HOW THE COMMISSION DID ITS WORK I. INTRODUCTION AND MISSION SUMMARY Throughout the history of Federal/Indian relations, there has never been a comprehensive or consistent approach by the Congress and the Executive that dealt effectively with Indian problems and, at the same time, sufficiently fulfilled Indian needs. Inconsistent Indian policy has led directly to a situation of deep despair and frustration among Indian people documented by countless alarming statistics reflecting deplorable living conditions of Indian people. This frustration has been physically manifested in events such as the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters and the modern siege at Wounded Knee in 1973. On July 16, 1973, Senator James Abourezk (Democrat-South Dakota) introduced Resolution 133 to establish the first Indian staffed congressional Commission to review American Indian policy. Resolution 133 was referred to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, and after brief hearings on July 19 and 20, 1973, and on December 5, 1973, it was considered and passed by the Senate. May 13, 1974, Congressman Lloyd Meeds (Democrat-Washington) introduced an identical resolution, House Joint Resolution 881, in the House of Representatives. Hearings on the resolution were held before the House Subcommittee on Indian Affairs, and was passed on November 19, 1974, along with an amendment providing for the creation of investigating task forces responsible to the Commission. On December 16, the Senate concurred on the House amendment and on January 2, 1975, the resolution became Public Law 93-580, creating the American Indian Policy Review Commission. Additional amendments were passed entitling the Commission to franking privileges and to accept volunteer services from both the private and public sectors. The American Indian Policy Review Commission, was mandated to: Conduct a comprehensive review of the historical and legal developments underlying the Indian's unique relationship with the Federal Government in order to determine the nature and scope of necessary revisions in the formulation of policies and programs for the benefit of Indians. This study was to be conducted by an 11-member Commission composed of three Senators, three Representatives, and five Indian members selected by the congressional representatives. The actual investigations were conducted by 11 task forces working within legislative, defined subject areas. Two task forces were added later by Commission action. The task forces were each composed of three members selected from among the leading authorities in their respective fields of expertise in Indian affairs. In the development of their reports, task forces utilized research, reports, studies, questionnaires, hearings, and site visits. This process involved a continued emphasis on direct consultation. The recommendation of each task force was structured to comply with the mandates of the legislation. Overall, the task force reports have provided: A study and analysis of the legal relationship of Indians to the Federal Government; a comprehensive review of existing Federal programs for Indians and projections of future needs; an examination of Federal criteria for granting recognition; and a study of tribal governments, including recommendations for strengthening governments at both the tribal and national levels. Other substantive conclusions were arrived at in the course of their investigation. Each final investigative task force report was due to the Commission within 1 year of the task force's day of appointment. The 11 final task force reports were completed by September 1976. The development of the final report which has provided the basis for legislative proposals and administrative practices designed to meet the needs of Indian people, has also involved the creation of supplemental reports which reinforce the conclusions reached in the final report. In addition to the 11 task forces reports, the Commission has compiled special reports on pressing issues in Indian affairs written by authorities in these areas: Individual tribal reports discussing concerns analogous to task force investigations as independently perceived by tribes and organizations; a comprehensive bibliography and library on Indian Affairs; a detailed table of all Federal Indian programs; and a complete record of individual complaints, deputations, testimonies, case studies, and recommendations related to the areas of study submitted by all sectors of the Indian community. Finally, the Commission designed and maintained a unique accounting system which has insured internal accountability through the establishment of a monthly review of costs and expenditures. This system will facilitate the development of cost benefit analysis. The final Commission report, a product of Indian participation, representing "a compendium of information on a scale heretofore unavailable to the Federal Government," was submitted to Congress on May 17, 1977, representing the most comprehensive review of Indian policies and programs ever conducted. II. ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMISSION On January 2, 1975, Public Law 93-580 which provided for the establishment of the American Indian Policy Review Commission, was signed into law. It was a joint congressional commission composed of three Senators, three Members of the House of Representatives, and five Indian leaders. On January 27, 1975, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate appointed Senators Lee Metcalf, James Abourezk, and Mark Hatfield to the Commission. On February 13, 1975, the Speaker of the House of Representatives appointed Congressmen Lloyd Meeds, Sidney Yates, and Sam Steiger as members of the Commission. BRIEF PROFILES OF THE CONGRESSIONAL COMMISSION MEMBERS SENATORS JAMES ABOUREZK (Democrat, South Dakota) was born and raised on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. In 1970 he became the first Democrat since the 1930's to win the Second Congressional District seat in South Dakota. In 1972 he was elected to the Senate, where as chair man of the Indian Affairs Subcommittee of the former Interior Committee, he sponsored and obtained the passage of a large quantity of Indian legislation, including Public Law 93-580, which created the American Indian Policy Review Commission. He is the chairman of the recently established Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. He is also chairman of the Administrative Practice and Procedure Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee; chairman of the Parks and Recreation Subcommittee on Energy and Natural Resources; and a member of the Budget Committee. LEE METCALF (Democrat, Montana) was elected U.S. Representative from Montana's First Congressional District in 1952. After four terms in the House of Representatives, he ran for the Senate in 1960, when he served until his death. He was a member of the Indian Affairs Subcommittee on Public Lands and Resources of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and chairman of the Joint Committee on Congressional Operations. Additionally, he chaired the Subcommittee on Reports, Accounting, and Management of the Governmental Affairs Committee. He died on January 12, 1978. MARK HATFIELD (Republican, Oregon) served as Governor of Oregon for two terms before being elected to the Senate in 1966. He has been instrumental in the passage of the Umatilla judgment fund legislation, the McQuinn Strip Act, the Klamath Forest Act and the Comprehensive Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which he cosponsored. Senator Hatfield serves on the Select Committee on Indian Affairs and is ranking minority member of the Public Works Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. He is also ranking minority member of the Public Works Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. He is also ranking minority member of the Energy Research and Development Subcommittee of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, ranking minority member of the Rules and Administration Committee and is a member of the Joint Committee on Printing. REPRESENTATIVES LLOYD MEEDS (Democrat, 2d District of Washington) has served in the House of Representatives since 1964. When he was chairman of the House Indian Affairs Subcommittee of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, he was closely involved in the passage of the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act. The Indian Education Act of 1972, and the Menominee Restoration Act-for his work on the latter legislation he received the 1974 National Congress of American Indians Congressional award. Congressman Meeds is also a member of the Subcommittee on National Parks and Recreation, Territorial and Insular Affairs, and chairman of Water and Power Resources, all of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. SAM STEIGER (Republican, 3d District of Arizona) was elected to the 90th Congress in 1966 and was reelected to the 91st, 92d, 93d, and 94th Congresses. A member of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, he played a key role in resolving the Hopi-Navajo land dispute. Mr. Steiger also served as the ranking minority member on both the Government Information and Individual Rights Subcommittee of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Public Lands Subcommittee of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, and as a member of the Commission on the Review of the National Policy Toward Gambling. He was unsuccessful in a bid for election to the U.S. Senate in the 95th Congress. His vacancy on the Commission was subsequently filled by the appointment of Congressman Don Young. DON YOUNG (Republican, representative-at-large of Alaska) was elected to the 93d Congress, in a special election March 6, 1973, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Congressman Nick Begich; and was reelected to each succeeding Congress. He has served as the ranking minority member of the Indian Affairs Subcommittee of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and member of the Ad Hoc Select Committee on the Outer Continental Shelf, and the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. SIDNEY R. YATES (Democrat, 9th District of Illinois) was elected to Congress in 1948 and has served in the House of Representatives since that time, except for a 2-year period when he served as U.S. Representative to the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations. Congressman Yates is chairman of the Interior Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee and a member of the Transportation and Legislative Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING On March 5, 1975, the congressional members met for their organizational meeting. At that meeting, Senator Abourezk was elected as chairman of the Commission and Congressman Lloyd Meeds was elected as vice-chairman. Both served as chairman of the Indian Affairs Subcommittees of their respective Chambers of Congress. The Commission then adopted a set of rules under which it would conduct its meetings. These rules were based on existing Senate rules, which were conformed to the requirements of Public Law 93-580. Following a brief discussion of office facilities and equipment, the Commission moved for the selection of the Indian Commissioners pursuant to section 1(c) of the act. After a review of numerous recommendations received from Indian organizations, tribes, and legislators, the congressional Commissioners chose, by a majority vote, the Indian members for the categories mandated in the act. From federally recognized tribes, the members selected were: John Borbridge, Tlingit, Alaska; Ada Deer, Menominee, Wisconsin; and Jake Whitecrow, Quapaw-Seneca, Oklahoma. From nonfederally recognized tribes; Adolph Dial, Lumbee, North Carolina. Urban Indians were represented by Louis Bruce, Mohawk Sioux, New York. Pursuant to section 6(a) of the act, the Commissioners then appointed Ernest L. Stevens, Oneida; as the staff director and Kirke Kickingbird, Kiowa as the general counsel. Staff consultants were also appointed to aid in the development of investigative programs, procedures, budgets, and organizational plans. BRIEF PROFILES OF INDIAN COMMISSION MEMBERS FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES ADA DEER served as chairperson of the Menominee Restoration Committee. Mrs. Deer, a trained social worker, withdrew from law school to lead the fight against termination and is credited as the single most important force behind the success of the Menominee Restoration Act, which returned the tribe to Federal trust status. Under her leadership the Menominee Restoration Committee developed and submitted plans to Congress for the return of the tribal assets to Federal protection and, also, a new modern constitution was written and adopted by the tribe. JAKE WHITECROW, a former Quapaw tribal chairman who served on that tribe's business committee since 1953, is the director of the Inter-tribal Council of Northeastern Oklahoma, which represents the Eastern Shawnee, Seneca-Cayuga, Wyandot, Quapaw, Ottawa, Peoria, Miami, and Modoc. The Ottawa and Peoria Tribes in Oklahoma were terminated in 1956. He has served on the Muskogee Area Indian Health Advisory Board. Mr. Whitecrow is a member of the Quapaw and Seneca-Cayuga Tribes, which are both federally recognized. JOHN BORBRIDGE is president of Sealaska Corp., one of the 12 regional Native corporations established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act for which he lobbied extensively while serving as president of the Tlingit-Haida Central Council. Mr. Borbridge is a member of the Executive Committee of the Rural Affairs Commission of Alaska and is a member of the Financial Advisory Board of the American Indian National Bank. URBAN INDIANS LOUIS R. BRUCE, Mohawk and Oglala Sioux, received his honorary doctorates from Clarkson University and Navajo College, and served as BIA Commissioner from 1969-72. Over the years, Mr. Bruce has served on President Roosevelt's and President Eisenhower's Advisory Indian Committee and was chairman of President Truman's Advisory Indian Committee. Mr. Bruce has also been active in the formation or early development of the National Congress of American Indians, the National Tribal Chairman's Association, and the American Indian National Bank. Following his tenure as BIA Commissioner, he served as senior fellow for the Antioch School of Law and aided in the formation of the Coalition of Eastern Native Americans, and is presently the president of Native American Consultants, Inc., and consultant to the Department of Housing and Urban Development on their Indian programs. NONFEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES ADOLPH DIAL, Lumbee, is chairman of the American Indian studies Department of Pembroke State University, a member of the American Indian Advisory Council of HEW's Office of Civil Rights and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Indian Historical Society. In 1972, he received a grant to research the history of the North Carolina Lumbees; which resulted in the recently published "The Only Land I Know: A History of the Lumbee Indians," coauthored by Mr. Dial. FIRST BUSINESS MEETING The 11 Commissioners were sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Byron White at the commencement of the first business meeting of the |