National Park Service Issues First Director’s Order Strengthening Procedures for Consultation with Indian and Alaska Native Tribes

Date: November 4, 2024
Contact: [email protected]

WASHINGTON - The National Park Service (NPS) today issued a first-ever Director's Order for agency decision makers engaging in nation-to-nation consultations with Indian and Alaska Native Tribes, underscoring the NPS' commitment to developing, implementing, and maintaining positive working relationships with Tribes based on transparency, accountability, mutual trust, and responsibility.

The Director's Order, developed with input from Tribes, codifies and expands existing NPS policies and procedures and affirms meaningful consultations with Tribes as NPS policy priority. It supports directives in 2021 and 2022 from President Joe Biden reinforcing the federal government's commitment to honoring Tribal sovereignty and including Indigenous voices in policy deliberation that affects Tribal communities; establishing uniform minimum standards for Tribal consultations for all federal agencies; and companion departmental policy issued by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.

"I have spent much of my career working to improve the dialogues between Indian Country and the United States government on issues like conservation, co-stewardship of federal lands, and water resource management," National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said. "I'm proud to support the priorities outlined by President Biden and Secretary Haaland and build on the incredible work of our park leaders and Tribal liaisons. This is one more step we can take to prioritize our relationships with Tribes, ensuring Tribal leaders and the people they represent have a consequential seat at the table."

The United States has a unique, nation-to-nation relationship with more than 570 federally recognized Indian and Alaska Native Tribes that is based on the Constitution, treaties, laws, and judicial decisions. Historically, many interactions between the federal government and Tribal nations have been marked by conflict, power imbalance, and under-representation of Tribal nations in decision making.

Today's Director's Order outlines a consultation process that:

• Respects and upholds inherent Tribal sovereignty;
• Understands and acknowledges the authority of Indigenous narratives and oral traditions;
• Amplifies the interests of Indigenous peoples and honors the common Indigenous point of view that natural resources are cultural resources;
• Provides notice to Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and sets timelines for inviting them to consult as early as possible when park managers are considering an agency action, while supporting Tribes to initiate consultations as well;
• Employs transparent, respectful, and frequent communication with Tribes.

More recent federal policies and approaches aim to support Tribes in managing their resources and lands, engage in economic development opportunities based on their own strategies and priorities, and self-govern through their own independent judgment and Indigenous values. In 2022, for example, the NPS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management issued new policy guidance to strengthen Indigenous co-stewardship of federal lands and waters, supporting an all-of-government approach to inclusive and equitable federal land management.

Park managers will be able to use this policy directive to help facilitate consequential discussions and ensure Tribal input is included early in the park decision-making process on issues that may directly or indirectly affect Tribe's and their ancestral lands, interests, practices, or traditional use areas.

The NPS has for several decades conducted Tribal consultations guided by law, judicial decisions, management policies, and other requirements. The NPS also engages with non-federally recognized Tribes, state-recognized groups, and other traditionally associated peoples or groups like Native Hawaiian organizations and Alaska Native entities who are connected with park resources or have an interest in proposed NPS actions that might affect those resources.

Fact Sheet: Recent National Park Service Work with Indian Country

The National Park Service (NPS) has taken significant action since 2021 to support Indian and Alaska Native Tribes in managing their resources and lands, pursue opportunities based on their own strategies and priorities, and self-govern through their own independent judgment and Indigenous values.
Uplifting Indian Country Voices

The Department of the Interior and National Park Service have made a concerted effort to ensure Native perspectives are included in decision making. Under the leadership of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, and Chuck Sams, the first Indigenous NPS director, the NPS fully staffed the first-ever Office of Native American Affairs, reporting directly to Sams, to strengthen relationships with Tribes and Native communities.
Supporting Tribal Sovereignty

The NPS has updated or issued several policies and regulations in support of the United States government's unique nation-to-nation relationship with Tribes:

• This month's Director's Order codifies and clarifies existing NPS policies and procedures for Tribal consultations and elevates meaningful dialogues with Tribes to a leadership priority.
  
• A new final rule, published in December 2023, updated regulations that implement the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). The revised regulations provide systematic processes for returning Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations (NHOs), while strengthening the authority and role of Tribes and NHOs in the repatriation process.
  
• In the past year, the NPS has also issued new internal guidance in support of Tribal plant gathering on park land and the reburial of Native American human remains and funerary objects in parks, as well as guidance for ensuring park exhibits meet the updated regulations under NAGPRA.

Partnering with Tribes The NPS works to ensure Tribal governments have an equal voice in park planning and management, consistent with law and the United States government's unique trust relationship with, and responsibility to protect and support, federally recognized Indian Tribes.

As of September 2024, of the 431 national parks:

• 109 parks have formal Tribal co-stewardship agreements, with another 43 pending in conversation with Tribes, expected to be completed around the end of 2024. At Grand Canyon National Park, for example, 16 affiliated Tribes have agreements to tell Indigenous stories at places like Desert View Watchtower and the Tusayan Museum and Pueblo. The locations also have Tribal vendors demonstrating their craft and selling products like artwork.
  
• Another 56 parks have some kind of co-stewardship activities with Tribes as a part of their work, beyond the framework of a formal co-stewardship agreement. For example, Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes worked together to develop a series of nine new interpretive waysides on the 1/2-mile-long Devils Orchard Nature Trail. The new waysides feature aspects of Indigenous history, perspective, culture, and language while challenging visitors to consider the difficulties of protecting the park's fragile environment.
  
• Grand Portage National Monument celebrated the 25th anniversary in August 2024 of its co-management agreement with the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Co-management agreements require unique legal authority or circumstances to implement. The NPS also has fully executed co-management agreements in place with affiliated Tribes at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

Investments in Indigenous History and Culture

The NPS works with Indian Country to ensure Indigenous voices are uplifted and Tribal heritage is not forgotten. Since 2021, the NPS has:

• Signed 27 new agreements with Tribal Historic Preservation Offices, supporting Indian Tribes in strengthening their historic preservation programs managed on Tribal lands.
  
• Distributed $77 million to Tribes to support historic and cultural preservation work, including apportionments to Tribal Historic Preservation Offices and through annual Tribal Heritage Grants.
  
• Distributed another $10.4 million in grants to museums, Indian Tribes, and NHOs to assist in consultation, documentation, and repatriation under NAGPRA. In 2022, the NPS also hired a full-time investigator to enhance oversight and museum compliance with NAGPRA for the first time in in the Act's 31-year history.
  
• Launched a study in collaboration with Tribes, scholars, and other stakeholders focusing on the Indian Reorganization Period to help broaden the understanding of that important chapter in American history and evaluate properties to be listed as possible future National Historic Landmarks.

Other Successes

Across the country, parks continue to grow existing relationships with affiliated Tribes while other times starting new ones. For example:

• In March 2024, the Yurok Tribe, Save the Redwoods League, National Park Service, and California State Parks signed a landmark memorandum of understanding to ultimately transfer 'O Rew, a 125-acre ecologically and culturally important property, from Save the Redwoods League back to its original steward, the Yurok Tribe. The shared vision is for the partners to cooperatively manage public access and create a future southern gateway to Redwood National and State Parks.
  
• The NPS, Wabanaki Nations of Maine, Friends of Katahdin Woods & Waters, and partner groups are working together to construct Tekαkαpimək Contact Station at Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument. The privately funded visitor center will tell the story of the region through a primarily Indigenous lens with special attention to protecting Indigenous storytelling and cultural property.

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 430+ national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.  

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