Presenter: Souvanny Miller
Mentor: Kathy Lynn
Oral Presentation
Major: Environmental Studies
The United States federal government has historically failed to meet many of its trust responsibilities to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes—often violating treaty-reserved rights or failing to consult on issues pertaining to Indian rights. In order to meet these trust responsibilities, effective government-to-government relationships must be established among Tribes and federal agencies. Pursuant to Executive Order 13175—entitled “Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments”—each federal agency is required to adopt their own consultation policies and set of strategies for facilitating effective government-to-government relationships. My research will assess the ways in which various federal agencies attempted to facilitate effective government-to-government relations with federally recognized tribes and how these relations could be improved. I will focus specifically on consultation policies, memoranda of understanding, communications and bodies such as advisory councils created to facilitate cooperative management of resources. I will use three case studies to evaluate the effectiveness of three federal agencies’ methods for maintaining government-to-government relationships: Willamette National Forest in the National Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture; Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Department of Commerce; and Olympic National Park within the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. This project has the potential to aid agencies as they work toward more effective government-to-government relationships with federally recognized tribes. It will illustrate what is most important for agencies: consulting early and often while developing and maintaining site- specific programs, institutions and relationships that are mutually beneficial.