TRUST MATTERS

Department of the Interior 

Office of the Special Trustee 

for American Indians 

Winter 2009 

Volume 9, Issue 1 

Table of Contents 

 New Director of OTRA 

 Fractionation 

 Examining the Books 

 FY08 Audit 

 Where There is a Will 

 Advisory Board Resolutions 

 AIPRA and Estate Planning 

Larry Morrin is the new Director of the Office of Trust Review and Audit 

(OTRA). Reporting directly to the Special Trustee for American Indians, 

Director Morrin brings to his position a long history of work on American 

Indian issues. 

Prior to joining the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST), 

Director Morrin was with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for 30 years. He 

was the BIA’s Southwest Regional Director before joining OST and the Midwest Regional Director from 1997 to 2004. He has been involved with trust 

reforms for years. He helped develop the Indian Land Consolidation Project in 

the mid 1990s when he worked for the BIA in Washington, D.C., as Division 

Chief for Real Estate Services. 

Director Morrin, a member of the Red 

Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, 

grew up in Wisconsin on the Red Cliff Indian Reservation and then in the nearby 

town of Bayfield, which is where he met 

his wife. He has a degree in integrated 

natural resources management with a 

specialty in environmental law 

enforcement. He started his career at 

the Great Lakes Agency. The Director 

says, “It has been a really good career that has been fun and very fulfilling. 

I like having an impact right down to the reservation level!” 

Although it’s too soon for Director Morrin to identify how the focus of the 

new administration will impact management of OTRA, he knows change is 

coming. However, he looks forward to it and is open to whatever is ahead. 

He believes OTRA can help improve services by proactively resolving 

identified deficiencies. He looks forward to working in concert with OST 

and BIA. He’s here to help! 

 New Director of Trust Review and Audit 

The Intertribal Monitoring Association (ITMA) continued to hold well-attended meetings through December 2008 

regarding solutions to the issue of land fractionation. At a meeting on January 9, 2009, attended by tribal leaders and 

representatives, ITMA presented their recommendations, which included funding for consolidation efforts; tribal 

management authority over land consolidation; incentives for sellers; and options to address lands held by Whereabouts 

Unknown persons, unclaimed property, and appraisal concerns. 

The report will be reviewed by a working group that will include Congressional staff and representatives of tribes, 

individual Indian allottees, and tribal land organizations. The working group will propose one or more options to Indian 

country. 

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Fractionation Update 

Larry Morrin 

Everyone is curious about the new guy. 
Page 2 Trust Matters 

 Examining the Books!

Who monitors and verifies that fiduciary trust standards are being met? That’s the job of the reviewers 

and auditors with the Office of the Special Trustee for 

American Indians’ (OST) Office of Trust Review and 

Audit (OTRA). They might be considered the eyes 

and ears of the Special Trustee. In a phrase, employees of OTRA continually look for Indian trust assets 

that may be in “imminent jeopardy.” 

While an audit is typically weighted toward financial 

data, an OTRA review is an evaluation geared toward 

determining the accuracy of transactions or land title 

updates. Reviews are part of Indian trust examinations, which are independent examinations that 

ensure the trust responsibilities of the Secretary of 

the Interior are being carried out. An examination 

reviews an agency or self-governance tribe on its: 

• Quality of operation, 

• Compliance with laws and regulations, 

• Management capacity, and 

• Adherence to the Secretary’s Fiduciary Trust 

 Principles for Managing Indian Trust Assets 

 (http://elips.doi.gov/elips/release/3346.htm). 

OTRA teams usually consist of two to four people 

who go out once a month to review an agency or a 

self-governance tribe. 

Reviewers have seen 

improvements to processes that have been a 

direct result of reviews 

and that tribes have 

used reviews to initiate 

changes and improvements. Therefore, 

reviews are generally 

viewed as positive 

events. 

There are two members of OTRA, Kathy Mendez and 

Marshall Thomas, who specialize in the audit of trust 

records. Kathy came to the OST in 2002 from the 

Indian Health Service. She has a degree in medical 

records administration. Marshall saw the need for 

improved records management when he worked as the 

treasurer with his tribe, the Pueblo of Laguna. He 

holds a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering 

and worked at Sandia National Laboratories before 

joining the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 2000. 

He moved to OST’s Office of Trust Records (OTR) 

in 2003. 

While with the OTR, Marshall led the records assessment team. The team’s biggest challenge prior to 

conducting the initial records assessment was to 

develop a questionnaire that would enhance compliance by targeting specific areas of the records management lifecycle. Upon completion of the questionnaire, the team was equipped with a tool to perform 

records assessments of the BIA and OST field offices. 

Kathy noted that since they conduct interviews using 

a standard questionnaire, all participants are on the 

“same page.” The standardization of policies, 

procedures, and practices makes compliance easier 

since everyone knows what is expected. After 

Marshall and Kathy complete reviews, they prepare 

“program specific” corrective action plans so those 

working with the records know what is needed to 

bring the records into compliance with the standards. 

There is always more to learn about records. Kathy 

and Marshall participated in OST/OTR’s first records 

management conference this year, where they offered 

training on preparing for record audits. They agree the 

conference filled a need and expect more attendees 

next year. 

Would you like to know how OTRA’s efforts can help 

your agency or tribe? Contact Larry Morrin, OTRA’s 

Director, at 505-816-1278. 

Vegetable Crops on Allotted Land in Fort Yuma, Arizona 

Puget Sound 

Northwest Forestry Review 
Volume 9, Issue 1 Page 3 

Fiduciary Trust Officers (FTOs) are local primary 

points of contact for Indian trust beneficiaries. That 

responsibility is not taken lightly. 

A beneficiary contacted FTO 

Henry Ware (Concho Field 

Office, Oklahoma) to ask how 

a gift deed could be completed 

quickly since she was to be 

admitted to a hospital in two 

days. FTO Ware advised the 

beneficiary that the gift deed 

process can be lengthy and could not be completed in 

the time available. He recommended that she have her 

will drawn up. 

FTO Ware moved ahead to facilitate the urgently 

needed legal service. The beneficiary’s will was 

completed the next day. She was grateful for the help 

and for the speed with which her requirement was 

met. 

FTO Ware encourages beneficiaries to become familiar with the benefit of having a will before a critical 

situation arises. Ask your FTO about wills and estate 

planning options now. To find your FTO, click on the 

map on the Office of the Special Trustee for American 

Indians website at http://www.doi.gov/ost/

information/individual/finder.html. 

Where There is a Will 

Advisory Board Approves Two Resolutions 

The Advisory Board of the Special Trustee met January 15, 2009. The meeting was chaired by the 

Honorable Richard Milanovich, Chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in California. 

The Board passed two resolutions. 

The first one resolved that the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) should continue 

to operate in its present form until September 30, 2011, when trust reforms are expected to be completed. 

Ultimately, a qualified, career-status trustee would manage the office and would report directly to the 

Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs. 

The second resolution recommended a pilot project to address the problem of fractionation. The Department’s Office of the Solicitor will provide guidance on a Limited Liability Entity solution that would allow 

individual owners of “highly fractionated” land (more than 20 owners) to voluntarily incorporate to form 

such an entity. 

A list of Advisory Board members is available on the OST website at http://www.doi.gov/ost/about_ost/

board.html. For additional information about the Board or its work, please contact Debby Pafel at 

202-208-4289 or debby_pafel@ost.doi.gov. 

FY08 Audit is Online 

The fiscal year 2008 audited financial 

statement for tribal and other trust funds 

and individual Indian money trust funds 

has been posted on the OST website at 

http://www.doi.gov/ost/documents/

audits.html. KPMG LLP, an independent 

public accounting firm, performed the 

audit. 

This year’s audit revealed no new issues, 

only conditions that existed in previous 

years were carried over. These issues 

require legislative resolution, which OST 

is addressing. 
AIPRA and Estate Planning

The Office of the Special Trustee for American 

Indians (OST) Fiduciary Trust Officer (FTO) Peter 

Fredericks (Laguna Agency) and Bureau of Indian 

Affairs (BIA) Ramah Navajo Agency Superintendent 

Anna Mae Pino collaborated to plan a day of training. 

Their goals were to help allottee landowners 

understand the effects of fractionation and solutions 

available through the American Indian Probate 

Reform Act (AIPRA) and land consolidation plans. 

AIPRA is a new federal probate code for Indian trust 

property. AIPRA became effective June 20, 2006. 

FTO Fredericks met with BIA Ramah Agency staff 

and Ramah Navajo tribal realty officials for an initial 

planning meeting last September to discuss the idea. 

Since many of the local residents speak Navajo, it 

was decided that an AIPRA video in the Navajo 

language would be the center piece for the training. 

Added to the agenda would be a presentation on the 

probate process and gift deeds, a panel to answer 

questions, and a questionnaire to assess the needs of 

beneficiaries who attended the training. Assistance 

of appropriate subject matter experts was sought and 

they met to come up with the final training agenda. 

The training was offered on November 12 and again 

on November 13, 2008, in the Ramah Navajo 

chapter house. More than 200 people attended. 

Janet Yazzie (Navajo), an Attorney Adviser with the 

Department of the Interior’s Office of Hearings and 

Appeals, Albuquerque office, presented the AIPRA 

video and a discussion on state law. Victoria Abeita, 

BIA Southwest Regional Legal Administrative 

Specialist, and Michelle Begay, Ramah Navajo 

Probate Specialist, provided a presentation on the 

probate process. Bertha Shorty, BIA Navajo Region 

Realty Officer and Dennison Henio, Director of 

Ramah Navajo Real Estate Services, presented a 

module on gift deeds. 

There was a very practical exercise to demonstrate 

fractionation, which occurs due to numerous owners 

holding undivided interests in a tract of trust property. The exercise involved passing around a piece 

of paper that each audience member progressively 

folded and then tore in half, resulting in smaller and 

smaller pieces. 

Woven through the day were additional question and 

answer sessions on BIA realty and services offered 

by OST. Assisting with the planning and questions 

were Sandy Ray, BIA Southwest Region Realty 

Specialist; Jerry DeGroat, BIA Navajo Region Realty 

Specialist; Christine Torres, BIA Southwest Regional 

Legal Administrative Specialist; Julia Redhouse, 

Accounting Technician, OST Southern Ute Agency; 

Olinda Mute, Accounting Technician, OST Eastern 

Navajo Agency; and OST FTOs John Roach 

(Southern Ute Agency), Virginia Moore (Navajo 

Region), and Elizabeth Sparks (Eastern Navajo 

Agency). 

Each attendee received a survey/questionnaire. 

Attendees who responded indicated that help drafting 

a will is the highest priority. Also important to respondents is help with gift deeds. Several land issues, 

such as surveys, exchanges, and consolidation, were 

also of interest to those who completed the survey/

questionnaire. 

The success of this effort has prompted FTO Peter 

Fredericks to begin planning additional training 

sessions for other tribes in his area. To find out about 

wills and estate planning options in your area, contact 

your FTO by using the easy to navigate map on the 

OST website at http://www.doi.gov/ost/information/

individual/finder.html. 

Standing L-R: Charlotte Davis (BIA), Julia Redhouse (OST), 

Janet Yazzie (OHA), PJ Fredericks (OST), Sandy Ray (BIA), 

Anna Mae Pino (BIA), Dennison Henio (BIA) 

Seated L-R: Bertha Shorty (BIA),Janet Pino (BIA), Christine 

Torrez (BIA), Betty Tippeconnie (BIA)