WASHINGTON ? Strong opposition was voiced by many tribes across the country as Interior dug in to defend its proposal to reorganize the BIA.
Despite continued concerns from tribes and from some members of Congress, the Department of Interior has set some parameters for consultation and a deadline for comments on the new plan.
‘Consultation is absolutely what we’re going to do,’ McCaleb told tribal representatives at the National Congress of American Indians meeting in Spokane, Wash.
‘And we’re going to start here and now with this process.’
While McCaleb repeatedly characterized his presentation before NCAI as the beginning of the consultation process, other officials at Interior said McCaleb was incorrect. Interior documents show the first formal consultation is scheduled in New Mexico at the headquarters of the All Indian Pueblo Council (AIPC) which represents all 19 pueblos. Although no date has been set, the session is expected to last one day.
Interior Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles said the purpose of the meeting is to ‘involve affected and interested parties in the process of organizing the department’s trust asset management responsibility function.
‘The department has determined that there is a need for dramatic change in the management of Indian trust assets,’ Griles said.
Griles also told the convention delegates that Interior Secretary Gale Norton would attend the first consultation session to be held in Albuquerque, N.M., Dec. 13. However, federal Judge Royce Lamberth ordered Norton and McCaleb to appear in court to answer to contempt of court charges, which will occur before Dec. 13. There is a possibility the first consultation meeting could be postponed.
Other locations for future meetings have not been scheduled, but Griles speculated they may also take place in Oregon, South Dakota, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C.
In another surprising move, Secretary Norton announced a shortened comment period for the public and interested parties to weigh in. A notice published in the Federal Register said written comments on the administration’s plan must be received by Jan. 15, 2002. Norton also said she wants to cut as many as 3,500 jobs from Interior and turn them over to a private contractor.
Ross Swimmer, former head of the BIA and chief of the Cherokee Nation, will head administration efforts to develop the new agency, along with McCaleb. While heading the BIA under Ronald Reagan, Swimmer proposed turning over management of tribal trust assets to private contractors or developing a new ‘trust’ agency.
The Interior Department’s choice of Swimmer to head the agency’s development is under question by some tribal officials because of past allegations of financial mismanagement. Swimmer resigned in 1995 as chief executive officer of Cherokee Nation Industries. Swimmer claimed he resigned because of personal conflicts with directors, but board members accused him of loaning more than half a million dollars of company money to private investors without board approval. The loan later went into default.
During its annual meeting, NCAI passed a resolution opposing the Interior Department’s proposal to strip the BIA of its trust management responsibilities. With details about the plan still unclear, criticism about the policy change is widespread.