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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1991)
Smoke Signals November 1991 Page 10 SPECIAL REPORT: THE NATIONAL INDIAN POLICY CENTER by LccAnnTaGbcar Ms. Tallbear is Executive Director of the National American Indian Council in Washington, D.C. The organization has taken a strong stand in favor of broader participation in the proposed National Indian Policy Center The 101st Congress passed legislation (P.L. 101-301) to authorize the establishment of a National Indian Policy Planning Office to be located at George Washington ' University (GWU) in Washington, D.C. The office is to undertake a one-year feasibility study and consultation process with American Indian and Alaska Native tribal governments and members and associated national organizations to develop the purpose, structure, and function of a research and analysis institution for social, economic, and legal policy development on Native issues. The result will serve as a framework for author izing legislation to be considered in the 102nd Congress. Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Chairman of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, proposed the study and the $1 million appropriation to support the effort. In announcing the establishment of the Policy Center at a national meeting of Indian tribal leaders, Senator Inouye noted that tribal leaders have expressed the need for an "Indian think tank" to bring together the best minds in Indian Country to explore the may facets of critically important Indian policy issues. Both federal and tribal policy makers have a need for information that is not being provided by federal agencies. Indian Tribes and organizations often neither have access to ' such information nor the resources to generate it, which can result in policy decisions taken without adequate support for conclusions and recommendations. The study is being funded through a cooperative agreement between GWU and the Administration for Native Americans (ANA) with funds added to the ANA fiscal year 1991 budget specifically for this project. The study and planning project began on December 1, 1990. At that time, GWU President Stephen Joel Trachten bcrg appointed a planning committee of tribal leaders and representatives of national Indian organizations. GWU established an office and recruited Alan Parker (ChippewaCree), former Staff Director of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs, as the Director of the Policy Center and member of the planning commit tee. Mr. Parker began work on December 10, and the planning committee held its first meeting on December 17, 1990, on the campus of GWU. The committee elected William Ron Allen, Chairman of the Jamestown Klallam Tribe, to serve as co-chair with GWU Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Roderick S. French. In February 1991, the planning office named seven task forces to facilitate consultation with experts in the areas of education, economic development, health and human services, natural resource management and environ mental protection, law and the administration of justice, tribal governance-internal and external, and cultural rights and resources. Each task force has held meetings. Both planning committee and task force meetings are open to the public, and meetings have been arranged to coincide with previously scheduled regional and national Indian meetings and conferences. "The idea of the Center is unique in that it will be directly accountable to the Indian people through a governing board representing the Indian nations, tribes, bands and Alaska Native villages from every region of the country," according to the Center brochure. "As part of the year-long feasibility study, we will solicit input from Indian tribes and work with experts from across the country to determine how the Center should be organized," the brochure states. However, not only are urban Indian centers and non federally recognized Indian tribes not represented on the planning committee, the northeast is completely excluded from the planning committee effort. In a recent interview, Planning Committee Co-chair Ron Allen appeared optimistic that an operating institute will result from this effort. He stated that an Indian think tank could be quite useful to tribal leader ship; that it is clearly needed for an objective review of subject matter; that the study and process of discussing the proposed center is going well; but that canvassing . Indian Country is difficult. He indicated that a prelimi nary report will be completed in late June but that it will take another year for the final feasibility report. When asked about lack of representation of off reservation Indian people on the planning committee, Mr. Allen said that the center will target the needs of Indian governments as its primary objective but that it has become evident that urban Indians have needs too. He said the planning committee is trying to figure out . how to involve urban and rural non-reservation Indians and that the committee composition may have to be re visited. (Mr. Allen's tribe submitted its petition for federal recognition in 1976 and was approved through an administrative process in 1981.) The Board of Directors of the National American Indian Council is concerned that the Policy Center, in dealing with issues that will affect the lives of urban, and rural non-reservation Indians, currently reflects no representation of those issues. Any policies on education, health, and other social service issues will not only affect reservation Indians but off-reservation Indian people too, and it is likely that federal recognition will also be addressed by the policy center. With over one-half of the Indian and Alaska Native population residing off-reservation, excluding this segment of the population constitutes a major oversight of these Indian people and a disregard of the federal Y responsibility to all American Indians. Senator Inouye, in announcing the establishment of the Policy Center stated that federal and tribal policymakers have a need for data that Indian tribes and organizations have neither access to nor the resources to generate. Off-reservation communities lack data to a much greater extent than federally recognized tribal communi ties, a situation which results in tremendous under utilization of the few financial and human resources currently available. Historically, the relocation policy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and socioeconomic failures on reserva tions have led to the migration of Indian people to urban areas to seek employment and the opportunity to help themselves. In addition, inconsistent Indian policies of the federal government since its inception have led to the continuing inequities of non-federally recognized tribes. Off-reservation Indian people did not lose their identities by virtue of stepping across reservation lines. In order to address this oversight, the Planning Com mittee of the National Indian Policy Center should include representatives of off-reservation Indian com munities. Additional Committee and task force meet ings must be held to better understand and represent the needs of these communities. The National American Indian Council is a non-profit organization formed in 1986 for the purpose of representing the interests and needs of American Indians living off reservation in urban or rural areas. Incorporated in 1987, NAIC evolved from the necessity of Indian urban centers and other similar organizations for establishment of a unified voice to advocate on their behalf. These organi zations also recognized the need to establish a national resource center to provide research and to collect, disseminate, and exchange information on the condi tions of off-reservation Indians. . For further information, contact: LeeAnn Tallbear, Executive Director, National American Indian Council, 300 1 Street, N.E., Suite 209, Washington, D.C. 20002, 543-2738, Fax (202) 543-7730. Courtesy of The Communicator 4 ,"1 rATs0!& A view of the Oregon Coast from Cascade Head, just north of Lincoln City.
