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THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2003

Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) is being asked to stop the Bush administration's pending reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Office of Special Trustee (OST).

Dallas Massey Sr., the chairman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona, wrote a letter on January 9 seeking assistance. He said the proposal "has many obvious flaws" and asked for McCain to hold oversight hearings.

"We believe it is premature and improvident for the Interior Department to be granted broad authority to significantly alter and weaken its trust service to tribes and individual Indians," Massey wrote.

Massey also said his tribe "objects" to characterizations by department officials that the reorganization was the result of consultation with Indian Country. "The DOI met with tribes, then developed its own proposals," he wrote. "The DOI rejected proposals offered by tribes and the trust reform task force."

The White Mountain Apache Tribe last month argued a trust case before the Supreme Court. The tribe contends the BIA has a fiduciary obligation to preserve school and other buildings but government attorneys won't define the duties.

McCain is a member and former chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

Relevant Documents:
Plaintiffs' Notice and Massey Letter (January 15, 2003)

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

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