This time, federal agencies asked Tribal leaders to share their ideas on the most effective ways to support Tribal sovereignty in federal programs before signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on how the law will be implemented.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) and 11 other federal agencies entered the amended MOA on implementing Public Law 102-477 on Oct. 7, the DOI announced at the time. The previous MOA was completed without conferring with Tribal communities, the DOI reports. Tribal 477 plans grant Tribes and Alaska Native communities "the power to best integrate and deliver federal services within their communities."
"In 2017, Congress directed the Interior Department and federal partners to negotiate and execute an MOA to implement the 477 Program," the DOI states in the announcement. "Although agencies in the previous Administration signed an MOA in 2018, they did not provide an opportunity for Tribal input or consultation."
Vice President Kamala Harris announced the Biden administration's intent to revisit the 2018 MOA at the 2021 National Congress of American Indians, held last Oct 12.
"I know this is an action that many of you have asked for," Harris said in her remarks to participants, "and I am optimistic that together we will be able to renegotiate this agreement to support Tribal sovereignty."
The MOA was signed by the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, Transportation and Veterans Affairs. The National Congress of American Indians represented the Tribes. The NCAI was formed in 1944 to support and protect Tribal governments, communities, economic development, education and health and welfare, the organization states on its website.
"I am grateful to the Tribal leaders who for years have made their voices heard on the need to improve implementation of Public Law 102-477," DOI Sec. Deb Haaland said in the announcement, "and whose efforts will create better jobs and economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples.”
“Supporting Tribal sovereignty is at the core of the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to Tribal Nations,” Haaland said. “Today’s signing is an example of that commitment."
