Department of the Interior 

Office of the Special Trustee 

for American Indians TRUST MATTERS Volume 9, Issue 4 

Fall 2009 

 Table of Contents 

Millions of Dollars 1 

Tribal Access to Accounts 1
 

Fractionation Update 1 

Palm Springs Opening 2 

FY09 Audit 2 

Tribal Leaders Conference 3 

Financial Skills 3 

Sticks & Stones Surveying 4 

Millions of Dollars Locked Up
 

The centralized commercial lockbox was established by the Offi ce of the 

Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) in 2005 to receive payments, 

both electronically and by paper checks, for the use of Indian land and 

resources. Previously checks were received at over 100 Bureau of Indian 

Affairs regional and agency sites. 

During fiscal year 2009, a total of $520.8 million flowed through OST’s 

lockbox. Approximately 76.75 percent of funds received were distributed 

to tribal and individual Indian benefi ciaries within two days of receipt. 

Recently, OST awarded a new lockbox contract for the period of fi scal 

years 2010 through 2014. For more information about the lockbox 

function, contact your Fiduciary Trust Officer (FTO). Go to www.doi.gov/ 

ost/fto to access your FTO’s contact information. 

Fractionation Update 

Fractionation is an issue of major importance. Bureau 

of Indian Affairs Director Jerry Gidner along with 

Principal Deputy Special Trustee Donna Erwin are 

executive sponsors of a team to explore a comprehensive 

approach to fractionation. 

Additionally, the Office of the Special Trustee for 

American Indians continues to address the Whereabouts 

Unknown (WAU) matter, which complicates the issue 

of fractionation. WAU accounts do not have current 

addresses, which impedes contacting landowners 

regarding management of land interests. A list of names 

of owners of WAU accounts is available at www.doi.gov/ 

ost/wau. 

Suggestions from tribes and individual landowners are 

always welcome. Contact the Trust Benefi ciary Call 

Center (TBCC), toll free, at 1-888-678-6836. TBCC 

is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 

Saturday 8 a.m. to noon, Mountain time.

Tribal Access to TFAS 


Accounts
 

Technology has been restored that allows tribes 

to access their Trust Fund Accounting System 

(TFAS) accounts using StrataWeb, an Internet based 

product. This gives approved personnel the ability 

to look at secure tribal account information. 

Tribal authorities determine who will have access 

and which tribal accounts they will be allowed to 

view. The Fiduciary Trust Offi cer (FTO) completes 

the applicable form, which is reviewed and signed 

by the Regional Trust Administrator. Authorized 

users can review investments, holdings and 

transactions for the accounts to which they are 

granted access. 

Contact your FTO about setting up access. Visit 

www.doi.gov/ost/fto for the complete list of FTOs. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 TRUST MATTERS 

Palm Springs’ Grand Opening Ceremony Coincides with 

NCAI Annual Convention 

I

t was a fast-paced week in Palm Springs when the National Congress of 

American Indians (NCAI) came to town for its 66th annual convention, 

October 11-16, 2009. On Tuesday of that week, the Bureau of Indian Aff airs and 

Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) Palm Springs offices 

were offi cially opened. The layout of the new space supports the timely delivery 

of benefi ciary services. 

Pat Gerard (left), of OST’s Principal Deputy Special Trustee’s offi ce, provided 

remarks at the grand opening ceremony of the office space. Other speakers at 

the event included Larry Echo Hawk, the Department of the Interior Assistant 

Secretary – Indian Affairs; Richard Milanovich (right), Chairman of the Agua 

Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians; Jerry Gidner, Director of the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); Dale Morris, Regional Director 

of the BIA; and Kim Snyder, BIA Superintendent for the Palm 

Springs Agency. Chairman Milanovich also chairs the Special 

Trustee’s Advisory Board. 

The NCAI convention had many highlights. The national offi cers 

for the coming year were elected with Jefferson Keel (Chickasaw), 

the former NCAI First Vice President, voted in as President. On 

Monday, October 12, the formal announcement by the White 

House of the November 5 Tribal Nations Conference heightened 

the excitement. 

Chris Larson, Fiduciary Trust Officer of the Palm Springs and Southern California Agencies, and staff 

members from both agencies (below: Trust Account Manager Hermione Laborin, Southern California 

Agency) offered information at the OST booth. Working with BIA personnel, they held special “Ask the 

Expert” sessions each afternoon, from Tuesday through Thursday. OST staff and management look forward 

to an enhanced presence at the 2010 NCAI convention that will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

FY09 Audit and Accomplishments 

The fiscal year 2009 third party audit of the Trust Financial 

Statements for Tribal and Other Trust Funds and Individual Indian 

Money Trust Funds has been posted on the website at www.doi. 

gov/ost/documents/audits. For the first time since the audits 

have been performed (1996), there are no material weaknesses. 

The annual audit is prefaced by a letter from Acting Special 

Trustee Donna Erwin. The letter lists a few signifi cant 

accomplishments of the Office of the Special Trustee for 

American Indians (OST) in fiscal year 2009. For example, OST 

implemented Check 21, which electronically clears checks from 

lessees, and tribes were provided online account access. 

Please contact your Fiduciary Trust Officer (FTO) if you have 

questions about the audit. FTOs can be located online at www. 

doi.gov/ost/fto.
 

 

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 4 3 

Financial Skills 

for All Ages 

Across the country, Fiduciary Trust Offi cers (FTOs) 

are supporting financial skills training for interested 

tribal members and tribal employees. Topics include 

balancing checkbooks, applying for credit, reading a 

credit report, budgeting, investing and planning for 

the future. 

There is a special effort to offer this training to 

minors approaching the age of majority and to 

elders. Minors will learn to handle income to build 

wealth. The training will help elders with the special 

challenge of managing resources they may consider 

leaving to their heirs. 

The training materials were developed by Oweesta, 

a certified Native community development fi nancial 

institution, and First Nations Development Institute 

(FNDI), which works to strengthen American Indian 

economies through a strategy of education, advocacy 

and capitalization. The training materials are suitable 

for individuals at all levels of experience with cultural 

and traditional components designed specifi cally for 

Indian country. 

To date, the training has been provided at many 

schools and tribal offices and centers. Ask your FTO 

if financial skills training is available where you are. 

Go to www.doi.gov/ost/fto to locate your FTO. 

Financial skills train-the-trainer class held at the 

National Indian Programs Training Center in May 2009 

for OST’s FTOs (standing, FTO Ed Grant). Training 

was conducted by FNDI and Oweesta instructors. 

President 

Barack 

Obama 

takes questions from 

audience at 

the opening 

of the Tribal 

Nations 

Conference. 

(Photo credit: 

Tami A. Heilemann – DOI) 

President Martin Asks President Obama 

Tribal Leaders Conference 

President Bill Martin, Central Council Tlingit and Haida 

Indian Tribes of Alaska, attended the historic White 

House Tribal Leaders Conference on November 5, 2009. 

After President Obama’s opening remarks, President 

Martin was one of the first in the audience to ask a 

question. His question reflected his knowledge of basic 

issues facing all of Alaska’s tribes. 

But what stood out for President Martin was the honor 

of the opportunity he had that day. He was impressed by 

the absolute focus President Obama gave each person 

who addressed him. As President Martin looked up 

from his notes while phrasing his question, he looked 

right into the eyes of the President of the United States; 

he had his full attention. It was a defining moment. Th at 

look spoke volumes about respect, sovereign rights, and 

intent. 

Later, as departing President Obama shook hands 

with some attendees, he took President Martin’s hand 

and said directly to him, “Thank you for asking your 

question.” It was a personal and yet a universal moment 

for President Martin, for all Native peoples of Alaska, 

and for American Indians. 

President Martin is proud he was able to attend the 

conference for the Central Council Tlingit and Haida 

Indian Tribes. He knows it was an important day. 

President Martin said, “It was a totally emotional time, 

place, setting. A tremendous feeling came over me that, 

my gosh, it’s going to happen this time.” He added, “And 

it wasn’t just me; that sensation came over others too.” 
 

 

4 TRUST MATTERS 

Sticks and Stones 

You may have heard the phrase “sticks and stones” used as a taunt. 

To the people who survey property, it refers to a whole era before 1910 

when surveyors used native materials at hand—sticks and stones— 

to mark the corners and to define boundaries between properties. 

Cadastral Surveys are the original surveys of the United States 

with the majority of Indian country being surveyed within 

this era. These stick and stone monuments (actually 

wooden posts and small boulders) were inscribed 

with pertinent survey information and became a 

part of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) 

record. 

Since 1910, most survey 

monuments have been constructed 

out of more durable and 

recognizable manmade metallic 

material. 

Above: Marker made from materials found in the 

vicinity where the survey monument was to be 

set. In the example shown, the surveyor probably 

cut down a small tree or cut a limb from a nearby 

tree, pointed the bottom, squared the top 18 to 

24 inches, and marked the corner information 

with a timber scribe tool as specified in the 

Manual of Surveying Instructions. In 1900, the 

surveyor was working under the 1894 edition of 

the Manual. Right: Today’s surveyor will replace 

the wood post monument with a iron or stainless 

post topped with a brass cap to hold the corner 

markings, as specified in the 

Manual of Surveying Instructions, 

actually a fossilized vertebra 

from a sauropod. It 

was established at a 

site in Wyoming by Recently, the Bureau of Land Management released the 2009 William O. Owen, U.S. edition of the Manual of Surveying Instructions, which serves Deputy Surveyor, on as the nation’s standard and guide for the PLSS. This edition is April 3, 1881. He 

recorded it as a the ninth release in a series of official instructions dating back 

“petrified bone of to 1804. The 2009 edition is the first addition which contains 

mastodon.” a chapter on the subdivision of section using the three-mile 

method unique to many American Indian lands. Th is edition 

will be available through the Public Land Survey System 

Foundation’s website at www.blmsurveymanual.org. 

i.e., the 2009 edition. Below: 

This corner monument is