Tara Sweeney, the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, takes part in a meeting with tribal leaders at the headquarters of the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., on September 19, 2018. Photo: Office of Public Affairs - Indian Affairs

National | Politics

New face of Bureau of Indian Affairs returns to Alaska after making history

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Tara Sweeney, the recently-installed Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, is back in her home state of Alaska this week.

Sweeney, who is Inupiat from the Native Village of Barrow, made history when she was confirmed to the political post at the Department of the Interior. She is the first Alaska Native to hold the position and the first woman on the job in two decades.

“I am honored to be able to serve Indian Country in this capacity,” Sweeney said after she was sworn in this summer.

Sweeney was nominated as Assistant Secretary in October 2017. The announcement came as the Alaska Federation of Natives was holding its annual convention, where she will be returning this week as a presenter.

According to the agenda, Sweeney will be addressing AFN on Thursday morning. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke will also be providing a video message to attendees.

AFN is broadcasting the conference in its entirety. The session can be viewed at nativefederation.org/watch-convention-live.

Indianz.Com on YouTube: Tara Sweeney - Alaska Federation of Natives - October 2017

While in Anchorage, Sweeney is also meeting with tribes and Native corporations. The state is home to 229 federally recognized tribes and to 13 regional corporations that were established by Congress through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971.

Sweeney has experience on both fronts. She served on the board of the Alaska Federation of Natives, the largest inter-tribal organization in the state, for more than a decade and as a vice president for the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, which is active in energy development in Alaska.

That history is being put to the test as the BIA hosts consultations on two Alaska-specific issues while Sweeney is in town. Sessions being held on Wednesday and on Sunday in Anchorage address how tribes in the state can organize under the Indian Reorganization Act and whether they can follow the land-into-trust process.

The day after Sweeney was confirmed by the Senate in June, the Trump administration put a hold on all land-into-trust applications in Alaska. Since she had not been sworn in by that time, she had no input into the matter.

The decision was instead made by Principal Deputy Solicitor Daniel Jorjani, the top legal official at the Department of the Interior. There was no prior consultation of tribes or Native corporations.

"I'm very disappointed that the Solicitor would take that action without us knowing about it first," Mike Williams, a leader of the Akiak Native Community, said at the first listening session on the issue on July 26. His tribe had won a landmark court ruling that opened the door for tribes in Alaska to restore their homelands.

Following the historic ruling, the BIA in 2014 finalized a new regulation addressing Alaska. And the first land-into-trust application in the state was approved in January 2017.

The process is now on hold for at least one year while the Trump administration solicits comments from tribes and Native corporations.

"We’re really in a situation here where how much more information does the department need?" attorney Matt Newman of the Native American Rights Fund, which represented the Native communities in the homelands case, said at a consultation in Ketchikan on August 3. "Are you unsatisfied with the answer that you got in 2014? Why are we rehashing these issues again?"

The schedule for the BIA consultations follows:

Wednesday, October 17
Alaska and the Indian Reorganization Act
ANC (Alaska Native Corporation) Consultation
10am - Noon
Egan Convention Center
555 West 5th Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501
Wednesday, October 17
Land-into-Trust in Alaska
ANC (Alaska Native Corporation) Consultation
1pm - 3pm
Egan Convention Center
555 West 5th Avenue

Sunday October 21
Alaska and the Indian Reorganization Act
Tribal Consultation
10am - Noon
Egan Convention Center
555 West 5th Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501
Sunday October 21
Land-into-Trust in Alaska
Tribal Consultation
1pm - 3pm
Egan Convention Center
555 West 5th Avenue

Future consultations are being held in Bethel on December 5 and in Kotzebue on December 7. Tribes and Alaska Native corporations can also participate in two teleconferences on December 12. Additional information can be found on indianaffairs.gov.

As the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Tara Sweeney oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs as well as the Bureau of Indian Education.

Federal Register Notices

Land Acquisitions in the State of Alaska (December 23, 2014)
Land Acquisitions in the State of Alaska (July 1, 2014)
Land Acquisitions in the State of Alaska (May 1, 2014)

Federal Court Decisions

D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals: Akiachak Native Community v. Department of the Interior (July 1, 2016) District Court: Akiachak Native Community v. Jewell (September 30, 2013)
District Court: Akiachak Native Community v. Salazar (March 31, 2013)