have to relearn?

Questions with concern toward the Bureau of Indian Affairs

• What are some issues with the Bureau of Indian Affairs that need to be addressed?– How does BIA represent Indians?

• Are there conflicts of Interest within DOI and BIA?– Cultural Insensitivity.– Budgets not appropriated efficiently.

Pictured, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. The 50th person to hold this office.

Department of the Interior Organizational Structure

Secretary

 

Deputy Secretary

 

Assistant Secretary        

Solicitor (Policy, Management and Budget)

 

   

  National Business Center       Inspector General

 

 

Chief Information Officer         Special Trustee for American Indians

 

 

 

Assistant Secretary

Assistant Secretary

Assistant Secretary

Assistant Secretary

(Fish, Wildlife and Parks) (Indian Affairs) (Land and Minerals Management) (Water and Sciene)

National Park Service Bureau of Indian Affairs Bureau of Land Management U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Surface Mining Reclemation and Enforcement Bureau of Reclemation

 

 Depicts Department of the Interior head office.

Minerals Management Service

  Depicts Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary.

Pictured, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. The 50th person to hold this office.

Billions Missing From U.S. Indian Trust Fund

• In his testimony before Congress, John Echohawk, director of Native American Rights Fund, called it "yet another serious and continuing breach in a long history of dishonorable treatment of Indian tribes and individual Indians by the United States government."

• Arizona Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, bluntly called it "theft from Indian people."

Solutions• Accountability, accountability, accountability!• Instituational cultural sensitivity– No more invastions by CIA! No more conflicts on

reservations and sovergn nations.• Institutional memory– Nation building specialization?– Could this knowledge help the Department of Defense?

• Standardized funds allocation (will show you what I mean in a moment)

• Poor accountability of states and congress making discretionary decisions about indian affairs.– Indian nation proper representation in congress.

• Look to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indiginious Peoples.

2.4 Billion Annual Budget (FY 08)BIA 2.3 Billion annual Budget

(FY 08)FDA

Standardized Funds Allocation

For an approximate 2 billion annual budget 12% for Information technology. 60% for employee support. 8% for supplies and resources support. 20% discretional deviation of funds.

Do you know the federaly recognized reservations of the state of oregon?

(Alphabetical order)1. Burns Paiute Indian Colony, of the Burns Paiute

2. Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Reservation, of Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians

3. Coquille Reservation

4. Grand Ronde Community, of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon

5. Siletz Reservation, of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz

6. Umatilla Reservation, of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

7. Warm Springs Reservation, of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs

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Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes. This reservation resides in both Oregon and Nevada but is listed under Nevada jurisdiction.

Works Cited• Slide 1, Picture of Indian Boarding School from

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/index.htm

• Slide 4, From http://www.aaanativearts.com/printout1459.html

• Slide 5, Jack Abramoff scandal from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff_Indian_lobbying_scandal and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff#Tribal_lobbying

• Slide 6, Tom Delay information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_DeLay

• Slide 7, Slade Gordon information from http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/27/us/senate-measures-would-deal-blow-to-indian-rights.html and American Indian Equal Justice Act from http://lenapelady.tripod.com/termination5.html Statement of leave by Carl Levinhttp://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=211463

• Slide 8, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqN28elSzCU&feature=fvw

• Slide 10, Information for this chart taken from http://www.doi.gov/secretary/officials_orgchart.html

• Slide 11, Albion Monitor August 15, 1996 (http://www.monitor.net/monitor)