Tribal leaders walk out on DOI officials

FROM THE ARCHIVE

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MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2003

On Friday, tribal leaders in Montana and Wyoming walked out on Department of Interior officials who were presenting the reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the expansion of the Office of Special Trustee.

In a letter to Secretary Gale Norton, seven tribal leaders protested the "unilateral" changes. They called on President Bush to meet with tribes on a government-to-government basis to discuss trust reform and other Indian issues.

The walk out occurred at the last of two briefing sessions the Bush administration held for employees and tribal leaders. The Rocky Mountain and the Southern Plains regions of the BIA were the last to receive the information although they are among the first areas where the reorganization will be implemented.

The tribes who signed the letter are: Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana, Fort Peck Tribes of Montana, Blackfeet Nation of Montana, Fort Belknap Indian Community of Montana, Chippewa Cree Tribe of Montana, Eastern Shoshone Tribe of Wyoming and Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming.

The tribes are among the largest land-based tribes in the country, representing more than half of the trust assets in the Indian estate.

Get the Story:
Tribal leaders walk out on US DOI (Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council 6/27)
Letter to Gale Norton (Montana-Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council 6/27)