Tribes lose challenge to reorganization of Bureau of Indian Education

Tuesday, October 2, 2018  

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe have lost a lawsuit that challenged a reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Education.

Both tribes said they weren't properly consulted before the Obama administration issued its Blueprint for Reform in June 2014. Judge Karen Schreier disagreed and said the Indian Education Study Group engaged in significant outreach efforts over two years.

"This structure of discussion and revisions throughout the two-year period reveal a process—a series of actions— implemented to achieve meaningful consultation," Schreier wrote in a September 28 decision first reported by The Sioux Falls Argus Leader. "Thus, when evaluating the totality of the administrative record, the court concludes that defendants have satisfied their obligation to use a process designed to meaningfully consult with tribes about the proposed restructuring of the BIE."

Tribes in the Great Plains, including Cheyenne River, previously won a decision that prevented the George W. Bush administration from reorganizing the BIE in the Dakotas. In that case, Schreier ruled that the tribes had not been adequately consulted.

The tribes reached a settlement in Yankton Sioux Tribe v. Kempthorne in hopes of protecting their rights. But, as part of that same case, Schreier recently ruled that the settlement only applies to the Bush reorganization and not to any other efforts.

The BIE is part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which the Trump administration attempted to reorganize as part of a broader initiative at the Department of the Interior. But officials have backed off due to widespread tribal objections, some of which were centered on the potential impact on the BIE.

The Trump administration has since said the reorganization won't be applied to the BIA, meaning the agency's regions won't be changed. Neither will those of the BIE or the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians.

"The Department has established 12 Unified Regions for all of Interior’s Bureaus except for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians, and the Bureau of Indian Education," Secretary Ryan Zinke said in an August 29 message to employees.

According to Zinke, the 49 different regions in other bureaus at Interior will be unified into one system of 12 regions.

Federal judge dismisses tribes lawsuit after education services reorganized (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader October 1, 2018)