"On Dec. 16, President Barack Obama will host the second White House Tribal Nations Conference. The president’s unprecedented tribal outreach extends from his formal commitment “to regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with tribal officials in policy decisions that have tribal implications,” which was memorialized in his Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies issued at last year’s conference.

Obama’s Memorandum represents one of his administration’s most important federal Indian policy accomplishments to date (pending the settlement of Cobell), and the Executive Branch is working hard to make tribal consultation a reality. The Obama administration is presently so focused on consultation with Indians that federal agencies are engaging in tribal consultations on tribal consultation.

Still, many federal agencies have missed the memo – literally – and are failing to meaningfully consult with concerned tribal governments. It should come as no surprise that federal agencies are dropping the ball on tribal consultation, considering that the United States has largely failed to honor the federal Indian consultation obligation since its inception in 1776, when the U.S. joined tribes in nationhood. To be sure, that obligation is expressed in certain treaties, like the 1854 Treaty with the Kaskaskia, Peoria, or embodied in age-old international law norms governing U.S. treaty obligations. While the federal obligation to consult with tribal nations is often attributed to a Clinton era Executive Order, and now to Obama’s Memorandum, it was made explicit by President Lyndon Johnson as far back as 1968.

This three-part series examines how tribal governments can use the federal Indian consultation as both a sword and shield in defense of Indian sovereignty, treaty rights, aboriginal territory and trust resources, especially when under attack by the federal government. While Obama’s federal Indian policy is commendable, Indian country cannot ignore that on his watch, agencies like the National Indian Gaming Commission, Internal Revenue Service, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and National Labor Relations Board still routinely encroach upon tribal self-governance and Indian lands with an arrogant attitude of federal supremacy."

Get the Story:
Gabriel S. Galanda: The federal Indian consultation right: No paper tiger (Indian Country Today 11/29)

Related Stories:
WPR: Wisconsin tribes preparing for another summit with Obama (11/23)
Muscogee Nation chief to ask Obama for apology at tribal summit (11/22)
Tribes ready for another White House Tribal Nations Conference (11/16)
Obama hosts second Tribal Nations Conference on December 16 (11/15)