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- By Native News Online Staff
WASHINGTON — In addition to articles already covered by Native News Online, here is a roundup of other news released from Washington, D.C. that impacts Indian Country recently.
U.S. Senate Appopriations Committee Passes Funding to Include Tribal Programs
The Senate Appropriations Committee pass the bipartisanFiscal Year 2025 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. Included in this legilsation are provisions for funding for to protect tribal nations.
Tribal Programs: In total, the bill provides $12.65 billion for Tribal programs across the Department of the Interior and the Indian Health Service, an increase of $1.774 billion above fiscal year 2024.
Indian Health Service (IHS): The bill provides $8.5 billion in total resources for IHS—an increase of $1.5 billion over fiscal year 2024—to maintain critically important health care services and maintain current staffing for doctors, nurses, and health services staff.
Supporting Tribal Self-Governance and Essential Services: The bill provides an increase of $64.5 million for a total of $1.963 billion in funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ operations of Indian programs. This funds essential government services in critical areas like roads and infrastructure, housing improvement, natural resources protection, Tribal courts, economic development, and social services. This funding is essential for Tribal governments exercising self-determination and crucial to upholding the federal government’s trust responsibility.
Tribal Sovereignty Payments: The bill fully funds Tribal Sovereignty Payments, which consist of contract support costs and 105(l) lease payments, including the increased contract support costs associated with third-party billing for the Indian Health Service as a result of the June 2024 Supreme Court ruling in Becerra vs. San Carlos Apache Tribe. These are required payments that provide funding for Tribes’ administrative overhead costs for self-governance under the Indian Self-Determination Education and Assistance Act.
Funding for the Rights Protection Implementation Program: The bill includes $49.9 million for the Rights Protection Implementation Program, which seeks to ensure compliance with federal court orders by assisting in implementing effective Tribal self-regulatory and co-management systems. This funding is critical for Michigan Tribes that are part of either the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority or Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, both which work to implement relevant court orders and carry out co-management responsibilities.
U.S. Senate Commitee on Indian Affairs Leadership React to the Final Federal Indian Boarding School Intiative Report
U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), vice chairman of the Committee, released the following statements on the Department of the Interior’s release of its second and final investigative report initiated by its Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. In addition to expanding on the number and details of institutions to include attendee deaths, the number of burial sites, participation of religious institutions and organizations, and federal dollars spent to operate these institutions, Volume 2 also includes policy recommendations for consideration by Congress and the Executive Branch to continue to chart a path to healing and redress for Indigenous communities.
“The Department’s concluding report on its investigation into federal Indian boarding school policies is an important next step toward a full accounting of the United States’ systemic effort to erase Native identities, languages, and cultures for its own gain,” said Chairman Schatz. “The report’s recommendations align with our efforts in the Senate through the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act to establish a Native-led commission to uncover the full scope of what took place at these schools and provide a platform for survivors to share their experiences and for the nation to hear and acknowledge their pain. Too many have waited too long for truth, closure, and justice. I’m committed to getting our legislation over the finish line so we can begin the work of delivering it.”
“I welcome the Interior Department’s second and final investigative report further detailing the U.S. Government’s role in operating the federal Indian boarding school system and its impacts on Native children and their families,” said Vice Chairman Murkowski. “This investigation also documents the existence of marked and unmarked graves at 65 of the schools, and that as many as 973 children, heartbreakingly, never returned home. These findings affirm my resolve to get the Truth and Healing Commission legislation signed into law. The more we understand the truth about this era, the more we are able to help all those affected find healing.”
Volume 1 of the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report can be accessed here and Volume 2 can be accessed here.
Legislation Introduced to Make It Easier for Tribal Law Enforcement to Access Electronic Evidence
U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV.) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) introduced the Tribal Access to Electronic Evidence Act, bipartisan legislation to provide Tribal courts the same access as their non-Tribal counterparts to electronic evidence—such as emails, social media messages, and other online communications—for criminal investigations.
The bipartisan Tribal Access to Electronic Evidence Act would amend current law to:
- Include courts of federally recognized Tribes as “courts of competent jurisdiction” under the Stored Communications Act,
- Require Tribal courts to adhere to warrant procedures described in the Indian Civil Rights Act to access electronic information, and
- Recognize Tribes as a government entity under the federal statute.
This bipartisan bill has been endorsed by the National American Indian Court Judges Association, the National Native American Bar Association, and the National Native American Law Enforcement Association.
You can read the full bill text HERE.
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