INTERTRIBAL MONITORING ASSOCIATION on Indian Trust Funds

2800 San Mateo Blvd NE - Suite 105     -   Albuquerque, NM  87110

Phone:  505/247-1447   Fax:  505/247-1449   e-mail:  itma@itmatrustfunds.org

 

 

 

ITMA 2004 LISTENING CONFERENCES

Overview of Q & A’s Presented

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  • Seven (7) Listening Conferences conducted: Okmulgee Oklahoma- Apr.2-3, ‘04

   Fort Berthold-May11-12,’04

   Umatilla- Jun 8-9, ‘04

   Crow-Jul 15-16,’04

   Oneida, Wisconsin-Aug 12-13,’04

   No. Cheyenne-Aug 19,’04

    Tohono O’odham-Aug 30,04

 

Muscogee Nation, Okmulgee, Okla.-Emerging issues – oil and gas leasing, trespass, locating parcels of land, heirship, difficulty getting answers to questions, difficulty getting records to correct errors.

 

  • Quapaw Tribe – J. Berry – On “to-be” , the system is being created to fix what we have now and the system monitors own progress.
  • OST – R.Swimmer- OST has state of the art accounting system.

**System we have now has no accounts receivable so none was created. This was confirmed on Feb. 10 by Donna Irwin to ITMA there was no accounts receivable.

  • IIM Accountholder-Lucretia Mac Afee-Stated she had to find information by going through newspapers
  • IIM- B. Chalakee-complained about “cheap rate” sales of leases and multiple heirs (fractionation). Family has now learned of more money in account they did not know about.
  • IIM Ruby Withrow- Family spent years copying records at archives. The one well dug on her grandfathers allotment is pumping today.  She believes he was swindled by selling land instead of selling some royalty interest which the documents clearly say he wanted to do. Her story appeared in Time magazine.
  • IIM Louella Niswonger- Described trespass on property and leases her family did not know about.  Focused on the rude manner in which she was treated by DOI Solicitor.

 

Fort Berthold – Emerging issues- backlog, title, and leasing procedures, disagreement with reorganization and lack of staff to handle enforcement and compliance matters and appraisals.

 

  • Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara- Tex Hall- DOI should focus on core system, TITLE, LEASING AND ACCOUNTING.  He noted that huge sums of money were transferred to OST from BIA
  • Tex Hall – More than 25 trust officers and deputy superintendents, upper management, have been hired but more staff is needed for appraisers, range and timber managers, lease compliance staff, realty staff, probate staff and so on.  Example: the Tribe conducted a needs assessment and found at one point the Agency employed 23 people.  Now the Agency has 3 employees, a Special Deposit Accounts supervisor, one employee for paperwork, and thus only one employee to handle enforcement and compliance matters.  He listed 150 probate backlog, 1,000 title records requests per year, 100 pending oil and gas leases, and land fractionation problems.
  • R. Swimmer- Swimmer acknowledged that in 1996, BIA funding was drastically reduced and staff was lost. He said BIA needs more personnel.
  • IIM- RM Mandan- Described problems with fractionated heir ship, oil and gas leases, and a gift deed to her which was never recorded.  It took six years to straighten out. Family not compensated for oil taken from land.
  • R. Swimmer stated the importance of ITMA Listening Conferences: I don’t think we can do without these.  I think we need to be out here to hear. We don’t need people to have to come to Washington to talk to us.  So I appreciate the opportunity to be able to have these kinds of meeting, and I assure you that you are not wasting our time and you’re not wasting yours either, because we do want to hear about issues that are out here in Indian Country.”
  • IIM – Todd Hall- He said appraisal process is faulty.”Desktop” appraisals is not specific to those lands being affected. Appraisals need to include range conditions, water access, fencing, etc.  Indian ranchers are paying as much as 6 times what their non-Indian counter parts are paying.

 

Umatilla- Emerging issues- disagreement with reorganization and separate management of trust resources and trust funds.  Need tribal specific, local plans for solutions. Want management of fish and wildlife and streams as a trust asset.

 

 

·        Tribe – Chairman Ernie Stensgar stated his long time opposition to reorganization.

·        Tribe- Chairmen and Councilmen of Coer d’Alene, Warm Springs, Umatilla and Colville stated reorganization was forced on Tribes by the feds who really did not consult with the tribes and predicted even after reorganization problems with fractionation would still exist.

·        OST-Donna Erwin stated that separation of trust resources management from trust funds management was still being discussed but “I think you’re going to see a separation because we need separation of duties.”

·        Tribe/OST- John Berry- described out a team of participants spent 1 year finding out how probate, leasing, title, and other matters were handled on various reservations across the country. The group interviewed more than 1,000 people to explain the system that the people were complaining about.  The group found there was no standardization. People get different answers to the same question from different federal staff. He said BIA lacked basic office tools however reorganization is here and tribes need to learn how to live with it

·        IIM – Sharon Redthunder – Asked if information about where the allottee’s land is located and who the other owners are be included on the beneficiary statement form?

·        ****This is being done.  OST LISTENED AND WILL START DOING THIS SOON.******

·        IIM- Kathleen Gordon- She described fractionation unauthorized grazing on trust lands without a lease in place, and incorrect timber appraisals.

 

Oneida Nation- Emerging issues – fee to trust, the need for more trust land on reservation

  • Tribe – Julie Barton- Oneida has only a handful of IIM accountholders but Tribe experiences similar problems. She state the problem of fee to trust delay.  On one parcel, the tribe pays $1.5 million to local government in lieu of taxes.  The money could be used for assistance to tribal members in need of help.
  • John Berry stated that DOI had no clear policy and there is no direction from Congress which results in confusion and mismanagement at local level.  Different processes are being used. The process group worked with OST, BIA, MMS, BLM and OHA.

 

Crow Nation- Emerging issues- oil and gas leasing with inadequate royalties, trust officer functions, outreach, irrigation systems, trespass of grazing rights

 

  • Robert Upton, BIA-  Hopes that trust officers will live at agency and help solve problems that are a part of everyday life.
  • Keith Beartusk- Talked about irrigation problems and leases to ranchers with political power to pressure against the BIA. 
  • Allison Sage – On the Arapahoe reservation in Wyoming there is no security for 10 sand and gravel pits.  Anyone can go in and remove the product. He described problems with backlogged probates, oil and gas leases with provisions to renegotiate and get more money when the lease expires. Shortage of law enforcement.
  • Robert Upton stated that a trust officer must have its first outreach meeting within eight months of being placed in a region, a forum for people to come with their problems.
  • IIM- Gladys Yellowrobe was told to go to another BIA in another state when she went to the BIA to ask for help with her mothers account.
  • Clark Madison, BIA- Stated that on Wind River Reservation100,000 acres are allotted land and there are 100,000 interest owners on the reservation.  Some tract are owned by 600 to700 people.

 

Tohono O’Odhom and Laguna Pueblo – Emerging issues, management of trust resources of large mining operations and water rights and cleanup agreements.

 

  • Governor Johnson reviewed the uranium mining lease which became the world’s largest open-pit uranium mine. 
  • Chairwoman Juan Saunders referred to 1,200 allottees who have water rights, an issue with ASARCO mine, and the lack of cleanup of waists from the mine.