STATEMENT OF THEODORE C. KRENZKE, ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; ACCOMPANIED BY: SCOTT KEEP, ASSISTANT SOLICITOR, TRIBAL GOVERNMENT, AND ALASKA SOLICITOR'S OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; AND BUD SHAPARD, PROJECT LEADER, FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT PROJECT, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Mr. KRENZKE. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to present the views of the Department of the Interior on the Federal acknowledgment project.

With me I have Mr. Scott Keep, Assistant Solicitor in the Indian Affairs Division of the Department Solicitor's Office, and Mr. Bud Shapard, who heads up the Federal acknowledgment project in the Bureau's Division of Tribal Government Services.

Over the years, both Congress and the executive branch have acknowledged the existence of a government-to-government_relationship with certain previously unrecognized Indian groups. In the 25 years prior to the establishment of the acknowledgment project, 13 Indian tribes were recognized through legislative or administrative action.

Prior to 1972, petitions for Federal acknowledgment came to the Bureau at a relatively slow rate. These petitions were processed on a case-by-case basis using varying means and criteria.

During the early 1970's, as land claims and demands for protection of treaty rights emerged, interest in pursuing Federal acknowledgment were received at a rate beyond the Bureau's capability to process them, using the old procedures. As a result, regulations governing the procedures for acknowledgment were published in 1978.

This was the first time in its history that the Bureau of Indian Affairs had established a procedure to systematically locate and analyze unrecognized Indian groups throughout the country for the purpose of acknowledging a relationship with eligible tribes. By the effective date of the regulations, 40 groups had requested to be acknowledged.

After publication of the regulations, efforts focused on the administrative establishment of the office, employing and training the staff, and issuing guidelines for the preparation of petitions under the new regulations.

A great deal of time was necessary to locate and notify groups of the existence of the program. The location and notification of these groups is the fulfillment of a commitment made to this committee in 1978 and incorporated into the regulations.

Additionally, considerable effort was expended in providing direct technical assistance to a number of the groups in pulling together the necessary data for a correctly filed petition.

As a result of our effort, the Department has contacted 173 unacknowldeged Indian groups and from these there are presently 71 petitions on file with the project. Fifty-seven of these are in the form of letters requesting acknowledgment. There are 14 documented petitions currently on file. Of the 14, 5 are under active consideration at this time and 4 additional ones will be addressed in the near future. Three groups filed partially documented petitions immediately after publication of the regulations and were placed under active consideration in February 1979. Work was completed on the most thoroughly documented petition in 8 months. This group has now completed the entire process and has been acknowledged.

Documents needed to complete work on a second petition were not submitted until December 1979. The proposed findings for this group were published in the Federal Register on May 30.

A third group completed submission of needed documentation in March 1980. The proposed findings for this group are presently being typed for publication.

Under the regulations, we are required to research and evaluate whether the petitioning group has functioned as a cohesive social and political entity throughout history until the present; verify the Indian ancestry of the members; and determine whether the membership overlaps with that of other Indian groups. To do this there is a staff of seven: the project leader; an anthropologist; sociologist; historian; two genealogists; and a secretary.

I have been pleased and gratified to hear the testimony of other witnesses here this morning who have testified both to the professional capabilities and the dedication of this group.

While not enough petitions have been fully processed to know the average amount of time which will be required to deal with a given petition, we believe that with additional experience on the part of our staff the pace of processing them will increase. We understand that a number of the petitioning groups are obtaining professional assistance with the preparation of their petitions. We believe more sophisticated and better researched petitions will also reduce the amount of staff time needed to complete a thorough review of a petition. Finally, a number of the petitioning groups are closely related to others. We believe that we will be able to build on the accumulated knowledge.

For instance, we have had here the Samish and the Snohomish this morning. There are also several others out in the western part of Washington between which we expect there to be some commonality on which we will be able to build.

We are aware, however, of the impact that the project will have on the Bureau of Indian Affairs' service population, staffing, and funding, not to mention the possible impact on other issues such as land claims, fishing rights, State jurisdiction, and programing by other Federal agencies, to name just a few. Therefore, we feel that the high standards we have set for the acknowledgment project in the evaluation of these petitions must not be compromised.

Aside from the fact that the Bureau is directly addressing the longstanding question of extending acknowledgment to the qualified presently unacknowledged Indian tribes, other benefits have resulted from the project. The new process is proving to be more cost

and time effective than the old method of recognition was. Much less total time and work hours have been consumed on the first two cases completed under the regulations than has been spent resolving the litigation which resulted from two cases decided prior to the development of the regulations.

Further, the project eliminates the need for lengthy congressional involvement with each of the 150 Indian groups expected to seek acknowledgment.

The project's task of locating unrecognized Indian groups throughout the country and clearly defining their character and size will provide Congress, State legislatures, and other Federal agencies with a precise picture of these Indian groups.

So far we have every reason to believe that the petitioning process as set forth in 25 CFR 54 is a sound one which will insure every petitioner receives thorough and impartial consideration. As a result of the work done through the Federal Acknowledgment project we believe the issue of correct status of unrecognized Indian tribes will be finally clarified if not entirely resolved.

This concludes my statement. I will be pleased to respond to any questions that you might have.

Senator MELCHER. Thank you, Mr. Krenzke.

We will now hear from Mr. Joe Maldonado, the Acting Assistant Director for Community Action of the Community Services Administration.

STATEMENT OF JOE MALDONADO, ACTING ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR COMMUNITY ACTION, COMMUNITY SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, ACCOMPANIED BY RICHARD BAKER, TEAM LEADER, AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKAN NATIVE PROGRAMS, COMMUNITY SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

Mr. MALDONADO. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. My name is Joe Maldonado. I am Acting Assistant Director of Community Action in the Community Services Administration.

My colleague is Mr. Richard Baker, who is team leader of American Indian and Alaskan Native programs for the Community Services Administration.

As you may know, the Community Services Administration was established in 1974 as the successor agency to the Office of Economic Opportunity. Ours is a mission unique in the Federal Government— intricately interwoven with public, private, Federal, State, and local efforts to deal with poverty. We seek to accomplish our mission by enabling the low income to become self sufficient.

As the Federal agency charged with primary responsibility for representing the needs and concerns of the Nation's economically disadvantaged, CSA endeavors to improve the quality and quantity of needed services available to American Indian people in poverty.

Title II of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, as amended, gives CSA specific authority to extend its programs to Indian tribal governments. CSA also recognizes its responsibility to reach out to

other low-income American Indians and seeks to do so through direct grants to Indian organizations and through encouragement of Indian participation in programs sponsored by other CSA grantees.

With reference to the Federal acknowledgement effort, I would like to highlight one important activity. Begining in 1974, CSA has been the lead agency in organizing and supporting an Indian task force within the Federal Regional Council structure of region I.

In cooperation with other Federal agencies and with significant Indian community representation, the task force is designed to provide low income Indian communities access to Federal policymakers. Through the efforts of the task force, New England Indian people were allowed a meaningful opportunity to study and comment on the draft regulations which preceded the current Federal acknowledgment

process.

During fiscal years 1978 and 1979, CSA contributed $400,000 to an interagency grant fund in region I to assist the low income Indian communities in each of the six New England States to develop their administrative and programmatic capacity.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Native Americans also contributed to this agreement and has added these groups to its regular grantee listing. Six nonfederally recognized Indian groups in four States-Nipmuck, Mashpee, and Gayhead of Massachusetts; Maliseet of Maine; Abenaki of Vermont; and Narragansett of Rhode Island-have used part of these resources toward developing Federal acknowledgement petitions.

Experience has shown that responsible Government policy for the low-incomed requires much more than regulatory reform itself. If nonfederally recognized Indian communities are to take full advantage of the acknowledgement opportunity, then they must have access to resources which will permit them to pursue the Federal acknowledgement process.

CSA has been active in this effort and is interested in better coordination with other Federal agencies and the private sector to further facilitate this effort.

This concludes my presentation. I would be happy to answer any of your questions. Thank you.

Senator MELCHER. Thank you, Mr. Maldonado.

Now we will hear from Mr. A. David Lester, Commissioner for the Administration for Native Americans.

STATEMENT OF A. DAVID LESTER, COMMISSIONER, ADMINISTRATION FOR NATIVE AMERICANS, OFFICE OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Mr. LESTER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am A. David Lester, Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans in the Office of Human Development Services, Department of Health and Human Services. I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss ANA's program with your committee.

The primary mission of the Administration for Native Americans, as provided by title VIII, the Native American Program Act of 1974 under Public Law 93-644 and amended in 1978 under Public Law 95-568, is to promote the goal of economic and social self sufficiency for American Indians, Hawaiian Natives, and Alaskan Natives.

In fulfilling its legislative mandate to promote economic and social self sufficiency for its service groups, ANA administers the following programs.

We provide financial assistance, in the form of direct grants, to public and nonprofit private agencies, including but not limited to, governing bodies of Indian tribes on Federal and State reservations, Alaskan Native villages, and regional corporations established by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, such public and nonprofit private agencies serving Hawaiian Natives, and Indian organizations in urban or rural nonreservation areas, for projects pertaining to the propose of title VIII. Recipients of these financial assistance direct grants are termed grantees by ANA.

We also provide directly or through other arrangements such as contracts-technical assistance and short-term inservice training to personnel of grantees in connection with projects receiving financial assistance under title VIII.

We further provide financial assistance through grants or contracts for research, demonstration, or pilot projects conducted by public or private agencies which are designed to test or assist in the development of new approaches or methods that will aid in overcoming special problems or otherwise furthering the purposes of title VIII.

An underlying principle which guides ANA is that American Indian tribal governments, whether recognized or with recognition potential, constitute the foundations upon which economic and social programs must be structured. As recognized units of governments, the tribal governments are better able to develop and administer the institutional capacities which are vital for economic and social progress of their memberships. ANA looks upon itself as a resource which tribal governments can employ to promote the mutual goal of economic and social self-sufficiency for their members.

An additional principle which guides ANA is that the grantees, within the parameters of ANA's authority, develop their individual work programs for direct grant assistance. These individual work programs contain specific program objectives and activities toward their accomplishment which are agreed to and funded by ANA direct grants.

Since the publishing of 25 CFR 54, Rules, Regulations and Guidelines for Acknowledgment as an American Indian Tribe, in September 1978 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, ANA witnessed that a number of grantees were choosing Federal acknowledgment as a program objective in their individual work programs.

ANA has the authority under its statute to identify Federal acknowledgment as an acceptable program objective for funding purposes and has taken steps to do so. It is in line with ANA's commitment to tribal governments as distinct local units of government whose