Inside this issue:

Legislative Update 2

Note from the Special 

Trustee

2

OTR Employees attend Team Building 

Training 

3

OTFM Develops IIM 

Historical Database

3

Procedural Handbook Nearing Completion3

Congressional Staff 

visit OST in NM

4

continuing needs, the 

2002 request will be adequate to provide the necessary funding to continue to make significant 

progress on trust reform 

efforts. 

(continued on page 2 inside cover). 

A

 total of $110.2 

million is requested by the 

Bush Administration in 

its FY 2002 budget to 

sustain and support continued trust management 

reforms under the coordination and administration 

of the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST). The 

2002 request for OST of 

$110.2 million is $8.8 

million less than was 

provided in FY 2001. 

However, including the 

$18.8 million of funding 

retained in 2002 to meet 

O

n March 16, 

2001, Special 

Trustee for 

American Indians, 

Tom Slonaker, and 

Principal Deputy 

Special Trustee, 

Tom Thompson, met 

with staff from the 

Office of Trust Records, the Office of 

Trust Funds Management, and the 

Office of Trust Risk 

Management who 

assisted with the 

Cobell v. Norton litigation Paragraph 19 

document production 

effort. 

This production effort concluded in December 2000 and 

Crazy Bull, a Rosebud Sioux Medicine 

Man, also attended 

and provided an inspirational message 

to the assembled 

OST personnel and 

blessed those present.

Trust Matters 

Awards Ceremony Commemorates 

Completion of Cobell Document Production 

Special points of interest:

• THE FY 2002 DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET REQUEST 

FOR OST IS ON OUR WEB 

SITE: WWW.OST.DOI.GOV

• OTFM HAS COMPLETED A 

HISTORICAL IIM DATABASE AND IS NEARING 

COMPLETION ON THE 

BIA/OST INTERAGENCY 

PROCEDURAL HANDBOOK

Department of 

the Interior —

Office of the 

Special Trustee 

for American 

Indians

May, 2001

Volume 1, Issue 4

OST Budget Request will Sustain Trust 

Reform Progress

resulted in the retrieval and imaging 

of 46,482 responsive 

documents. 

The Special Trustee 

thanked the assembled group for their 

tremendous efforts 

on a difficult job 

well done, 

and distributed a letter of appreciation 

from former Secretary of the 

Interior, 

Bruce Babbitt. 

Chief Phil 

Chief Phil Crazy Bull and Tom Slonaker at the ceremony
The 2002 request provides funding for the trust management reform activities in OST, the BIA, and the Office of 

Hearing and Appeals, and reflects a continued emphasis on 

the implementation of several trust reform initiatives and 

the funding necessary to sustain the operational and organizational improvements 

initiated in previous years.

The funds in the FY 2002 budget will support ongoing trust reform efforts including 

the BIA=s testing of the TAAMS system 

and full implementation of both the title 

and leasing modules in the Rocky Mountain Region. 

Additionally, the funding will support the Department=s 

continued involvement in ten active trust reform projects 

outlined in the High Level Implementation Plan (HLIP) 

and four projects initiated to correct Court-declared 

breaches of the Department=s trust responsibility. The 

HLIP describes such ongoing projects as 

cleaning up trust data throughout OST and 

BIA, eliminating probate backlogs, curing 

decades-old records management deficiencies, improving job performance through 

quality training, and identifying and eliminating internal control weaknesses. Breach 

projects include determining trust reform 

workforce requirements and competencies, 

the development of a computer and business 

architecture, and the identification of additional, outside 

sources for IIM account information.

FY 2002 Budget Request Submitted to Congress (Continued from cover)

Note from the 

Special Trustee 

O

n March 21 and again on March 

27, 2001, Special Trustee Tom 

Slonaker appeared before the 

U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. 

Senate Subcommittees on Interior Appropriations to testify on the status and 

progress of the Department’s trust reform efforts.

Mr. Slonaker began his testimony by 

providing Committee members with 

some background information to illustrate the scope and complexity of the 

Department’s trust asset management 

activities. Mr. Slonaker also provided 

his views on the progress of trust reform since he was sworn-in to office 

last June. Among the accomplishments 

mentioned were: 

⇒ the conversion of all Tribal and IIM 

accounts to the Trust Funds 

Accounting System, 

⇒ The consolidation of the majority 

of IIM records to a central location 

in Albuquerque, New Mexico,

⇒ The successful use of a national 

database to try to 

locate account holders whose whereabouts are unknown,

⇒ The designation of 

the land title portion 

of TAAMS as the system of record 

in four regions,

⇒ Hiring additional staff in BIA and 

OHA to begin addressing the existing probate backlog,

⇒ The publication of a Risk Management Handbook, and

⇒ The issuance of new regulations 

for leasing and grazing, probates 

and Indian trust funds.

Mr. Slonaker also identified the next 

steps necessary to achieve sustainable 

trust reform. He stated that this path 

requires ensuring that strong management teams and resources are in place 

to bring trust reform projects to successful conclusions, developing additional regulations so that the Department has uniform trust policies and 

procedures in place, completing a BIA/

OTFM procedural handbook outlining 

uniform business rules and practices, 

and determining the long-term workforce planning requirements necessary 

so that trust asset management positions are filled with qualified personnel.

Mr. Slonaker concluded by 

thanking the committee 

members for their past 

and future commitments 

to support these reforms. 

Legislative Update: 

Special Trustee Testifies before House and 

Senate on Trust Reform Progress 

Page 2 Trust Matters 

The OST FY 2002 

Budget Justification 

is posted on our web 

site. Check it out!

Read the Special 

Trustee’s full testimony on OST’s web 

site: www.ost.doi.gov

Trust Education

Available in locations near you are 

classes designed to help all of us learn 

more about our trust responsibilities. 

Please be sure to participate.

There is an obligation on behalf of all 

of us who are supervisors to be certain 

that all those associates who touch the 

trust process have a thorough understanding of the trust community and 

the trust obligations of the U. S. 

Government on behalf of Indian people 

and Tribes who are beneficiaries.

The education effort is proceeding on 

several fronts. The “Trust Foundations 

I: An Introduction to Trust Reform” 

course has been given in several locations to date, and is designed to help all 

of us understand the basic trust obligation. Other courses are either underway or being planned to orient associates as needed to more specific topics, 

e.g., the Trust Procedures Handbook.

Your participation in the training is 

essential, and I appreciate the support 

of our trust effort.
The Office of Trust Records Team

OST is responsible.

The development of the Handbook is in 

its final stages and currently is circulating among a cadre of reviewing officials 

for comments. When comments are received and edits determined, the Handbook will be approved for use, ,and disseminated among OST and BIA staff.

Training on the specific components of 

the Handbook will be offered to ensure 

that employees reap all of its benefits.

O

ffice of Trust Records (OTR) 

personnel recently took time 

out of their regular duties for 

professional development training. 

Mr. Clayton J. Small, Ph.D., an Indian 

educator and facilitator for community 

change, conducted two halfday sessions for 

OTR staff on 

January 17-18, 

2001 in Albuquerque. The 

training included 

a focus on team 

building, wellness and leadership issues, in addition to customer 

service.

Ken Rossman, the Director of OTR 

stated, “these seminars provided employees time to discuss challenges in 

C

oming soon to your desk is the 

eagerly anticipated Interagency 

Procedures Handbook between 

the BIA and OST on the Management 

of Trust Accounts, Assets and Resources on Indian Lands. 

When completed, this Handbook will 

provide employees with the procedures 

for cooperation and coordination between the two bureaus for various aspects of the management of Indian 

trust assets. The Handbook will detail 

the appropriate procedures to follow for 

the trust functions for which the BIA 

and OST share responsibility. It can be 

used as a reference for the procedures 

by which the management, regulation 

and accounting functions will be carried out within and between bureaus.

The functions discussed in the Handbook are limited to those areas where 

coordination and consultation are necessary—the Handbook does not discuss 

every function for which either BIA or 

T

he Division of Trust Funds Systems within the Office of Trust 

Funds Management (OTFM) 

recently completed the development of 

a historical IIM account transactions 

database.

This database is composed of all IIM 

transaction information dating back to 

1985 that was previously stored on the 

Legacy system. Providing this information on a centralized, electronic database means that it can be queried by 

OTFM and BIA personnel located in 

regional and field offices. 

The Trust Funds Accounting System 

(TFAS) is capable of storing information 

about account transactions for up to 17 

months. Once information on the TFAS 

system reaches an age in which it can no 

longer be stored, this information will 

now automatically be moved to the new 

database.

When OTFM staff need access to information that is older than 17 months, 

they can simply log onto the new historical transaction database. For staff who 

do not have access yet to the database, 

but would like to, please call 1-888-OSTOTFM and enter tribal code 399.

Thanks particularly to the efforts of Mr. 

OTR All-Employee Training Generates Unity and a Cooperative Spirit

 OST/BIA Handbook Nearing Completion 

OTFM Develops IIM Historical Transactions Database

Volume 1, Issue 4 Page 3

Don Chambellan for the development of 

the prototype, Mr. Stan Pettengill for 

the development of the html query, and 

Mr. J Lente and Mr. Michael Pond for 

the creation of the databases. Your hard 

work and commitment to this effort is 

appreciated. 

the work place, focus on the OST mission to achieve and sustain meaningful 

trust reform, as well as to mingle and 

get to know each other better.”

All three office divisions within OTR 

participated in 

the training sessions, including 

the Records 

Management, 

Electronic Records, and the 

Research, Litigation and Settlement Divisions. 

If you have any questions 

about accessing the historical 

IIM Transactions Database or 

its content , please call 

1-888-OST-OTFM
Department of the Interior, OST

18th and C Street, NW

Room 5140

Washington, DC 20240

Phone: 202-208-4866

Fax: 202-208-7545

Web Site: www.ost.doi.gov

Department of the Interior —

Office of the Special Trustee for 

American Indians

 Photos of the Cobell Document Production Award Ceremony

O

n April 9, 2001, staff from the U.S. House of 

Representatives Committee on Resources visited 

the OST offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico to 

gain first hand information about the programs and operations provided by OTFM, OTR and the Office of Trust 

Risk Management (OTRM).

The Congressional staff began their day at OTFM meeting 

with Director Donna Erwin for an overview of OTFM 

functions. A meeting with all the Division Chiefs followed to discuss the responsibilities and challenges each 

Division faces. A tour of the office and a demonstration of 

the TFAS system was very informative.

The staff then visited with Ken Moyers, Director of the 

Office of Trust Risk Management to learn about this 

new office and its mission. Discussion also focused on 

the Risk Management Handbook that has been developed.

The Office of Trust Records was the destination for the 

afternoon, where the staff received a presentation from 

Director Ken Rossman on the records management responsibilities and operations and the Indian Affairs Records Management Program. A guided tour of the Renaissance Records Center by Jean Tuggle completed the 

day. 

Feedback from the Congressional staff on their day with 

OST was very positive. Thanks to all who participated.

Congressional Staff visit OST Offices in Albuquerque 

Left: Special Trustee Tom Slonaker addresses 

attendees at the awards ceremony, as Ken 

Rossman and Tom Thompson look on. 

Above: This Acoma bowl was presented to 

the Special Trustee by the OTR staff.

Left: Chief Phil 

Crazy Bull 

watches the 

ceremony.

Right: OST staff 

are honored for 

their exceptional 

document production efforts.