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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2003

Michael Jandreau, chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, has written a letter to the federal judge overseeing the Indian trust fund calling the Bush administration's "consultation" talks a "sham."

Jandreau attended a December 16-17 meeting in Washington, D.C., over the proposed reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Office of Special Trustee (OST). He said tribes weren't told that the Department of Interior was already finalizing the changes, including a $5 million request to reprogram federal funds.

"It is shocking that given the terrible problems with interior gross mismanagement of Indian trust affairs, the arrogance and duplicity continues," wrote Jandreau. "Once again, Interior ostensibly solicits the views of the Tribes and creates the illusion of dealing with the Tribes on a government-to-government basis, then overthrows even the pretense of consultation, and proceeds with its own agenda, without regard to the Tribes. This arrogant paternalism is a serious defect interior should have long ago overcome."

Jandreau is a member of a joint federal-tribal task force on trust reform that has since been abandoned by the Bush administration.

Get the Letter:
Notice and Attachment of Jandreau Letter (January 8, 2003)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com
Cobell v. Norton, Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/cobell/index.htm
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Trust Reform, NCAI - http://www.ncai.org/main/pages/
issues/other_issues/trust_reform.asp

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