DOCSLIB.ORG

Report from Jill Kehaulani Esch, Esq. Ombudsperson for American Indian Families August 17, 2020

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Report from Jill Kehaulani Esch, Esq. Ombudsperson for American Indian Families August 17, 2020 Report from Jill Kehaulani Esch, Esq. Ombudsperson for American Indian Families August 17, 2020 Report for the Period 6/22/2020 through 8/16/2020 Duties of the Ombudsperson for American Indian Families The Ombudsperson for American Indian Families investigates complaints for non-compliance of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and the Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act (MIFPA), Minnesota Statutes, Rules and DHS Policies that involve child protection cases. The Ombudsperson also collaborates with tribes, agencies, counties, community organizations, courts, schools and other organizations to develop policies, rules and laws to improve outcomes for American Indian Families involved in the child protection system, as well as collaborating on prevention programs. The Ombudsperson is advised and reports to the Community Specific Board, who are all appointed by the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council. Geographical locations of phone calls Bemidji, Bois Forte Reservation, Brainerd, Brooklyn Center, Carlton, Carver, Cass, Cloquet, Deer River, Detroit Lakes, Duluth, Eagen, Fond du Lac Reservation, Grand Rapids, Hastings, Itasca, Kandiyohi, Leech Lake Reservation, Lower Sioux Community, Mille Lacs, Minneapolis, Perham, Red Lake Nation, Redwood Falls, St. Cloud, St. Paul, Scott, and States of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Tribes Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, Bad River Band of Lake Superior, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Cherokee Nation, Cheyenne River Sioux, Choctaw Nation, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, Lac Courte Oreilles, Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Lower Sioux Community, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Northern Cheyenne, Oglala Sioux, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior, Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Rosebud Sioux, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, Spirit Lake, Standing Rock Sioux, Stevens Village, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Upper Sioux Community, White Mountain Apache, White Earth Nation and Yankton Sioux. Some Issues from Cases for the Period of This Report • Third-Party Custody Petition filed in Family Court by two “friends” of American Indian mother. Mother reported that she agreed to allow “friends” to temporarily care for her child for a few weeks while she was dealing with two recent deaths (a parent and a stillborn). Friends refused to return child to mother; they filed a Petition for Custody. Petition did not state that mother and child were tribal members. Court granted Petition and filed Ex Parte Order awarding petitioners temporary legal and physical custody and reserved issue of mother’s parenting time. Guardian ad litem recommended non-native/non-family petitioners be awarded permanent legal and physical custody of child. Ombudsperson wrote letter to the Court re: ICWA violations: (1) appointment of counsel for mother; (2) lack of service on mother and tribe; and (3) a maternal biological aunt is willing to take custody of child. Within hours of sending letter, guardian ad litem contacted ombudsperson and reported that she would re- evaluate the facts of the case and would reach out to the GAL ICWA Liaison for direction and consultation. • Enrolled grandmother was referred by a tribal representative who said grandchildren were not eligible for tribal membership. Provided resources and information to grandmother. See “Feedback from the Community” section (at the end of this report) on response from grandmother. • Legislator referred paternal grandmother to ombudsperson re: concerns that grandchild was not being appropriately cared for by foster care provider. Reached out to grandmother and father of child. Jurisdiction was with tribal court and ombudsperson could not assist. Reached out to tribal child welfare about concerns that were reported. • Provided ICWA and MIFPA legal resources and information to tribal attorney. Sent two letters to Court re:ICWA/MIFPA, with copy of letters to parties. See response from tribal attorney in Feedback Section. • Mothers reporting that their attorneys are encouraging them to transfer custody during the permanency proceedings because within a year, they could ask that custody be transferred back to them. Attorneys should refrain from making such statements because these are case-by-case basis determinations, with tribal input.. • Challenges due to Covid-19 re: visitations, services and lack of communication to families re: reunification. • Counties are not providing active efforts -- not providing services that would help with the goal of reunification. • Children being placed in non-relative, non-ICWA homes and having inconsistent visits with family/siblings. • Kinship searches are inadequate and continued lack of follow-up by the counties with relatives/kin. Email: [email protected] Website: www.ombudsfamilies.state.mn.us Tel. 651-643-2523 Conferences/Policy Changes/Initiatives • Training, Incarceration in a Pandemic, 6/24/2020 • Ramsey County Stakeholders Meetings, 7/10/2020 and 7/24/2020 • Training, Affirming and Nurturing Racial Identity in Children, 7/14/2020 • Training, Implications for COVID-19 and Complex PTSD for Opioid Use Disorder, 7/15/2020 • Scott County CJI Meeting, 7/15/2020 • Co-Chaired USOA Children and Families Chapter Meeting, 7/15/2020 • Training, Contract Management 101, 7/16/2020 • Training, Extended Foster Care, 7/16/2020 • US Ombudsman Association (USOA) Monthly Board Meeting, 7/21/2020 • Meeting with DHS Director of Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy, 7/21/2020 • Training, Creating Positive Relationships, 7/22/2020 • CJA Task Force Meeting, 7/23/2020 • Chaired, USOA Children and Families Planning Committee Meeting, 7/27/2020 • USOA Virtual Training Work Group Meetings, 7/28/2020 and 8/11/2020 • American Bar Association Annual Virtual Conference, 7/29/2020 through 7/31/2020 • Training, Safe Harbor re: Sex Trafficking, 7/30/2020 • CASCW Trainings, 7/16/2020, 7/23/2020, 7/30/2020, 8/4/2020 and 8/11/2020 • DHS Signs of Safety Training, 8/5/2020 through 8/7/2020 • DHS Best Practices in Child Maltreatment Involving Domestic Violence Training, 8/12/2020 • Training, Overcoming Challenges in Forensic Interviews, 8/12/2020 • Juvenile Data Practices Continuing Legal Education, 8/12/2020 • Weekly Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) Agency Leadership calls ICWA Education and Continued Community Outreach • NICWA Webinars and Trainings, 6/25/2020, 6/30/2020, 7/8/2020 and 7/21/2020 • Training, Serving Native Families Affected by Substance Use Disorders, 6/30/2020 • Meeting, Families First Prevention Services Act 101 with Tribes and Urban Indian Organizations, 7/8/2020 • Training, Capacity Building Center for Tribes -- Building a Trauma Lens, 7/9/2020 • Meeting, St. Paul Indians in Action, 7/15/2020 • Meetings, MUID Family Preservation (Mini MUID ICWA), 6/23/2020 and 7/28/2020 • Continued discussions with counties, judges, tribes, State Court Administration, Guardian Ad Litem Program and AI community on the importance of ICWA Education and complying with ICWA and MIFPA; provided resources. • Continued discussions on the importance of educating the families on ICWA and MIFPA because families are important stakeholders who can help to prevent the removal of American Indian children. Currently, Minnesota is number 1 in the Nation for the removal of Native children -- the highest disparity rate of Indian child removal by 22 times. Provided information and resources to parents and relatives re: active efforts and transfer custody. Feedback from the Community Thank you so much for your guidance and input on the challenging child protection and permanency case my tribal client has had pending in state court over the past year. As you know, my client, a federally recognized Indian tribe, intervened as a party in the CHIPS case when it started, and the case has now become a permanency case. My client’s efforts to ensure compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act and Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act were not met with the type of accommodation or understanding I had experienced from other county agencies in my fifteen years of experience in ICWA cases. Your insight and involvement has been invaluable, identifying resources, and providing notifications and opportunities for education to the parties and the Court, so that hopefully the right decisions will be made. I recall your presence in other court cases has ensured compliance with the ICWA, and I wanted to let you know how much my client and I have appreciated your involvement. You’ve been a strong and necessary part of ensuring ICWA compliance in the Minnesota state courts. Keep up the great work! Received July 24, 2020 from a Tribal Attorney Thank you so much. Oh you have been such a big help. I have confidence in getting my grandchildren now since you are involved. I can't tell you how much this means to me. Thank you so much. Have a great weekend. Received July 25, 2020 Email: [email protected] Website: www.ombudsfamilies.state.mn.us Tel. 651-643-2523 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Native American Indian Warfare
    Native American Indian warfare 1840 – 1895 1. Raids / reasons for raids 2. Time of year for fighting & reasons 3. Changes to reasons for fighting later in the period / attitude to land 4. Why individuals fought 5. Scalping 6. Counting coup 7. Weapons 8. Signs & symbols of warfare 9. Value of horses How Warlike were the Sioux? Native Americans fought other tribes to gain horses (a sign of wealth) and to gain a wife (through impressing the girls with their success and reputation). Women and children would be captured War was about gaining and expected to contribute to their new tribe. glory, feathers and scalps were symbols of Linked closely to their spiritual a warrior’s beliefs e.g. body painting, Conclusions achievements. thought the spirits would Scalping your enemy about their protect them. Eagle feathers meant he would not culture are a marker of success in be there in the afterlife battle. to fight you again. Warfare was about showing bravery not killing your enemy e.g. getting so close to him and running away (not dying as you were needed by your family to hunt, etc) – ultimate act of bravery. Although when the Indians fought the U.S cavalry, the American soldiers saw this as cowardly behaviour. How Warlike were the Sioux? 1. What is a raiding party? 2. How often did the Sioux carry out raids? 3. What were the main reasons why the Sioux carried out raids? 4. Why did the Sioux only carry out raids in the summer? 5. How did the Sioux way of fighting change once the settlers arrived? 6.
    [Show full text]
  • Lands of the Lakota: Policy, Culture and Land Use on the Pine Ridge
    1 Lands of the Lakota: Policy, Culture and Land Use on the Pine Ridge Reservation Joseph Stromberg Senior Honors Thesis Environmental Studies and Anthropology Washington University in St. Louis 2 Abstract Land is invested with tremendous historical and cultural significance for the Oglala Lakota Nation of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Widespread alienation from direct land use among tribal members also makes land a key element in exploring the roots of present-day problems—over two thirds of the reservation’s agricultural income goes to non-Natives, while the majority of households live below the poverty line. In order to understand how current patterns in land use are linked with federal policy and tribal culture, this study draws on three sources: (1) archival research on tribal history, especially in terms of territory loss, political transformation, ethnic division, economic coercion, and land use; (2) an account of contemporary problems on the reservation, with an analysis of current land policy and use pattern; and (3) primary qualitative ethnographic research conducted on the reservation with tribal members. Findings indicate that federal land policies act to effectively block direct land use. Tribal members have responded to policy in ways relative to the expression of cultural values, and the intent of policy has been undermined by a failure to fully understand the cultural context of the reservation. The discussion interprets land use through the themes of policy obstacles, forced incorporation into the world-system, and resistance via cultural sovereignty over land use decisions. Acknowledgements I would like to sincerely thank the Buder Center for American Indian Studies of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work as well as the Environmental Studies Program, for support in conducting research.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 3 Arapaho Ethnohistory and Historical
    Chapter 3 Arapaho Ethnohistory and Historical Ethnography ______________________________________________________ 3.1 Introduction The Arapaho believe they were the first people created on earth. The Arapaho called themselves, the Hinanae'inan, "Our Own Kind of People.”1 After their creation, Arapaho tradition places them at the earth's center. The belief in the centrality of their location is no accident. Sociologically, the Arapaho occupied the geographical center among the five ethnic distinct tribal-nations that existed prior to the direct European contact.2 3.2 Culture History and Territory Similar to many other societies, the ethnic formation of the Arapaho on the Great Plains into a tribal-nation was a complex sociological process. The original homeland for the tribe, according to evidence, was the region of the Red River and the Saskatchewan River in settled horticultural communities. From this original homeland various Arapaho divisions gradually migrated southwest, adapting to living on the Great Plains.3 One of the sacred objects, symbolic of their life as horticulturalists, that they carried with them onto the Northern Plains is a stone resembling an ear of corn. According to their oral traditions, the Arapaho were composed originally of five distinct tribes. 4 Arapaho elders remember the Black Hills country, and claim that they once owned that region, before moving south and west into the heart of the Great Plains. By the early nineteenth century, the Arapaho positioned themselves geographically from the two forks of the Cheyenne River, west of the Black Hills southward to the eastern front 87 of the central Rocky Mountains at the headwaters of the Arkansas River.5 By 1806 the Arapaho formed an alliance with the Cheyenne to resist against further intrusion west by the Sioux beyond the Missouri River.
    [Show full text]
  • Dakota, Nakota, Lakota Life (Worksheets)
    Dakota, Nakota, Lakota Life South Dakota State Historical Society Education Kit Dakota, Nakota, Lakota Life (Worksheets) Background Information: About 8.3% of South Dakotans hold dual citizenship. Most of the 64,000 American Indians living in South Dakota are members of the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Nation (also known as the 1 Great Sioux Nation) as well as Americans. Lakota histories are passed from generation to generation through storytelling. One story tells about the Lakota coming to the plains to live and becoming Oceti Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires. The story begins when the Lakota lived in a land by a large lake where they ate fish and were warm and happy. A man appeared, and told them to travel northward. The Lakota obeyed, and began the journey north. On their way they got cold, and the sun was too weak to cook their food. Two young men had a vision, and following its instructions, they gathered dry grasses and struck two flint stones together, creating a spark and making fire. There were seven groups of relatives traveling together. Each group took some of the fire, and used it to build their own fire, around which they would gather. 2 As a result, they became known as the Seven Council Fires, or Oceti Sakowin. During the mid-17th century, nearly all the Sioux people lived near Mille Lacs, Minnesota.3 Pressured by the Chippewas, they moved west out of northern Minnesota in clan groups by the early 18th century.4 The three tribes spoke the same general language, but each developed dialects or variations, which also became their known name.
    [Show full text]
  • American Expansionism, the Great Plains, and the Arikara People, 1823-1957
    Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2019 Breakdown of Relations: American Expansionism, the Great Plains, and the Arikara People, 1823-1957 Stephen R. Aoun Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the Cultural History Commons, Diplomatic History Commons, Other History Commons, and the United States History Commons © The Author Downloaded from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5836 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Breakdown of Relations: American Expansionism, the Great Plains, and the Arikara People, 1823-1957 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University By Stephen Robert Aoun Bachelor of Arts, Departments of History and English, Randolph-Macon College, 2017 Director: Professor Gregory D. Smithers, Department of History, College of Humanities and Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia April 2019 Table of Contents Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………… 2 Chapter One Western Expansion and Arikara Identity ………………………………………………. 17 Chapter Two Boarding Schools and the Politics of Assimilation ……...……………………………... 37 Chapter Three Renewing Arikara Identity
    [Show full text]
  • CUSTER BATTLEFIELD National Monument Montana (Now Little Bighorn Battlefield)
    CUSTER BATTLEFIELD National Monument Montana (now Little Bighorn Battlefield) by Robert M. Utley National Park Service Historical Handbook Series No. 1 Washington, D.C. 1969 Contents a. A CUSTER PROFILE b. CUSTER'S LAST STAND 1. Campaign of 1876 2. Indian Movements 3. Plan of Action 4. March to the Little Bighorn 5. Reno Attacks 6. The Annihilation of Custer 7. Reno Besieged 8. Rescue 9. Collapse of the Sioux 10. Custer Battlefield Today 11. Campaign Maps c. APPENDIXES I. Officers of the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn II. Low Dog's Account of the Battle III. Gall's Account of the Battle IV. A Participant's Account of Major Reno's Battle d. CUSTER'S LAST CAMPAIGN: A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY e. THE ART AND THE ARTIST f. ADMINISTRATION For additional information, visit the Web site for Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument or view their Official National Park Handbook (#132): Historical Handbook Number One 1969 The publication of this handbook was made possible by a grant from the Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association, Inc. This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the historical and archeological areas in the National Park System administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Price lists of Park Service publications sold by the Government Printing Office may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402. The National Park System, of which Custer Battlefield National Monument is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the scenic, scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and enjoyment of its people.
    [Show full text]
  • The War with the Sioux: Norwegians Against Indians 1862-1863 Translation of Karl Jakob Skarstein Krigen Mot Siouxene: Nordmenn Mot Indianerne 1862-1863
    University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Digital Press Books The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota 2015 The aW r with the Sioux Karl Jakob Skarstein Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/press-books Recommended Citation Skarstein, Karl Jakob, "The aW r with the Sioux" (2015). Digital Press Books. 3. https://commons.und.edu/press-books/3 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Press Books by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE WAR WITH THE SIOUX: NORWEGIANS AGAINST INDIANS 1862-1863 Translation of Karl Jakob Skarstein Krigen mot siouxene: nordmenn mot indianerne 1862-1863. Copyright © 2015 by The Digital Press at The University of North Dakota Norwegian edition published by Spartacus Forlag AS, Oslo © Spartacus Forlag AS 2008 Published by Agreement with Hagen Agency, Oslo “Translators’ Preface” by Danielle Mead Skjelver; “Historical Introduction” by Richard Rothaus, “Becoming American: A Brief Historiography of Norwegian and Native Interactions” by Melissa Gjellstad, and “The Apple Creek Fight and Killdeer Mountain Conflict Remembered” by Dakota Goodhouse, are available with a CC-By 4.0 license. The translation of this work was funded with generous support from a NORLA: Norwegian Literature Abroad grant. www.norla.no The book is set in Janson Font by Linotype except for Dakota Goodhouse’s contribution which is set in Times New Roman.
    [Show full text]
  • Oglala Sioux Tribe
    Oglala Sioux Tribe PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION P.O. Box #2070 Pine Ridge, South Dakota 57770 1(605) 867-5821 Ext. 8420 (O) / 1(605) 867-6076 (F) President Troy “Scott” Weston July 2, 2018 Hon. Ryan Zinke, Secretary Attn: Tara Sweeney, Assistant Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C St., N.W. Washington, DC 20240 Via email: [email protected] Re: Comments on Land-Into-Trust Regulations (25 C.F.R. Part 151) Dear Secretary Zinke and Assistant Secretary Sweeney: The Oglala Sioux Tribe is a Federally recognized Indian tribe, one of the constituent tribes of the Great Sioux Nation, and a signatory to the 1851 Treaty between the United States and the Sioux Nation and the 1868 Treaty between the United States and the Great Sioux Nation. The Oglala Sioux Tribe submits these comments on the BIA outreach meetings on acquisition of Indian trust land by the Secretary of the Interior: No regulatory amendments are required at the present time. The Secretary should restore authority to the BIA Regions to acquire land into trust on behalf of Indian tribes and individual Indians. The Secretary should mandate that the BIA Regional Directors prioritize and expedite the acquisition of Indian trust lands for Indian tribes and individuals to enhance restorative justice, promote Indian self-determination, support self- government, encourage economic development, and foster cultural survival and community wellness. BACKGROUND: 1851 AND 1868 TREATIES Under the 1851 and 1868 Treaties, the Great Sioux Nation reserved 21 million acres of western South Dakota from the low water mark on the east bank of the Missouri River as our “permanent home” and 44 million acres of land in Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota as unceded Indian territory from among our original Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota territory.
    [Show full text]
  • Oglala Sioux Tribe Office of the President P.O
    Oglala Sioux Tribe Office of the President P.O. Box 2070 Pine Ridge, SD 57770 Phone: 605.867.5821 Fax: 605.867.6076 November 30, 2016 Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Attn: Office of Regulatory Affairs & Collaborative Action 1849 C Street, NW, MS 3071 Washington, DC 20240 Submitted via email to [email protected] Re: Oglala Sioux Tribe Comments Regarding Tribal Input on Federal Infrastructure Decisions I. Overview The Oglala Sioux Tribe (“Tribe”) appreciates the opportunity to submit these comments regarding tribal input on federal infrastructure decision-making. The United States’ consistent failure to obtain our informed consent prior to approving infrastructure projects that impact our lands, waters, and cultural resources, is a direct violation of our rights under the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie and the 1868 Sioux Nation Treaty as well as an abdication of the federal government’s trust responsibilities. The processes for evaluating environmental and historical impacts and for seeking tribal input are broken, leading to stand offs such as the one currently occurring at Standing Rock. In the absence of meaningful tribal consultation, major federal infrastructure projects can pose unique threats to tribes. The lands and resources upon which our cultures, spirituality, and subsistence depend can be altered forever or completely destroyed. In the context of large-scale infrastructure development or extractive industries, the federal government can and must do a better job of consulting with tribes. If the federal government is taking action that impacts our lands, resources, or rights, then it needs to obtain our informed consent. Purely procedural consultation requirements with little oversight, “check the box consultation,” or downright skirting consultation requirements have been wholly insufficient for protecting tribal interests.
    [Show full text]
  • Minnesota Bounties on Dakota Men During the U.S.-Dakota War Colette Routel Mitchell Hamline School of Law, [email protected]
    Mitchell Hamline School of Law Mitchell Hamline Open Access Faculty Scholarship 2013 Minnesota Bounties On Dakota Men During The U.S.-Dakota War Colette Routel Mitchell Hamline School of Law, [email protected] Publication Information 40 William Mitchell Law Review 1 (2013) Repository Citation Routel, Colette, "Minnesota Bounties On Dakota Men During The .SU .-Dakota War" (2013). Faculty Scholarship. Paper 260. http://open.mitchellhamline.edu/facsch/260 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Mitchell Hamline Open Access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Mitchell Hamline Open Access. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Minnesota Bounties On Dakota Men During The .SU .-Dakota War Abstract The .SU .-Dakota War was one of the formative events in Minnesota history, and despite the passage of time, it still stirs up powerful emotions among descendants of the Dakota and white settlers who experienced this tragedy. Hundreds of people lost their lives in just over a month of fighting in 1862. By the time the year was over, thirty-eight Dakota men had been hanged in the largest mass execution in United States history. Not long afterwards, the United States abrogated its treaties with the Dakota, confiscated their reservations along the Minnesota River, and forced most of the Dakota to remove westward. While dozens of books and articles have been written about these events, scholars have largely ignored an important legal development that occurred in Minnesota during the following summer. The inneM sota Adjutant General, at the direction of Minnesota Governors Alexander Ramsey and Henry Swift, issued a series of orders offering rewards for the killing of Dakota men found within the State.
    [Show full text]
  • Oglala Sioux Tribe
    Oglala Sioux Tribe Office of the President P.O. Box #2070 Pine Ridge, South Dakota 57770 1(605) 867-5821 Ext. 8420 (O) / 1(605) 867-6076 (F) Julian Bear Runner April 9, 2020 The Honorable Steven Mnuchin Secretary of the Treasury U.S. Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20220 The Honorable David L. Bernhardt Secretary of the Interior U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240 The Honorable Tara Katuk Mac Lean Sweeney Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240 Dear Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Bernhardt, and Assistant Secretary Sweeney: I write on behalf of the Oglala Sioux Tribe to provide written comments on the Coronavirus Relief Funds available to Tribal governments under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Our comments address: (1) necessary factors for allocation of Funds to Tribal governments; (2) distribution of funds to Tribal governments; and (3) Tribal governmental uses of funds. Allocation Factors The CARES Act establishes an $8 billion set-aside of Coronavirus Relief Funds for Tribal governments. The Act does not specify the amount of Coronavirus Relief Funds to be paid to each of the 574 federally recognized Indian Tribes. Nor does it contain a formula to allocate funds between and among Tribal governments. The CARES Act directs the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and Indian Tribes, to determine the amount paid to
    [Show full text]
  • Fort Peck Tribes Associate Enrollment Form
    APPLICATION FOR ENROLLMENT AS ASSOCIATE MEMBER OF THE ASSINIBOINE AND SIOUX TRIBES OF THE FORT PECK RESERVATION, MONTANA Date received at Tribal Office _______________ 20_______ 1. Name of Applicant:_________________________________________ 2. Degree of Assiniboine and/or Sioux blood:_________________________________ 3. Date of birth:_________________ 4. Place of birth:_______________________ 5. Social Security Number:______/_____/________ Phone#___________________ 6. Is the applicant now or has applicant ever been enrolled elsewhere (with any other tribe of Indians?) Yes_______ No______ 7. If the answer to Question No. 6 is “Yes,” give the name of the tribe and roll number Tribe:_______________________ Roll No.:____________________________ 8. Father’s Name:_______________________________________________________ 9. Complete Mailing Address:______________________________________________ 10. Degree and kind of Indian blood:_________________________________________ 11. Enrolled in Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Ft. Peck? Yes_______ No_______ If so, give roll number: ____________________ 12. Citizen of the United States? Yes_________ No________ 13. Mother’s Maiden Name:________________________________________________ 14. Complete Mailing Address:______________________________________________ 15. Degree and kind of Indian Blood:_________________________________________ 16. Enrolled in Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Ft. Peck? Yes_______ No_______ If so, give roll number: ____________________ 17. Citizen of the United States? Yes_________
    [Show full text]