The National congress of American Indians (NCAI) hosted a gathering in Washington DC, October 9-11, 2011, of hundreds of tribal leaders to present a united front to Congress on a variety of issues important to Indian country, the most central of which was protecting Native programs from cuts, given the dire budgetary situation and the super committee then considering making cuts in federal programs. The final day of the meeting featured a strategy session in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Among the issues discussed were protecting the Indian affairs federal budget; securing a congressional Carcieri fix to the land-into-trust difficulties created by the Supreme Court in 2009; ways of preventing violence toward Indian women, and best practices for uniting the divergent interests of 565 unique federally recognized tribes, which often is not easy to achieve. While on Capitol Hill, most tribal leaders visited with members of Congress to be sure they understood the value of federal funding for tribes and the importance of the trust relationship. Concerning Carcieri, John Dossett, NCAI’s general counsel, commented that the land-into-trust situation remains uncertain for tribes, especially since a fix is stalled in Congress and a recent D.C. Circuit Court ruling found that the Quiet Title Act does not protect Indian lands. He said that this situation “threatens all tribes.” Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, agreed, saying that one of his legislative priorities remains amending the Indian Reorganization Act to make clear that the U.S. Department of the Interior can take land into trust for tribes regardless of when they were recognized by the federal government. (Rob Capriccioso, “ Tribal Leaders Gather in D.C. to Protect Indians from Budget-Slashing,” Indian Country Today, October 20, 2011, http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/10/tribal-leaders-gather-in-d-c-to-protect-indians-from-budget-slashing/).
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) heartily supported the announcement, in December, by the Obama Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) proposing a change to the Stafford Act to give federally recognized tribal governments the authority to make disaster declaration requests directly to the President of the United States. The Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act currently allows only states, through a governor, to make these requests to the president.
“Just like states, when disaster strikes, tribal nations must act swiftly to respond to protect and secure lives, infrastructure, and public health. We call on Congress to fix the Stafford Act and incorporate the sovereign status of tribal nations in this important law. These changes will also provide tribes and states critical flexibility in responding to catastrophic events when communities need it most,” said Jefferson Keel, President of NCAI. “The support of the Administration and FEMA for a legislative change recognizes not only the sovereignty of tribal nations, but also acknowledges the critical role tribes play in the network of emergency response and disaster relief at the local and national level.” tribal nations represent a unique and important sector of the United States (NCAI Commends FENA Support for Direct Authority of Tribal Governments to Apply for Presidential Disaster Declaration, NCAI, December 7, 2011, http://www.ncai.org/News-View.19.0.html?&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=799&tx_ttnews[backPid]=9&cHash=288dc8d985)
In October, the annual campaign to abolish Columbus Day because it celebrates the launching of genocide took place in many locations with the continuing support of Cultural Survival: http://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/united-states/end-columbus-day.
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