The National Congress of American Indians Resolution #TUL-05-062
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N A T I O N A L C O N G R E S S O F A M E R I C A N I N D I A N S The National Congress of American Indians Resolution #TUL-05-062 TITLE: Opposing Listing ANCSA Corporations on the Secretary’s Annual List of Federally Recognized Tribes E XE CU T IV E C OMMITTEE WHEREAS, we, the members of the National Congress of American Indians PRESIDENT Joe A. Garcia of the United States, invoking the divine blessing of the Creator upon our efforts and Ohkay Owingeh (Pueblo of San Juan) purposes, in order to preserve for ourselves and our descendants the inherent FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT sovereign rights of our Indian nations, rights secured under Indian treaties and Jefferson Keel Chickasaw Nation agreements with the United States, and all other rights and benefits to which we are RECORDING SECRETARY entitled under the laws and Constitution of the United States, to enlighten the public Juana Majel Pauma-Yuima Band of Mission Indians toward a better understanding of the Indian people, to preserve Indian cultural values, TREASURER and otherwise promote the health, safety and welfare of the Indian people, do hereby W. Ron Allen Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe establish and submit the following resolution; and RE G ION A L V ICE -PRESIDENTS WHEREAS, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was ALASKA Mike Williams established in 1944 and is the oldest and largest national organization of American Yupik EASTERN OKLAHOMA Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments; and Joe Grayson, Jr. Cherokee Nation GREAT PLAINS WHEREAS, for-profit corporations were created in 1971 pursuant to the Mark Allen Flandreau Santee Sioux Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, (ANCSA), 43 U. S. C. 1604 et seq., to hold the MIDWEST land and assets that were conveyed to Alaska Natives in the process of settling Robert Chicks Stockbridge-Munsee aboriginal land claims; and NORTHEAST Randy Noka Narragansett WHEREAS, Tribes existed in Alaska long before the passage of ANCSA and NORTHWEST neither the creation of the for-profit corporations nor the enactment of ANCSA Ernie Stensgar Coeur d’Alene Tribe affected the governmental status of the pre-existing Alaska Native Tribes; and PACIFIC Cheryl Seidner Wiyot WHEREAS, in 1978 the Secretary of the Interior promulgated regulations ROCKY MOUNTAIN “to establish a departmental procedure and policy for acknowledging that certain Raymond Parker Chippewa-Cree Business Committee American Indians tribes exist,” 43 Fed Reg. 39,361 (Sept,5,1978); and SOUTHEAST Leon Jacobs Lumbee Tribe WHEREAS, although the first list of tribal entities published pursuant to the SOUTHERN PLAINS regulations did not include any Alaska Native entities, its preamble indicated that: Steve Johnson Absentee Shawnee “The list of eligible Alaskan entities will be published at a later date.” 44 Fed. Reg. SOUTHWEST 7,235 (Feb.6, 1979); and Manuel Heart Ute Mountain Ute Tribe WESTERN WHEREAS, in 1982 the Secretary issued a “Preliminary” list of Alaska Kathleen Kitcheyan San Carlos Apache Native entities that were considered federally recognized and eligible for services and EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR funding administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), 47 Fed. Reg. 53133 Jacqueline Johnson Tlingit (Nov, 24, 1982), consistent with earlier lists the BIA issued from time to time in the 1960s and 1970s; and NCAI HEADQUARTERS 1301 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20036 202.466.7767 202.466.7797 fax www.ncai.org NCAI 2005 Annual Session Resolution TUL-05-062 WHEREAS, the preamble to the 1982 list noted that “[u]nique circumstances have made eligible for BIA services additional entities in Alaska which are not historical tribes” referring to the fact that the 1975 Indian Self –Determination Act had defined “Indian Tribe” to also include non-governmental, state-chartered ANCSA corporations for the limited purposes of authorizing such entities to administer contracts and grants under that Act in geographic areas not served by recognized Tribes; and WHEREAS, the 1982 Preamble properly excluded such non-tribal entities from the 1982 list and was subsequently republished with the same Alaska Native villages in 1983 and thereafter; and WHEREAS, in 1988 a one year anomaly occurred when the Secretary issued a new list of Alaska Native entities that added all ANCSA corporations on the basis of their eligibility under the ISDA and similar laws to carry out certain contracts and grants; and WHEREAS, confusion generated by the 1988 list prompted the Department of the Interior to undertake a comprehensive review of the entire matter of tribal recognition in Alaska; and WHEREAS, in January 1993 Interior Solicitor Sansonetti issued a detailed analysis reaffirming that there are federally recognized tribes in Alaska possessing powers of self- governance, and based on that analysis the Secretary published a new list of federally recognized tribes, including recognized Tribes in Alaska, which eliminated the ANCSA corporations from the list, 59 Fed. Reg. 54364 (Oct. 21, 1993); and WHEREAS, the 1993 list explained that it was intended to conform to the original intent behind the 1978 acknowledgement regulations limiting the list to only recognized Tribes having government to government relationship with the United States, and further explained that such tribes “are entitled to the same protection, immunities, privileges, as other acknowledged tribes; have the same right, subject to general principles of Federal Indian Law, to exercise the same inherent and delegated authorities available to other tribes; and are subject to the same limitations imposed by law on the other tribes;” and WHEREAS, Congress in 1999 enacted the “Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act” directing the Secretary to annually publish a list of federally recognized tribes, 25 U. S. C. 479a- 1, and further directing that once a Tribe is added to that list, the Tribe can thereafter only be removed from the list by an act of Congress; and WHEREAS, there are 231 federally recognized tribes in Alaska that have been recognized by the Secretary as possessing a government to government relationship with the United States; and WHEREAS, in January 2004, Senator Stevens secured passage of a rider to the FY 2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Section 161) that requires the Director of the Office Of Management and Budget (OMB) to consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as Indian tribes under Executive Order 13175; and Page 2 of 3 NCAI 2005 Annual Session Resolution TUL-05-062 WHEREAS, certain ANCSA corporations continue to seek to be added to the annual list of federally recognized tribes; and WHEREAS, ANCSA corporations carry out important functions but are not governmental entities and are instead incorporated under state law; do not possess the general privileges and immunities that tribes possess; are not governed by a council of elected tribal leaders owing duties to tribal members, but by decisions of the board of directors owing fiduciary duties to corporate shareholders. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the NCAI does hereby oppose the listing of State-Chartered ANCSA corporations on the Secretary’s Annual list of Federally Recognized Tribes. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NCAI urges the Office of OMB and the Department of the Interior to reject any pending or future requests to list ANCSA corporations as federally recognized tribes. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the NCAI urges the Congress to repeal Sec. 161 of the FY 2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act which requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to consult with Alaska Native corporations on the same basis as Indian tribes in Executive Order 13175. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NCAI until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution. CERTIFICATION The foregoing resolution was adopted at the 2005 Annual Session of the National Congress of American Indians, held at the 62nd Annual Convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 4, 2005 with a quorum present. ____________________________________ President ATTEST: _______________________________________ Recording Secretary Adopted by the General Assembly during the 2005 Annual Session of the National Congress of American Indians held from October 30, 2005 to November 4, 2005 at the Convention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Page 3 of 3 .