T

Department of the Interior • Of

RUST 

fi ce of the Special Trustee for American Indians 

MATTERS

Volume 12/Issue 3 Summer 2012

Table of Contents

Pay.gov 

AIRR on “Native Report”

Who Ya Gonna Call? TBCC

Secretarial Commission

Commissioners on 

“Native America Calling”

OST Effi ciency Study

Records Conference

ONRR and OST

To OHTA’s Credit

Pay.gov® has been accepting payments for Bureau of Indian Aff airs 

leases and permits since the end of August 2011. Th e total of payments 

received during the fi rst three quarters of fi scal year 2012 via Pay.gov® 

has exceeded four million dollars.

Payments can be made by electronic check (funds transferred directly 

from a bank account) or by credit card through this Internet based 

collection service of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. To date, 

the amount of funds received using the electronic check option have 

exceeded the credit card option by about fi ve times. Credit card 

payments must be less than $50,000. Th ere is no limit on the funds 

transferred directly from a bank account. 

About one percent of the total income for leases and permits is being 

received through Pay.gov®. Its use is expected to increase as this service 

becomes more familiar to payees. 

Questions about Pay.gov® may be sent to Rien Heymering at 

505-816-1323 or email rien_hymering@ost.doi.gov.

Pay.gov: A Popular Option

Who Ya Gonna Call? TBCC!

One Million Calls and Counting

The Trust Benefi ciary Call Center 

(TBCC) answered its one 

millionth call on May 17, 2012. 

TBCC opened its phone lines 

December 3, 2004.

Ninety-seven percent of callers 

have their questions answered 

during the call. This is referred 

to as fi rst line resolution. The 

remaining issues are escalated 

to OST staff . Those items are 

tracked by TBCC for follow up to 

ensure callers get the information 

requested. 

The well trained and patient 

personnel who answer the 

phones await your questions. 

Call TBCC, toll free, at 

1-888-678-6836 Monday 

through Friday from 7 a.m. to 

6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. 

to noon, Mountain time.

Native Report Plans Episode about AIRR

A segment about the American Indian Records Repository (AIRR) is 

being planned as part of the eighth season of Native Report, a television 

series produced by WDSE, a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) station 

in Duluth, Minnesota. Footage and interviews were done in June 2012 

for an air date in early 2013. Th e show’s producer and writer, Mike 

LeGarde, led the production crew that visited the AIRR facility in 

Lenexa, Kansas. Interviews were conducted by Tadd Johnson, the show’s 

co-host and co-producer. 

Previously, the fi rst two episodes of the sixth season of Native Report

included content about the Offi ce of the Special Trustee for American 

Indians (OST). Th e episodes aired early in 2011. Th ey can be viewed 

online at www.wdse.org/shows/native/watch/season-6.

Native Report celebrates Native American culture and heritage and 

feature interviews with some of the most powerful and infl uential 

leaders of Indian country. Th e series can be viewed on PBS stations. 

Check with your local PBS affi liate about when Native Report airs in 

your area. Recent and past episodes are also available online at 

www.wdse.org/shows/native.

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2 TRUST MATTERS

Commissioners Participate 

on Native America Calling

On June 13, several members of 

the Secretarial Commission on Indian 

Trust Administration and Reform were 

guests on Native America Calling, a 

weekday, live call-in program linking 

public radio stations, the Internet 

and listeners in a thought-provoking 

national conversation about issues 

specifi c to Native communities. 

Chair of the Commission Fawn Sharp 

(Quinault), Commission members 

Dr. Peterson Zah (Navajo Nation) and 

Tex G. Hall (Three Affi liated Tribes), 

and Lizzie Marsters, the Commission’s 

Designated Federal Offi cer, who is 

Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary 

of the Department of the Interior, 

participated live on Native America 

Calling. They provided a summary of 

the Commission’s June 11-12, 2012, 

meeting and outlined its objectives.

During the program, the Commissioners shared their sincere desire to 

engage youth in the Commission’s 

comprehensive evaluation of Interior’s 

management of the Indian trust. Their 

plans include eff orts to reach out to 

American Indian youth organizations 

to keep young people informed and 

engaged in the Commission’s work.

Visit the Native America Calling 

archives at www.nativeamericacalling.com/nac_past2007a.shtml, to 

listen to the program. For information 

about the Commission, visit www.doi.

gov/cobell/commission.

Secretarial Commission 

Seeks Employees’ Input

Th e Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and 

Reform met in Albuquerque, New Mexico, June 11-12, 2012, at the 

workplace of the Offi ce of the Special Trustee for American Indians 

(OST). Th e location provided the fi ve Commissioners an opportunity 

to meet OST employees in person, to participate in a tour of the offi ces 

and to get a close look at several core functions performed by OST.

Aft er the June meeting, the Commissioners extended a special 

request to employees with OST, the Assistant Secretary - Indian 

Aff airs, the Bureau of Indian Aff airs and several other offi ces in the 

Department to provide suggestions and recommendations on how 

to improve the Department’s management and administration of its 

trust responsibilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives. As the 

Department’s specialists in trust management, the Commissioners 

believe this input is of particular interest. Th e employees were asked 

to complete a fi ve-question survey with the same questions the 

Commission posed to federally recognized tribes and tribal organizations. 

Th ese responses join that of tribal leaders, individual Indians and 

tribal organizations in guiding the Commission’s work.

Th e June meeting of the Commission was attended by Forrest J. Gerard 

and Ross O. Swimmer, each a former Assistant Secretary - Indian Aff airs. 

Also attending were several leaders from Indian country, and representatives from the Indian Land Working Group, Native American Rights 

Fund, Great Plains Chairman’s Association, Intertribal Monitoring 

Association, American Indian Graduate Center and individual Indian 

land owners. Commissioner Stacy Leeds characterized the meeting as 

intellectually stimulating and thought-provoking, a tone set by the 

introduction of bold, sweeping thoughts and provocative questions 

from those attending. Minutes and summaries of each meeting are 

posted on the Internet at www.interior.gov/cobell/commission/index.

cfm.

Th e tour of OST helped the Commissioners gain a fi rst-hand understanding of OST’s work for and outreach to Indian trust benefi ciaries. 

It gave them personal insights to add to the information they have been 

receiving since their fi rst meeting in March. Th e tour was conducted 

by acting Principal Deputy Special Trustee Michele F. Singer and 

Associate Principal Deputy Special Trustee Donna Erwin. In addition 

to all fi ve Commissioners, participants on the tour included Designated 

Federal Offi cial Lizzie Marsters, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary 

of the Department of the Interior, and personnel from the Department’s 

Offi ce of the Solicitor and the Bureau of Indian Aff airs.

Th e next meeting of the Commission will be held in Bismarck, 

North Dakota, September 13-14. A second public webinar was held 

on August 13. For more information about the Commission’s work, 

visit www.doi.gov/cobell/commission/index.cfm.

Right: Commission meeting June 11-12, 2012
VOLUME 12, ISSUE 3 3

OST Effi ciency Study Results Received

Th e Examination, Evaluation, and Recommendation 

Analysis of the Department of the Interior’s Offi ce of the 

Special Trustee for American Indians Study (Effi ciency 

Study) conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. was 

recently delivered to the Offi ce of the Special Trustee 

for American Indians (OST). Acting Principal Deputy 

Special Trustee Michele F. Singer shared the results 

with the Secretary of the Interior’s management team, 

all OST employees and Congressional staff ers.

Personnel in all OST offi ces were asked to 

review the study and its recommendations 

and provide feedback to the acting PDST. 

Next steps involve developing plans to 

implement short-term and “quick 

win” recommendations, followed 

by strategies to implement 

medium and long-term 

recommendations. 

A key recommendation of the study addressed the 

need for improved internal communication. With the 

assistance of the Department of the Interior’s Offi ce 

of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution and 

OST’s ombudsman, the acting PDST held the fi rst of 

a series of learning sessions with senior managers. 

Th e meeting took place in Albuquerque and included 

specialized communication training. Additional 

meetings are planned in both Washington, D.C. and 

Albuquerque.

Th e study also suggested that OST “establish a formal 

strategic plan and planning process to continually 

defi ne objectives, communicate resulting goals to 

internal and external stakeholders, and track 

performance against objectives.” A small team of 

several OST employees are developing a strategic 

plan. Th e plan also will serve as a communication tool 

for everyone in the organization who interacts with 

benefi ciaries and the public.

For more information about the Effi ciency Study, 

contact Morgan Rodman at 202-536-6821 or

anthony_rodman@ost.doi.gov.

Successful 2012 Records Management 

Conference

Th e fi ft h annual records management conference, 

Records Management: Protecting the Past to Empower 

the Future, was held June 12-14, 2012, at Haskell 

Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. Haskell 

records management students took an active role in the 

overall success of this conference by serving as classroom assistants to the presenters. Th is provided excellent 

hands-on experience for those who may pursue a future 

career in records management.

Each year’s conference is developed and held by the 

Offi ce of Trust Records (OTR), which is part of the 

Offi ce of the Special Trustee for American Indians 

(OST). Th es conferences promote records management 

among tribal employees and government personnel. 

Th is year’s 190 conference attendees included 83 tribal 

employees; and 75 Bureau of Indian Aff airs, 15 Bureau 

of Indian Education, four Assistant Secretary - Indian 

Aff airs and 13 OST government personnel. 

Conference classes were specifi cally designed by OTR 

and National Archives and Records Administration 

(NARA) staff members to meet the needs of the federal 

and tribal attendees. Eighty-two classroom sessions, 

held over a three day period, covered a wide range of 

records information management. Th is conference also 

off ered four historical tours of the Haskell campus, as 

well as fi ve information-fi lled tours of the American 

Indian Records Repositiry and NARA facilities.

If you have questions about records management or 

would like technical assistance, please contact the 

Offi ce of Trust Records at 505-816-1625.

Did you know? Nineteen graduates from 

Haskell Indian Nations University have 

been hired as full-time employees at 

the American Indian Records Repository 

since 2006.
4 TRUST MATTERS

ONRR and OST Work Together

Th e Department of the Interior Offi ce of Natural 

Resources Revenue (ONRR) was formed as a result of 

the reorganization of the Minerals Management 

Service (MMS). ONRR was given part of 

the responsibility of that service when 

MMS was split into the Bureau of Safety 

and Environmental Enforcement, the 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and ONRR. 

ONRR collects revenue for federal 

and Indian trust lands used in the 

production of conventional and 

renewable energy and mineral 

resources. ONRR manages royalties, 

rents, bonuses and other revenues generated throughout the leasing process.

Money collected for Indian mineral leases is returned

— 100 percent — to respective Indian tribes and 

individual Indian mineral owners through the Offi ce 

of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST). 

Oil and gas royalty income is paid to benefi ciaries 

twice a month.

Last year, OST, in consultation 

with ONRR, redesigned a more 

user-friendly oil and gas 

explanation of payment 

for benefi ciaries who 

receive royalty income 

from oil and gas. Th e 

explanation of payment provides the payor’s 

name and lease number, sales 

information, unit values, royalty 

information and adjustments.

If you would like more information 

about oil and gas distributions or the 

explanation of payment, contact your 

local Fiduciary Trust Offi cer. For a 

complete list of Fiduciary Trust 

Offi cers, visit the OST website: 

www.doi.gov/ost/ft o.

To OHTA’s Credit

Employees of the Offi ce of Historical Trust Accounting 

(OHTA) are part of an interagency workgroup that 

was tasked with determining a method to calculate 

amounts to use in settlement negotiations with tribes 

concerning claims about trust fund accounting and 

management. Other employees from the Department 

of the Interior (DOI) and the Department of Justice 

(DOJ) are also members of that workgroup. 

Th e tribal team, a specialized group in OHTA, created 

trust account databases on an expedited basis as 

part of the settlement eff orts. For most of the team, 

supporting the settlement negotiations has been a 

full time job. Th e team consists of seven OHTA staff 

members who have been collecting and compiling 

trust fund data for years. Th ey produced trust 

account databases for over 100 tribes, along with 

documents that explain the databases. Th ese databases span up to 64 years of account 

activity. 

Attorneys from DOJ and DOI’s Offi ce of the Solicitor 

formulated settlement off ers aft er they considered 

the trust fund data and settlement analyses prepared 

by OHTA. OHTA staff members attended negotiations 

to provide tribes with expert explanations of the trust 

data. 

As of April 2012, 41 tribes have negotiated trust fund 

mismanagement settlements with the government. 

Th e combined value of these settlements exceeds 

$1 billion. Although some tribes have settled, others 

continue to negotiate with the government.

Th ese settlements are important not only because of 

the positive impact the funds will have on economic 

development in Indian country, but also because the 

government is making the eff ort to right its trust 

relationship with Indian country. 

For more information about this and other work of 

OHTA, please contact Jason Bruno at 202-208-5151 

or jason_bruno@ost.doi.gov.