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S. HRG. 111–263 

EXAMINING THE INCREASE OF GANG ACTIVITY 

IN INDIAN COUNTRY 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JULY 30, 2009 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota, Chairman 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Vice Chairman 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii 

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

JON TESTER, Montana 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

TOM COBURN, M.D., Oklahoma 

MIKE CRAPO, Idaho 

MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska 

ALLISON C. BINNEY, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

DAVID A. MULLON JR., Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on July 30, 2009 ............................................................................... 1 

Statement of Senator Dorgan ................................................................................. 1 

Statement of Senator Franken ............................................................................... 4 

Article, dated August 6, 2009, from Native American Times ....................... 6 

Statement of Senator Johnson ................................................................................ 3 

WITNESSES

Cowboy, Sampson, Executive Director, Department of Public Safety, Navajo 

Nation ................................................................................................................... 46 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 48 

Mousseau, Hon. Hermis John, Chairman, Tribal Judicial Council, Oglala 

Sioux Tribe; accompanied by Paul Iron Cloud, CEO, Oglala Sioux Housing 

Authority and Paul Forney, Gang Specialist, Oglala Sioux Department 

of Public Safety .................................................................................................... 9 

Prepared statement with attachments ........................................................... 11 

Nissen, Hon. Brian, Council Member, Confederated Tribes of the Colville 

Reservation; accompanied by Matt Haney, Chief of Police, Colville Tribe ..... 41 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 42 

Smith, Carmen, Chief of Police, Warm Springs Tribal Police Department; 

accompanied by Bill Elliot, Detective ................................................................. 50 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 53 

APPENDIX

Cantwell, Hon. Maria, U.S. Senator from Washington, prepared statement ..... 65 

Cook, Robert B., President, National Indian Education Association, prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 68 

Elliott, William V., Detective, Warm Springs Tribal Police Department, letter 

to Carmen Smith .................................................................................................. 84 

Puyallup Tribe, prepared statement with attachments ....................................... 71 

Ragsdale, W. Patrick, Director, Office of Justice Services, Bureau of Indian 

Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, prepared statement ......................... 67 

Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Byron L. Dorgan to: 

Hon. Hermis John Mousseau .......................................................................... 90 

Carmen Smith ................................................................................................... 91 

Shuravloff, Marty, Chairman, National American Indian Housing Council, 

prepared statement .............................................................................................. 87 

Wyden, Hon. Ron, U.S. Senator from Oregon, prepared statement .................... 65 

(1) 

EXAMINING THE INCREASE OF GANG 

ACTIVITY IN INDIAN COUNTRY 

THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2009 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:15 p.m. in room 

628, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Byron L. Dorgan, 

Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BYRON L. DORGAN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA 

The CHAIRMAN. I will call the hearing to order. This is a hearing 

of the Indian Affairs Committee in the United States Senate. 

I am pleased to welcome the newest Member of our Committee 

today, Senator Al Franken from the State of Minnesota. 

Senator Franken, welcome to our Committee and we look forward to working with you. 

Senator FRANKEN. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am 

honored. 

The CHAIRMAN. The Committee is meeting today to discuss the 

increase of gang activity in Indian Country, resulting from a series 

of reports that have been released recently. I do want to say that 

I believe we are going to have four votes starting somewhere 

around 3:00 or 3:15 this afternoon. We have four witnesses at this 

hearing, and I expect that we will probably complete within about 

an hour. And we appreciate very much having the witnesses join 

us. 

In recent months, we have received detailed testimony about the 

public safety crisis that exists on many of our reservations across 

the Country. As you know, tribes face an epidemic of domestic and 

sexual violence against women. Reports indicate that more than 

one in three Native American woman will be raped or sexually assaulted. Two in five will suffer from domestic violence. 

Many reservations face violent crime rates that are multiples of 

the national average. In my State of North Dakota, the Standing 

Rock Sioux Indian Reservation had a violent crime rate of 8.5 

times, not double, triple or quadruple, but 8.5 times the national 

average in 2008. 

If you are part of a population with a violent crime rate 8.5 times 

the rest of the Country, you don’t feel very good about your daily 

life. Safety is very important. And the fact is, the Congress has not 

done its job. We have signed the treaties. We have made the promVerDate Nov 24 2008 10:20 Feb 03, 2010 Jkt 054590 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\54590.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
2 

ises. We have a trust responsibility to provide for law enforcement 

on these reservations, and frankly, we have fallen short. 

We are trying very hard to put together a piece of legislation 

dealing with law enforcement. John Harte, our Policy Director, Allison Binney, the Staff Director of our Committee, Dave Mullon and 

others from our Committee have been around the Country meeting 

and visiting with Indian tribes, Indian leaders and members of 

tribes to talk about this crisis and what we can do to address it. 

Past reports have noted that reservation gangs, gang activity, 

were relatively unorganized, and the crimes were limited. But 

these crimes are escalating, and on June 30, just weeks ago, of this 

year, the Department of Justice reported that ‘‘native gangs’’ are 

now involved in more violent offenses such as sexual assault, gang 

rapes, home invasions, drive-by shootings, beatings, and elder 

abuse. 

I recently held a field hearing with Senator Kyl in the State of 

Arizona. At that hearing, a tribal leader testified that 55 drive-by 

shootings had occurred on her reservation of 8,000 people in one 

year. 

The Committee has also received testimony that non-Indian 

gangs are exploiting the lack of police presence and complex jurisdiction that exists in Indian Country. When you have a reservation 

such as the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation that I have just described, straddling North and South Dakota, and that reservation, 

the size of the State of Connecticut, has 9 or 10 police officers to 

do 24/7 law enforcement, it does not work. 

It means that a serious crime in progress with a call to the police 

may result in law enforcement showing up in an hour, maybe 12 

hours, maybe the next day. I mean, that is the distance, and the 

few number of police officers available on many of these reservations. 

The average native gang member is 15 years old and getting 

younger, and police report that gangs use Indian children as young 

as eight to carry drugs and be involved in gang activities to avoid 

prosecutions. 

The American Indian youth are at the bottom of nearly every national indicator of well being. Indian kids commit suicide at twice 

the rate of the general population, but in the Northern Great 

Plains, it is much, much higher than that, in some cases, five and 

ten times. The reservation I just described, the Standing Rock 

Sioux Tribe, since January 1 of this year has had 11 suicides and 

51 suicide attempts. 

We are trying very hard to address these issues. As I conclude, 

I want to just show two photographs. Native youths are turning to 

gangs, we are told. They do that, we are told, to fill a void in the 

form of protection or family or in some cases have no other alternatives. 

These are two photographs of American native teenage boys involved in gang activity at the Pine Ridge Reservation. Councilman 

Mousseau will expand on these photos, I am sure. These are very 

stark images. One teen is holding an assault weapon, the other receiving a gang-related tattoo. These are lost boys. They have no direction, and the end result of their path is violence. 

3 

This violence erupted on the nearby South Dakota reservation 

two years ago when two 14 year old girls stabbed a 15 year old girl 

to death in a gang-related incident. These senseless killings occur 

and this one occurred days before three other girls had committed 

suicide on the same reservation. 

The problem with youth violence in Indian Country is that it is 

often unpunished, and that it escalates. The offenders are not provided mental health because adequate mental health services don’t 

exist. 

The crimes graduate then to rape and to murder, and frankly, we 

need a better response. Federal laws and lack of funding limit the 

tribal juvenile justice system. And because of this, tribes often rely 

on the Federal juvenile justice system and that simply doesn’t 

work. The Bureau of Prisons reports that 143 juveniles in total are 

incarcerated in the Federal system; 116 are Indians. That is 81 

percent of the Federal juvenile population. 

We need stronger tribal and Federal juvenile systems. We need 

to provide opportunities for Indian youth to deal with gang violence, education opportunities, treatment opportunities, and most 

importantly, a safe environment in which to live. Gang activity, I 

might say, is just one other symptom of a culture of violence that 

exists on too many reservations. 

I want to thank the witnesses who have traveled here today, and 

I want to thank especially all of those law enforcement officers who 

work on Indian reservations, understaffed, overworked, and do the 

best job they can in a very difficult circumstance. 

It is my determination that the work on this Committee is to try 

to do an Indian law enforcement bill this year. We have introduced 

it. It has broad bipartisan support. The Vice Chairman of this Committee, Senator Barrasso, Senator Kyl from Arizona and many others, including Members of the majority side, have worked to put together a bill. We are continuing to perfect it, and we hope very 

much to pass it in this Congress. 

I appreciate my colleagues being here. 

Senator Johnson, did you have an opening statement? 

STATEMENT OF HON. TIM JOHNSON, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA 

Senator JOHNSON. Yes, I do. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate your scheduling this important hearing. 

I would also like to welcome Mr. John Mousseau, Tribal Councilman for the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. Accompanying 

him is Paul Iron Cloud, CEO of Oglala Sioux Housing Authority. 

Thank you both for being here today. Your first-hand knowledge of 

the effects of gangs in Indian communities is invaluable. 

I hope this Committee works quickly and effectively to address 

the roots of violence in Indian Country. When given the tools to do 

so, our tribal leaders are capable of restoring civility, justice and 

respect in their own communities. 

Thank you and I will submit my complete statement for the 

record.??? 

The prepared statement of Senator Johnson follows:] 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Johnson, thank you very much. 

4 

And Senator Franken? 

STATEMENT OF HON. AL FRANKEN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MINNESOTA 

Senator FRANKEN. Thank you, Chairman Dorgan, for holding this 

important and timely hearing. This is my first hearing as a Member of the Committee, and I want to take a minute to extend my 

sincere gratitude to all my colleagues for their warm welcome. I am 

honored to join the Indian Affairs Committee which plays such an 

important role for our tribal communities all across the Country, 

and for the 11 tribes that we have in Minnesota. 

And it is a special honor to serve on this Committee on the same 

Committee that my good friend and predecessor, Paul Wellstone, 

served on. 

Chairman Dorgan, your work on this Committee and throughout 

the Senate is a blueprint for sensible and bipartisan policy-making. 

I have long admired your leadership on issues important to rural 

communities and native communities, and I am honored to serve 

alongside of you. 

When I discovered that I was to become a member of this Committee, I noticed something about its makeup. Interestingly, I represent the most eastern State. The overwhelming majority of the 

13 States represented are distinctively western. Minnesota is 

unique. The Mississippi runs through the middle of our State, dividing the rolling hills and deep valleys of the East from the open 

western prairie. 

In some ways, we are a western State. Up north, we have strong 

rural communities that neighbor endless miles of public lands. But 

at the same time, with our dense urban populations, we are also 

eastern. In fact, Minneapolis has one of the largest urban Indian 

populations of any American city. 

Across our State from the most rural northern corners to the 

most urban southern streets, you will find vibrant tribal communities. This is a unique perspective that I hope to bring to this 

Committee. So I look forward to working with all my colleagues to 

help these communities, urban or rural and on both sides of the 

Mississippi. 

Now, let me turn to the incredibly important issue that we take 

up today. Across the Country, violence is threatening the health of 

many of our tribal communities. As most of you remember, a few 

years ago the Red Lake Reservation in Red Lake, Minnesota suffered a heart-wrenching tragedy. On the morning of March 21, 

2005, a tormented 16 year old boy killed his grandfather and his 

grandfather’s girl friend. He later drove his grandfather’s police car 

to Red Lake Senior High School, where he shot and killed seven 

people. 

But the violence that we are witnessing is not isolated on rural 

reservations or limited to an individual tormented youth. Two of 

our largest problems are the trafficking of drugs and the trafficking 

of young native women between urban areas and reservation land. 

The Drug Enforcement Agency reports that an increasingly large 

percentage of the cocaine distributed in Minnesota is done by Native American gangs. In a recent Native American Times article, it 

was noted that ‘‘reservations offer near-perfect hideouts and lucraVerDate Nov 24 2008 10:20 Feb 03, 2010 Jkt 054590 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\54590.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
5 

tive markets. They’re often remote with few businesses and job opportunities. Selling drugs means easy money. Doing them means 

escape.’’ The article goes on to highlight some of the ground-breaking work being done in Minnesota and Wisconsin to crack down on 

tribal crime. In Wisconsin, tribes have banded together to form a 

one of a kind task force that could be a template for other States 

to follow. 

I am very eager to hear from each of the witnesses about their 

initiatives and their programs. And I would like to ask unanimous 

consent that this article from Native American Times be included 

in the record. 

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection. 

Senator FRANKEN. Thank you. 

[The referenced document follows:] 

6 


730a1.eps
7 


730a2.eps
8 

Senator FRANKEN. Back in Minnesota and all across the Country, 

young native women are also falling victim to sexual crimes and increased trafficking. Sadly, women who come forward to report sexual violence are caught in a jurisdictional maze that Federal, State 

and tribal police often cannot quickly sort out. 

I am scheduled to preside over the Senate in about 20 minutes, 

so I apologize for not being able to stay for the entire hearing, but 

I look forward to working with all my new colleagues to find new 

and effective ways to protect our tribal communities from the destructive impacts of crime. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Franken, thank you very much. 

Next, we will ask the witnesses to come forward. We have the 

Honorable John Mousseau, a Tribal Council Member and Chairman of the Tribal Judicial Council at the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the 

Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota; the Honorable Brian Nissen, the Tribal Council of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville 

Reservation in Washington State; Mr. Sampson Cowboy, Director, 

Department of Public Safety at the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, 

Arizona; and Mr. Carmen Smith, the Chief of Police, Confederated 

Tribes of Warm Springs, Warm Springs, Oregon. 

Let me thank all of you for joining us today. As I indicated, we 

will begin a series of votes on the Senate Floor, so I would ask that 

you would attempt to summarize your statements. Your entire 

statements are a matter of the permanent record. As is usually the 

case, we will ask the witnesses to summarize in five minutes, and 

then we will have questions of the Committee. 


730a3.eps
9 

Mr. John Mousseau, thank you for being here from South Dakota. I know Senator Johnson and I are very appreciative of your 

work down there. So why don’t you proceed? 

STATEMENT OF HON. HERMIS JOHN MOUSSEAU, CHAIRMAN, 

TRIBAL JUDICIAL COUNCIL, OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE; 

ACCOMPANIED BY PAUL IRON CLOUD, CEO, OGLALA SIOUX 

HOUSING AUTHORITY AND PAUL FORNEY, GANG 

SPECIALIST, OGLALA SIOUX DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC 

SAFETY 

Mr. MOUSSEAU. Thank you. First I wanted to say good afternoon, 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee who have joined us 

today. 

In light of my testimony, a couple of days ago we did have another gang-involved shooting where a young gentleman did lose his 

life. So it is an ongoing problem. 

And just to introduce myself, my name is Hermis John 

Mousseau. I am a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council. I am 

also the Chairman of our Tribal Judiciary Committee. I am also a 

former Oglala Sioux Tribal Police Officer and former Chief of Police. 

And I want to thank you for allowing my testimony on the gang 

problem on our reservation, which to this day is still an ongoing 

problem. 

Also accompanying me here today is Mr. Paul Iron Cloud, the Director of Housing Authority; and also Mr. Paul Forney, the gang 

expert from the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. 

Mr. Chairman, this issue is very important for me because in 

2003, I was wounded in the line of duty by a tribal gang member 

when I was called to address a domestic disturbance. During that 

incident, I was forced to shoot the individual and memories like 

that live with you forever. And to this day, I can still remember 

the sound of that gun. 

Violent crime is increasing on our reservation every day. Just 

this past weekend or a couple of weeks ago, we had a stabbing, a 

shooting and person brutally attacked by a gang member. The 

week before that, on July 12, one of our female police officers was 

brutally attacked by a gang member when she attempted to arrest 

him and she was forced to shoot the individual in order to save her 

own life. Now we have blogs, gang tags, and open talk in the gang 

community threatening the lives of that officer and also other police officers who work on our reservation. So she and her immediate family had to go into hiding. 

This same female officer had her arm broken a year ago before 

when she attempted to arrest another known gang member for another domestic disturbance, and that heroic officer has gone 

through all this for a salary of $35,000 a year, with no health benefits and no police retirement. 

While our police department lacks the resources necessary to 

track all gang-related activity on our reservation, we have identified at least 39 gangs operating on our reservation in a community 

of roughly 50,000 plus members. And we have logged 8,816 gangrelated calls in the fiscal year 2008. This is up from 7,721 gangrelated calls that we were able to log in 2006. These calls range 

10 

from simple assaults and burglaries to life-threatening fights and 

gun-related charges. Each one of these calls endangers the officers 

who respond and each one of these calls means that another member of our community has been a victim of some type of gang-related activity. 

We have now included for your information the charter of our 

gang-related offense for calendar years 2006 and 2008. And we 

have also included a youth survey which was done by one of our 

consultants in April and May of this year. Participants in this survey were 1,137 students on our reservation schools. The results of 

that survey revealed that 55 percent of those students surveyed reported being a victim of gang-related activity; 72 percent reported 

having been threatened personally by a gang or gang member; and 

only 65 percent reported that they felt safe from gang activity at 

school. Only 35 percent of those surveyed said they felt safe from 

gang-related activity in their own immediate community. 

So anyone that says gang activity does not impact educational 

advancement is very wrong. Gang activity started on our reservation because our young people were unhappy, powerless and bored. 

The joblessness and poverty on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation 

has led far too many of our people towards alcohol and drugs. 

In the past few years, we have seen more outside lawbreakers 

moving onto our reservation. It is not unusual to see a Mexican 

National fall in love with one of our tribal members and later 

where they are now selling drugs out of this housing development 

house. 

Drugs are coming every day from Minneapolis, Denver and now 

Omaha. Large urban-based gangs such as the Texas Syndicate, Indian Mafia, Native Mob, MS–13, and Surenius-affiliated gangs now 

have members appearing on our reservation. To add to our fears, 

the Hells Angels biker gang has recently bought a bar in Scenic, 

South Dakota, less than 20 miles from our reservation border. Another biker gang affiliated with the Bandidos has been recruiting 

and they now have a base of operations in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. 

Drug trafficking on the western side of our reservation relates 

mostly to marijuana and cocaine, while meth use is increasing 

every day. Because of the remoteness of our reservation, its centralized location in the United States, its jurisdictional complexities, and lack of police manpower, we have become a prime target 

area for gang-related crime and trafficking. 

To talk more about those poster boards we showed, those are 

some gang members that we deal with every day. The gentleman 

getting the tattoo was a member of our Wild Boys gang and the 

guy who was giving the tattoo was a second generation gang member. And the other one is from one of our closer housing, Madison 

Housing, where they call themselves the AIMster Gangster, which 

is a generational gang. 

To make matters worse, all of our police officers have to work 

alone, and backup is generally at least 40 minutes away. We have 

single officers walking alone into parties with 20 or more intoxicated or drugged individuals, often with gang affiliations. 

Mr. Chairman, while we appreciate very much what you are trying to do to increase the BIA enforcement budget, I respectfully tell 

11 

you that it is simply not enough. Of the increase proposed in 2010, 

we at Pine Ridge are hearing that we will only get an increase of 

$125,000. While we appreciate it very much $125,000 to address 

8,816 or more incidents of gang violence, plus our 65,000 regular 

calls, does not go very far. It does not even give us one more officer 

per shift. 

Forgive me for speaking this bluntly, but the simple truth is we 

need more officers and we need them now. We have 5,000 gang 

members, but we also have 45,000 scared law-abiding people whose 

lives I have sworn to protect. Please help me in any way you can 

to accomplish this goal. We need more personnel to provide youthbased prevention activities in and after school. We need more investigators to review and investigate cases at the tribal level. We 

also need more officers to respond to these calls and merely to prevent the burnout of our current officers. 

Finally, we need more staff in internal affairs to ensure that our 

citizen complaints are handled in a timely manner. 

I would like to ask our Housing Authority Director, Mr. Paul 

Iron Cloud, to speak just for a little bit on the impact the gangs 

are having on the daily lives of our children. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Mousseau follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. HERMIS JOHN MOUSSEAU, CHAIRMAN, TRIBAL

JUDICIAL COUNCIL, OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE

Good Afternoon Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: 

My name is Hermis John Mousseau and I am a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council. I am also the Chairman of our Tribal Judiciary Committee, a former Oglala Sioux Tribal Police Officer and a former Oglala Chief of Police. Thank you for 

allowing me to present testimony on the gang problems which are today endangering lives in my tribal community. 

Mr. Chairman, this issue is very personal for me because in 2003 I was wounded 

in the line of duty by a tribal gang member when I was called to address a domestic 

disturbance. During that incident, I was forced to shoot that individual and memories like that stay with you forever. 

Violent crime is increasing on our reservation every day. Just this past weekend, 

we had a stabbing, a shooting, and a person brutally attacked by a gang member. 

A week before that, on July 12th, one of our female officers was brutally attacked 

by a gang member when she attempted to arrest him, and she was forced to shoot 

that individual in order to save her own life. Now we have blogs, gang tags and 

open talk in our gang communities threatening the life of that officer and she and 

her immediate family have had to go into hiding. This same female officer had her 

arm broken a year before when she attempted to arrest another known gang member for another domestic disturbance and that heroic officer has gone through all 

of this for a salary of about $35,000 a year with no health benefits and no police 

retirement. 

While our police department lacks the resources necessary to track all gang-related activity on our reservation, we have identified at least 39 gangs operating in 

our community of 50,000, and we have logged 8,816 gang-related calls in FY 2008. 

That is up from the 7,721 gang-related calls that we were able to log in FY 2006. 

These calls range from simple assaults and burglaries, to life threatening fights and 

gun related charges. Each one of these calls endangers the officer who responds, and 

each one of these calls means that another member of our community has been a 

victim of some type of gang related activity. 

We have included for your information a chart of our gang related offenses for 

calendar years 2006–2008. We have also included a youth survey which was done 

by one of our consultants in April and May of this year. The participants in that 

survey were 1137 students in our on-reservation schools. The results of that survey 

revealed that 55 percent of those students surveyed reported being a victim of gang 

related activity, 72 percent reported having been threatened personally by a gang 

or gang member, and only 65 percent reported that they felt safe from gang activity 

at school. Only 35 percent of those surveyed said that they felt safe from gang reVerDate Nov 24 2008 10:20 Feb 03, 2010 Jkt 054590 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\54590.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
12 

lated activity in their own immediate community. So anyone that says that gang 

activity does not impact educational advancement is very wrong. 

Gang activity started on our reservation because our young people were unhappy, 

powerless and bored. The joblessness and poverty on Pine Ridge has led far too 

many of our people towards alcohol and drugs, and because we have no adequately 

funded programs or residential treatment facilities to address this alcoholism and 

drug problem, we have a large number of minors who live in alcoholic families and 

simply do not want to go home. This coupled with our lack of after school programs, 

youth recreation centers and youth employment monies has left many of our young 

people receptive to gang life . For young people who have never had a $20 bill to 

spend, the promise of easy money for stealing a few items and selling a few drugs 

has been hard for many of our teenagers to resist. Now, we have families who have 

three generations of gang members in their homes. 

Over time, as drugs have become more common, our gangs have become more brazen and fights over territory and drug sales has escalated. Today, we have gangs 

being formed just to protect their members from other gangs, and to allow their 

members to move freely across our reservation without fear of attack or intimidation. We also have gangs which were formed just to keep watch out for the police, 

so people could smoke a little dope and get drunk without the threat of arrest or 

attack from another gang. 

In the past few years, we have seen more outside law breakers moving on to our 

reservation. It is not unusual to see a male Mexican national ‘‘falling in love’’ with 

one of our female tribal members and before long he is selling drugs out of her onreservation home. Drugs are coming in every day from Minneapolis and Denver, and 

now from Omaha. Large urban based gangs such as Texas Syndicate, Indian Mafia, 

Native Mob, MS–13, and Surenios affiliated gangs now have members appearing on 

our reservation. To add to our fears, the Hells Angels biker gang has recently 

bought a bar in Scenic, South Dakota less than 20 miles away from our reservation 

border. Another biker gang affiliated with the Bandidos has been recruiting and 

they now have a base of operations in of Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Drug trafficking 

on the western side of our reservation relates mostly to marijuana and cocaine, but 

meth use is increasing every day. Because of the remoteness of our reservation, its 

centralized location in the United States, its jurisdictional complexities, and its lack 

of police manpower, we have become a prime target area for gang related crime and 

drug trafficking. 

But here are most telling statistics: 50,000+ people, a land base the size of Rhode 

Island, 39 gangs and 12 police officers per shift—if no one is sick or on injured reserve. At Pine Ridge, we receive approximately 73,000 calls for police service each 

year. That is about 6,083 calls per month. We are forced to answer those calls with 

48 police officers. Now 48 police officers divided by 4 shifts equates to 12 officers 

per shift. That means that each officer has to respond to 506 calls per month. That 

is not manageable for a police officer in an urban area where the call is a few blocks 

away, but it is impossible for us because most of our calls are 50 or 60 miles apart. 

As a result, we have a sizable number of calls that simply go unanswered and when 

our officers can respond, our response time generally runs around 1 hour, for even 

the most serious acts of violence. That means by the time we respond, the activity 

is generally over and the perpetrators have left the scene. The office responding 

would like to investigate what happened and arrest the people involved, but by that 

time he or she generally has another two or three calls backed up and has to leave 

to try to help someone else. 

To make matters worse, all of our police officers have to work alone and backup 

is generally at least 40 minutes away. We have single officers walking alone into 

parties with 20 or more intoxicated or drugged out individuals, often with gang affiliations, or with a subject banishing a deadly weapon and they know going in that 

they are completely on their own. 

Mr. Chairman, while we appreciate very much all that you are trying to do to 

increase the BIA law enforcement budget, I must respectfully tell you that it is simply not enough. Of the increase proposed in 2010, we at Pine Ridge are hearing that 

we will only get an increase of around $125,000, and while we appreciate that very 

much, $125,000 to address 8,816 or more incidents of gang violence, plus our 65,000 

regular calls, does not go very far. It does not even give us one more officer per shift. 

Forgive me for speaking this bluntly, but the simple truth is we need more officers 

and we need them now! We have 5,000 gang members, but we also have 45,000 

scared law abiding people whose lives I have sworn to protect. Please help me in 

anyway that you can to accomplish that goal. 

We need more personnel to provide youth based prevention activities in and after 

school. And we need more investigators to review and investigate cases at the tribal 

level. We also need more officers to respond to these calls and merely to prevent 

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the burnout of our current officers. Finally, we need more staff in internal affairs 

to ensure that our citizen complaints are handled in a timely manner. 

Thank you again for this opportunity to speak to you about these very serious 

issues. I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have. 

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The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Mousseau, let me get the other witnesses’ 

testimony. We will come back if we have time for some comments 

from your Housing Director, if that is all right with you. 

Mr. MOUSSEAU. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. The Honorable Brian Nissen, Tribal Council, the 

Confederated Tribes in Washington State. You may proceed. Thank 

you for being with us. 


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41 

STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN NISSEN, TRIBAL COUNCIL, 

CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE COLVILLE RESERVATION; 

ACCOMPANIED BY MATT HANEY, CHIEF OF POLICE, 

COLVILLE TRIBE 

Mr. NISSEN. Good afternoon, Chairman Dorgan, Members of the 

Committee. My name is Brian Nissen, member of the Colville Business Council, which is the governing body of the Confederated 

Tribes of the Colville Reservation. I appreciate this opportunity to 

testify today on the increased gang activity in Indian Country. 

I will be particularly discussing Colville’s challenges in addressing gang activity, and a couple of examples of recent incidents, and 

maybe a few ideas for some recommendations to improve our current situation. 

Accompanying today I have Matt Heney, our Chief of Police, who 

will be able to assist answering any questions. 

Before I begin, I would like to commend the Committee and 

Members of the Committee and Committee staff on their efforts 

and the support for continued work on the Tribal Law and Order 

Act of 2009. The Colville Tribe is fully supportive of this important 

legislation and very grateful for the Committee’s willingness to consider some suggestions and other recommendations from Indian 

Country in order to make the bill more effective. 

The Colville Reservation is approximately 2,300 square miles located in north central Washington State. Although we are now considered a single tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is made up of a confederacy of 12 aboriginal bands spread 

out throughout Eastern Washington. Currently, we have just over 

9,350 enrolled members, making us one of the larger tribes in the 

Pacific Northwest. 

Although we are sparsely populated in this area, we still generate high demands for police services. Tribal gangs and predominantly Hispanic gangs are both attempting to exert control in areas 

of our reservation. Recently, the conflict has progressed from really 

threats to attempted murders. Much of the violence seems to be focused on new recruitment and defense of territories. Right now, we 

believe there are at least six gangs active on the reservation, two 

of which are predominantly Hispanic and based off the reservation 

bounds. 

Two recent incidents illustrate the severity of the gang problem 

on the reservation, one of which a Hispanic member of the SUR 13 

Crip gang, which originated in Southern California in the 1960s, 

who was beaten so severely that he suffered permanent brain damage. A second incident occurring in May of this year began as a fist 

fight between Hispanic members of the SUR 13 and Colville Tribal 

members of the Bloods gang. It escalated, each of them gathering 

reinforcements and culminated in a shooting. One person was injured, and currently the suspect is a Colville Tribal member. He 

was a juvenile at the time and now faces Federal charges for attempted murder. 

Currently, the tribe has contracted law enforcement services 

through the Bureau of Indian Affairs under a 638 contract, but because of funding limitations, we are only able to have three officers 

on duty at any given time. And to further illustrate this funding 

limitation, the tribe’s contribution to our police department exceeds 

42 

the amount that we receive from the BIA under the 638 contract. 

Because of this lack of funding, as was mentioned earlier, the response times to some of our remote areas of our reservation exceed 

over two hours. 

You know, apart from law enforcement, we are making attempts 

to address the gang violence through education and intervention 

activities. We have a BIA-funded school on the reservation. The 

Paschal Sherman Indian School is a K–8 school that incorporates 

tribal culture into its curriculum. As gang activity has increased, 

however, we have observed tribal youth openly rejecting our tribal 

culture and values such as respect for elders and family members. 

In response, we have included some cultural practices and beliefs, and including some of our tribal elders in some of the efforts 

to curtail this violence. 

Despite these efforts, we still have reports of our young women, 

ages 13, 14, 15 being raped by these gang members. The worst 

thing about it is they have fear to come forward to have anything 

done because their lives have been threatened, their families have 

been threatened if they are to come forward. 

I also have some personal implications. Some of my family members, my younger brother was involved in gang activities and he 

went down that path. Sorry. 

Let me say that, we are pleased that the Tribal Law and Order 

Act of 2009 we believe contains thoughtful provisions that address 

some of these issues. We have a list of recommendations, and I 

would just like to highlight a couple of them. 

First being to continue to emphasize the United States Attorneys’ 

trust responsibility to investigate and prosecute violent crimes in 

Indian Country, particularly major crimes. We also ask you to authorize new programs or augment existing programs that provide 

grants to schools on or near Indian communities that have demonstrated gang problems, to implement culturally appropriate education, prevention and intervention activities similar to what we 

are attempting at Paschal Sherman Indian School. 

This concludes my report at this time. I appreciate everybody’s 

time and am open for questions following. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Nissen follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN NISSEN, COUNCIL MEMBER, CONFEDERATED

TRIBES OF THE COLVILLE RESERVATION

Good afternoon Chairman Dorgan, Vice Chairman Barrasso, and members of the 

Committee. My name is Brian Nissen and I am a member of the Colville Business 

Council, the governing body of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation 

(‘‘Colville Tribe’’ or ‘‘Tribe’’). I appreciate this opportunity to testify today on the increase of gang activity in Indian country. Specifically, I will discuss the Colville 

Tribe’s challenges in addressing gang activity, provide examples of recent gang related incidents on the Colville Reservation, and provide recommendations on how 

the current situation can be improved. Accompanying me today is Matt Haney, the 

Chief of Police of the Colville Tribe, who will assist me in answering questions. 

Before I begin, I would like to commend the members of the Committee and the 

Committee staff for their support for and continued work on the Tribal Law and 

Order Act of 2009. The Colville Tribe enthusiastically supports this important legislation and is grateful for the Committee’s willingness to consider our suggestions 

and other recommendations from Indian country to make the bill even more effective. 

43 

Gang Activity on the Colville Reservation 

The Colville Indian Reservation encompasses approximately 2,275 square miles 

and is in north central Washington State. Although now considered a single Indian 

tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation is, as the name states, a 

confederation of 12 smaller aboriginal tribes and bands from all across eastern 

Washington. The Colville Tribe has nearly 9,300 enrolled members, making it one 

of the largest Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest. About half of the Tribe’s members live on or near the Colville Reservation. 

The Colville Reservation is divided into four districts (Omak, Nespelem, 

Inchelium and Keller) that correspond to the population centers on the Reservation. 

The Omak district includes approximately half of the town of Omak, Washington, 

which is the largest town in Okanogan County. Although the Nespelem, Inchelium 

and Keller districts have seen an increase in gang activity, by far the highest incidence of known gang activity occurs in the Omak district. 

Tribal gangs and predominately Hispanic gangs from Mexico are both attempting 

to assert control in the Omak area. The conflict between the rival gangs has progressed from threats to attempted murder. Much of the violence associated with 

gang activity on the Colville Reservation appears to be focused on the recruitment 

of new members and the gangs’ defense of their prospective territory. These territories are important to the gangs in part due to drug distribution and gang recognition. The Tribe believes that at least six distinct gangs are active on the Colville 

Reservation, two of which are predominantly Hispanic gangs based outside the Reservation and the other four gangs predominated by tribal members. 

Two recent incidents illustrate the severity of the gang problem on the Colville 

Reservation. One incident occurred on April 16, 2008, when the Tribe’s police officers responded to an assault victim in the Moccasin Flat housing development outside the town of Omak. Moccasin Flat is one of the older Department of Housing 

and Urban Development communities in the Omak area. A Hispanic male was 

found lying in a ditch and had been beaten badly. The victim was well known to 

the Colville Tribal Police and to other tribal law enforcement as a member of the 

SUR 13 gang. SUR 13 stands for ‘‘Surenos 13,’’ a gang affiliated with the Crips that 

originated in southern California in the 1960s. 

The Tribe’s investigation revealed that the victim had gone to a party in the Moccasin Flat BUD site that was mainly attended by younger tribal members between 

the ages of 15 and 25. Shortly after arriving, the victim was seen by a witness walking out of the house with several people. The witness saw that the victim had taken 

off his blue bandana, which signified that he was not seeking a confrontation. Upon 

going outside, the victim was attacked by several members of the party. Ultimately, 

he was left lying in a ditch with severe injuries. 

Colville Tribal Police interviewed several individuals who attended the party, all 

of whom denied that they were gang members even though members of the tribal 

community and tribal law enforcement routinely observed them wearing gang colors, passing gang signs, and promoting their gang affiliation on websites such as 

My Space. None of these individuals, most of whom are Colville tribal members, 

were willing to identify the assailants. To date, no arrests have been made and the 

case remains open. The victim suffered permanent brain damage. 

A second, even more disturbing incident occurred on May 4, 2009, within the city 

limits of the town of Omak on the Colville Reservation. The incident began as a fist 

fight between Hispanic members of SUR 13 and Colville tribal members of the 

Bloods, escalated when each side gathered reinforcements, and culminated in a 

shooting. 

The victim, a Hispanic male, and his friends were in a car driving in east Omak 

when a tribal member, dressed in red, threw a rock at their car. As the victim 

exited the vehicle to confront the rock thrower, another car arrived and one of its 

occupants, also wearing red, retrieved a rifle from the car and opened fire. At least 

18 rounds were fired, with the victim being struck once. Residents corroborated the 

victim’s account and the suspect was later identified and arrested. 

The suspect, a Colville tribal member, was a juvenile when the incident occurred 

and is currently facing federal charges for attempted murder. 

Law Enforcement Challenges to Gang Activity on the Colville Reservation 

As noted above, the Colville Reservation encompasses nearly 2,300 square miles. 

This area, while sparsely populated, generates a high demand for police services. 

The Colville Tribe has contracted law enforcement services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (‘‘BIA’’) under a 638 contract. Because of BIA funding limitations, however, only three tribal officers are available on any given shift to respond to calls. 

To illustrate these funding limitations, this year the Colville Tribe’s contribution to 

the Tribe’s Police Department exceeds the amount the Tribe receives for law enVerDate Nov 24 2008 10:20 Feb 03, 2010 Jkt 054590 PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\54590.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
44 

forcement from the BIA under its 638 contract. This lack of funding for law enforcement personnel translates into response times that often exceed two hours for calls 

to the more remote areas of the Reservation. 

In absence of agreements with local governments, our tribal officers are generally 

responsible only for calls involving tribal members. Both the Okanogan and Ferry 

County Sheriffs Departments are severely understaffed, which has, for practical 

purposes, required the Colville Tribe to ensure that its officers are cross commissioned and can also enforce state laws within the boundaries of the Colville Reservation. To the extent that they are able, both Okanogan and Ferry counties assist the 

Tribe when they are called and the Tribe has a cooperative relationship with law 

enforcement from both counties. 

Ideally, the Colville Tribe’s officers would have sufficient resources in the form of 

manpower and training to address the burgeoning incidence of gang violence. In 

most cases, our officers know the individuals involved and could make a dramatic 

impact on the proliferation of gangs on the Reservation by preventing gang membership by vulnerable tribal youth. As in many Indian communities, nearly everyone 

knows each other’s families. Tribal law enforcement leaders are constantly looking 

for opportunities to engage tribal members in ‘‘non-enforcement’’ situations in order 

to build relationships that will transcend traditional police officer stereotypes held 

by some in our community. This change cannot occur, however, until additional resources are available for tribal officers to allow for proactive, as opposed to reactive, 

policing. 

Education and Intervention Activities 

Apart from law enforcement, the Tribe has also attempted to address gangs 

through education and intervention activities. The Colville Reservation is home to 

a BIA-funded school that has incorporated a variety of strategies to deter tribal 

youth from gang activity. Located just outside Omak, Washington, the Paschal Sherman Indian School (‘‘PSIS’’ or the ‘‘School’’) is a K–8 school that incorporates tribal 

culture into its curriculum. The School’s mental health professionals and teachers 

work with students in group settings to discuss a variety of issues related to gangs 

within the tribal community. The School has recognized that a group environment 

more effectively fosters open discussion and awareness among the students of gang 

activity than other classroom methods. 

PSIS staff have found that many of the School’s students identify with the color 

red, a color associated with gangs, and tend to defend the importance of the color 

and how it represents a sense of pride. In conjunction with the group sessions, the 

School utilizes video programs to challenge the students’ beliefs and to communicate 

the reality of gang life. An underlying theme in many of these sessions is how many 

families on the Colville Reservation have multiple generations that have been incarcerated for gang related criminal activity. 

Many of the School’s students feel, with these programs, they have a safe place 

to explore and discuss their concerns about peer pressure, gang violence, and the 

actual consequences of how their choices can and will impact their futures. As gang 

activity has increased on the Colville Reservation, the Tribe’s members and law enforcement officers have observed some tribal youth openly rejecting tribal culture 

and values, such as respect for elders and family. In response, PSIS has expanded 

the group discussions to include cultural beliefs and how tribal elders would respond 

to the development of gangs in the community. The increase in the number of 

Colville tribal youth that are being held by the Okanogan County Juvenile Department in recent years for gang related criminal activity has also highlighted the negative impact of gang activity for the School’s students. 

Recommendations 

Like many other Indian tribes, the Colville Tribe is hampered by insufficient 

funding, insufficient legal authority to fully punish offenders, and the reluctance of 

federal authorities to investigate and prosecute violent crimes that occur on the 

Colville Reservation. As the Committee is aware, when the United States declines 

to prosecute crimes in Indian country, tribal courts are only empowered to sentence 

perpetrators of any crime, regardless of its severity, to one year in jail. The May 

4 gang shooting in Omak is illustrative of this predicament. Had the United States 

Attorney declined to prosecute, as is often the case, the only option for the Tribe 

would have been to prosecute the suspect for attempted murder under Colville Tribal law, with a maximum sentence of one year. The Colville Tribe is pleased that 

the tribal Law and Order Act of 2009 contains provisions that address many of 

these issues. 

Based on our experience with gang activity on the Colville Reservation, we offer 

the Committee the following recommendations: 

45 

• Continue to emphasize at any given opportunity that United States Attorneys 

must perform their trust responsibility to investigate and prosecute violent 

crimes in Indian country, particularly major crimes; 

• Continue to impress upon the Administration and the appropriators the need 

to increase funding for BIA law enforcement services and to ensure that any 

increases are used to put additional officers in Indian country; 

• Authorize a new program (or augment existing programs) that would provide 

for grants to schools on or near Indian communities that have demonstrated 

gang problems to implement culturally appropriate education, intervention and 

prevention activities similar to what the Colville Tribe is currently doing at the 

PSIS; 

• Ensure that existing gang prevention initiatives such as Police Activities 

Leagues and School Resource Officers are made available by the BIA to those 

Indian tribes that wish to implement these activities, including providing training to tribes that request it; and 

• Identify and eliminate existing regulatory barriers that prevent the most effective use of tribal law enforcement resources. For example, the Colville Tribe has 

been working with the Committee to clarify in the Tribal Law and Order Act 

that Special Law Enforcement Commission Agreements should reflect the status of certified individuals as federal law enforcement officers for liability purposes when enforcing tribal laws. This technical change would relieve the 

Colville Tribe and other similarly situated Indian tribes from the need to purchase expensive umbrella liability insurance policies to cover instances where 

tribal officers might be sued in their individual capacities for good faith enforcement of tribal laws. Addressing this gap would allow tribes to use their resources for more critical purposes, such as paying for additional shifts or hiring 

new officers. This change also makes sense because in many cases, specifically 

where tribes have contracted law enforcement under P.L. 93–638, tribal officers 

by default investigate and enforce violations of both federal and tribal laws. 

This concludes my statement. At this time, I would be happy to answer any questions the Committee may have. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Thank you Chairman Dorgan, Vice Chairman Barrasso, and members of the Committee for allowing me to provide supplemental information for the Committee’s 

record in connection with the July 30, 2009, oversight hearing on the increase of 

gang activity in Indian country. Again, I would like to commend the members of 

the Committee and the Committee staff for their support for and continued work 

on the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2009. This legislation will address many of the 

issues discussed during the hearing, specifically the lack of patrol officers, jurisdictional complexities, and the reluctance of federal law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute crimes in Indian country. 

Chairman Dorgan mentioned in his opening statement that past reports indicated 

reservation gangs have been relatively unorganized and that gang-related crimes 

were limited but escalating. We are saddened to report that on August 8, 2009, a 

25 year-old man from Lapwai, Idaho, was shot in the head shortly after midnight 

in Omak on our reservation in a drive-by shooting. The shooting occurred in an area 

known for drug and gang activity and the Colville Tribal Police, together with other 

law enforcement agencies, are currently investigating whether the shooting is related to gang activity. As of this writing, no suspects have been arrested and the 

victim remains in critical condition. Like Chairman Dorgan, we echo the statement 

‘‘we need a better response’’ to address this complex issue. 

At the conclusion of the July 30 oversight hearing, Chairman Dorgan requested 

that the witnesses supplement the record to address what their respective tribes 

would do to address gang activity through means other than law enforcement if they 

were provided with additional resources. The Colville Tribes’ response would be to 

engage with our youth in ways that are relevant and meaningful to them. With additional resources to invest in our youth, the Tribes would choose to develop and 

implement multidisciplinary art and multimedia projects throughout the year, either in after school programs or on weekend evenings, to provide constructive outlets, encourage collaboration and reinforce self-esteem and cultural identity for 

youth, and particularly for those not thriving academically. Musical and theatrical 

performances would be used to foster collaboration. Other elements of the curriculum would incorporate lessons learned from providing these outlets in therapy 

and in jail settings as well as those learned from use of role-play and drama in 

schools to improve verbal skills and encourage creative dispute resolution. Murals 

46 

could cover graffiti. Scheduling regular public shows would focus these sessions and 

engage the larger community in this work. To the greatest extent possible, broadcast and print media would also be used to disseminate what the youth produce. 

Additional resources would also be helpful to support development and maintenance 

of a community radio project we’ve been working on for years. 

While these projects focus on engaging youth in our community in constructive 

ways and serve as a deterrent to gang activities, the Colville Tribes are also looking 

to alternative sentencing and peacemaking programs as a way to combat the erosion 

of tribal authority in prosecuting major crimes. The Colville Tribes are implementing, and would continue to implement if provided additional resources, a Peacemaking Court. As the Committee is aware, Peacemaking courts allow for the resolution of conflicts using tribal traditions, customs and culture. Although not fully developed and implemented, the Colville Tribes plan to use this process in some capacity first with youth, introducing them to a culturally-based method that fosters respect for all including self and acknowledging responsibility. If feasible, the Peacemaking Court would then be expanded to include adult cases. The Peacemaking 

Court that the Colville Tribes is implementing would, among other things, (a) call 

on the wisdom and experience of Tribal elders; (b) address youth in conflict as a 

whole person to find the root causes of inappropriate or irresponsible behavior; (c) 

focus on restoration in the community rather than punishment; (d) mentor the 

youth in cultural traditions and rituals; and (e) give to the youth and invite the 

youth to give back to the community. Ultimately, the Peacemaking Court seeks to 

attain peace through healing by healing the causes of the behavior and the damage 

to the community caused by the behavior. Additional financial support would allow 

for the development, implementation and ongoing costs of culturally-based processes 

like the Peacemaking Court that hold youth accountable to their communities. 

Finally, in addressing Chairman Dorgan’s statement at the hearing that the 

‘‘problem with youth violence is that it goes unpunished and then it escalates,’’ the 

Colville Tribes continues to be concerned about finding the most appropriate mechanisms to encourage lawful behavior within the Colville Reservation. The Tribes recently disseminated a survey to our tribal citizens that sought their views about the 

types of penalties that should be available for criminal conduct. The survey included 

options for economic disincentives such as withholding per capita payments, banishment and, in extreme cases, disenrollment. The limits imposed on Tribal governments resulting from the Indian Civil Rights Act make it difficult to always ‘‘make 

the penalty fit the crime,’’ but it may also result in a consideration of other mechanisms to address criminal behavior. 

The more authority that can be returned to Indian tribes to tailor our response 

to crime in our communities, the more likely our efforts will be effective in preventing and deterring it. It is our belief that we must tie our response to criminal 

behavior to our culture so that our people see clearly the link between the laws to 

which they are subject and the ways of our people. 

Again, we appreciate the Committee’s willingness to examine these issues and 

look forward to continuing to assist the Committee in any way we can in addressing 

the causes and responses to gang activity in Indian country. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Nissen, thank you very much. 

Next, we will hear from Mr. Sampson Cowboy, Director of the 

Department of Public Safety at the Navajo Nation, Window Rock, 

Arizona. 

Mr. Cowboy, thank you. 

STATEMENT OF SAMPSON COWBOY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, NAVAJO NATION 

Mr. COWBOY. Good afternoon. Chairman Dorgan and Members of 

the Committee, thank you for allowing the Navajo Nation to testify 

today regarding gang activity in Indian Country. 

My name is Sampson Cowboy and I am Executive Director for 

the Navajo Division of Public Safety. I am President Shirley’s designee at today’s hearing. I would like to thank my staff also. 

The famous phrase that is always used, ‘‘We do more with little,’’ 

and that is what is happening in Navajo Nation. I want to make 

it clear that Navajo Division of Public Safety agrees with you, 

47 

Chairman Dorgan, that this issue has been analyzed and analyzed 

and analyzed, and we need an appropriate amount of funding so 

that Navajo Nation law enforcement has adequate resources to address and combat these issues. 

Moreover, the Navajo Division of Public Safety agrees with the 

June, 2009 report from the Department of Justice that tribal communities and Federal law enforcement must have the flexibility to 

react to specific offenses and also to work collaboratively to address 

proactively up and coming criminal trends. Federal money and 

dedicated personnel can then leverage and maximize assisting tribal efforts. 

My testimony today is divided in three parts: the community, 

with a brief introduction describing Navajo Division of Public Safety; provide Committee with the background of statistical information; and Navajo efforts to curtail proliferation of gangs. Lastly, I 

will provide the Committee with our recommendations on how 

stakeholders involved can successfully counter gang activities. 

Navajo Division of Public Safety background. The Navajo Division of Public Safety has an annual budget of $60 million and 700 

employees. Navajo Public Safety consists of seven police districts 

and six adult correctional facilities, which are dilapidated; 14 percent of Public Safety funds are from Navajo Nation general funds, 

while 86 percent are derived from Federal sources. However, the 

Division of Public Safety is staffed at a low ratio of .06 police officers per 1,000 people, compared to the national average of 2.5 per 

1,000. 

The crime statistics illustrate a daunting challenge for Navajo 

Nation. Navajo Nation law enforcement answers over 289,000 calls 

every year and make over 39,000 arrests, nearly 1,000 of which are 

major crimes. In 2008, the Navajo Nation experienced 14 homicides, 230 sexual offenses, 24 robberies, 363 assaults, 958 burglaries, 1,342 cases of larceny, and 266 cases of arson. We also had 

46 cases of selling or manufacturing drugs and 471 cases of possession of drugs. 

A brief history of gangs in Navajo Nation. In late 1990, Navajo 

Nation report indicated that Navajo youths join gangs for many of 

the same reasons that youth in urban areas join them: poverty, unemployment, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse within families and family breakups. The Navajo report indicated that gang violence is related to other navajo Nation social ills, including domestic and family violence, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, 

poverty, unemployment, and loss of language and culture, the very 

things that fuel gang activity in urban areas. 

In 1999, a Navajo report also indicated that Navajo youth gangs 

are not as heavily engaged in drug dealing, acquiring weapons, and 

the escalation of weapons violence as gangs in urban areas, but 

there is a danger of hardening and escalation of drug trade and 

weapons in the Navajo Nation unless the gang problem is effectively addressed. 

Gentlemen, as we talk about this daunting issue and challenges, 

we also have established some resources that have handled some 

of these issues. The FBI Safe Trails Task Force in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, they have combined the forces together and incarVerDate Nov 24 2008 10:20 Feb 03, 2010 Jkt 054590 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\54590.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
48 

cerated several gang members, and today they are still serving 

time in Federal prison. 

In the mid-2000s, the Navajo Nation once again saw a rise in 

gang activity partly due to the introduction of methamphetamine. 

Statistical information. The Navajo Nation developed an information management system to track the involvement of gangs in the 

commission of crimes. The definition we utilize for a gang is an 

‘‘ongoing formal or informal association of persons whose members 

or associates individually or collectively engage in the commission, 

facilitation and solicitation of any felony act, or who has at least 

one individual who is a criminal street gang member.’’ 

We currently have 225 documented gangs on the Navajo Nation. 

This is a significant increase from the 75 active gang sets that 

were documented in 1997. The total number of gang members on 

Navajo Nation is between 1,500 and 2,000. In 2008, our IMS 

tracked 71 cases of gang-related crimes were tracked. In 2009, we 

have tracked 35 gang-related crimes. The primary crimes committed by gangs on the Navajo Nation are property damage including graffiti, burglary, assaults, theft and public intoxication. 

The recommendations for the Navajo Nation is to capable of 

tracking of this new emergence of gang activity with appropriate 

resources. Appropriate resources include funding for an additional 

six officers in the Drug and Gang Unit, Navajo Nation has its own 

gang unit; funding for an accurate tracking system of gang members and database; and funding for law enforcement equipment, including surveillance camera, night vision and other undercover vehicles. 

In the bigger picture, the Navajo Nation continues to advocate 

for increased funding for criminal justice facilities to prosecute and 

incarcerate criminal gang members. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Cowboy follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SAMPSON COWBOY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF

PUBLIC SAFETY, NAVAJO NATION

Good afternoon Chairman Dorgan, ranking member Barrasso and members of the 

Committee. Thank you for allowing the Navajo Nation to testify today regarding 

gang activity in Indian Country. My name is Sampson Cowboy and I am the Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety (DPS). I am President 

Shirley’s designee at today’s hearing. 

I want to make it clear that the Navajo Nation DPS agrees with you Chairman 

Dorgan that this issue has been analyzed and analyzed and analyzed, and we need 

the appropriate amount of funding so that the Navajo Nation law enforcement has 

the adequate resources to address and combat these issues. Moreover, the Navajo 

Nation DPS agrees with the June, 2009, report from the Department of Justice that: 

‘‘Tribal communities and federal law enforcement must have the flexibility to 

react to a specific criminal offense and also to work collaboratively to address 

proactively up and coming criminal trends. Federal money and dedicated personnel can then leverage and maximize existing tribal efforts.’’ 

My testimony today is divided in three parts: First, I will provide the Committee 

with a brief introduction describing the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety. I 

will then provide the Committee with background and statistical information and 

Navajo Nation’s efforts to curtail the proliferation of gangs. Lastly, I will provide 

the Committee with our recommendations on how all stakeholders involved can successfully counter gang activity. 

49 

Navajo Division of Public Safety Background 

The Division of Public Safety is tasked with investigating crimes, protecting the 

Navajo People, and the Public, and maintaining and staffing the Nation’s detention 

facilities. DPS has an annual budget of nearly $60 million with 700 employees. Navajo Public Safety consists of seven (7) Police Districts and six (6) adult correctional 

facilities. Fourteen (14) percent of Public Safety funds are from Navajo Nation General funds while eighty-six (86) percent are derived from federal sources. However, 

the Division of Public Safety is staffed at a low ratio of .06 Police Officers per 1000 

people, compared to the national average of 2.5 per 1,000. 

The crime statistics illustrate a daunting challenge for the Navajo Nation. Navajo 

Nation Law Enforcement answer over 289,000 calls every year and make over 

39,000 arrests, nearly 1,000 of which are major crimes. In 2008, the Navajo Nation 

experienced 14 homicides, 230 sexual offenses, 24 robberies, 363 assaults, 958 burglaries, 1,342 cases of larceny, and 266 cases of arson. We also had 46 cases of selling or manufacturing drugs and 471 cases of possession of drugs. 

Brief History of Gangs in the Navajo Nation 

A late 1990 Navajo report indicated that Navajo youths join gangs for many of 

the same reasons that youths in urban areas join them—poverty, unemployment, 

child abuse and neglect, substance abuse within families and family breakup. The 

Navajo report indicated that gang violence are related to other Navajo Nation social 

ills, including domestic and family violence, child abuse and neglect, substance 

abuse, poverty, unemployment, and the loss of language and culture—the very 

things that fuel gang activity in urban areas. 

The 1990 Navajo report also indicated that Navajo youth gangs are not as heavily 

engaged in drug dealing, acquiring weapons, and the escalation of weapons violence 

as gangs in urban areas, but there is a danger of hardening and an escalation of 

drug trade and weapons in the Navajo Nation unless the gang problem is effectively 

addressed. 

The 1990’s saw a dramatic rise in gang activity on the Navajo Nation. The Navajo 

Nation established the Window Rock Gang Unit as a result of this increase in gang 

activity. The Window Rock Gang Unit was successful in curtailing the rise of gangs 

by creating a task force of various governmental agencies that sought arrests and 

prosecutions of violent gang members. During the same time period the FBI initiated Operation Safe Trails in New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona to partly address the 

increase in gang-related activity on the Navajo Nation. These three task forces are 

still in existence and depend on federal funding. The United States Attorney’s Office 

work diligently to bring criminal gang members to justice. Several of these convicted 

gang members are still serving time in federal prisons. 

In the mid 2000’s the Navajo Nation once again saw a rise in gang activity partly 

due to the introduction of methamphetamine. The Navajo Nation established the 

Navajo Police Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit as a result of this current increase 

in gang activity. 

Statistical Information 

The Navajo Nation DPS developed an Information Management System to track 

the involvement of gangs in the commission of crimes. The definition we utilize for 

a gang is ‘‘an ongoing formal or informal association of persons whose members or 

associates individually or collectively engage in the commission, attempted commission, facilitation, or solicitation of any felony act, or who has at least one individual 

who is a criminal street gang member.’’ 

We currently have 225 documented gangs on the Navajo Nation. This is a significant increase from the 75 active gang sets that were documented in 1997. The total 

number of gang members on the Navajo Nation is between 1,500 and 2,000. In 2008 

our IMS tracked 71 cases of gang related crimes. In 2009 we have currently tracked 

35 gang related crimes. The primary crimes committed by gangs on the Navajo Nation are property damage including graffiti, burglaries, assaults, theft and public intoxication. The gangs within the Navajo Nation are not currently organized on large 

scales nor are gangs coordinating with other gangs. 

With the recent undercover drug and bootlegging operations that the Navajo Police Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit conducted, the Unit has not seen a significant 

relationship between Navajo Nation gangs and bootlegging. Undercover officers 

have encountered gangs members at some of the residences, but the gang members 

did not associate themselves with the criminal activity involved. The gang members 

appeared to be children of the individual bootleggers. 

However with methamphetamines, the Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit has 

seen an increase in gang activity. Of the past and current sixty (60) targets that 

the Unit has come across five (5) of them were gang members. The Unit noticed that 

50 

the five (5) gang members dealing with methamphetamines were individual gang 

members and not the whole gang. 

The Navajo Police Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit has its own Navajo Nation 

Gang Database. The Unit shares its Field Interview cards with the Arizona Gang 

Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission (GITEM) Database and will be submitting 

gang information to the Rocky Mountain Intelligence Network (RMIN). 

It should be noted that the Navajo Nation’s gathering of gang data is still in its 

infancy. The Navajo Nation’s statistical information can be improved with appropriate funding for a tracking system and additional law enforcement officers to accurately track gang data. The rural aspect of the Navajo Nation creates a challenge 

for DPS regarding the tracking of gangs and their activities. We are in agreement 

with the Department of Justice assessment that the ‘‘remoteness and isolation creates obstacles to effective prevention, control, and reduction of violent crime, drugrelated criminal activity, and gang activity.’’ 

Navajo Nation Efforts and Recommendations 

The Navajo Nation is capable of tackling this new emergence of gang activity with 

the appropriate resources. Appropriate resources include funding for an additional 

six (6) officers in the Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit; funding for an accurate 

tracking system of gang members and database; and funding for law enforcement 

equipment including surveillance cameras; night vision and under cover vehicles. In 

the bigger picture the Navajo Nation continues to advocate for increased funding for 

criminal justice facilities to prosecute and incarcerate criminal gang members. 

The Navajo Nation DPS employs a multi-faceted and collaborative approach in addressing the gang problem. The main ingredient in the Navajo Nation’s arsenal has 

been the working task force between the Navajo Nation, and her federal and state 

counterparts and the tracking of gang members. A prime example of this collaboration is our pilot project in the Eastern Navajo Nation Dlo’ayazhi community located 

in western New Mexico. We employ an arsenal of law enforcement resources including our Gang unit. This pilot project will specifically address the problems experienced in that community. 

In conclusion, the Navajo Nation DPS has risen to the challenge in combating the 

increase in gang activity and will be successful with continued support. On the Navajo Nation, violence and instability are not the norm when it comes to gangs. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Cowboy, thank you very much for being with 

us. 

And finally, Carmen Smith, the Chief of Police, Confederated 

Tribes of Warm Spring, Warm Spring, Oregon. 

Mr. Smith, thank you. 

STATEMENT OF CARMEN SMITH, CHIEF OF POLICE, WARM 

SPRINGS TRIBAL POLICE DEPARTMENT; ACCOMPANIED BY 

BILL ELLIOT, DETECTIVE 

Mr. SMITH. Good afternoon, Chairman Dorgan and Members of 

the Committee. I appreciate this opportunity to appear before the 

Committee on behalf of Warm Spring and the other tribal police 

departments in the Pacific Northwest. I hope my testimony will 

provide this Committee a perspective on criminal gang and drug 

activity in Indian Country from those who have to deal with these 

issues on a daily basis, the tribal police officer. 

It is the responsibility of the over 22 tribal law enforcement organizations currently operating in this region to provide for the 

health and safety of our tribal membership and others residing, 

working or visiting Native American lands. 

However, until now we have not had a voice in matters related 

to enforcement problems in our jurisdictions such as authority, 

funding, special commissions, grants, intelligence sharing, and 

other issues needed in order for us to successfully accomplish our 

mandates. We are the first responders and investigators, but often 

cut off from the needed tools. 

51 

There exists in Indian Country today the twin scourges of drug 

abuse and criminal gang activities. These two menaces left unchecked will undermine the very fabric of Native American society. 

The gang problem is an issue which is most distressing to our communities, as to become a gang member, you must dismiss your 

family and your culture in favor of the gang. This philosophy will 

create a generational loss that Indian society can ill afford. 

In addition, the gangs on the reservation have brought with 

them the same violence as we are witnessing off the reservation 

with drive-by shootings, drug trafficking, home invasions, the assault of elders, the rape of minor females as initiation rites to 

gangs, and murders. 

As presented in our charts, you will note that the gangs to which 

we refer are no longer just copycat, MTV gangsters, but rather 

criminal organizations. These organizations are growing in Indian 

Country at an alarming rate due to the high level of poverty and 

unemployment, and the increase in foreign nationals who have 

married tribal members, or simply moved onto the reservations. 

These subjects have brought with them the organizational skills 

and the access to guns and drugs needed for gangs to operate, and 

have links to Mexican drug trafficking cartels who are currently 

destabilizing that country. 

The gang problem is compounded by the interrelationship of tribal members between reservations and the movement of tribal members from one reservation to another during events like the Pow 

Wow circuit. Yet, the tribal police departments in this region are 

denied, or have restricted access to federally funded criminal intelligence networks and funding from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area programs. There are not even any tribal police representatives who sit on the HIDTA boards so the needs of the reservations in this area are not heard. 

However, even with these constraints, the tribal police agencies 

in this region recognize the gang problem, scratched together some 

funding and banded together with their off-reservation gang task 

forces to attack the gang and drug presence in the HUD housing 

projects on the reservation. Operation Counting Coup received the 

support of the U.S. Attorneys’ Office and we even briefed the FBI. 

The only issue was that of jurisdiction, as these criminal enterprises operated on and off the reservation. This was overcome by 

applying for United States Marshals Service deputations. After reviewing the tribal and local police applications, and the other supporting documentation, the U.S. Marshals Service authorized these 

deputations. 

But, as the tribal and State officers were preparing to be sworn 

in, the Bureau of Indian Affairs inexplicably called the U.S. Marshals Service and had the deputations pulled. After this, the BIA 

refused to explain why, or even return calls, behaving in a manner 

that only can be described as unprofessional. The tribes were forced 

to seek answers from the Department of Interior and the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, who could not understand why the BIA had done this, nor believe they even had the 

authority to do it. 

The tribes were eventually told three weeks later by the Department of Interior that the BIA did this because they were not propVerDate Nov 24 2008 10:20 Feb 03, 2010 Jkt 054590 PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\54590.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
52 

erly briefed, which is false, and the BIA Area Director who sponsored the deputations didn’t have the authority. However, we believe this action was taken out of spite because the success of this 

operation would have made the BIA look worse than they are already perceived. 

The incident aside, it does illustrate the greater problem of the 

bureaucracy that overwhelms any attempts by tribal law enforcement authorities to cope with the public safety issues in their jurisdictions. Congress seems to believe that by providing increased 

funding to BIA, this will translate into increased services in Indian 

Country. This has not been the fact in the Pacific Northwest. When 

Congress gave the BIA millions of dollars for drug enforcement, 

there was not even a survey sent out to tribal departments in order 

to ascertain problem areas or usage. Instead, they used these funds 

to create some sort of BIA-type DEA which the tribes have not seen 

any benefits. 

The BIA law enforcement program is perceived by tribal police 

departments in this region as one of the biggest impediments to 

public safety issues. In their current structure, they are non-communicative and not a good fiduciary for federal funding to Indian 

Country law enforcement programs in this area. 

On the other hand, the United States Attorneys’ Office and the 

FBI, no matter how well-intentioned, can be an overwhelming presence which tends to stifle tribal initiatives. We truly appreciate 

their assistance, yet we need more parity in our relationship. 

When problems arise in Indian Country, Congress assumes the 

tribes need or want more Federal agency assistance, when in fact 

the tribes just want tools and funding to handle their own problems. At the end of the day, the tribal police are the ones who will 

make the difference in the fight against drugs and criminal gangs. 

Over the years, the tribal police agencies in this region have 

brought their officers training and experience comparable to or surpassing their off-reservation peers. If these tribal agencies could 

mutually support one another like the county and local agencies 

are able to do, access the same support systems and ability to create their own task forces like Operation Counting Coup, they will 

have a good chance of turning these problems around. 

The HIDTA system that has been successful in meeting the individual needs of State and county agencies, provides for accountability. These HIDTA funds are administered by a board of county 

and State law enforcement managers, and is a very effective program. However, because of jurisdictional issues and the fact that 

there are no tribal representatives on any of the State HIDTA 

boards, this program is problematic for tribal departments. 

However, we have proposed a HIDTA-type program for Indian 

Country in the Pacific Northwest. This program would allow for 

funding appropriated from Congress to go directly to the affected 

tribes with controls for accountability and direction. As such, we 

have proposed the creation of a Pacific Northwest Inter-Tribal Law 

Enforcement Mutual Aid Program. This would create the same 

type of system for Indian Country. This program will also create 

the transparency that currently is missing in the BIA drug and law 

enforcement programs. 

53 

Every time there is a law enforcement problem in Indian Country, everyone looks to outside agencies for a solution. I am saying 

that given the funding, personnel, access to programs, the ability 

to submit cases directly to the U.S. Attorneys’ Office, and the ability to receive Federal deputations for our officers and our State and 

local partners, tribal police organizations would be able to handle 

most of the situations we currently face. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Smith follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CARMEN SMITH, CHIEF OF POLICE, WARM SPRINGS TRIBAL

POLICE DEPARTMENT

Chairman Dorgan, Vice-Chair Barrasso and members of the Committee: 

I appreciate this opportunity to appear before the committee on behalf of the 

Warm Springs, and other Tribal Police Departments in the Pacific Northwest. I 

hope my testimony will provide this committee with a perspective of criminal gang 

and drug activity in Indian Country from those who have to deal with this issue 

on a daily basis, the Tribal Police Officer. 

It is the responsibility of the over twenty-two (22) Tribal Law Enforcement organizations currently operating in this region to provide for the Health and Safety of 

our Tribal membership, and others residing, working, or visiting Native American 

lands. However, until now we have not had a voice in matters related to enforcement problems in our jurisdictions such as authority, funding, special commissions, 

grants, intelligence sharing, and other issues needed in order for us to successfully 

accomplish our mandates. 

Even though we have excellent working relationships with some of the federal entities that have responsibilities in Indian Country, such as the Federal Bureau of 

Investigation (FBI), and the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO), it is we who 

are the first responders. It is our officers who must deal with the victims, families, 

and suspects. It is also our departments who have daily contact with the children 

who are most at risk of becoming gang members, like the disenfranchised and the 

abused. 

It is also our detectives who are responsible for identifying problems as they are 

emerging, working drug deals, and having to gather intelligence and conduct investigations in an environment which does not provide them with the same access to 

the assets available to their off reservation counterparts. 

There exists in Indian Country today the twin scourge of drug abuse and criminal 

gang activity. These two menaces left unchecked will undermine the very fabric of 

Native American society. The gang problem is an issue which is most distressing 

to our communities, as to become a gang member you must dismiss your family, and 

your culture in favor of the gang. This philosophy will create a generational loss 

that Indian society can ill afford. 

In addition, the gangs on the reservation have brought with them the same violence as we are witnessing off the reservations with drive-by shootings, drug trafficking, home invasions, the assault of elders, the rape of minor females as initiation 

rights to the gang, and murders. 

As presented on our charts (See gang organizational charts) you will note that the 

gangs to which we refer are no longer just copy cat, MTV gangsters, but rather 

criminal organizations. These organizations are growing in Indian Country at an 

alarming rate due to the high level of poverty and unemployment, and the increase 

in foreign nationals (illegal aliens) who have married tribal members, or simply 

moved onto the reservations. These subjects have brought with them the organizational skills and the access to guns and drugs needed for gangs to operate, and have 

links to the Mexican drug trafficking cartels who are currently destabilizing that 

country. The gang problem is compounded by the inter-relationship of tribal members between reservations, and the movement of tribal members from one reservation to another during events like the Pow-Wow circuit. 

Yet, the Tribal Police Departments in this region are denied, or have restricted 

access to federally funded criminal intelligence networks, funding from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) programs, and have even been denied funding from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Domestic Cannabis Eradication Program (DCEP), which every other state and local agency can receive funding. There are not even any Tribal Police representatives who sit on the HIDTA 

boards, so the needs of the reservations in this area are not heard. 

54 

However, even with these constraints the tribal police agencies in this region recognized the gang problem, scratched together some funding, and banded together 

with their off reservation gang task forces to attack the gang and drug presence in 

the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing projects on the reservation. Operation ‘‘Counting Coup’’ received the support of the USAO in 3 judicial districts, and we even briefed the FBI. The only issue was that of jurisdiction as these 

criminal enterprises operated on, and off the reservation. This was overcome by applying for United States Marshal Service (USMS) deputations. After reviewing the 

tribal and local police applications, and the other supporting documentation the U.S. 

Marshal’s Service authorized these deputations. 

But, as the tribal and state officers were preparing to be sworn in, the Bureau 

of Indian Affairs (BIA) inexplicably called the USMS and had the deputations 

pulled. After this the BIA refused to explain why, or even return calls, behaving in 

a manner which can only be described as ‘‘childish,’’ or at best unprofessional. The 

tribes were forced to seek answers from the Department of the Interior (DOI), and 

the President’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), who could not understand why the BIA had done this, nor believed they even had the authority to 

do it. The tribes were eventually (3 weeks later) told by the DOI that the BIA did 

this because they were not properly briefed (which is false), and the BIA Area Director who sponsored the deputations didn’t have the authority. However, we believe 

this action was taken out of spite because the success of this operation would have 

made the BIA look worse than they are already perceived. 

This incident aside, it does illustrate the greater problem of the bureaucracy that 

smothers any attempts of Tribal Law Enforcement authorities to cope with the public safety issues in their jurisdictions, no matter how benevolent, or capricious these 

federal or state entities may be. Congress seems to believe that by providing increased funding to the BIA, will translate into increased services in Indian Country. 

This has not been the fact in the Pacific Northwest. When congress gave the BIA 

millions of dollars for drug enforcement there was not even a survey sent out to 

Tribal Departments in order to ascertain problem areas or ideas for this funding 

usage, instead they used these funds to create some sort of BIA type DEA which 

the tribes have not seen any benefits. The BIA law enforcement program is perceived by tribal police departments in this region as one of the biggest impediments 

to public safety issues. In their current structure they are non communicative, arrogant, and not a good fiduciary for federal funding to Indian Country law enforcement programs in this area. 

On the other hand, the USAO and the FBI, no matter how well intentioned, can 

be an overwhelming presence which tends to stifle tribal initiatives. We truly appreciate their assistance, yet we need more parity in our relationship, more reminiscent 

of their relationships with off reservation police departments. 

When problems arise in Indian Country, Congress assumes the tribes need, or 

want more federal agency assistance, when in fact the tribes just want the tools and 

funding to handle their own problems. At the end of the day, the tribal police are 

the ones who will make the difference in the fight against drugs and criminal gangs. 

Over the years, the Tribal Police agencies in this region have brought their officers 

training, and experience comparable to, or surpassing their off reservation peers. If 

these Tribal agencies are given the opportunity to mutually support one another 

(much like the county and local agencies are able to do), access the same support 

systems available to state and local officers, and the ability to create their own task 

forces like Operation ‘‘Counting Coup,’’ they will have a good chance of turning 

these problems around. 

The state and county agencies have the HIDTA system that has been successful 

in providing for the individual needs of each department, and accountability for the 

government agencies providing the funding. These HIDTA funds are administered 

by a board of county and state law enforcement managers and is a very effective 

program. However, because of jurisdictional issues, and the fact that there are no 

tribal representatives on any of the state HIDTA boards, this program is problematic for tribal departments. However, we have proposed a HIDTA type program for 

Indian Country in the Pacific Northwest. This program would allow for funding appropriated form Congress to go directly to the affected tribes with controls that provide for accountability and direction. As such, we have proposed the creation of a 

Pacific Northwest Inter-Tribal Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Program (ITLEMAP) 

would create the same type of system for Indian Country. This program will also 

create the transparency of operation that is currently missing in the current BIA 

drug enforcement and law enforcement programs. 

Every time there is a law enforcement problem in Indian Country, everyone looks 

to outside agencies for a solution. I am saying that given the funding, personnel, 

access to programs, the ability to submit cases directly to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 

55 

and the ability to receive federal deputations for our officers and our state and local 

partners, Tribal Police organizations would be able to handle most of the situations 

we currently face. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Smith, thank you very much. 

Mr. Mousseau, we are trying to determine now when the votes 

will start on the Floor of the Senate. I want to have opportunities 

to question. I know Senator Johnson will as well. 

Is the Chairman of your Housing Agency here that you wished 

to have say a few words? 

Mr. MOUSSEAU. Yes, he is here and I would like for him to say 

a few words. 

The CHAIRMAN. Let’s do that. If he would pull up to the table. 

He can pull a chair up to the table with you, if you like. 

And would you identify yourself for the record? 

Mr. IRON CLOUD. My name is Paul Iron Cloud. I am the Chief 

Executive Officer of the Oglala Sioux Housing Authority. 

And I want to say thank you to you, Senator Dorgan, for having 

this most important oversight hearing. 

And I also want to greet Senator Johnson, who is a Senator for 

the State of South Dakota. 

Things that were said here by these four gentlemen is very true. 

The Oglala Sioux Housing Authority has 1,150 units, and we are 

60 miles wide and 100 miles long. We have 40 police officers, and 

it seems that every day we are getting more violence. 

You know, being a Housing Director, you hear all of the things 

that’s going on on the reservation. Tenants calling in saying, Paul, 

I am scared. What can you do? You know, that touches my heart 

very deeply to have our people live in an unsafe environment. 

We have some very good families living there, but this gang violence is taking over our reservation. There has got to be consequences for these lawbreakers. We have bootlegging that is there. 

But I just want to mention something briefly here. When we had 

the drug elimination grant back in 2000, we curbed a lot of this violence because of tenant patrols, tenant organizations. Youth, they 

had things for the youth to do. And I felt it had a big impact on 

our Indian Housing Authority. And that, I want to thank Senator 

Tim Johnson for introducing the reauthorization of the drug elimination grant. That is going to help us curb some of this. 

But I think our most important issue now is to get more police 

officers to get a control on our communities, because the way it is 

now, you know, they are having to travel 20 to 30 miles to answer 

a call. They don’t have the backup that they need. 

You know, everybody is living a real tough life at Pine Ridge, 

and I am pretty sure it is everyplace else. The sister tribe, Rosebud, is here today, Amos Prue. He had some things to say when 

we made our rounds with the Senate. And he, too, has the same 

problem areas. 

But I feel that when we are an unsafe community, the decisions 

that are made with our people are not good. I think if we really 

put our environment back together where we have a safe house, 

you know, the mentality of our people is going to change, I would 

guarantee you that. The mentality of our people will change. 

So we need police officers. We need a court system that is going 

to prosecute these perpetrators. There are just so many things that 

56 

I would like to say, but again, Senator Dorgan, I just want to 

thank you for holding these hearings. I know you had one at 

Standing Rock. I didn’t have the opportunity to go, but I am looking that you have some oversight hearings maybe in South Dakota 

to hear, to tell what is going on on our reservations because it is 

pretty much the same at the Oglala Sioux Tribe has 40,000 plus 

members, and if we don’t get enough police officers, you know, 

there is going to be a disaster. 

And one other thing I want to say is that in one community, they 

were going to start packing guns if something wasn’t done. So you 

know, you could really see a total disaster if we don’t get anything 

done. 

So I want to thank you for your time. 

The CHAIRMAN. Well, let me thank you for your testimony and 

thank all of you for your work. 

Let me mention to you that we are working, so far unsuccessfully, but we will be successful on questioning what has happened 

to FBI agents. In 1998, Attorney General Reno testified there are 

102 FBI agents that are dedicated to Indian Country, 102. In 2000 

and 2005, Congress appropriated 52 additional officers, FBI officers 

for Indian Country. That adds up to me to be 154 FBI agents dedicated to Indian Country. In fact, there are only 114. 

So somewhere we have 40 FBI agents that disappeared from the 

requirements to participate on Indian Country criminal justice 

issues. And we are trying to determine why. We know why we appropriated the money in the Congress. We dedicated these positions to Indian law enforcement, and somehow they got appropriated to other duties. 

So we are trying to work very hard with the Justice Department 

and FBI to reconcile what happened to the number of FBI folks 

that are supposed to be dedicated to Indian Country and to law enforcement in Indian Country. 

Mr. Nissen, I know you were emotional about your brother, 

speaking about your brother being involved in gang activities. You 

did not provide a conclusion for that. Is there a hopeful conclusion, 

I hope, in your family for that? 

Mr. NISSEN. Yes, there is actually. It is a sensitive subject. I 

could say, I mean, it could have been a lot worse, but he was down 

that path a while, and it ends up successful. He actually just graduated college recently, and he was really deep in gang activity five, 

ten years ago. And you know, it is just real emotional because I see 

it happening to other parts of my family, other cousins and everything else. With efforts of our family and more grassroots efforts, 

we were able to intervene and he, like I said, just graduated college, so it does end good. 

It touches our family and I am more emotional over what is happening to our young girls on the reservation and the fact that we 

can’t do anything about it because there has been threats of their 

lives, their families’ lives. And ultimately, like these other gentlemen said, we need more resources, and we have 1.4 million acres 

and three officers covering that area at any given time. 

I am hopeful that with some of our efforts and our cultural restoration that we are seeing, especially with the younger kids, we 

are seeing that they are realizing who they are. I know a lot of the 

57 

gang incidents are for a sense of identity and family. And so we 

are trying to bring that back into the community and help them 

realize they don’t need that in their lives. 

But, my brother, he is doing well now. 

The CHAIRMAN. Well, thank you very much. 

I assume all of you have seen circumstances like Mr. Nissen’s 

brother, who perhaps could have tipped in either direction, beginning the activities of a gang and so on, and could have tipped in 

the direction of perhaps losing their lives or now being incarcerated 

in prison for the long term, or tipped in the other direction of all 

of a sudden straightening out and graduating from college and having some hope for the future. 

I guess I would ask all of you, as you have seen these young people, what do you think represents the approach that leans over in 

the right direction for them? What are the things on your reservation that can best help them? 

Some people say to me, the most important thing we need at the 

moment, we need youth clubs; we need facilities where they have 

someplace to go and something to do and supervised opportunities. 

Some say that is the most important. 

But as you have watched children on your reservations, some 

move in the wrong directions, some move in the right direction. 

What are the elements that you think best describes success? 

Mr. Smith? 

Mr. SMITH. I believe it is the family. Also, what you said about 

the having things for the kids. On our reservation, they are trying 

to get things for kids, but it doesn’t pan out. There is nothing for 

the kids to do. But family support, support from the social services 

programs, even police officers have talked to some of these gang 

members, and they have turned some of them around. Some have 

come back. Some got out of it, and they have come to me, this aid, 

this detective or this officer had talked with them, gave them some 

support, got them in the right direction, and next thing I know, 

they are off of that. They are going to school. They are working. 

Their proud before the family now. 

So I think it is the support from the community and the family 

that does it. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Nissen just described something that sounded to me like Mr. Mousseau described, and that is violence against 

women, particularly young girls, by gang members apparently almost impervious to any sanctions or worry of being caught because 

there are so few police officers that violent crime, beatings and 

rape will occur with very few arrests. 

Is that what you see, Mr. Mousseau? Was I accurate in hearing 

what you were saying? 

Mr. MOUSSEAU. Yes. We do have a lot of our gang members who 

know how the court system. They know that the law enforcement 

sometimes may take, based on priorities, sometimes an hour for 

the call to be answered, so we have a lot of unreported sexual assaults, regular assaults on females, domestic violence is up. 

And if we had something for kids like more for cultural and educational programs, I think that is the way to go. In my incident 

where the shooting I was involved in, I used to be a teacher prior 

to being a police officer, and this gang member was a student of 

58 

mine at one time as a young kid. And my next dealing with him 

was that fateful night of the shooting. And it went from a nice kid 

to this. 

So I think we need to all sit back and take a realistic look and 

see what we can do realistically. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Cowboy, your assessment of what we can do 

and your assessment of seeing kids fall over on the right side of 

the path, I assume everyone in this panel agrees that we are woefully inadequate in the number of law enforcement resources that 

we commit. But it is probably also the case that committing more 

resources, more so-called ‘‘cops on the beat,’’ more Indian law enforcement, is not by itself going to resolve the issue. 

Is that correct, Mr. Cowboy? 

Mr. COWBOY. Thank you, sir. 

I think the two areas is idling. Our kids are idling out there and 

they start to sway in a different direction. The other is family. 

Some of them don’t have family support. And in order to combat 

that, even from a law enforcement perspective, we have tried student youth academy, but with the lack of police personnel, that 

kind of hinders our effort in providing prevention. Even attacking 

graffiti, you know, the community, if there is a lack of police officers, then we really can’t get in there and start handling some of 

these issues. 

The CHAIRMAN. Let me ask you, is there a strong relationship between drugs and gangs, with drugs being a method of financing the 

gangs? 

Mr. COWBOY. I think that is correct, sir. You know, money is always the driving force behind all evil. So I think that is where, especially with the economic condition on a lot of these reservations. 

I think that is why kids are drawn to that. 

The CHAIRMAN. And the supply of drugs is in most cases coming 

from outside the reservation, so law enforcement I am sure is trying to track the supply of drugs that comes in to the formation of 

a gang or an existing gang on the reservation. What can you tell 

me about that, any of you, in terms of the source of, the supply of 

drugs? We know, for example, that Mexican drug suppliers, particularly in methamphetamine and so on, were targeting Indian 

reservations. 

But Mr. Mousseau? 

Mr. MOUSSEAU. If I can, I would like to ask our gang expert, Mr. 

Forney, to answer that on the basis of what our public safety has 

been. 

Mr. FORNEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

To answer your question, one of the things we have is, you notice 

the high number of gang members that we mentioned and those 

are what is fluctuating in and out of the reservation at any given 

time, because most of the drugs that we come across do come mainly out of Denver, Omaha and Minneapolis. So we don’t have a lot 

of production there. 

We did have some incidents of production of methamphetamines 

on the eastern side of our reservation, but most of it is coming out 

and the drug of choice right now is cocaine, which, you know, it’s 

coming in mainly out of Denver and Minneapolis and Omaha. 

59 

The CHAIRMAN. And are the suppliers of that targeting gang activities especially? 

Mr. FORNEY. Yes, they are coming in, doing a lot of recruitment. 

Like we mentioned in our testimony, I think that a lot of it is because of the rural-ness, the jurisdictional complexities, the lack of 

manpower. They want to use it sort of like a hub. They can come 

in and centralize. It is central United States, just like we said, the 

rural-ness of it. 

We don’t know if they have a lot of hiding places. With the lack 

of patrol, a lot of drug transactions are taking place. I know local 

law enforcement, like Rapid City, has interacted with some large 

transports. We don’t know where that was going or where they 

were coming from. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Mousseau, you indicated that you were shot 

by a gang member. Is that correct? 

Mr. MOUSSEAU. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. And that recently, a female officer on your reservation had her arm broken and now she and her family are in 

hiding or at least threatened by gangs on the reservation? 

Mr. MOUSSEAU. Yes, that was over a year ago she had her arm 

broken by a gang member, and up until July 12, where she was 

in a fight for her life when a gang member knocked her down and 

was choking her. So she had to use deadly force on that one, and 

that is where all the death threats do come from. 

And the gang members know by threatening not only our police 

officers, but other reservations as well, because our police department lacks commission cards, so we don’t fall under the protection 

of a Federal officer. 

The CHAIRMAN. Right. 

Mr. MOUSSEAU. So it is non-prosecuted on a Federal level and 

also sometimes on the tribal level, so there is no repercussions for 

them. 

The CHAIRMAN. Well, you know, the law enforcement bill that we 

have created, bipartisan and now introduced in the Congress, 

would treat tribal officers as Federal officers, which means that in 

addition to authorizing tribal police to enforce Federal laws, the 

commissions would make it a Federal crime to assault or to threaten a tribal police officer, which I think would go a long way in trying to begin to address this, so you would have the same protections as other law enforcement officials. 

Mr. MOUSSEAU. Yes, I want to personally thank you for that aspect because I think in Indian Country, this has been 15, 20 years 

coming, because we have not had the same protection afforded as 

every other national program. 

Being a officer in Indian Country is a lot different because we 

have to enforce our own tribal laws, as well as Federal laws. So we 

have two sets of laws that we need to enforce, as opposed to just 

city laws. 

The CHAIRMAN. Let me ask any of you whether you have had 

success in some alternatives to incarceration. I know that, I would 

guess, having visited a number of detention facilities, that if your 

reservation is like some I have visited, your detention facilities are 

full. Very often, you don’t have separate facilities for juvenile ofVerDate Nov 24 2008 10:20 Feb 03, 2010 Jkt 054590 PO 00000 Frm 00063 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\54590.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
60 

fenders. And so have you achieved success with alternatives, I 

should say, to incarceration? If so, what are those successes? 

Mr. Smith? 

Mr. SMITH. We don’t have very many successes because there 

aren’t very many programs that take these offenders in. There is 

a lot of, you know, gang activity in our reservation, too. The same 

thing that happens over there, happens in Warm Springs. 

You know, he talked about deputizations, the BIA deputizations 

that we have been trying to get, too. 

There is a case out of the Umatilla Reservation. The had a couple 

of rapes and a series of assaults over there, and they have been 

trying to get these commissions so that the State District Attorney 

said he would take these cases, but without that deputization, he 

wouldn’t do that. So these cases that would have went into State 

court would have been prosecuted, but now they are not prosecuted 

because they don’t have the deputization. 

So you know, that is kind of a hang-up for all of us here and the 

other tribes. Without that, we can’t prosecute them on our own. We 

don’t have jurisdiction to go help another tribe because of that. So 

these are the jurisdictional issues that we talk about. And if we 

don’t have that, then we can’t pursue them like we normally would, 

like in tribal court or in Federal court. 

So that is an issue. 

The CHAIRMAN. Let me, Mr. Smith, let me ask you a couple of 

questions about the operation called Counting Coup which you described. My understanding is that a number of tribal police agencies in a region put together some joint funding and banded together with their off-reservation gang task forces so that you had 

Indian and non-Indian folks involved in the task force to attack 

gang and drug presence in HUD housing projects on the reservation. 

You stated in your testimony here that you received support from 

three judicial districts of the U.S. Attorneys’ Office. Is that correct? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. And you briefed the FBI on what you were doing. 

Because the jurisdiction was operated on and off the reservation, 

you applied to the U.S. Marshals Service for deputizations for the 

officers involved. Correct? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. After they reviewed the tribal and local police 

applications and other supporting documents, the U.S. Marshals 

Service authorized the deputizations. So at that point, you had a 

task force that had been deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service, 

approved by the U.S. Attorneys’ Office, and had been acknowledged 

by the FBI at least through briefings. Is that correct? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes, but they weren’t approved. 

The CHAIRMAN. I understand. I am going to get to that. 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. And at that point, the tribal and State officers 

were apparently going to be sworn in and they were going to be 

sworn in by whom for what? 

Mr. SMITH. For the U.S. Marshals—— 

The CHAIRMAN. Was that the deputization? 

Mr. SMITH. Deputization for U.S. Marshals. 

61 

The CHAIRMAN. Okay. So they had been approved, but not yet 

deputized, and now they are about to be deputized. What happened? 

Mr. SMITH. Well, I received a call saying that—— 

The CHAIRMAN. From whom? 

Mr. SMITH. From my colleague here, Bill Elliot, who works with 

me. He got a call from the U.S. Marshals Service in Portland, who 

called him and said, we came in on a Thursday. We sent everybody 

letters saying, hey, we are going to be sworn in on Friday morning. 

Everybody got there Thursday night. So that Friday morning, we 

were going in to be sworn in. I get a call just before five o’clock 

saying that, hey, the BIA called the U.S. Marshals in Portland, 

said that we didn’t have the authority to do that, to hold onto the 

deputizations until they worked something out. 

So at that time, the Marshals just held onto them. I called the 

Regional Director, who is Stan Speaks, because he was in D.C. at 

the time. He just met with the BIA. He was on his flight going 

back to Portland when I called him, and I said, hey, have you 

heard this, what I have just explained to you. And he said, no. I 

said here’s what happened. 

So he tried to call the BIA and says, hey, what is going on? He 

said we just met no more than 30 minutes ago. Everything is going 

to be fine. Now, there is an issue. And couldn’t get any response. 

So we kept trying to get a response on why this was stopped. We 

haven’t gotten one. We were asked to come up to present some 

gang activity on Indian Country to ONDCP. We did that. In that 

meeting, we brought up what had happened, and they were concerned because they said they felt that they didn’t have the right 

to pull those deputizations or the authority to do so. 

And I said, well, what can we do? I said, we had this task force 

going. We are ready to go. We have operations going, but now it 

is on hold now because we didn’t get that. 

And later on again we got a, we finally got a response saying 

that they weren’t informed. That is why it wasn’t done. 

The CHAIRMAN. And were they informed? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. And who informed whom about this? 

Mr. SMITH. Me and Detective Elliot did. 

The CHAIRMAN. Who did you inform? 

Mr. SMITH. Pat Ragsdale and Mario Redlegs. Pat Ragsdale is the 

Director of Law Enforcement Services and Mario Redlegs is a Supervisor Special Agent in charge of drug enforcement. 

The CHAIRMAN. And you informed them personally? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. And so they told you then later that you had not 

informed them, and therefore they stopped the deputization? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. We also presented this program that I mentioned here, the task force, with all these tribes. Everything that 

we have done in this program we sent copies and met with the BIA 

on it, the deputizations, the task force. We did a threat assessment. 

We presented that to them. Everything that we had, we presented, 

all the tribes that sponsored this task force, we gave them all that 

information of all the tribes; a proposal on what the program is 

about; what we are trying to do. 

62 

So everything was reported to them. I felt everything was a go. 

The CHAIRMAN. Tell me the time frame on this. When was the 

deputization supposed to have occurred? 

Mr. SMITH. Let’s see, just trying to think. 

The CHAIRMAN. This year, last year? 

Mr. SMITH. This year. 

The CHAIRMAN. This year. Within the last six months? 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. You have put a portion of this in your 

testimony. Would you complete that with dates and contacts so 

that I can have all the details and resubmit that to the Committee? 

And we will then proceed to ask the BIA what has happened here. 

My own view is the BIA is unbelievably bureaucratic. Things 

happen that are never quite explained. And I would like to understand what happened here. It just seems to me on its face that you 

were trying to advance law enforcement by connecting with off-reservation, reaching an agreement on how to do joint operations, getting deputization from the U.S. Marshals Service. 

It appears to me that this is exactly the kind of thing that should 

happen and I don’t have any idea why it would not have been allowed to continue. So I will inquire about it, but I will need to have 

you put dates, places and so on in an expanded memorandum. 

Yes, sir? 

Mr. SMITH. We have a chart here that I would like to go over, 

to let you see, and have Detective Elliot just brief you on it briefly, 

on the operations that we have going in the gang area and drug 

trafficking. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. 

I will have to ask that—Detective? 

Mr. ELLIOT. Yes, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. I will ask you to be brief. I understand now we 

are going to start a vote in about five minutes. But I appreciate 

having the opportunity to see this. 

Mr. ELLIOT. I’ll be brief. Actually, in building up our justification 

for this operation Counting Coup, we started working up who the 

drug traffickers are operating on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and the organizational structure. It shows the whole 

criminal structure that was present in that they had a chain of 

command, and this is just one of the ways to identify that hierarchy and they had captains, lieutenants, street soldiers, and associates carry drugs. And then we also developed a connection with 

a Mexican cartel. 

The CHAIRMAN. So is this is the work preparatory to doing this 

joint operation? You actually did the matrix and mapped out 

through investigative work, I assume, what this gang was, what 

the structure was? 

Mr. ELLIOT. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. This was just on Warm 

Springs. We also did this for the off-reservation Tribes. We were 

working with Colville Reservation that also did similar workups of 

their gang structure and who was in charge, who was the target, 

who can make Federal cases in HUD housing areas and identify 

our top 10 gang members and drug traffickers on the reservations 

to break out the organization chart and identify the head of its cartel who now lives in Mexico, and trafficks methamphetamine down 

63 

there who has his Warm Springs address. These two women right 

here are Warm Springs members. 

According to the Border Patrol, we have over 400 plus crossings 

between Mexico and Warm Springs. And then also we also discovered a lot of imported methamphetamine from intelligence briefings with the other tribal police departments on names that popped 

up on traffickers and gang members living on Nez Perce and on the 

reservations all around with tribal or interstate connection. That is 

about it. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. Well, Detective, thank you very much. 

You have obviously done a lot of work. This is not just some notion 

someone has of going after some gang that is amorphous. You have 

actually identified and described the structure, and when gangs 

have structure, that is not just some loose association in most 

cases. 

So I appreciate the work you have done. 

We will be inquiring of the BIA to find out what has happened 

here, but we would like to encourage, in fact, the law enforcement 

bill that we have created actually moves towards encouraging the 

very kinds of things, Mr. Smith, that you were engaged in. We 

want to try to create harmony between on-reservation and off-reservation activities because it will enhance law enforcement on the 

reservation if we can do that. 

We understand the tribal justice system is not the same as the 

criminal justice system off the reservation, but that should not prohibit us from finding ways to cooperate. And the legislation that 

John Harte has worked, along with our staff, to put together attempts to try to see if we can find areas of cooperation and harmonization, so that is very much in line with what we are trying to 

do. 

I think what you have described here is something of great urgency. It is not as if we haven’t known that there is urgency. I held 

a hearing just in recent weeks on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation once again, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs had a surge 

of additional law enforcement activity there. It was very successful. 

It reduced the violent crime rates substantially. 

Now, that surge is over and we are back to a lower level of law 

enforcement activity, which is troublesome, and we will see now. I 

would expect another spike in criminal activity on that reservation. 

First and foremost, we have to find a way to reconcile the responsibilities of the Federal Government with the actions of the Federal 

Government. As I said when I started, we actually have signed the 

bottom line on treaties and said we promised. We actually have 

created trust responsibilities and said we commit ourselves. The 

fact is, over decades, many decades, the Federal Government has 

not met those promises and not kept its trust responsibility. 

And so we are trying very hard on this Committee to find ways 

to improve law enforcement, to begin to push this Congress, push 

the Presidents to meet our trust responsibility and meet our obligations. 

The gang activity is a bit of a different subject for us because we 

have had discussions about methamphetamine. We have had hearings about teen suicide. We have had hearings about violent crime. 

64 

And in many ways, I assume that gang activity threads the needle 

on all of these same subjects. 

So I appreciate those of you who work in law enforcement every 

day, that you came here to tell us your experience. What I would 

like to do is this. I would like to ask you as you go back to your 

reservations and continue your work, if you would take a look at 

your testimony that you have submitted today and add that which 

you might think would be helpful to us, and what would you do if 

you had additional resources to invest, particularly in youth on 

your reservation? 

How would you best invest those resources into the lives of young 

people on the reservation that you believe would move them in a 

direction that is counter towards gang activity? That would be very 

helpful to us, and frankly, you do this all day every day. It is what 

you have committed your lives to do, and I think you could be very, 

very helpful to this Committee in trying to evaluate the investment 

in youth that might be most productive. 

I am going to end the hearing at that point, and I will tell those 

who are in the audience and others that we will keep the hearing 

record open for two weeks, and those who wish to submit written 

testimony are welcome to do so, to add to the permanent record of 

this Committee. 

I thank the witnesses for the hearing. This hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 3:30 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

(65) 

A P P E N D I X 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL, U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON

Mr. Chairman, thank you for your continued leadership of this Committee and 

your dedication to finding ways to help Native America fight reservation crime and 

in particular the growing influence of gangs. 

I would like to begin by welcoming Brian Nissan, a member of the Colville Tribal 

Council. Brian traveled 3,000 miles discuss his, and the Colville tribes’ efforts to 

combat the influence of gangs on their reservation. 

Over the last five years, the Colville tribal police have seen a large increase in 

gang activity on the reservation and have document the presence of at least six distinct gangs. More recently the tribe has had to deal with shocking incidences of violence between rival gangs with limited resources. 

At any given time there are only three Bureau of Indian Affairs officers available 

to cover the tribes nearly 2,300 square mile reservation. 

I know that the Colville tribe has implemented culturally appropriate programs 

in their schools to help keep their youth from becoming involved with gangs, but 

I also look forward to receiving the tribe’s recommendations for combating gang violence. 

I would also like to welcome Chief Carmen Smith from the Warm Springs Tribe 

of Oregon. Carmen has been working cooperatively with several tribes in my state 

to combat the drugs and gangs that are infesting reservations across the Northwest. 

It is my hope that the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2009, when passed, will encourage these kinds of collaborative task forces and coalitions. 

In the mean time I will continue to encourage the BIA too support tribal initiatives to fight crime on their reservations. 

We are here today to receive testimony on the increased challenges tribes face in 

dealing with gangs, both homegrown and foreign. I believe that the Tribal Law and 

Order Act of 2009, which I co-sponsored, will play an important role in assisting 

tribes in combating the problem of gangs. 

I am encouraged by all of the efforts these two tribes have taken to keep their 

reservations safe; however, I am concerned that we won’t be hearing from any witnesses representing the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Department of Justice. 

These two agencies play a hugely significant role in law enforcement on reservations yet they are absent today. 

Their absence combined with their recent admission that no verifiable data on the 

rate of violent crimes on Indian reservations exists further solidifies my belief that 

the Tribal Law and Order Act of the 2009 needs to be passed into law as soon as 

possible. 

Once again, my thanks to Chairman Dorgan for his dedication to these issues, 

and I look forward to working with you to enact into law the Tribal Law and Order 

Act of 2009. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. RON WYDEN, U.S. SENATOR FROM OREGON

I want to thank Chairman Dorgan and the Indian Affairs Committee for holding 

this hearing to examine the increase in gang activity in Indian Country. My home 

state of Oregon has certainly been impacted by this problem, and I am especially 

pleased that the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs are represented here by Police Chief Carmen Smith and Detective Bill Elliott. I share with Chief Smith and 

Detective Elliott very serious concerns about activities of organized gangs on Indian 

reservations. 

I am pleased not only that the Committee is devoting attention to this issue, but 

also that other federal agencies are focusing on this problem. The Department of 

Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are all studying this issue and working to address it. I applaud the efforts 

66 

of Associate Attorney General Thomas Perrelli to hold a series of regional meetings 

and to organize a national meeting to study the problem and formulate a response. 

Already there is a great deal of evidence of that gang activity in Indian Country 

is a serious and increasing problem. The crime rate in Indian Country is higher per 

capita than for any other racial group. In Oregon, at least three Tribes have reported experiencing drug-related gang activity, including manufacturing, distributing, and selling meth, marijuana, and cocaine. The FBI and federal prosecutors 

report that gangs are also responsible for an increase in violent crime on Indian reservations, such as beatings, gang rapes, elder abuse, home invasions, and drive-by 

shootings. Gangs use these violent tactics to assert authority and terrorize Tribe 

members. 

There is no doubt that this growing gang problem presents grave issues for both 

Native Americans as well as society beyond Indian Country. Gang activity disrupts 

and endangers the lives of those residing in Tribal Housing Authority residences. 

Gangs are also able to use Indian reservations as bases of operation to facilitate 

drug manufacturing and trafficking. It is clear that entrepreneurial drug gangs are 

able to exploit Indian Country due to a lack of tribal law enforcement resources, jurisdictional barriers, and other challenges that have prevented stronger coordination 

between local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies. 

As the Native American population has become more centralized, an increasing 

number of tribal members reside in Tribal Housing Authority property managed by 

the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Drug gangs have infiltrated many of these housing developments by moving in with residents or by recruiting residents into the gang. These public housing communities are now experiencing the same problems that affect similar neighborhoods off reservations in 

urban areas. 

For example, the Warm Springs Tribal Gang Unit has documented 86 gang members who are currently active on their reservation. Two-thirds of the gangs that are 

active on the Warm Springs reservation have members who are residents or live 

with residents of HUD districts. In the West Hills, the Warm Springs HUD district 

with the highest level of violence, gangs have been responsible for assaults, property 

damage, and drive by shootings. 

The dramatic upsurge in the proliferation of street gangs on Indian reservations 

has generated a parallel increase in drug-related violence for the Northwest Tribes. 

Once established, it is very difficult to eliminate the gang presence and to end the 

commission of violent crime in these housing developments. 

In addition to using violence to intimidate the community, gangs rely upon drug 

revenues and drug dependency to further control Indian reservation residents. 

Gangs understand that Indian reservations provide a vulnerable population that is 

prone to substance abuse. They also realize that Indian reservations present an opportunity to expand drug sales without infringing on established turf. The gangs 

have focused their expansion on communities with little or no law enforcement presence. They have also targeted youth on reservations, often directing activity towards 

schools, social centers, and residential areas where youth are prevalent. 

A growing dynamic associated with gangs and drug trafficking in Indian Country 

in the involvement of Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs). A number 

of Mexican DTOs are using Indian reservations to stage their operations. Members 

of DTOs have taken control of residences in tribal housing developments. Most Tribal police departments simply lack the resources and capacity to handle the problems 

presented by these DTOs. In addition to being heavily armed and very violent, 

Mexican DTOs pose cultural and language challenges, as well as jurisdictional problems, for tribal law enforcement agencies. Further, the DTOs move their activities 

from reservation to reservation in order to avoid detection and apprehension, and 

to exploit the inability of local, state, and federal law enforcement authorities to operate on Tribal lands. 

To help combat this growing problem, I support the establishment of an InterTribal Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Program (ITLEMAP) patterned on the HIDTA 

model, but tailored to meet the challenges confronting Indian tribes. This program 

would enable tribal law enforcement agencies to pool resources and information, and 

would allow gang and drug issues in Indian Country to be addressed at a regional 

level. Just as HIDTA has proven to be a successful tool for non-tribal law enforcement, I believe ITLEMAP would help tribes tackle these challenges that are not isolated, but span reservations across the Northwest. 

I want to commend the exceptional effort put forward by more than 20 tribes in 

Oregon, Washington, and Idaho to design ITLEMAP. I especially want to recognize 

Chief Smith and Detective Elliot for their leadership, without which this proposal 

would not have been possible. Reaching agreement on the vexing problems that had 

to be resolved in order to formulate this proposal was a daunting challenge. 

67 

ITLEMAP demonstrates that tribal law enforcement agencies not only have the capacity to cooperate across multiple Indian reservation and state boundaries but also 

understand the multi-faceted approach needed to address serious gang and drug 

issues. 

If implemented, ITLEMAP would provide organization, funding, and personnel to 

tribal law enforcement efforts across the Pacific Northwest. It would allow tribes to 

address the pressing criminal challenges discussed at this hearing: gangs, drug 

manufacturing and trafficking, violent crime, and the general lack of manpower in 

Indian Country. ITLEMAP would give tribal law enforcement agencies expanded capacities such as specially-trained tactical units, temporary force enhancement, targeted investigations, and dedicated analytical assistance. 

ITLEMAP would provide trained regional tactical response units capable of handling critical incident events, border security, and counter-drug operations such as 

marijuana surveillance and eradication efforts. This program would allow tribal police agencies to assist one another on large, complex violent crime or narcotics investigations, and to share information with each other in a way that facilitates investigations and enhances officer safety. 

As stated, ITLEMAP is patterned on HIDTA, which provides states with an analytical division designed to support drug based investigation, and disseminate intelligence to agencies that may be affected by organized DTOs. Under the HIDTA 

model, the program provides specific funding for initiatives submitted by participating agencies. Each initiative receives the assistance of the HIDTA analytical division to build the funding justification and track the spending and results. The analytical division consolidates all of the data and intelligence to assess necessary 

funding levels and determine where increased funds are justified. 

While based on HIDTA, ITLEMAP is tailored to meet tribal law enforcement 

needs. It would provide tribal officers with the authority to work in all Tribal jurisdictions in the region. They would be able to assist at the request and consent of 

the affected reservation, provide short-term manpower support, technical support, 

and criminal analysis support. Already tribal officers have begun to work together 

on projects including grants, aviation, equipment, and training. Officers are working 

to establish teams that could locate gang members, conduct surveillance and arrests, and carry out eradication operations. 

The collaborative effort of all participating Tribal enforcement agencies will build 

on the strength of the regional law enforcement community. This program, if funded, could be easily replicated in other regions and would contribute to the overall 

strength of Indian Country. However, establishing this program will be expensive. 

Implementing ITLEMAP would costs tribes well over $100,000 a year. I believe serious nature of the gang and drug problems that exist in Indian Country justify federal expenditures to help fund ITLEMAP. I encourage the committee, BIA, and DOJ 

to work together to help facilitate this effort and fund the project. 

Again I want to commend the Chairman for holding this very important hearing, 

and I look forward to working with him and the members of the Indian Affairs Committee to address the criminal problems posed by gangs and drugs in Indian Country. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF W. PATRICK RAGSDALE, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF JUSTICE

SERVICES, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Chairman Dorgan, Vice-Chairman Barrasso, and Members of the Committee, I am 

pleased to provide this statement for the record on behalf of the Department of the 

Interior regarding youth gangs in Indian country. 

Law enforcement and judicial jurisdiction over criminal activity related to gang 

activity in Indian Country usually overlap with other jurisdictions. For example, numerous tribal jurisdictions border towns and cities that in many cases are home to 

significant Indian populations. 

The 2007 National Youth Gang Survey, sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of 

Justice, reported that there are about 27,000 youth gangs and about 788,000 identified gang members in America. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is currently conducting a study specifically focused on Indian country that will provide 

more detailed information. However, it is evident that Indian country communities 

face many of the same challenges that other rural and urban communities face, and 

require the same suite of law enforcement and community services in order to successfully counter the threats posed by increasing gang activity. Law enforcement, 

the courts, social and education services are critical to working with families and 

parents to provide resources to address problems associated with gang activity. 

68 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) believes there is a direct influence between 

local drug distribution activity in Indian country and traffic involving larger drug 

distribution cartels. These cartels play an ancillary and sometimes direct role in the 

gang activity in Indian country. 

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), working with our federal, tribal and state/ 

local partners, is developing an intelligence program to improve our ability to address and eliminate gangs and drug cartels in Indian country. The Department proposed in the FY 2010 budget to add six additional intelligence analysts to improve 

information gathering and the ability to process data to determine proactive measures. The proposed analyst positions may be placed at critical locations to work in 

conjunction with other intelligence agencies. The two analyst positions currently are 

located at El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) in Texas. The two analyst positions 

at EPIC work in conjunction with all of the various federal intelligence agencies to 

track gang and drug activity in the southwest as well as other locations where there 

is known drug cartel activity. 

An effective strategy for dealing with gangs that promote illegal activities must 

be holistic. This means the strategy must encompass community involvement 

through joint efforts by the police, courts, schools, and social services. Most importantly, this means developing programs that work with the families of youth to afford them more constructive activities and alternatives to gangs. 

We must be more aggressive in policing to effectively enforce laws that prohibit 

crime. At the same time, police should be working with educators, community service providers and community leaders to address the issues that cause increased 

gang activity and related public safety concerns. There is a wealth of information, 

activities and programs that foster this end. The BIA recently advertised and hired 

a number of school resource officers that are or will be specially trained to teach 

and work in schools. We have also placed officers at strategic locations throughout 

the United States to work with other law enforcement agencies to combat and interdict criminal drug trafficking. We have engaged community policing resources to 

work with the communities to prevent and combat crime. 

Cooperative policing by the various jurisdictions is essential in dealing with gangs 

because gang members seek to exploit perceived gaps in law enforcement capacity 

across jurisdictions. For example, communication, coordination and collaboration is 

vital with other jurisdictions that have gang units to share intelligence, develop 

strategies, and work cooperatively to enforce laws. The FBI safe trails task forces, 

the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the U.S. Marshals Service Investigative 

Operations task forces are prime examples of effective inter-jurisdictional policing. 

Police working with Boys and Girls Clubs, schools, child welfare and probation services are other mechanisms of a total community holistic approach. 

Gang violence and influence as a conduit to other criminal activity is a problem. 

Better policing requires focused attention on all aspects of the community. The ability to respond to all types of calls for help in the community is critical. Gang activity 

thrives in situations where resources are limited and community support is lacking. 

A successful effort to thwart gang activity will require determined action by everyone involved, including law enforcement, parents of youth, communities, schools, 

courts, and federal, tribal, and state/local officials. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ROBERT B. COOK, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL INDIAN

EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

Chairman Dorgan, and Members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, 

thank you for this opportunity to submit testimony on behalf of the National Indian 

Education Association with regard to the increase of gang activity in Indian country 

and its impact in education. 

Founded in 1970, the National Indian Education Association is the largest organization in the nation dedicated to Native education advocacy issues and embraces a 

membership of nearly 4,000 American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian 

educators, tribal leaders, school administrators, teachers, elders, parents, and students. 

NIEA makes every effort to advocate for the unique educational and culturally related academic needs of Native students. NIEA works to ensure that the federal 

government upholds its responsibility for the education of Native students through 

the provision of direct educational services and facilities that are safe and structurally sound. This is incumbent upon the trust relationship of the United States 

government and includes the responsibility of ensuring educational quality and access. The environment in which instruction and educational services are provided 

69 

1 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 2005b. Status and 

trends in the education of American Indians and Alaska Natives (NCES 2005–108). Washington, 

DC: Government Printing Office. 2 Arya, Neelum & Rolnick, Addie C. (2008). A Tangled Web of Justice: American Indian and 

Alaska Native Youth in Federal, State, and Tribal Justice Systems, 6. Campaign for Youth Justice. 

is critical to the achievement of our students to attain the same academic standards 

as students nation-wide. 

The health, well-being, and success of Native children are central to tribal sovereignty. Tribal governments are responsible for raising, teaching, and caring for 

children, and Native children in turn form the backbone of future tribal success. The 

National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the National Indian Health Board 

(NIHB), the National Indian Education Association (NIEA), the National Indian 

Child Welfare Association (NICWA), and the National Council of Urban Indian 

Health (NCUIH) brought together their knowledge and expertise to create a joint 

policy agenda for American Indian and Alaska Native children’s issues. The goal of 

this initiative is to set forth specific recommendations to improve the social, emotional, mental, physical, and economic health of children and to improve their learning capacity and developmental potential, which in turn will lead to increased self 

esteem and decreased negative lifestyle choices for Native youth. 

This agenda is intended as a tool to assist tribal leaders and other policy-makers 

in creating and implementing a vision for a healthy community. It is also intended 

to guide stakeholders in identifying legislation and policy issues that may affect Native children. We identify four overarching themes that we believe must be guiding 

principles for improving children’s lives and outcomes. Within each theme, the agenda sets forth tribal strategies and policy objectives to implement these principles. 

The themes are: 

• Healthy Lifestyles. Our children must have the resources they need to develop 

strong self esteem and the life skills needed to usher them into adulthood. One 

of these resources is good health. Children who are physically and emotionally 

healthy are more able to play, learn, and work. 

• Safe and Supportive Environments. Children who have their basic needs 

met, including love, shelter, food, clothing, and play, are children who are more 

likely to go on to thrive, explore, learn, and dream. Our children must be protected from unsafe environments and supported by our communities. 

• Successful Students. Children who are healthy, safe, and nurtured achieve to 

the best of their abilities. Our children need skilled teachers, sound curricula, 

and family involvement so they can gain the abilities they need for present and 

future fulfillment. 

• Stable Communities. In order to invest in children and the community structures that support them, tribal governments must have options for economic development and flexibility to channel tribal and federal funds into programs that 

best support their members. The objective is to foster economically self-sufficient communities which can support community programs that provide basic 

support for children and families. 

In 2004, 22 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native high school students 

reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school grounds in the previous twelve months, compared to 11 percent of black, 9 percent of Hispanic, and 

8 percent of white students. 1 As reported in A Tangled Web of Justice: American 

Indian and Alaska Native Youth in Federal, State, and Tribal Justice Systems a survey conducted in 2000 found that 23 percent of Indian country respondents had active youth gangs in their communities. A field study on gangs in the Navajo Nation 

found the spread of youth gangs was facilitated by specific structural factors in the 

community including: frequency with which families move off and onto the reservation, poverty, substance abuse, family dysfunction, housing, and a declining connection to traditional cultures. 2

NIEA, NCAI, NIHB, NICWA, and NCUIH have formulated the following recommendations as strategies to comprehensively meet the needs of Native children 

and serve as preventative measures to address and reduce gang activity. NIEA supports increased resources for the following preventative policies and programs as a 

means to reduce destructive lifestyle choices for Native youth. 

• Engage in tribally initiated partnerships with community members and nonprofit organizations to offer organized activities for at-risk or delinquent youth, 

such as Boys and Girls Clubs or elders as mentors. 

70 

3 Arya, Neelum & Rolnick, Addie C. at 14. 

4 Id. at 8, 20–24. 

• Invest in alternatives to detention and work to reduce over-reliance on secure 

detention in cases where it is not absolutely necessary. For the majority of delinquent youth, non-detention programs are more effective and economical. 

• Construct and staff places for youth to spend time after school and during the 

summer months. 

• Provide cultural activities and life skills programs that promotes leadership 

among Native youth. 

• Create tribal reentry programs which are critical to ensuring that youth coming 

out of detention can transition back into work or school, rather than falling 

again into delinquent behavior or crime. 

In the vein of the Native Children’s Agenda, NIEA supports provisions that make 

tribes directly eligible for federal juvenile justice program funding, including funding for diversion, intervention, and rehabilitation services. This includes sufficient 

funding at the Department of Justice and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) available 

to tribes through combined flexible tribal grant programs that combine education, 

preventative, and rehabilitative services. NIEA believes that the Bureau of Indian 

Education (BIE) schools at the Department of Interior offer the greatest promise for 

school based partnerships with the tribe and community for addressing gang activity through positive Native youth development, prevention and intervention programs. These potential programs for partnership include, but are not be limited, to 

the following: Tribal Courts (probation programs for juveniles), child protective services, and BIA/Tribal Social Services, BIA/tribal law and order, Boys and Girls Clubs, 

Indian Health Services, and BIA education programs such as the Johnson O’Malley 

program. 

Additionally, NIEA recommends the establishment of an Interdepartmental Task 

Force on Native Youth with a focus similar to the Native Children’s Agenda that 

will focus on comprehensively meeting the needs of Native youth. In addition to education issues, a priority focus of the Task Force should include gang prevention and 

intervention programs. The Departments of Education, Interior, Health and Human 

Service Justice, and Housing and Urban Development would comprise the Interdepartmental Task Force, and would be charged with identifying and establishing 

the levels of need, recommendations to meet the needs, and an implementation plan 

based on the recommendations. 

Finally, intermediate sanctions and alternatives to detention are not widely available in tribal communities 3 and current policies result in Native youth over-representation among those youth in detention and among youth waived into the adult 

criminal system, despite that these acts are mostly low-level offenses. 4 As a result, 

Native youth are often forced to leave their communities in order to receive rehabilitative services, a practice that is reminiscent of the era when Native youth were 

sent away to federal boarding schools. Programs that rehabilitate, treat, and redirect delinquent youth in their communities are critical to ensuring that youthful 

misbehavior does not lead to dysfunction and criminality in adulthood. 

In conclusion, NIEA thanks the Committee for their attention to this increasing 

problem in Indian country and encourages the Committee to support legislation that 

provides for increased federal resources in preventative programs and policies. 

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PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE PUYALLUP TRIBE


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PREPARED STATEMENT OF MARTY SHURAVLOFF, CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL AMERICAN

INDIAN HOUSING COUNCIL

Introduction 

On behalf of the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC), I am 

pleased to submit the following statement to the Committee on Indian Affairs for 

the hearing record regarding its July 30, 2009, Oversight Hearing on Increased 

Gang Activity in Indian Country. 

As the Committee knows, I serve as the Executive Director of the Kodiak Island 

Housing Authority in Kodiak, Alaska. I am an enrolled member of the Lesnoi Village, Kodiak Island, Alaska. I am also the Chairman of the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC). 

The National American Indian Housing Council was founded in 1974 to support 

and advocate for tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs), and for 

35 years, the NAIHC has worked to assist Indian tribes achieve their objectives of 

providing housing, housing-related infrastructure, and community development for 

their members. 

The NAIHC is the only national Indian organization whose sole mission is to represent Native American housing interests throughout the Nation. The NAIHC consists of 267 members representing 460 Indian tribes in the lower 48 states and the 

State of Alaska. I am pleased to report to the Committee that in 2008, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) became an active and voting member of the 

NAIHC and we continue to work with the DHHL on issues of concern to their members. 

At the outset, I would like to thank the Chairman, Vice Chairman and the Committee for holding this Oversight Hearing to Examine the Increase of Gang Activity 

in Indian Country. It is a sad but well-known fact that even before the collapse of 

the American housing and financial sectors in the fall of 2008, most American Indian and Alaska Native communities were plagued by extraordinarily high unemployment and poverty rates. These conditions, combined with geographical remoteness and scarce law enforcement resources, have made Native American communities ripe for crime and drug-related activity. A parallel development in our communities is the proliferation of gang activity and other criminal behavior. 

I would also like to thank Chairman Dorgan for his leadership on tribal housing 

issues, which he has consistently recognized as the key to improved health and 

broad economic development in Native America. The year 2008 was a landmark 

year for Indian Country and Indian Housing, in particular, as the Native American 

Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) was reauthorized and 

updated to provide tribes and Native American communities with new and creative 

tools necessary to develop culturally relevant, safe, decent and affordable housing 

for Native people. 

While we celebrate the hope that NAHASDA presents us for improving the quality of life and living conditions for Native Americans, we must not lose sight of the 

stark conditions that still exist on most Indian reservations, in most Alaska Native 

communities, and on Hawaiian Home Lands. Housing conditions in Native communities compare very unfavorably with those of other Americans. An estimated 

200,000 housing units are needed immediately just to meet current demand, and we 

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less or under-housed and living in overcrowded situations. A large percentage of existing homes are in great need of rehabilitation, repair and weatherization. Economic conditions are even worse: unemployment rates on Indian reservations, even 

before the current recessionary period, were typically well over 50 percent and in 

some places as high as 80 percent. 

Against this backdrop, NAIHC presents the following perspectives and recommendations to improve housing and living conditions for Native Americans by 

taking proactive and creative approaches to crime and drug activity in Native communities. 

The Indian Housing Block Grant 

The Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) is the central feature of the NAHASDA 

and is the single largest Federal source of capital for housing development, housingrelated infrastructure, and home repair and maintenance in Indian Country. Current funding levels do not meet all tribal housing needs and have not kept pace with 

increasing costs of construction materials, energy costs, and other inflationary factors since 1997. In fact, Federal funding for the IHBG has been relatively flat since 

Fiscal Year 2002 and with increasing housing demands and the erosion in purchasing power caused by inflation, Native communities have been hard hit by this 

failure of Congress to appropriate sufficient funding. 

The NAHASDA statute contains a definition of the term ‘‘eligible affordable housing activities’’ and lists those activities that may be undertaken with NAHASDA assistance including new construction, rehabilitation, acquisition, infrastructure, and 

various support services. Housing assisted with these funds may be either for rental 

units or for homeownership. NAHASDA funds can also be used for certain types of 

community facilities if the facilities serve eligible, low-income residents. 

Housing development in Native American communities involves more than simply 

building dwelling units. Some of these affordable eligible activities can be designed 

to fight crime and drugs in tribal housing. The IHBG can also be steered towards 

crime prevention activities such as safety, security and law enforcement measures 

and activities that protect residents of affordable housing from crime. Certain activities, with HUD approval, can also be carried out as model activities. 

The Use of ‘‘Drug Dogs’’ in Native Communities 

One Indian tribe, the Bay Mills Indian Community in Brimley, Michigan, identified the growing prevalence of drugs as such a threat to their community that it 

devoted precious housing resources to partner with the tribal police. The Bay Mills 

Housing Authority contributed of a portion its IHBG to purchase, train and house 

a canine (K–9) unit and a squad car for the department. Maintaining a drug free 

community as a top priority, the Housing Authority determined that a K–9 unit is 

essential in their fight to keep the community safe and drug free by patrolling their 

properties and searching their buildings. The community experienced a drop in 

criminal activities almost immediately. In 2005, the officer and his K–9 partner 

were recognized with an ‘‘officer of the year’’ award. 

Law Enforcement Exemption 

Recognizing the value of community policing and the very physical presence of 

law enforcement personnel, the NAHASDA statute authorizes waivers of the lowincome requirement in cases where the law enforcement officer and his or her family would reside in the tribe’s service area. This provision, contained at 25 U.S.C. 

§ 4131(4), is meant to provide housing to such officers and incentivize living in the 

community to deter criminal behavior. 

Simple Maintenance and the ‘‘Broken Window Phenomenon’’ 

One practice that has resulted in deterrence of criminal behavior in residential 

communities is to provide general timely maintenance to existing housing structures 

and undertake such activities as fixing broken windows in those units. These maintenance activities demonstrate the will of the community to not tolerate eyesores 

and other failed infrastructure and go a long way in preventing vandalism which, 

once begun, can escalate to include more serious property damage and related 

crime. 

Tribal housing authorities are no stranger to the phenomenon and devote resources to maintaining housing units from ordinary wear and tear which becomes 

exacerbated by other activities. More resources spent on broken windows means less 

for new home development and other tenant services. 

Methamphetamine 

Crime and drugs are together fueling increasing disorder and pain in Native communities. Perhaps the starkest example of this unholy synergy is the proliferation 

89 

of methamphetamine ‘‘labs’’ on Indian reservations. Because most American Indian 

reservations and Alaska Native communities are in geographically remote and rural 

areas, methamphetamine producers have built ‘‘meth labs’’ in tribal housing units. 

These purveyors of pain are also targeting Indian populations—especially those 

tribes that regularly issue per capita payments to tribal members—which they view 

as a solid source of demand for their products. In the process, tribal housing resources get diverted into training housing personnel to identify meth labs. Scarce 

resources are further diverted to the abatement, clean up and remediation of tribal 

housing contaminated by the toxic chemical stew created by meth labs. 

To help address this growing problem, the NAIHC has offered Methamphetamine 

Awareness and Abatement training to tribal housing staff since 2005. The overall 

goal of that training is to increase awareness of the impact that meth has on tribal 

housing employees, tenants, and community quality of life. The abatement section 

provides practical means to help tribal housing staff recognize use and trafficking 

patterns while strengthening proactive response through ordinances, inspections, 

codes and policy. In 2009, meth trainings accounted for about 6 percent of our total 

training sessions, however, in 2006, meth trainings were as high as 20 percent of 

our total training sessions and attendance exceeded all other training sessions combined that NAIHC offered. While targeted at tribal housing, the sessions where 

often attended by tribal police officers, tribal health department staff and other community organizations concerned with the meth problem and how to recognize its impacts on their community. 

Indian Development Involves Multiple Programs and Agencies 

Since its enactment, NAHASDA has enhanced tribal capacity to address the substandard housing and infrastructure conditions by encouraging greater self-management of housing programs, greater leveraging of scarce IHBG dollars, and greater 

use of private capital through Federal loan guarantee mechanisms. A related program to the IHBG is the Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG), 

which can be used to construct law enforcement and justice facilities under certain 

conditions. 

The ICDBG can be used for the development of community facilities such as a 

recreational center, shelter for the homeless or halfway house for drug offenders. It 

cannot be used for buildings for the ‘‘general conduct of government’’ which means 

offices where legislative, judicial or administrative activities take place. In other 

words, ICDBG can be used for the development of a police station or a jail or prison, 

but not a police headquarters or courthouse. 

Although a great program, few tribes have capacity to apply for the grant. Not 

only is the ICDBG highly competitive, it has a rigorous application process. If a 

tribe decides to apply, Native communities that experience higher rates of criminal 

and drug activity will have to decide whether to prioritize addressing the criminal 

justice needs in the community at the expense of other community needs such as 

a hospital, a domestic violence shelter or a convalescent home for eldercare. 

Department of Justice Programs 

As with many local and state governments, tribes have to prioritize, plan and pay 

for their community development through a variety of funding sources including 

Federal resources. As housing and community development go hand in hand, governmental services for Native Americans are often associated with tribal housing 

programs. 

The U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Housing and Urban Development 

(HUD) joined together to assist in the investigation, prosecution, and prevention of 

violent crimes and drug offenses in public and federally assisted housing, including 

Indian housing. This crime prevention effort, known as the Public Housing Safety 

Initiative (PHSI) is executed directly through U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Weed and 

Seed sites and local public housing authorities. 

The PHSI sites develop strategic plans for federal state and local law enforcement. Advisory committees comprised law enforcement and community-based organizations to provide guidance and leadership in developing the plans. The PHSI 

plans, which may target anything from homicide to drugs to guns to gang crime, 

combine strong enforcement with vigorous prosecution efforts. Some crime prevention strategies may include programs such as Safe Haven, after-school enrichment 

activities, treatment options, and offender reentry initiatives. Other activities include inviting affordable housing developers, public housing authorities, and other 

partners to participate in planning and enhancing long-term solutions for the community. The strategic plans also include outcome-based performance measures to 

guide the implementation and documentation of these efforts. 

90 

The Drug Elimination Program and Indian Housing 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Public and Indian Housing Drug Elimination Program (PIHDEP) was enacted to reduce crime 

and drug use in public housing communities. PIHDEP was created by the Anti-Drug 

Abuse Act of 1988, and provided funds for activities that would reduce or eliminate 

drug related crime in public housing communities. These activities included employing security personnel, developing programs to reduce/eliminate the use of drugs, 

funding resident organizations to develop security and drug-abuse prevention programs, making physical changes to improve security, and reimbursing local police 

for additional security services. Specifically, PIHDEP provided resources for Housing Authorities to work with law enforcement, citizens groups, Boys and Girls 

Clubs, and other community-based organizations to develop anti-crime initiatives. 

The total available funding for PIHDEP was $8.2 million in 1988 and had risen 

to $310 million in 2001. The PIHDEP program has been without authorization since 

2002, but on June 23, 2009 Senator Tim Johnson (D–SD) introduced the ‘‘Public and 

Indian Housing Crime and Drug Elimination Program Reauthorization Act of 2009’’ 

(S. 1327). The legislation would authorize grants and direct payments to Public 

Housing Authorities, Tribally Designated Housing Entities, and Indian Housing Authorities for the prevention and elimination of crime and drug use in public housing. 

Senator Johnson’s bill would reauthorize the PIHDEP through 2014. The legislation also sets aside no less than two percent of the funding for HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research and requires HUD to conduct an effectiveness study 

on strategies that reduce and prevent violent and drug related crime in public and 

Indian low-income housing. 

Conclusion 

In very practical ways, community development in Native American communities 

suffers at the expense of fighting criminal and gang activity. Basic physical infrastructure and amenities such as water and wastewater infrastructure, electricity, 

heat and cooling systems, are extremely costly endeavors and one reason for the 

high cost of housing development in Native communities. While there are tools 

available for TDHEs to fight crime, devotion of these resources to combat drug and 

criminal activity decreases resources to build homes, community centers and housing related infrastructure. 

Thank you for the opportunity to provide the perspectives of the NAIHC. Your 

continued support of Native American communities is truly appreciated and the 

NAIHC is eager to work with the Committee on initiatives to improve the Indian 

housing programs and living conditions for America’s indigenous people. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. BYRON L. DORGAN TO

HON. HERMIS JOHN MOUSSEAU

Question 1. What role, if any, does [the] tribal housing authority play in providing 

programs for at-risk Indian youth? 

Answer. Oglala Sioux (Lakota) Housing (OSLH) provides financial support for 

youth programs and sports on the Reservation. OSLH has committed $600,000 in 

Recovery Act funds to build nine new playground areas, one for each district on the 

reservation. 

Question 2. How much does it cost the housing authority to repair or replace property that has been damaged by gang activity on your reservation? 

Answer. OSLH estimates that it has spent $500,000 during the past twenty-four 

months to repair damage from criminal and gang-related activities in and around 

its housing units. 

Question 3. Does your tribal housing authority provide security personnel to guard 

against property damage done by gang activity? 

Answer. OSLH would like to provide more security patrols if it had the resources 

to do so. OSLH has applied for a Community Development Block Grant in the 

amount of $900,000 all of which would be used to provide security patrols at its 

housing developments. In some districts, OSLH tenants have taken the initiate to 

organize volunteer safe patrols. 

Question 4. What resources are needed for your housing authority to assist tribal 

law enforcement in curtailing gang activity in HUD housing projects? 

Answer. Restoration of the HUD Drug Elimination grants would provide OSLH 

with resources to better support activities for children on the Reservation. In addition to funding specific recreational activities, such funding might be used to support transportation to and from the recently constructed Boys and Girls Club center. 

91 

Other funds would be used to provide more security patrols in the outlying communities to assist Tribal law enforcement officers, who are often farther away and 

attempting to patrol much larger areas. 

I feel very strongly that this is an issue that affects the quality of life on every 

reservation in the country. Unless we can do something to change the trends of 

gang activity, too many of our communities will be lost to violence and gang-related 

crimes. 

If I can provide further information or be of other assistance to you and the Committee on this most important issue, please let me know. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. BYRON L. DORGAN TO

CARMEN SMITH

Question 1. Please describe your tribal juvenile justice system. 

Answer. Our juvenile system consist of (2) Associate Judges who preside over all 

juvenile matters that come before the Warm Springs Tribal Court and (1) Juvenile 

Prosecutor who prosecutes all juvenile cases that are submitted to the tribal prosecution office. 

We have a Children’s Protective Services department, which provides for the safety and welfare of the children who have been victims of child abuse, neglect and 

sexual abuse, who have been awarded custody through the tribal court. The department has Case Workers who are assigned to each individual child’s case and works 

with the Juvenile Prosecutor to file petitions in the tribal court. The Case Worker 

advocates for the child as the child goes through the juvenile justice system. 

We have a Victims of Crimes department, which provides services to families and 

children who have been victims of adult and juvenile crimes. The department has 

advocates that are assigned to each family and helps them with processing paper 

work for obtaining shelter, food, clothing and counseling services. The advocates prepare petitions for restraining orders and protective orders through the tribal court. 

The advocates are with the families every step of the way as the families go through 

tribal court system. 

We have the police department who provides for the safety and welfare of the children who become victims of child abuse, neglect, sexual abuse. The police department has the authority to take children out of the home for protective custody and 

place the children into child protective services. The police department investigates 

all cases involving children who have been abused. The officers and detectives testify before the juvenile court on all juvenile cases. The police department also has 

a juvenile officer who is assigned to help the Juvenile Prosecutor and be a resource 

officer in the schools. In addition, there is one detective under a Children’s Justice 

Act Grant to investigate crimes against children. 

The Tribal Court has a Tribal Youth Program Grant from Department of Justice 

which funds one (1) Tribal Youth Coordinator and focuses on prevention and intervention of juvenile delinquency and status offenses. The Tribes funds a second full 

time Tribal Youth Coordinator. These Coordinators work with the Tribal Juvenile 

Judges, the Prosecutor and the schools to provide one-on-one counseling, tutoring, 

and group activities aimed at educating our youth on cultural traditions to help 

them build strong identities and self-esteem. 

Question 2. Please describe any interaction that your tribe or tribal police department has had with the federal juvenile justice system. 

Answer. We had a homicide, which the suspect was a 16 year old. The case was 

taken federally. In federal court we were able to have the juvenile transferred as 

an adult for trial. The juvenile was convicted of First Degree murder. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office serves on a multidisciplinary team with the Tribal 

Prosecutor and Children’s Protective Services to assist with protecting children and 

ensuring that child sex offenders are held accountable for their crimes against 

Warm Springs children. 

Question 3. Please inform the Committee of any recommendations you have to improve these systems. 

Answer. The Warm Springs Tribes considers its children to be its most important 

asset and resource, and of course, they hold the keys to the Tribes future. Funding 

at appropriate levels to effective deal with the Tribes juvenile issues is very important. 

Prevention services are extremely important to ensure that fewer children have 

to be subjected to the court and juvenile protective services and will have the most 

permanent and long term impacts. Drug and alcohol use on the reservation is involved in at least 90 percent of the crimes at Warm Springs and effectively reducing 

this number requires that the services to juveniles be expanded and better funded. 

92 

The next level, intervention, is also important as the children who are now in the 

system, and/or are at risk for coming into the system need assistance to help them 

turn their lives around and learn to make choices that will have positive impacts 

on their lives now and in the future. 

Unfortunately there are a number of children who are now in the system and 

have been for a number of years. These children are the result of long-term neglect 

and many need strict and close supervision to help them overcome the behaviors 

they have developed as a result of neglect and abuse. These children could greatly 

benefit from a secure facility in or near the community that not only provides a good 

education but also provides cultural education so these kids will be able to be successful in both the Native and non-Native worlds. 

Funding to help with all of the above is crucial to successfully combat juvenile 

neglect, abuse and delinquency issues. The Warm Springs Tribes is experiencing a 

drastic decline in revenues and has been for at least the last ten (10) years. This 

year the decline is even sharper as the fall in hydropower prices took a sudden and 

unexpected fall. As well timber prices have been falling considerably over the past 

decade. Forest products and hydro-power have been the mainstay of tribal revenues 

and of the tribal budget for many years. Although the Tribes are working hard to 

develop other revenue streams, these will not positively impact tribal revenues for 

a number of years. 

Question 4. What alternatives were available to the tribal housing entities to address the gang and drug presence in tribal housing projects? 

Answer. There were no alternatives for housing other than turning to the police 

for help to address the gang and drug issue. 

Question 5. What role, if any does tribal housing authority play in providing programs for at-risk Indian youth? 

Answer. Currently none, funding has been devoted to refurbish current units, material costs and other needed programs. Although, housing has put in playgrounds 

for kids to use in several housing areas at the cost of $100,000 dollars. 

Question 6. How much does it cost the housing authority to repair or replace property that has been damaged by gang activity on your reservation? 

Answer. Housing has put about 15,000 to 25,000 dollars for houses to repair 

walls, fixtures, appliances, paint, carpet, etc. Housing has spent $20,000 to $25,000 

dollars on houses that had heavy meth use in the home for Hazmat materials such 

as heat pumps, duct work to clean and sanitize the homes. 

Question 7. Does your tribal housing authority provide security personnel to guard 

against property damage done by gang activity? 

Answer. No. The police provide security through routine patrols. 

Question 8. What resources are needed for your housing authority to assist tribal 

law enforcement in curtailing gang activity in HUD housing projects? 

Answer. The resources needed, is to provide funding for the ‘‘Counting Coup’’ 

project which addresses the gang issues in the HUD housing projects. The project 

can be funded from funds appropriated through HUD for the tribal housing authority. 

Question 9. Can you elaborate on how that might be accomplished? FBI issue. 

Answer. Yes, right now the Bend Resident Office of the FBI has designated crimes 

in Indian country as a priority. However, has limited resources to assign an agent 

to every major crime that occurs on the reservation. We have requested and the FBI 

has agreed to add more Warm Springs detectives to FBI Safe Trails Task Force 

which designate them as federal officers. 

The only other option that would add further assistance in these investigations 

is if the FBI were able to increase their Agent compliment in the Bend Resident 

Office. 

Æ