{"id":5420,"date":"2020-05-22T09:48:08","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T13:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/covid19\/?p=5420"},"modified":"2020-05-22T10:06:24","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T14:06:24","slug":"indian-country-organizations-letter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/2020\/05\/22\/indian-country-organizations-letter-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Country Organizations Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_5427\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5427\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5427\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tarasweeneymarkcruz-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Tara Sweeney\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tarasweeneymarkcruz-scaled.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tarasweeneymarkcruz-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tarasweeneymarkcruz-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tarasweeneymarkcruz-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/tarasweeneymarkcruz-1536x2048.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5427\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney, at table, is seen at the Department of the Interior headquarters in Washington, D.C. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>On May 20, 2020, five Indian Country organizations called for the resignation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/2018\/08\/16\/tara-sweeney-quietly-takes-helm-at-burea.asp\">Tara Sweeney<\/a> as the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/asindianaffairs\/\">Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The request was contained in a letter signed by leaders of the <a href=\"http:\/\/gptca.net\">Great Plains Tribal Chairman&#8217;s Association<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/m-a-s-t.org\">Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usetinc.org\">United South and Eastern Tribes<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indian-affairs.org\">Association on American Indian Affairs<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncai.org\">National Congress of American Indians<\/a>. It is addressed to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecBernhardt\">Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is with much thought and deliberation that the undersigned Tribal organizations write to request the immediate removal of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs (AS-IA) Tara Mac Lean Sweeney from her post,&#8221; the <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020.pdf\">three-page letter<\/a> reads. &#8220;Our solemn conclusion that this must occur is based on the consistent and repeated failures of Assistant Secretary Sweeney to honor and uphold the federal government\u2019s trust obligation to Tribal Nations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>PDF: <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020.pdf\">Dear Secretary Bernhardt<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Indian Country organizations cite a series of actions in which they say Sweeney undermined the federal government&#8217;s trust and treaty obligations. They include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Denying the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe the ability to restore its homelands in Massachusetts<\/li>\n<li>Failing to protect Tohono O&#8217;odham Nation sites from desecration near the U.S. border with Mexico<\/li>\n<li>Allowing Alaska Native for-profit corporations to seek shares of an $8 billion coronavirus relief fund promised to tribal governments<\/li>\n<li>Restricting the ability of tribes in Alaska to restore their homelands through the fee-to-trust process<\/li>\n<li>Failing to address the breach of sensitive tribal data that was submitted for the $8 billion coronavirus relief fund<\/li>\n<li>Moving to disestablish the reservation that was placed in trust for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 2\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>&#8220;Despite repeated promises made to &#8216;learn&#8230;from Indian Country through consultation,&#8217; and &#8216;aggressively advocate&#8217; for Tribal self-determination and sovereignty, she has neglected to properly engage with Indian Country throughout her tenure, refusing meaningful public interaction with Tribal Nations and advisory committees, and lacking availability for substantive policy discussions,&#8221; the letter states. &#8220;From our perspective, her voice has been largely absent or silent in the policy-making process, and she has failed to be a strong advocate for our interests across the federal government.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 3\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>&#8220;Our organizations regret that circumstances require our insistence on AS-IA Sweeney\u2019s removal from office, as many of us supported her nomination and had high expectations for her service,&#8221; the leaders continue. &#8220;But we owe it to our member Tribal Nations, our children, and our ancestors to ensure that all AS- IAs uphold and faithfully execute the duties of office in a way that advances the authorities, capabilities, and interests of Tribal Nations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;AS-IA Sweeney\u2019s behavior is not representative of these objectives, making her unfit for this sacred charge,&#8221; the letter states. &#8220;We urge her swift removal, as well as an immediate investigation into whether ethical or legal violations were committed in the course of deeming ANCs eligible for government relief funds and the subsequent breach of Tribal data.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The letter was signed by Harold Frazier, Chairman of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen\u2019s Association; Aaron Payment, Acting President of the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes; Kirk Francis, President of the USET Sovereignty Protection Fund; Frank Ettawageshik, President of the Association on American Indian Affairs; and Fawn R. Sharp, President of the National Congress of American Indians.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5422\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020a.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1700\" height=\"2200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020a.jpg 1700w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020a-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020a-791x1024.jpg 791w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020a-768x994.jpg 768w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020a-1187x1536.jpg 1187w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020a-1583x2048.jpg 1583w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1700px) 100vw, 1700px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5424\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1700\" height=\"2200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020b.jpg 1700w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020b-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020b-791x1024.jpg 791w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020b-768x994.jpg 768w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020b-1187x1536.jpg 1187w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020b-1583x2048.jpg 1583w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1700px) 100vw, 1700px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5423\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020c.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1700\" height=\"2200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020c.jpg 1700w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020c-232x300.jpg 232w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020c-791x1024.jpg 791w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020c-768x994.jpg 768w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020c-1187x1536.jpg 1187w, https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/indiancountry052020c-1583x2048.jpg 1583w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1700px) 100vw, 1700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On May 20, 2020, five Indian Country organizations called for the resignation of Tara Sweeney as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,4,1],"tags":[167,215,51,106,107,439,551,550,398,470,346,60,219],"class_list":["post-5420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-institutions","category-organizations","category-tribes","category-updates","tag-aaia","tag-aaron-payment","tag-bia","tag-david-bernhardt","tag-doi","tag-fawn-sharp","tag-frank-ettawageshik","tag-gptca","tag-harold-frazier","tag-kirk-francis","tag-mast","tag-ncai","tag-tara-sweeney"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5420"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5432,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5420\/revisions\/5432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}