U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

36–242 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019

S. HRG. 116–14 

45TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIVE AMERICAN 

PROGRAMS ACT AND THE ESTABLISHMENT 

OF THE ADMINISTRATION FOR NATIVE 

AMERICANS 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota, Chairman 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico, Vice Chairman 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

STEVE DAINES, Montana 

MARTHA MCSALLY, Arizona 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

JON TESTER, Montana, 

BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii 

CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada 

TINA SMITH, Minnesota 

T. MICHAEL ANDREWS, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

JENNIFER ROMERO, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on February 27, 2019 ....................................................................... 1 

Statement of Senator Cortez Masto ....................................................................... 38 

Statement of Senator Hoeven ................................................................................. 1 

Statement of Senator Tester ................................................................................... 36 

Statement of Senator Udall .................................................................................... 2 

WITNESSES

Hovland, Hon. Jeannie, Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans, 

Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and 

Human Services ................................................................................................... 3 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 5 

James, Hon. Joe, Chairman, Yurok Tribe ............................................................. 14 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 16 

Socobasin, Hon. Joseph M., Councilmember/Former Chief, Passamaquoddy 

Tribe ...................................................................................................................... 8 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 9 

Vallo, Hon. Brian, Governor, Pueblo of Acoma ..................................................... 10 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 11 

APPENDIX

Crabbe, Kamana‘opono M., Ph.D,, Ka Pouhana/CEO, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, prepared statement .................................................................................... 45 

Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Tom Udall to Hon. Jeannie 

Hovland ................................................................................................................. 46 

(1) 

45TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NATIVE 

AMERICAN PROGRAMS ACT AND THE 

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATION 

FOR NATIVE AMERICANS 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:40 p.m. in room 

628, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Hoeven, 

Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HOEVEN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA 

The CHAIRMAN. Good afternoon. We will call the hearing to 

order. 

Today the Committee will hold its first oversight hearing of the 

116th Congress. The hearing is on the 45th anniversary of the Native American Programs Act and the establishment of the Administration for Native Americans. 

In 1964, in his State of the Union address, President Lyndon B. 

Johnson declared a war on poverty in the United States. The President’s direction led to the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act 

of 1964. This Act was later amended to include the Native American Programs Act of 1974, establishing the Administration for Native Americans. 

This year, we will recognize the 45th anniversary of the Native 

American Programs Act of 1974, which was signed into law on January 4, 1975. The purpose of the Act is to promote economic selfsufficiency for American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Native populations throughout the Pacific region. 

The Native American Programs Act established the Administrative 

for Native Americans, ANA, within the Department of Health and 

Human Services. This agency provides three types of grants to enhance the economic and cultural well-being of these populations. 

According to the ANA report to Congress, these grants have assisted Native communities in overcoming challenges in economic 

development and cultural loss. Of the grantees who were evaluated 

in the fiscal year 2015 report, 58 new or sustained partnerships 

were produced for social and economic development strategies. 

In economic development projects, 12,507 voucher hours were 

provided during the social and economic development strategies, soVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:57 May 08, 2019 Jkt 036242 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\36242.TXT JACK
2 

cial development projects. Two hundred fifty-seven Native youth 

were involved in the implementation of environmental regulatory 

enhancement projects. Two hundred twenty-nine Native language 

instructors received training. 

The Native American Programs Act also created the commissioner position to oversee the ANA and co-chair of the Intra-Departmental Council on Native American Affairs within the Department of Health and Human Services. The council is co-chaired by 

the commissioner with the Indian Health Services Director. 

The Senate confirmed Ms. Jeannie Hovland to serve as the seventh commissioner on June 21st, 2018. We will hear from her and 

other witnesses on how the process has served Native American 

communities. They put a lot of acronyms in my remarks. I should 

have spent more time last night going through all those acronyms. 

They are very good at them. Anyway, to understand how these programs have served Native communities and what further progress 

or improvements should be made. 

Before we turn to the witnesses, I would like to ask Vice Chairman Udall for his opening statement. Vice Chairman Udall? 

STATEMENT OF HON. TOM UDALL, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO 

Senator UDALL. Thank you, Chairman Hoeven. I appreciate your 

scheduling today’s hearing to discuss the Native American Programs Act. 

I would first like to welcome Acoma Pueblo’s newly-elected governor, Brian Vallo. Great to have you here today, Governor. As the 

former director of the Indian Arts and Research Center, Governor 

Vallo knows the importance of cultural preservation and local capacity building. He is uniquely positioned to further advance the 

Acoma Pueblo’s plan to revitalize the Keres language. Governor, 

thank you so much for being here today to discuss the Pueblos’ experience with the ANA Language Grants. 

The NAPA plays an important role in supporting communitydriven projects designed to grow local economies, strengthen Native 

languages and bolster the environmental protection efforts of tribal 

governments. Since its enactment in 1974, NAPA has sought to 

promote self-sufficiency and cultural preservation for Native communities. The Administration for Native Americans at HHS fulfills 

this mission by providing grants for community-based projects as 

well as training and technical assistance. 

ANA grants are unique in that they empower Native communities to develop projects that meet the specific needs of their community. Other Federal grants take a top-down approach in which 

Native communities must tailor their projects to meet nationwide 

funding criteria. This Committee has played a central role in pushing forward important improvements and expansions to the original Act. 

In 1990, our colleague, Senator McCain, led efforts to pass the 

Indian Environmental Regulatory Enhancement Act, which authorized ANA grants to improve the capability of tribal governments to 

regulate environmental quality. At that time, my uncle Mo Udall 

was the chairman of the House Committee on Interior and Insular 

3 

Affairs. Mo worked with Senator McCain to ensure the bill passed 

the House, which it ultimately did overwhelmingly. 

This was a time where bipartisan legislation addressing the environmental needs of tribes and our Nation wasn’t all that uncommon. I hope we can continue to build on that legacy and the tradition of bipartisan cooperation that is so central to this Committee, 

to carry those efforts forward. 

More recently, in 2006, I worked on a bipartisan basis with the 

entire New Mexico house delegation to further expand NAPA’s 

grant work with the Esther Martinez Native Languages Act. Native languages remain a priority for me. In my home State of New 

Mexico, 23 tribes speak 7 major Native languages that are not only 

crucial to the communities that speak them but also are important 

to our State’s multi-faceted identity. 

It is fitting for today’s hearing and my work on Native languages 

that the Committee’s most recent efforts to refine NAPA happened 

just this month, when it unanimously supported my bill, the Esther 

Martinez Native Language Programs Reauthorization Act. I look 

forward to moving the Esther Martinez Reauthorization through 

the full Senate, and I hope today’s hearing will highlight how 

tribes have leveraged ANA programs to meet project goals and improve overall community health and wellness. 

I want to especially thank the Honorable Jeannie Hovland for 

getting in your testimony. You have made it well before the 48 

hours, and we really appreciate that, and thank the chairman and 

thank the panel for joining us today. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman. 

Do we have any other opening statements? Okay, if not, we will 

proceed with our witnesses. Thank you for being here. We will 

start with Jeannie Hovland, Commissioner, Administration for Native Americans, Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services. Then we will proceed to the 

Honorable Joseph Socobasin—thanks for being here —council 

member and former Chief Passamaquoddy Tribe, Indian Township. 

The Honorable Brian Vallo, Governor, Pueblo of Acoma, Pueblo, 

New Mexico. Thank you for being here. 

And the Honorable Joe James, did I get that right? 

[Laughter.] 

The CHAIRMAN. I am teasing a little bit. Chairman of the Yurok 

Tribe, Klamath, California. Thanks to all of you for being here. We 

appreciate it very much, and Commissioner, please proceed. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JEANNIE HOVLAND, COMMISSIONER, 

ADMINISTRATION FOR NATIVE AMERICANS, 

ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, U.S. 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you. Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman 

Udall, and members of this Committee, my name is Jeannie 

Hovland and I am the Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans. It is an honor to speak to you today about ANA’s 

efforts to promote social and economic development in Native 

American communities. 

Forty-five years ago, Congress passed the Native American Programs Act, which established the Administration for Native AmeriVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:57 May 08, 2019 Jkt 036242 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\36242.TXT JACK
4 

cans. ANA statute defines Native Americans broadly, not just to include federally-recognized tribes, but also to include State-recognized tribes, Native American nonprofits, and Native Hawaiian and 

Native Pacific Islander communities. ANA’s mission and underlying goal is to improve self-sufficiency and promote cultural preservation for Native Americans. We provide competitive discretionary grants, training, and technical assistance to grantees. 

Our grant funding opportunities are very popular and highly 

competitive within Native American communities. In fiscal year 

2018, ANA received 266 applications and made 63 new awards in 

our six project areas. Our current grant portfolio includes 187 

projects across the Unites States and territories. Among those 

projects are programs that target environmental regulatory enhancement, asset building, social and economic development strategies, language preservation and maintenance efforts, and youth 

leadership education and development initiatives. 

HHS believes that language revitalization is essential for continuing Native American culture and strengthening self-determination. For just over a decade, we have funded a wide variety of 

three-year Esther Martinez Initiative projects. Of particular note, 

the Keres Children’s Learning Center on the Cochiti Pueblo in New 

Mexico has established the Indigenous Montessori Institute, which 

brings together the Montessori method and indigenous community 

values, resources, and systems to redefine educational systems. 

This project’s goal is to strengthen the community’s daily use of 

Keres and stimulate cross-generational Keres fluency. 

While there have been modifications to the NAPA statute over 

the years, the core grant program remains and is implemented 

through the Social and Economic Development Strategies, or SEDS 

program. SEDS projects represent two-thirds of our grant portfolio. 

I would like to share a variety of SEDS project examples. In Arizona, the Navajo Nation is one of the largest food deserts in the 

United States, with only 13 grocery stores on a land area the size 

of the South Carolina. ANA’s grantee, the Tolani Lake Enterprises, 

Inc., uses grant funding to empower and educate community members to revitalize their traditional food systems and improve food 

security. At the end of their first year, they exceeded their workshop participation goal with 812 community members attending. 

They have leveraged partnerships with neighboring farms, community member’s gardens, and the Dine ́ College to enhance the funds 

provided by ANA. 

In Alaska, the Native Village of Ekwok determined that its most 

pressing issue was collection of its solid waste and prevention of illegal trash dumpsites. Using ANA funding, the village has been 

able to provide Ekwok residents with garbage collection services 

and eliminate all illegal dumpsites. 

Another area that our grantees focus on is workforce development. There is a strong desire in our Native communities to ‘‘grow 

our own’’ professionals to help raise the socioeconomic status of the 

community and solve staffing shortages and employee retention 

problems. 

For example, Aaniiih Nakoda College in Harlem, Montana, focuses on education in the health care professions. The college provides a holistic, culturally-based approach to education. Through 

5 

an ANA grant, 33 participants received their nurse’s aide certificate and one received a registered nursing degree. Currently, 28 

participants work in the health care field, with more students graduating in May. 

To know how effective ANA projects are, each year ANA visits 

two-thirds of the projects that are nearing completion in order to 

capture the outcomes achieved. In fiscal year 2016, ANA looked 

back on five years of impact visit reports to conduct a data review 

of 295 grantees funded between fiscal years 2011 and 2015. 

Through our review, we found that SEDS-visited projects generated 

over $1.1 million in revenue; 129 new businesses were created; over 

2,000 Native Americans were employed; and more than 55,000 

youth and 17,000 elders were involved in SEDS activities. 

Since ANA funding only augments a small portion of Native communities’ needed resources, I have made it a priority to work with 

Federal counterparts and nongovernment partners to help projects 

remain sustainable. One of my other high priorities is serving vulnerable populations such as elders, youth, veterans, and potential 

victims or survivors of human trafficking. 

Forty-five years after Congress passed NAPA, we have experienced great success in helping Native Americans achieve healthier 

outcomes with higher standards of living. I look forward to continuing to work with Congress to further advance these goals. 

I would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank 

you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Hovland follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JEANNIE HOVLAND, COMMISSIONER, ADMINISTRATION

FOR NATIVE AMERICANS, ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, U.S. 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Introduction 

Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and esteemed members of the Senate 

Committee on Indian Affairs, my name is Jeannie Hovland and I am the Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans (ANA). ANA is an office within 

the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS). It is an honor to address this Committee again, this 

time with a focus on ANA’s efforts to promote social and economic development in 

Native American communities. I appreciate your interest in ANA and the longstanding support of this Committee. 

Forty-five years ago, Congress passed the Native American Programs Act of 1974 

(NAPA), which established the Administration for Native Americans. ANA is unusual among many federal offices because our statute defines Native Americans 

broadly, not just to include federally recognized tribes, but also to include state recognized tribes, Native American nonprofits, and Native Hawaiian and Native Pacific 

Islander communities. 

NAPA Authorized Grant Programs 

The mission of HHS is to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all 

Americans. Within those broad parameters, ANA’s mission and underlying goal is 

to improve self-sufficiency and promote cultural preservation for Native Americans. 

We provide competitive discretionary grants, training, and technical assistance to 

tribes, tribal organizations, non-profits, and Native American communities, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Native Pacific Islanders. We support three program areas authorized under NAPA: Native American 

Languages, Environmental Regulatory Enhancement, and Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS). 

Our grant funding opportunities are very popular and highly competitive within 

Native American communities. In fiscal year (FY) 2018, ANA received 266 applications and made 63 new awards in our six project areas. Our current grant portfolio 

includes 187 projects across the Unites States and the Pacific territories. Among 

6 

1 According to HHS’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food deserts are areas 

that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that 

make up a full and healthy diet. Many Americans living in rural, minority, or low-income areas 

are subjected to food deserts and may be unable to access affordable, healthy foods, leaving their 

diets lacking essential nutrients. The CDC definition can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/ 

healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/tips/FoodDesert.html. 

those 187 projects are programs that target environmental regulatory enhancement 

projects, asset building, social and economic development strategies, language preservation and maintenance efforts, and youth leadership education and development 

initiatives. 

Language 

In my August testimony, I spoke to the importance of language preservation. HHS 

believes that language revitalization is essential for continuing Native American 

culture and strengthening self-determination. Native American values and traditions are embedded in Native languages. These values and traditions are a source 

of resilience and cultural cohesion that connects us with past and future generations. 

The Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006 

amended NAPA to specifically target grants for language immersion and restoration 

programs. These two methods show promise in creating fluent speakers who, in 

turn, continue to revitalize, preserve, and maintain native languages. 

For just over a decade, we have funded a wide variety of three-year Esther Martinez Initiative (EMI) projects. We continually refine our application and project reporting processes to elicit stronger applications and better ways to document grantees’ progress in meeting their project objectives. 

Of particular note, the Keres Children’s Learning Center on the Cochiti Pueblo, 

New Mexico has established the Indigenous Montessori Institute, which brings together the Montessori Method and Indigenous community values, resources, and 

systems to redefine educational systems. This project’s goal is to strengthen the 

community’s daily use of Keres across historical, traditional, contemporary, household, and formal contexts and stimulate cross-generational Keres fluency. 

As I have witnessed first-hand in my travels, successful efforts to advance the social and economic conditions of Native Americans are grounded in a unifying sense 

of culture and belonging. 

Social and Economic Development Strategies 

While there have been modifications to the NAPA statute over the years, the core 

grant program remains and is implemented through the SEDS program. SEDS also 

represents the core mission of ACF, which is to promote the economic and social 

well-being of children, families, individuals, and communities. SEDS projects represent two-thirds of our grant portfolio. I would like to share a variety of project 

examples that are funded within this broad category and are a remarkable testament to the program’s support of Native communities’ self-identified needs and initiatives. 

In Arizona, the Navajo Nation is one of the largest food deserts 1 in the United 

States with only 13 grocery stores on a land area the size of the State of South 

Carolina. ANA’s grantee, the Tolani Lake Enterprises, Inc., uses grant funding to 

empower and educate community members to revitalize their traditional food systems, improve food security, and create a community-based program that could be 

replicated by other tribes. At the end of their first year, they exceeded their workshop participation goal with 812 community members attending. Also, the project 

has twenty-four youth working with Navajo elders to translate the program’s curriculum into their Navajo language. They have leveraged partnerships with neighboring farms, community member’s gardens, and the Dine ́ College to enhance the 

funds provided by ANA. 

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in Massachusetts recently completed a project 

that demonstrates how tribes are able to use ANA funding to build their legal infrastructure. Specifically, they incorporated a traditional peacemaking dispute-resolution process into their existing court system. Through their SEDS grant, 18 peacemakers were trained, and the Tribal Council added peacemaking to the Tribe’s 

human resources policies to provide an alternative to automatic employee termination. Peacemaking was also added to the juvenile codes as an alternative to court 

proceedings. Peacemakers have remarked that it was empowering to develop and 

implement this project, as it allowed them to reincorporate traditional adjudication 

methods into tribal law. As a result, the Mashpee Wampanoag have expanded opportunities for conflict resolution that are firmly rooted in their cultural values. 

7 

Lack of physical infrastructure continues to be a challenge in many tribal communities. Because of the flexibility of SEDS, ANA is able to fund projects for planning, 

designing, and securing staff and equipment for projects that address infrastructure 

needs. One such funded project is the Pathway to Enhanced and Secured Information Technology (IT)—Fiber Optic Infrastructure for the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town 

in Oklahoma. This project successfully installed a communications tower and fiber 

backbone infrastructure with connections to two tribal buildings, and increased 

Internet speeds for the community. The project saves the tribe at least $1,500 per 

month on Internet service provider’s fees. Ultimately, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town will 

implement a fully equipped and operational IT infrastructure to ensure the efficient 

administration of the tribal government, which is made up of 15 tribal programs 

staffed by over 100 employees and serves 957 tribal members. 

In Alaska, the Native Village of Ekwok determined that its most pressing issue 

was collection of its solid waste and prevention of illegal trash dumpsites. Using 

ANA funding, the Native Village has been able to provide 35 residents in Ekwok 

with garbage collection services and 31 households are paying garbage collection 

fees. The number of illegal dumpsites is now zero. In addition, two Village ordinances were developed to regulate and enforce solid waste management. 

Another area that our grantees focus on is workforce development. Not only does 

economic development promote tribal empowerment and strengthen tribal self-governance, there is a strong desire in native communities to ‘‘grow our own’’ professionals to help raise the socio-economic status of the community and solve staffing 

shortages and employee retention problems. This approach also builds continuity 

and infuses cultural awareness in the services provided to community members. 

For example, Aaniiih Nakoda College in Harlem, Montana, focuses on education 

in the health care professions. The college provides a holistic, culturally based approach to education, which distinguishes it from other programs and directly contributes to their students’ success. They uphold the highest standards of quality and 

equity, while providing programs at an affordable cost. Through an ANA grant, 33 

participants received their nurse’s aide certificate and one received a registered 

nursing degree. Currently, 28 participants work in the health-care field, with more 

students graduating in May. 

The Waianae Coast of Hawai’i has the highest rates of teacher turnover, new 

teacher and non-resident placements, and unqualified teachers in the State of Hawaii. These are factors that negatively affect student learning and academic development in the state. To address these issues, the Institute of Native Pacific Education and Culture plans to utilize their ANA funding to pilot and evaluate a ‘‘grow 

our own’’ teacher model. This program will recruit, educate, place, and retain 100 

Native Hawaiian community members who are seeking a teaching degree focused 

on early childhood education or kindergarten through 12th grade, and are dedicated 

to teaching and contributing to the educational and economic growth of the Native 

Hawaiian population on the Waianae Coast. 

Grant Program Outcomes 

To know how effective ANA projects are, each year ANA visits two-thirds of the 

projects that are nearing completion in order to capture the outcomes achieved. In 

FY 2016, ANA looked back on five years of impact visit reports to conduct a data 

review of 295 grantees funded between FY 2011 and 2015. During this period, 122 

federally recognized tribes were awarded at least one ANA grant. One hundred and 

two Native American organizations, Native nonprofits, and Pacific Islander groups 

and 25 schools and education centers also received funding. 

Through our review, we found that: 

• SEDS-visited projects generated $1,183,480 in revenue; 

• 129 new businesses were created; 

• 2,326 Native Americans were employed; 

• 89 percent of all revenue generated from all project types came from SEDS 

projects; 

• 85 percent of all new businesses created by all project types were from SEDS 

projects; 

• 69 percent of the SEDS projects focused on social topics, with cultural preservation activities being the most popular subcategory; 

• 31 percent of SEDS projects focused on economic development; and 

• 54,189 youth and 17,169 elders were involved in SEDS activities. 

We take pride in the fact that so many projects reach our elders and youth. These 

two populations are held in such high esteem in Native traditional ways, and it is 

8 

through intergenerational connections that Native cultures, traditions, and languages can continue to be passed on. 

Vital to the positive outcome and success of ANA projects is the training and technical assistance offered. ANA has four regional training and technical assistance 

(TA) centers offering, at no cost, project and planning development training, pre-application training, and post award training. The centers can also review applications 

that are 75 percent complete and offer guidance to help improve the proposal. 

Trainings are provided in-person and virtually throughout our service area. In order 

to help increase the chance for success, technical assistance remains available 

throughout the life of the grant. 

I am committed to reaching out to communities that have never received ANA 

funding, or have not received ANA funding in many years. Our TA centers are conducting extensive outreach and finding innovative ways to help communities that 

cannot afford to travel to our training sessions. ANA has been offering more 

trainings in rural locations, including through virtual, web-enabled settings. This 

helps to level the playing field for lower-capacity applicants. 

Since ANA funding only augments a small portion of Native communities’ needed 

resources, I have been working with my federal counterparts and nongovernment 

partners to help projects remain sustainable after their grant sunsets. 

My highest priorities for collaboration are in economic development and serving 

vulnerable populations such as elders, youth, veterans, and potential victims or survivors of human trafficking. I have met with the Department of the Interior, the 

Small Business Administration, the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and the Center for Indian Country Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. I have met several 

times with the Department of Veterans Affairs and with Native veterans groups in 

New Mexico and South Dakota to identify needs and opportunities to partner. I am 

working closely with HHS’ Administration for Community Living. Finally, I am 

working with ACF’s Office on Trafficking in Persons to increase their outreach to 

Native communities. 

Conclusion 

As we look to the future of NAPA, this Administration is eager to partner with 

this Committee and Congress as a whole on reauthorization. With the important 

work being done by our Native language preservation program, we are seeking an 

opportunity to transmit grant products to the National Museum of the American Indian in order to increase the practical availability of products such as curricula, 

training materials, and dictionaries to other Native communities. 

Forty-five years after Congress passed NAPA, we have experienced great success 

in helping Native Americans achieve healthier outcomes with higher standards of 

living. I look forward to continuing our partnership in advancing these shared goals. 

Thank you for inviting me to speak with you again. I would be happy to answer 

any questions you may have. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Commissioner. I have to tell you that 

the Vice Chairman was extolling your virtues because you are a 

former staffer for John Thune. Correct? 

Ms. HOVLAND. That is correct, yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. That is great. Thanks for being here today and 

for your work. We appreciate it very much. 

Ms. HOVLAND. I am glad to be here, thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right, Councilman Socobasin, again, thanks 

for being here, and please proceed. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH M. SOCOBASIN, 

COUNCILMEMBER/FORMER CHIEF, PASSAMAQUODDY TRIBE 

Mr. SOCOBASIN. Thank you. 

Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chair Udall, members of the Committee, 

my name is Joseph Socobasin. I am a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribal Council, and I am also a former Chief for the Passamaquoddy Tribe of Indian Township. Thank you for inviting me 

here today to provide testimony regarding the 45th Anniversary of 

9 

the Native American Programs Act and the establishment of the 

Administration for Native Americans. 

The Passamaquoddy Tribe consists of 3,600 tribal members residing in three distinct self-governing Passamaquoddy communities. We are known as the People of the Dawn. Two communities 

are located in Maine, one is at Indian Township, the reservation 

I am from, or Megoknegook, and the other is Pleasant Point, or 

Sipayik. The third is located in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. 

Each community is separated by geography and a border, but the 

people continue to maintain political, social and kinship ties. 

Throughout the history of the Passamaquoddy people, we have 

lived off the land. One of our indigenous food gathering methods 

included harvesting the sweet sap of the sugar maple. 

In 2013, the Passamaquoddy Tribe created an economic development project to tap into this traditional, renewable natural resource; maple syrup. Owning more than 65,000 acres of forested 

land in northern Maine, and over 100,000 acres across the State 

of Maine, and the predominant tree species being sugar maple, provided us with an abundant renewable resource to harvest. 

In September of 2013, the Passamaquoddy Tribe was awarded 

our first ANA Grant for $1.5 million over a period of three years. 

With this funding, we created Passamaquoddy Maple, which is 100 

percent tribally-owned and has allowed us to hire and train tribal 

members to properly install, maintain and operate modern maple 

equipment. 

Because of this initial grant, we have been able to obtain three 

additional grants that has allowed us to expand and improve our 

production and marketing for Passamaquoddy Maple. We received 

a grant through the Northern Border Commission for $250,000. 

This was used to build our sugar house. 

The USDA Rural Business Economic Development grant was 

awarded as well, and we used this for bottling and marketing of 

our maple syrup. The last grant we received was our second ANA 

grant, which enabled us to take our product to market and also to 

develop our website. 

The ANA funding and technical assistance has been critical to 

the development and success of the Passamaquoddy Tribe’s economic endeavors. The technical assistance has provided a stable 

foundation of sustainable business that has allowed us to bring our 

indigenous product to a competitive market. 

Passamaquoddy Maple is organically certified and has expanded 

beyond maple syrup with a line of sugars and candies. All our 

products can be viewed online at our website, 

passamaquoddymaple.com. 

As a recipient of an ANA grant, we are grateful for the opportunity to offer testimony and our support. 

Woliwon, or thank you. I would be happy to answer any questions you have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Socobasin follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOSEPH M. SOCOBASIN, COUNCILMEMBER/FORMER

CHIEF, PASSAMAQUODDY TRIBE

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, my name is Joseph Socobasin. I 

am a member of the Tribal Council and Former Chief of the Passamaquoddy Tribe 

10 

of Indian Township. Thank you for inviting me here today to provide testimony regarding the 45th Anniversary of the Native American Programs Act and the establishment of the Administration for Native Americans. 

The Passamaquoddy Tribe consists of 3,600 tribal members residing in three distinct self-governing Passamaquoddy communities. We are known as ‘‘People of 

Dawn’’. Two communities are in Maine, Indian Township and Pleasant Point, and 

the third is located at St. Andrews, N.B. Each community is separated by geography, but the people continue to maintain political, social and kinship ties. 

Throughout the history of the Passamaquoddy people, we have lived off the land. 

One of our Indigenous food gathering methods included harvesting the sweet sap 

from the Sugar Maple. 

In 2013 the Passamaquoddy Tribe created an economic development project to tap 

into this traditional natural resource; maple syrup. Owning more than 65,000 acres 

of forested land in Northern Maine, and the predominant tree species being sugar 

maple, provides us with an abundant renewable resource to harvest. 

In September 2013, the Passamaquoddy Tribe was awarded our first ANA Grant 

for 1.5 million over a period of three years. With this funding, it allowed us to hire 

and train tribal members to properly install, maintain and operate modern maple 

equipment. Because of the initial grant, we have been able to obtain three additional grants that has allowed us to expand and improve our production and marketing for Passamaquoddy Maple. 

The ANA funding and technical assistance has been critical to the development 

and success of the Passamaquodddy Tribes economic endeavors. Technical assistance has provided a stable foundation of a sustainable business that has allowed 

us to bring our indigenous product to a competitive market. Passamaquoddy Maple 

is organically certified and has expanded beyond maple syrup with a line of sugars 

and candies. All our products can be viewed online at our website 

Passamaquoddymaple.com. As a recipient of an ANA grant, we are grateful for the 

opportunity to offer testimony and our support. Woliwon 

Respectfully submitted. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Councilman. 

Governor Vallo? 

STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN VALLO, GOVERNOR, PUEBLO OF 

ACOMA 

Mr. VALLO. [Greeting in Native tongue.] 

Good afternoon, Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall and 

members of the Committee. Thank you for this opportunity this 

afternoon to provide testimony on behalf of the 45th anniversary 

of the ANA grant program. 

We have submitted a written testimony for the record. What I 

will do this afternoon is provide highlights of this testimony that 

speak to the Pueblo’s ongoing commitment to work directly with 

ANA and other agencies and partners to ensure that the Acoma 

language is protected and preserved for future Acoma generations. 

I am [phrase in Native tongue]. The literal translation of my 

Acoma name is Black Mesa. And I had the opportunity this year 

to be appointed by the [phrase in Native tongue] clan system to 

serve as Governor of the Pueblo. Since 1996, my pueblo has been 

engaged with ANA in the development of a language retention program. 

This is the seed that we planted together with ANA to ensure 

that our language and the appropriate and culturally-relevant programming associated with creating our internal strategy for the 

preservation of our language was, that that actually happened. 

That seed that was planted has grown into what we refer to as a 

sheltering tree that has allowed our pueblo the opportunity to engage in an ongoing program of language preservation and revitalization. 

11 

Just last evening at our community gathering in Acoma Pueblo, 

the first of our gatherings this year, where the community comes 

together to learn of issues that are being addressed by the tribal 

leadership, and this is our tribal council, myself and our tribal administration, we had the opportunity to convey and inform our 

community of the workings within our tribal government. Historically, these meetings would have been conducted in our language. 

Today, we are fortunate that some of us who are Native speakers 

have the opportunity to convey this information, just as our ancestors did, in the same formal settings. 

It was made clear last evening at our meeting that the community remains committed, remains concerned and has directed us as 

leaders, as their leaders, to ensure that we do everything possible, 

that our language retention efforts since 1996, that have manifested to what they are today, continue. So we will look to the ANA 

and we will look to the Federal Government for continued support 

in this effort. 

It is so vital to all of us in this room who come from these indigenous communities to restore our languages and to ensure that our 

own indigenous tongue and the associated cultures of our respective tribal communities are protected and are secure for the future 

of our respective tribes. 

So I thank the ANA and I thank this Committee and the agencies who have offered support of this effort to not only the Pueblo 

of Acoma but other tribes throughout the Country, and who have 

made the commitment to join us in this effort which is so critical 

and so vital to the continuance of indigenous peoples in this Country. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Vallo follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN VALLO, GOVERNOR, PUEBLO OF ACOMA

Thank you Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and members of the Committee for the opportunity to provide testimony on the unique role that Administration for Native Americans (ANA) grants and programs fill in Indian Country. My 

name is Brian Vallo and I am the Governor of Acoma Pueblo, located in northwestern New Mexico. Since 1996, our Pueblo has worked with the ANA to develop 

and implement short-term and multi-year grants that support language and cultural revitalization projects in our community. The manifold benefits of these grants 

cannot be overstated. We have seen first-hand how the seed from an ANA grant can 

grow into a sheltering tree for the entire community. My testimony describes Acoma 

Pueblo’s positive experience with the ANA grant process and makes several recommendations for ways to strengthen it even further. 

I. Administration for Native Americans 

Since its establishment in 1974 pursuant to the Native American Programs Act, 

the ANA has served as a valuable resource in helping Native communities achieve 

their goals in self-sufficiency and cultural preservation. The ANA provides discretionary grant funding for community-based projects, as well as training and technical assistance (T/TA). The beauty of ANA grants lies in the control that is given 

to tribal applicants in identifying an area of need within their community and developing a plan of action to address it with federal funding. The singular focus on community-based and community-driven projects that promote the exercise of self-determination and cultural flourishing makes the ANA unique within the federal family. 

II. Acoma Pueblo’s Experience in Leveraging ANA Resources for Vital 

Language and Culture Programming 

The Seed—Acoma Language Retention Program. Acoma has over a decade of experience working with the ANA. Our first award was a planning grant in 1996 to establish a community-based language initiative known as the Acoma Language ReVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:57 May 08, 2019 Jkt 036242 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\36242.TXT JACK
12 

tention Program. The Program was not intended to be nor was it implemented as 

an academic study of the Keres language. Instead, the Program’s focus was on restrengthening the link between the Keres language and Acoma cultural practices 

through an ambitious plan for language revitalization aimed at younger generations 

in the community. The community identified the widening disconnect between the 

number of knowledgeable Keres speakers, particularly among Acoma youth, and the 

level of engagement with our traditional cultural practices as a critical issue. ANA 

provided financial support enabling our Pueblo to establish its first language program tasked with finding solutions to this issue. 

Prior to the ANA grant, our Keres language had only been utilized as part of a 

limited federal bilingual education program at the local Bureau of Indian Education 

school between the 1970s and 1980s. When federal bilingual funding began to wane 

by the late 1980s, this program came to an end. The result was a gap of almost 

15 years in the formal instruction of the Keres language. The ANA short-term planning grant enabled us to chart out a new framework for our language and cultural 

revitalization goals. We used ANA funds to compile data on the status of the language (i.e., language use in the community among different age groups) to identify 

the segments of the population most in need of Keres language learning support. 

The ANA was available to us as a resource throughout the grant development and 

implementation process. Critically, they limited their assistance to the technical aspects of the grant, such as data analysis and reporting final outcomes. It was left 

to Acoma to decide what was appropriate in carrying out the Program’s goals. ANA 

operates on the understanding that tribal grantees have a specific vision for their 

communities and know what will work best for them. It does not dictate how federal 

funds should be used. Instead ANA grants are founded on and seek to advance the 

expression of our sovereignty by focusing on project outcomes and facilitating the 

realization of grantees’ self-determination goals. While other federal funding sources 

include self-determination as one of many factors to be considered in a grant application and implementation process, the ANA is one of the rare federal partners that 

makes it the determinative factor in a grant award. 

The Growth—Keres Language Immersion Programs. Our ANA Grant activities 

were always meant to be fully accessible to all Acoma members. We did not want 

these to be limited to a classroom setting or only a segment of the population. To 

that end, the development and implementation of summer Keres language immersion programs for Acoma youth were designed to bring them together with Acoma 

elders and Keres-speaking adults who led activities in our villages, in our ancestral 

home of Haak’u and in and surrounding locations on our reservation. The high visibility of these Keres language initiatives was important in fostering 

intergenerational cultural ties, language usage, and community engagement and 

support. 

As the activities funded by the ANA grant developed, their popularity within the 

community continued to grow. Our first attempt to pilot a two week summer immersion program brought Acoma youth, adults, and elders together to learn about 

Keres-based cultural practices. The program was so well attended that we subsequently offered a four week and later a six week immersion experience! As a result 

of these programs we saw more children and youth participating in cultural practices and actively engaging in community life. We also saw increased 

intergenerational engagement, which is critical to passing on the traditional knowledge that only our elders and fluent Keres speakers possess. 

The first generation of children to participate in the immersion programs in the 

1990s are now adults and parents themselves. Many have become key participants 

in the socio-cultural traditions of the Pueblo. Those of us from the community have 

observed how those children have grown up and been shaped by the availability of 

Keres cultural programming. Now, the children of that first generation of beneficiaries have the opportunity to participate in Keres language classes, both in the 

community and in some local schools, are following in the footsteps of their parents 

and relatives in being integrated into the cultural practices and linguistic tradition 

of our community. We have been made stronger from the inside because of it. The 

benefits of that original ANA short-term planning grant continue to translate into 

long-term positive gains for our community. 

The Branches—Expansion and Leveraged Funding. After our community-based 

programs were firmly established, we began to expand the sphere of Keres cultural 

teaching into the classroom setting. The Tribal Council guided the carefully designed vision as it was implemented in our local school system in the early 2000s. 

We first expanded to the local BIE school, then to a local public high school and 

elementary school, and finally to a parochial pre-kindergarten program. The phased 

expansion of our vision was only made possible because of ANA support. ANA 

grants allowed us to train Acoma language teachers, develop curricula, and impleVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:57 May 08, 2019 Jkt 036242 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\36242.TXT JACK
13 

ment the program in diverse settings. Throughout this process, we maintained fidelity to our original vision of strengthening the community by renewing the link between the Keres language and Acoma cultural practices. 

As a result of our expansion into public schools, Acoma found itself on the forefront, along with several other key Pueblos, in pushing local school districts to enter 

into Memorandums of Understanding regarding the implementation of Keres language immersion programs. Acoma wanted to ensure that the Pueblo maintained 

control of its programs and full ownership of the materials developed for and used 

in the programs. We also wanted to be sure that the programs were taught only 

by Acoma teachers and served all interested Acoma students so that they could stay 

firmly rooted in their Pueblo identities and language as they matriculated from elementary to middle school and on to high school. 

We encountered challenges along the way. For example, one challenge stemmed 

from the mistaken view that immersion programs discriminated against other students because they targeted only students who were from our community. With 

strong support from a State Education superintendent, we made it clear that the 

offering of such programs aligns with our status as sovereign pueblos and tribal nations with inherent powers of self-governance over our members, including the authority to govern how matters of cultural sensitivity and language are taught to our 

children and youth. 

Another challenge arose from the fact that many of our Acoma elders and Keresspeaking adults lacked formal teaching degrees, which created administrative issues 

for public schools under the No Child Left Behind Act. Acoma once again stood at 

the fore in advocating for an alternative pathway for teacher certification so that 

our children could have access to appropriate instructors in their Keres classrooms. 

As the result of a collaborative multi-year effort with other New Mexico tribes, New 

Mexico adopted an alternative certification for speakers of Native languages teaching Native languages in public schools in 2003. Alternative certifications are only 

issued by the New Mexico Public Education Department on the recommendation of 

a Pueblo or tribal nation. Pueblos and tribal nations in the State thus maintain control over which instructors are deemed qualified to teach their indigenous language, 

as well as how such lessons and programs are carried out. 

Further, because of our proven track with management and implementing other 

related ANA grants, we have been able to leverage non-federal funds to further our 

long-term goals. We have leveraged private funds and state funds to pilot early 

childhood education and other summer language and culture programs. Our successful management of these funding sources eventually led the Tribal Council to commit internal tribal resources to this effort. We have had support from all levels of 

government, as well as the private sector, in carrying out our vision of a strong and 

vibrant Keres language community at Acoma Pueblo. 

The Sheltering Tree—Intergenerational Engagement with Keres-Based Cultural 

Practices. The expanded access to and engagement with Keres-based cultural practices would not have been possible but for the support of the ANA. Beginning with 

the seed of the short-term ANA planning grant in 1996, our Acoma Language Retention Program has offered an impressive array of programs and initiatives that 

have provided manifold benefits to our members. We have seen increases in the participation of Acoma youth in traditional practices; intergenerational engagement 

within the community; respect for and understanding of Pueblo sovereignty and traditions in public schools; and the resiliency of our Acoma youth, adults, and elders. 

Each of these achievements is rooted in and nurtured by the ongoing revitalization 

of our community oriented Keres-based cultural practices. 

We have also been able to share the strength and beauty of our community with 

others pursuant to an ANA Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS) 

grant for the planning and development of the Sky City Cultural Center and Haaku 

Museum. Acoma Sky City is the heart of our community. We have lived at our 

mesa-top home for at least 1000 years, making it the oldest continuously inhabited 

community in the United States. Acoma religious, cultural, and social life revolves 

around Sky City, both on a daily basis and during festival times. ANA funding has 

been instrumental in preserving this cultural resource for present and future generations. 

III. Recommendations Related to ANA Programs 

While our experience with the ANA grant application and implementation process 

has been generally positive, we believe that are always ways to improve the process 

going forward. For example, it is our understanding that internal agency is working 

towards streamlining the application process. We support this effort. Ensuring that 

the application is as simple and efficient as possible would remove needless administrative burdens that might otherwise create barriers to access for tribal applicants. 

14 

Acoma Pueblo is lucky to have experienced grant writers on staff. Other pueblos, 

tribal nations, and Native communities are not so fortunate. Streamlining the application process is critical to applicants with limited administrative and financial resources. We also hope that the ANA will continue to provide training and technical assistance on the intricacies of the grant development, implementation, and outcome reporting process. This ties into our initial recommendation on efficient application 

processes. For tribal applicants of all internal capacities ANA training and technical 

assistance is important to the effective management of federal grants and appropriately reporting outcomes for accountability. The ANA provided key technical support during the lifecycle of each of our grants. Today, we are in the last year of a 

multi-year grant to complete an online Keres dictionary project and ANA technical 

assistance has assisted us in tracking progress towards that grant’s goals. 

We recognize that many tribal applicants do not have the internal capacity to support full immersion programs. We encourage the ANA to provide early technical assistance in helping applicants navigate the myriad pathways that they can choose 

from in developing a language and cultural revitalization program that is best suited to their community’s needs and capabilities. Meeting applicants where they stand 

is essential to long-term project success. 

We also firmly believe that every community, regardless of its current capabilities 

or the status of its programs, can achieve significant gains in language and cultural 

revitalization over time. We urge the ANA to maintain diversity in the range of 

grant periods that are available to applicants. Grant cycles of six months to six 

years enable applicants to develop projects according to the natural ebbs and flows 

of their community. We urge the ANA to preserve this flexibility. 

Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this important oversight hearing 

on establishment of the Administration for Native Americans and its role in Indian 

Country today. On behalf of the Pueblo of Acoma, we thank you for your dedicated 

work on behalf of all pueblos, tribal nations, and Native communities, particularly 

in the advancement of our self-determination. We hope to have the opportunity to 

show you first-hand the strides we are making in integrating the Keres language 

into our daily and ceremonial life during a future visit to the Pueblo of Acoma. 

Da ́’wa ́’e ́h; Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Governor Vallo. 

Now, Chairman James, if you would proceed with your testimony. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOE JAMES, CHAIRMAN, YUROK TRIBE; 

ACCOMPANIED BY TIANA WILLIAMS-CLAUSSEN, LEAD 

BIOLOGIST 

Mr. JAMES. [Greeting in Native tongue] Joe James. My name is 

Joe James, I come from the Village of Sregon, located on the Lower 

Klamath River. 

Good afternoon, Chairman and distinguished Committee members. As I mentioned, my name is Joseph ‘‘Joe’’ James, Chairman 

of the Yurok Tribe. The Yurok Tribe appreciates the opportunity to 

share our story about California condor recovery in the Yurok ancestral territory. The tribe looks forward to continuing the work of 

the Senate Committee on Indian affairs with the action of restoring 

the Yurok homeland, including securing passage for the forthcoming Senate bill of the Yurok Lands Act, H.R. 1312, which was 

introduced in the United States House of Representatives on February 19th, 2019. 

The Yurok Land Act supports many of the Yurok restoration activities, including condor reintroduction. We appreciate our staff, 

our Yurok tribal citizens and biologists, Tiana Williams and our 

team, for their vision through leadership in this case. We are joined 

by her, her mother and child, representing the future of this work. 

For background purposes, the contents of this work, the California condor has not flown over Yurok sites in a hundred years, 

15 

a great loss to us, due to its critical cultural importance. The condor helps us bring promise to the world. Due to environmental 

damage, influx of new materials toxic to the birds, reducing their 

worldwide population to 22 birds. Captive breeding and reintroduction has raised the numbers to over 450 in the Yurok Tribe, once 

a part of the successful in bringing more birds home. The Yurok 

wildlife program was established in 2008, with funding from the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, with condor as its flagship species. 

Our aim was to establish a release facility in northern California 

in the Yurok ancestral territory on Bald Hills Road. 

Funded by our ANA environmental regulatory enhancement 

grant, we are using the Redwood National Park facility to create 

a management and operations center, and as co-leads in the environmental assessment with the Key West Fish and Wildlife Service. The current ANA 2019–2021 grant will provide the final critical infrastructure needed for the successful recovery of the condor 

that provides cultural, social, environmental and economic benefits 

to our tribal communities. More in-depth information is provided in 

the submitted written comments. 

Studies indicate the Yurok ancestral territory has capacity to 

provide excellent habitat and human-caused damage has been 

largely rectified under current environmental policies. Low human 

populations are to minimize or decrease the risk of negative human 

interactions. And our climate is likely to remain roughly on 100- 

year projections for maintaining habitat viable. 

An LOU has been signed with multiple Federal and State regulatory partners. We are undergoing an environmental assessment 

process under NEPA to plan the release of the birds in the fall of 

2019. The tribe is a co-lead in the NEPA process, which provides 

the tribe an important role in the project management and decision-making process. 

Condor reintroduction meets the goals of the Yurok tribal constitution, the Yurok land management plan and the integrated resource management plan, as well as protections proposed under the 

Yurok Lands Act, which will substantially increase the tribe’s capacity to manage the condors. 

We offer the following recommendations for this grant. Provide 

funding to attend in-person grant development trainings, conduct 

a request for proposal overhaul, developed and require viewing of 

an application and available resource webinar, allow more time for 

applications to be completed, encourage Federal agency partners in 

promoting tribal self-governance and annual funding agreements, 

and secure annual funding for these types of activities. ANA has 

and can continue to be a major component of the Yurok Tribe’s success. 

In closing, we appreciate this opportunity to testify on the benefits of ANA’s support, specifically with culture and government 

leaders, elders and our youth who will be the first generation to 

grow up with condors to fly for a hundred years. Again, on behalf 

of the Yurok Tribal Council, the Yurok Tribal Government and the 

people of the Yurok Tribe, we thank the Committee and the ANA’s 

program that has been so vital and critical to the Yurok Tribe. 

[Phrase in Native tongue.] 

[The prepared statement of Mr. James follows:] 

16 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JOE JAMES, CHAIRMAN, YUROK TRIBE

Introduction 

Good afternoon Chairman and distinguished Committee members. The Yurok 

Tribe is grateful for the opportunity to share our work toward California condor recovery to Yurok lands. The Tribe looks forward to continuing to work with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on actions restoring the Yurok homeland, including 

securing passage of the Yurok Lands Act, which was introduced into the United 

States House of Representatives on February 21st, 2019. The Yurok Lands Act will 

support a myriad of Yurok restoration activities, including condor reintroduction. 

I also want to thank the Yurok Tribal Chairman, Joe James, for allowing me to 

share my personal experience with the condor reintroduction program. I am Tiana 

Williams-Claussen, a lead biologist for the Yurok Tribe Wildlife Program, and a 

Yurok tribal member. My family comes from the village of Wehl-kwew, near the 

town of Klamath, CA, the current headquarters of the Yurok Tribal government in 

far northern California. I received my Bachelor’s degree in Biochemical Sciences 

from Harvard University, and am currently pursuing a graduate degree in Natural 

Resources with an emphasis in Wildlife Management from Humboldt State University. I was the first employee of the Yurok Tribe Wildlife Program, which was instituted in June of 2008 with funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(USFWS) Tribal Wildlife Grant Program. I began my career with the Yurok Tribe 

as an employee of the Environmental Program, and also spent a year as an employee of the Tribal Office of Self-Governance, which proved excellent experience in 

the partnership building required for the condor reintroduction program. 

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the Importance of the California 

Condor 

Importance of Condor to the Yurok Lifeway 

Prey-go-neesh (California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) (condor)) was one of 

the first people of the world, and one of the most powerful beings in Yurok cosmology. He is a sacred spirit, a scavenger who never partakes of killing or violence. 

Instead he takes directly and transforms it back into life, the purest form of renewal. This, combined with his ability to fly the highest, equipped him as the messenger to carry Yurok prayers to the heavens to be received by the creator. As such, 

he figures prominently in the Yurok concept of world renewal, the Yurok reason for 

being, and is integral to our world renewal ceremonies, our highest ceremonies. The 

Yurok people have been critically affected by the overall loss of condor across the 

landscape, as he has not soared the skies over Yurok Ancestral Territory (YAT) in 

over a century. 

While the Yurok people carry on without condor, our ceremonies are impacted by 

not having him to gift us his feathers, critical for use in important regalia, and by 

not having him in our skies to carry our prayers. Interviews with Yurok culture 

bearers emphasize that Yurok are a part of the system, integral to it, and inseparable from it; thus the inability to engage with traditional ecological community 

members like the condor limits our capacity to be Yurok. 

17 

Yurok youth in particular suffer from the loss of condor. Each species plays a significant role, provides a specific example, and teaches us how to live well in this 

world. The world is not complete when one winks out. The importance of the condor’s role cannot be overemphasized. It is difficult to teach about a species that has 

not been seen in over a century, and belongs more to the realm of myth than reality 

for youth. The language of world renewal, and the traditional way of thinking that 

it conveys, is at risk when that connection is lost. The resulting loss of culture degrades societal cohesion and the support it provides. A strong foundation in culture 

is necessary as a buffer against the social ills that plague many tribal peoples by 

providing a center to which they can anchor. Because of condors’ grave importance 

to the Yurok people, Yurok elders have designated the condor as the single most 


227a1.eps
18 

important terrestrial species to restore to YAT. To quote a prominent ceremonial 

leader, ‘‘The return of the condor means restoring balance for us.’’ 

The Yurok people understand the deep connections between the environment and 

the wildlife that relies on it. Because of their role as an apex species, condors are 

indicators of ecosystem health, especially when that health is falteringCondors best 

thrive in areas free of contaminants, with a complex mosaic of habitat, and well 

supported megafauna populations. Similarly, Yurok people thrive under such circumstances. When the Yurok take care of their environment and the species that 

rely on it, they are in turn taking care of their own people, in a cycle of reciprocity 

that has maintained the Yurok people since time immemorial. In a very real way, 

restoring condor habitat and returning condor to Yurok skies is a clear restoration 

of the Yurok people, homeland, ecological systems, culture, and lifeway. 

Importance of the Condor Within the Broader Ecological Context 

The California condor also holds a critical role in California’s natural ecosystems. 

Historically, condors played an important role as scavenger. Recent studies have 

shown that in many ecosystems, vultures, a class of birds that includes condors, undertake nearly a quarter of the removal of carcasses from natural landscapes. Lacking this ecosystem service, some countries have had to increase government funded 

carcass removal to stem increases in mammalian scavengers like feral dogs, which 

often conflict with humans and spread disease. Clean-up actions no longer performed by vultures, coupled with increased health care costs, have led to increased 

government expenditures in the tens of billions of dollars. 

Causes Of Condors’ Decline 

Yurok people understood the slow reproductive rate of condors. As a result, traditional knowledge held they were not to be harmed. However, the same did not hold 

true of colonizing Euro-Americans who prized large feather quills for use as gold 

dust containers, and collected over 300 condors between 1792 and 1976: including 

41 for ‘‘sport’’ and 177 for ‘‘scientific’’ collection. Additionally, new contaminants 

were introduced to the region’s system. Strychnine laced carcasses were widely 

placed across the landscape targeting large mammalian predators, such as grizzly 


227a2.eps
19 

bears and wolves, and killed scavenging birds just as effectively. Poisoned bait put 

out for varmints also likely killed large numbers of condors incidentally. 

Also, lead ammunition was introduced to western North American by settlers. 

Highly malleable and dense, lead ammunition by design mushrooms and fragments 

upon impact with animal tissues. This action rapidly transfers the kinetic energy 

of projectiles into hydrostatic shock waves passing through tissue and organs, maximizing killing power for a quick and humane knockdown. As an unintended side effect, these fragments subsequently contaminate unrecovered game and gut piles left 

behind by hunters when field dressing game. Lead fragments as small as the head 

of a pin are sufficient to kill a condor. It was once believed that condors were particularly susceptible to lead toxicosis; however, recent studies show this to be incorrect. It is not that condors are more susceptible than other scavenging raptors, such 

as bald and golden eagles; rather, their wide ranging foraging patterns and focus 

on large carcasses causes them to more frequently encounter lead tainted carcasses. 

Their long-lived and slow breeding life-style means that even moderate increases in 

mortality rates create population level effects. Mortalities from lead toxicosis have 

resulted in a median lifespan of reintroduced condors of less than eight years, very 

short for a species which breeds at around seven or eight years of age and with a 

natural life-span estimated at more than 70 years. Lead toxicosis has undeniably 

contributed to their overall decline, and remains the leading cause of wild condor 

deaths today. Studies show that 26 percent of juvenile condor mortalities and 67 

percent of adult condor mortalities have been due to lead toxicosis from ingestion 

of lead ammunition. When the population reached its low of 22, the decision was 

made to capture all of the birds left in the wild, in hope of initiating a captive breeding program and saving the species. 

In sum, the condor population declined rapidly after Euro-American settler contact. It was one of the first species listed under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. 

The population reached its low of only 22 individuals by 1982. Without intervention 

extinction looked inevitable. By 1987, the last 15 remaining wild hatched birds were 

taken into captivity and saved from mortality factors that were not yet fully understood, and a successful breeding population was established. 

Reintroduction Into the Wild: Successes and Challenges 

Successful breeding strategies developed and implemented by captive rearing facilities allowed the reproductive rate of one chick per pair every other year to be 

increased to two chicks each year. By the mid-1990s, captive reared birds were plentiful enough to begin releases back into the wild. Reintroductions have established 

condors in central and southern California, Arizona, and Baja Mexico. But recovery 

has not been without challenges. At this time, though nearly 500 condors have been 

introduced to the wild since reintroductions began, only around 300 remain in the 

wild, with about as many living in captivity. This reflects a mortality rate of over 

40 percent, which is high enough to prevent the current population to be self-sustaining. These mortalities have, however, provided crucial information regarding the 

sources of mortality and allowed program managers to begin addressing causes directly. 

Growing Human Effects—Exponential Population Growth and Climate Change 

The majority of recent mortalities have been linked to human causes, including 

death by lead contamination, collision with human infrastructure, micro-trash ingestion, and shootings by poachers. Considering that human population growth projections predict exponential expansion in southern and central California, the likelihood of increasing human conflict with condors seems inevitable. Conversely, the 

same human population projections did not assess northern California, with its 

sparsely populated status relative to central and southern California, as projected 

growth was expected to be so minimal as to be inconsequential. Further, based on 

expected climate change projections over the next 100 years, it has been hypothesized that many existing condor reintroduction sites may become climatically unsuitable for condors. Climate change assessments indicate that coastal northern 

California, and much of the larger Pacific Northwest, should have habitat and climate conditions that are suitable for supporting condors throughout the next century. 

Regional Positive Impacts of Condor Recovery 

Condors contribute significantly to economies in the areas they thrive, including 

the coastal Big Sur area near Ventana Wildlife Society’s release site and in the 

Grand Canyon and Pinnacles National Parks. Tourism has increased by countless 

bird enthusiasts who list the chance to see a condor as their primary reason for 

their visits. A similar boost to tourism could be expected on the California north 

coast, with the complementary draw of Redwood National Park, home of the largest 

20 

trees in the world, and the majestic condor with its 9.5-foot wingspan. Del Norte 

and Humboldt Counties suffer under economic disadvantage, relying heavily on 

tourism to support their economies. The Tribe sees the potential to grow tourismbased business related to condor viewing itself, such as birding tours and related 

ecotourism ventures, but also in terms of motels, restaurants, and all other businesses required to support an influx of new visitors. 

Condor reintroduction will also directly benefit tribal youth who are beginning careers in Natural Resources. The Condor Internship Program, to be initiated under 

the current Environmental Regulatory Enhancement grant, will focus on hiring Native American and indigenous students or recent graduates in Natural Resource 

fields in order to provide them hands on, real world experience, as well as a stipend 

to help them meet their career goals. The goal is to hire six tribal interns annually, 

rotating new tribal students in every six months to spread the opportunity to gain 

experience as far as possible. 

Furthermore, the Tribe has adopted a holistic approach to ecosystem management 

which takes into account ecosystem health, cultural needs, and economic growth. 

Over the last ten years, the Tribe has reacquired over 60,000 acres of forested land 

adjacent to the east side of the current reservation boundary. The Tribe has developed a land management plan with ambitious goals including creation of a salmon 

sanctuary and forest area for carbon sequestration. The condor has been included 

as a special status species in the plan, which calls for the land to be used to support 

condor habitat. The next step will be to secure passage of the Yurok Lands Act that 

will expand the Yurok Reservation to include the reacquired lands, enabling the 

Tribe to regulate and govern the land consistent with the land management plan. 

This coupled with Yurok’s existing land and river management throughout the 

Reservation creates ideal habitat for condor, as well as other species. For example, 

restoration of natural prairies and oak woodlands will benefit a species like the condor, by promoting food resource species such as elk, deer, and bear. Because of condors’ status as an apex species, these other species populations will thrive, which 

has the further benefit of providing an increase in food resources to the tribal membership, which is still a largely subsistence hunting and fishing population. As condors expand across their historical range, their positive impact on ecology, society, 

and the economy grows. 

Benefits to Condor of Reintroduction to California North Coast 

Based on Yurok elder’s guidance, the Yurok Tribe sought funding to begin what 

would become a decade long journey toward condor recovery in YAT. In 2008, the 

Tribe received its first funding from the USFWS to begin analyses to determine if 

the Yurok homeland had healed sufficiently for condor to return home. This was the 

first step in creating the Yurok Tribe Wildlife Program (YTWP), for whom the condor was the flagship species, and from which a variety of wildlife management 

projects have grown. 

Habitat Requirements 

Initial assessments focusing on condor requirements, including sufficiency of 

roosting, nesting, and foraging needs indicated that the requisite habitat characteristics are abundant in Yurok Country. Roosting requires flight access and appropriate roost structures, which are plentiful in northern California. Traditional ecological knowledge described historical condor roost and nest sites, and conversations 

with local redwood canopy expert Steve Sillett indicated the likelihood of abundant 

large redwood cavities, like those used elsewhere as nests by condors, in Redwood 

National and State Parks lands (adjacent to Yurok Country). Redwood National 

Park maintains the Bald Hills, an extensive chain of forage supporting prairies. The 

Kneeland area in northern Humboldt County, where the last two documented condors in northern California were killed is also maintained, though largely for agriculture. Combined, these prairie chains provide extensive communities of wild 

ungulates and predators, in addition to domestic livestock which provide foraging 

opportunities for condors. 

Contaminants of Concern to Condor Reintroduction 

YTWP also conducted assessments for environmental contaminants in local avian 

scavengers that would utilize potential food resources that condors might be expected to exploit in the northern California region. Lead ammunition fragments ingested in animal tissues is the leading source of mortality in reintroduced condors 

and eggshell thinning in breeding reintroduced condors has been linked to 

organochlorine pesticide contamination, in this case DDT, in dead, stranded marine 

mammals. 

Lead levels were assessed under funding from the Tribal Wildlife Grant through 

avian scavenger surrogates, turkey vultures and common ravens. As expected, since 

21 

lead ammunition was still in use in the sampling area, some individuals were found 

to have elevated lead levels, with a statistically significant increase occurring during 

hunting season. Nevertheless, levels found were lower than in any other region 

where similar surrogates were studied, indicating that northern California may face 

lower mortality rates than other reintroduction areas. 

DDT, though banned in the 1970s, continues to persist in the environment. Being 

fat-binding, it bioaccumulates in fatty tissues of long-lived species, especially those 

with thick blubber layers such as California sea lions. Sea lion blubber has been 

sampled for DDT in sites ranging from the Southern California Bight, the site of 

intentional dumping of DDT waste products by Montrose Chemical Corporation in 

the past, to Washington State. In general, a south to north decreasing trend in contaminants has been observed, and which has held true off the coast of YAT in a 

study funded by the Tribal Wildlife Grant and the National Park Service (NPS). 

Condors observed to feed frequently on sea lions in the Big Sur area have observable eggshell thinning and mortality in some eggs. However, many do survive and 

it seems that levels of DDT encountered by these birds are just on the threshold 

of lethal effect for eggs. This provides hope that the levels measured in northern 

California, several magnitudes lower, may prove to have an even lesser effect on 

eggshells and egg survivorship. 


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Partnerships Developed to Support Reintroduction 

To support condor recovery, the Yurok Tribe developed partnerships with federal, 

state, and private land managers. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was 

signed between the Tribe, USFWS, NPS, California Department of Parks and Recreation, and Ventana Wildlife Society, establishing northern California as a future release location that would provide prime habitat, meet Condor Recovery Plan directives, and positively benefit the overall population. The MOU was expanded to include the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the California and 

Oregon Departments of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Zoo, Sequoia Park Zoo, Oakland 

Zoo, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Pacific Power Company (utility companies), Green Diamond Resource Company (a major timber organization), and the 

Hells Canyon Preservation Council as stakeholders and partners in recovery. 

The Yurok Tribe is now poised to enter the final phase of preparation before condor releases. This includes completion of an Environmental Assessment under the 

National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), for which the Yurok Tribe is serving as a co-lead along with the USFWS and NPS, and the construction of condor 

release and management facilities, as well as a staff base of operations, with the 

goal of releasing condors into YAT in the fall of 2019. When enacted, the Tribe’s 

Lands Act would support this type of federal, tribal, state, and private partnerships 

by providing more congressional authorization for these types of innovative, efficient, and effective partnerships that the Tribe desires to replicate in other areas. 

Innovation in Planning and Implementation 

The Yurok condor reintroduction program is innovative in that it is the first such 

to be led by a tribe. The path forged by Yurok is paving the way for other tribes, 

like the Nez Perce who are pursuing condor reintroduction in their own territory 

in Idaho, in the Hells Canyon region. Not only did the Tribe take the lead in all 

habitat analyses, project development, fundraising, partnership building, and community outreach, they have since taken on a formal leadership position as co-leads 

in the NEPA process. Furthermore, this project is targeting an experimental, nonessential designation under Section of the 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) 

. This does not mean that the condors are any less valuable than those at other sites 

in California, which maintain their fully protected status. Rather, loss of the population will not risk extinction of the species. Further, comprehensive management 

of genetic lineages will assure that no extremely genetically valuable birds will be 

risked at the new site until several releases have been undertaken and there is reasonable assurance that there are no unforeseen risks in the new area. The primary 

benefit of the 10(j) designation is that it allows for specific modification of conservation measures defined under the ESA to be retained as 4(d) rules. While the definition of ‘‘take’’ is relatively expansive, it provides important protections to listed species. However, not all examples of ‘‘take’’ may cause harm. Considering the relatively resilient nature of condors, the ascribed 10(j) designation developed for this 

release project effectively refines regulation to protect local industry partners like 

Green Diamond Resource Company, Pacific Power, and PG&E, while still protecting 

the species from egregious actions such as intentional take. PG&E has expressed 


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23 

their appreciation that the Tribe engaged them early, to reduce negative infrastructure and species interactions. As a partner in this project, PG&E has provided 

$170,000 to support the condor release site. 

The Yurok Tribe sees the benefit to protecting Yurok forestry practices, including 

timber harvest and land restoration, through 10(j) designations. Examples of the 

latter would be prairie restoration to expand foraging areas and tree thinning 

projects targeting old growth forest production which will actually improve the land 

for condors by providing future nesting habitat. In order to enable the 10(j) designation, the Tribe worked diligently with Green Diamond Resource Company to develop 

California legislation that allows consistency between state and federal laws such 

that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife may defer to the USFWS regarding the 10(j) designation with respect to this release site, which was passed into 

law. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce potential negative impacts on local stakeholders while still fully protecting the birds. 

Innovation Funded by the Administration for Native Americans, Environmental Regulatory Enhancement Grant 

The Administration for Native Americans (ANA) Environmental Regulatory Enhancement grant (ERE) has played an integral role in the Tribe’s success, having 

first been granted to YTWP in 2010. The beauty of the ERE opportunity is in its 

uniqueness amongst federal grant opportunities. Most federal grants available to 

tribes have priorities that they identify as requirements for funding, and the applicant must adapt their own needs to that of the funding opportunity. The ERE grant 

approaches from the opposite direction. ERE asks the applicant to delve deep into 

tribal community need, as identified by the community itself, and to design a project 

specific to that need in a way that makes sense and will be most effective in that 

specific community. The application process is based on the foundation of community investment to assure the greatest likelihood of success of the project within the 

unique environment of that community, which in this case, involved both the tribal 

and broader community. 

This first ERE grant the Tribe received sought to bridge the gap between a typically ‘‘environmentalist’’ issue, condor conservation, and what might be conventionally considered a conservative concern, hunting and rights under the Second 

Amendment of the Constitution. The Tribe saw, and sought to address, a potential 

conflict in the intersection. YTWP staff engaged in this funding opportunity were 

all hunters and understood that the these issues were not at odds, but were instead 

an opportunity to develop a new partnership in condor conservation. The hunting 

community already has a long history of conservation leadership, for example, leading the way to banning the use of lead shot in harvesting waterfowl due to its detrimental effects on waterfowl populations. 

24 

With this understanding, YTWP established the ‘‘Hunters as Stewards’’ education 

and outreach project under ERE, aimed at sharing information about the impacts 

of the use of lead ammunition on condors and other raptors, the potential impact 

on human health and child development if ingested (this being of particular concern 

to the Tribe as a subsistence hunting community), and making the switch to nonlead alternatives. YTWP handed out ammunition at gun shows, hosted shooting 

events at which sportsmen could try the ammunition in their own rifles, became 

California Hunter Education teachers and taught new hunters about non-lead alternatives as a part of conservation ethics, engaged with regional ammunition retailers 

to ensure their accurate understanding of the issue, and created display pieces for 

general outreach showing the fragmentation potential of lead as compared to the 

most common alternative materials, copper and copper alloys. 

Yurok Tribe headquarters are situated in rural, conservative Del Norte County 

in the far north of California, where hunting is a way of life for many, providing 

a large audience. The Hunters as Stewards program, instituted under ANA, established outreach mechanisms, talking points, and invested YTWP as part of the accepted hunting community, and continues its advocacy today. As a part of the initial 

ERE project, before and after surveys indicated that, varying depending on the 

event, 85–95 percent of hunters engaged recognized the efficacy of non-lead ammunition, saw the benefit of making the switch voluntarily, and said that they planned 

to do so. Only 2 percent indicated that they still preferred lead, and the rest either 

did not answer or at worst indicated that they felt more informed about the topic. 

YTWP counts those who said they would make the switch as full partners in condor 

conservation, with positive impacts on all other species impacted by use of lead ammunition. 

Yurok ERE FY 2019–2021 

Goals of ERE FY 2019–2021—Building Capacity to Implement Condor Reintroduction 

The most recent ERE grant received by the Tribe for the FY 2019–2021 budget 

periods continues to support Yurok leadership in California condor recovery. ERE 

funding supports essential components of the recovery program, including: 


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25 

1) hiring of a lead condor field biologist; 

2) renovation of an existing NPS structure to construct a new Condor Management Operations Center (CMOC); 

3) creation of the Condor Internship Program (CIP) aimed at providing Native 

and Indigenous students career advancing experience in wildlife biology; 

4) development of all programmatic data collection and sharing protocols 

5) creation of condor management protocols; 

6) Creation of a roles and responsibilities Memorandum of Understanding with 

NPS and USFWS; 

7) creation of an innovative geospatially based condor threat identification system (CTIS)which will help us manage against risk factors before interactions 

even occur; and 

8) seven staff training workshops on radio and satellite tracking, handling, and 

treatment of condors in the field. 

Federal and Non-Federal Leveraged Partner Resources 

The aforementioned work is completed in partnership with a wide variety of entities. The renovation of the CMOC has come about from a strong partnership with 

Redwood National Park (RNP). The Yurok Reservation is the only Indian Reservation with National Park Land within its boundaries which has led to unique opportunities for co-management. The need for co-management is heightened as the RNP 

land in the Reservation includes one of the Tribe’s most sacred ceremonial sites. 

(The Lands Act includes authorization for additional MOU opportunities between 

RNP and the Tribe). 

Another major deliverable of the Yurok Tribe’s current ERE grant is to develop 

a Memorandum of Understanding with the RNP and USFWS establishing roles and 

responsibilities related to the proposed reintroduction program, so the partnership 

can flow seamlessly. The CIP will be created in conjunction with locally based Humboldt State University’s Indians in Natural Resources, Sciences, and Engineering 

Program (INRSEP), with the aim of drawing in Native and Indigenous students in 

those fields, to either jump start their career, or to provide college credits. INRSEP 

has also promised to work as a conduit to other university tribal programs to extend 

the CIP’s reach across the country. The CTIS will utilize the latest in geospatial 

tools, and be developed in conjunction with partner PG&E which is beginning to create a similar warning system at the existing condor release sites. All programmatic 

protocols are being created in coordination with existing condor recovery partners, 

which include the USFWS, NPS, Ventana Wildlife Society, and Peregrine Fund, all 

of whom are providing training, expert advice, or example documents, protocols, and 

schematics so the Tribe can benefit from their hard won expertise. 

How ERE Fits into the Journey of Condor Reintroduction in Yurok Country 

Since the very beginning, the ERE has provided critical and complementary funding to the overall goal of condor reintroduction, a significant piece of a large and 

complex puzzle. The Tribe has received funding from the USFWS to conduct habitat 

assessments, and to engage in the NEPA process. The NPS is providing staff resources, support infrastructure, and has drawn in the partnership of the National 

Park Foundation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has provided additional funding to 

expand existing federal projects, for example contributing funds to develop an emergency response plan as one of the protocols necessary for successful implementation, 

and for continuing the Hunters as Stewards Program started under the ERE, as 

well as expanding outreach to the broader conservation community in general to 

bring regional support for the project. 

The Tribe has also received support from private industry, like Green Diamond 

Resource Company, and Pacific Gas and Electric, as well as from non-profits like 

the Oregon and Oakland Zoos which are entering into agreements to treat condors 

as necessary, along with the Sequoia Park Zoo which is building an entire quarantine and treatment area to provide in-house veterinary support only an hour and 

a half from the proposed release area. 

Metrics for Success 

Each component of the ERE is vital to the success of the Yurok Tribe’s condor 

reintroduction goals. Successful creation or completion of each deliverable described 

above will be a tangible and long-lived benefit that will support condor recovery for 

the life of the program. Ultimately, implementation of condor releases is a final deliverable of this ERE grant, attainment of the dream that the Yurok Tribe has been 

working toward for more than a decade. 

26 

Contribution to Goals of Federal Regulatory Statutes and Other Programs 

The work targeted for completion within the proposed activities of this ERE 

project does not stand in a vacuum, but builds upon needs dictated by the larger 

California condor conservation effort. Many goals formalized by other projects, programs, and agencies will also be met by the work performed under this project. 

The primary driver for this project is fulfillment of objectives and goals laid out 

directly in a letter from the USFWS to the Yurok Tribe related to condor recovery, 

and the Condor MOU. In the letter, USFWS states, ‘‘It is likely that the establishment of a self-sustaining population of condors in the Pacific Northwest would substantively contribute to their recovery.’’ They list activities which must be completed 

prior to release, including many YTWP has already put substantial time into, such 

as: garnering State Wildlife Agency support, coordination with California Condor 

Recovery Program partners, addressing threats (especially lead), and evaluation of 

habitat potential. 

Activities to be carried out in this project will meet four of the Department of the 

Interior (DOI) departmental goals and three primary USFWS mission goals. Yurok 

condor reintroduction targets a species protected under the ESA and the Migratory 

Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) (USFWS Goal 1.1), an imperiled species of international 

concern (USFWS Goals 1.2 and 1.5). MBTA priorities include birds that ‘‘1.) have 

high conservation need, 3.) act as a potential unifier for partnerships, and 4.) have 

a high likelihood that factors affecting status can be realistically addressed,’’ are applicable to this work. Meeting these goals also Provides Natural and Cultural Resource Protection and Experiences (DOI Mission Goal 1) by working to recover an 

endangered species; itself a cultural resource. It provides a recreational opportunity 

via reintroducing a much sought wildlife viewing opportunity (DOI Mission Goal 2). 

Condors are well known as a valuable umbrella species. The large spatial requirements for their life activities often require conservation of large extents of habitat 

(USFWS Goal 2.3). USFWS Goal 4.1 related to partnerships in natural resources 

with Indian Tribal Governments is clearly met by this project as well as DOI Mission Goal 3 (Advance Government to Government Relationships with Indian Nations—Meet our trust. responsibilities to American Indians). This project provides 

a scientific framework for deciding the potential for condor recovery in the target 

area (DOI Mission Goal 4.2—Provide Science for Sustainable Resource Use, Protection and Adaptive Management) (DOI Mission Goal 4.4—Develop a comprehensive 

science framework for Understanding the Earth). 

Several goals detailed in the Spotlight Species Action Plan 2010–2014 for California condor will be met by this project, or have been met by past ERE projects, 

including three ‘‘Measures,’’ two ‘‘Field Restoration Activities,’’ and three ‘‘Outreach 

and Education Efforts.’’ These Measures, Field Restoration Activities and Outreach 

and Education Efforts relate to increasing reproduction rates at breeding facilities, 

increasing the wild population, increasing wild breeding attempts, preparing new 

release sites based on information garnered from existing sites, implementing new 

strategies to minimize contaminant related mortalities, and distributing information 

regarding condors and condor management to interested parties, including federal, 

state, and private land managers. 

The most recent USFWS goals met by this proposed work relate to the USFWS 

draft California Condor (#Gymnogyps californianus!) 5–Year Review: Summary and 

Evaluation. This review includes the goals put forth in the Spotlight Species Action 

Plan 2010–2014; the fulfillment of the goals discussed previously will also fulfill the 

goals of the 5–Year Review. 

The final USFWS condor related goal met by this work relates to the California 

condor Recovery Plan Action Status, for which ERE projects have contributed to 14 

identified priorities related to developing release protocols; selecting for, preparing, 

and implementing release sites; distributing educational material; and providing information to both public and private land managers; and furthermore expanding 

these activities throughout the Pacific northwest. 

Not only does USFWS achieve working relationships in this capacity with the 

Tribe, but also with private conservation groups, zoos, state agencies, and other federal agencies. Successful regional reintroduction will help meet the USFWS criteria 

for recovery of the species by creating a thriving, disjunct population, as described 

in the California Condor Recovery Plan, so that the species can be down listed to 

threatened, and eventually delisted. 

Participation of RNP in this project as co-managers with the Tribe furthers the 

Department of the Interior and Yurok Klamath River Basin Co-management Agreement signed in spring of 2006. It calls for the Tribe and the Agency to co-manage 

resources, including endangered species. Participation by the Park fulfills their primary mission as stated in the Condor MOU, ‘‘. . . shall promote and regulate the 

use of the Federal areas... which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:57 May 08, 2019 Jkt 036242 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\36242.TXT JACK
27 

ural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment 

of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for 

the enjoyment of future generations.’’ The Yurok Lands Act includes a provision confirming the 2006 MOU to ensure this meaningful partnership between the Tribe 

and DOI continues into the future. 

The California Condor Blue Ribbon Panel report indicated that new release sites 

should not be considered until lead ammunition exposure issues for condors is addressed (Walters et al. 2008). Lead ammunition has now been banned and full implementation is expected this year, far out enough that condors newly released into 

an unknown region are unlikely to expand across the landscape quickly enough to 

encounter it frequently prior to the ban taking effect. With this in mind, the report 

recommends that, ‘‘. . . once this issue (lead) is resolved, additional release sites 

should be considered.’’ 

Participation in this project also fulfills mission goals of other partners, including 

Ventana Wildlife Society, Los Angeles Zoo, Oakland Zoo, Oregon Zoo, and the Sequoia Park Zoo. Continued participation by the Tribe in the California Condor Recovery Program fulfills a main objective of the Endangered Species Act. Participation in groups such as this allows for the unification of current scientific methodologies with traditional ecological knowledge through the relationship formed between 

tribes and the USFWS. Participation by tribes is directly addressed in Secretarial 

Order #3206 of the Endangered Species Act, Appendix, Section 3. ‘‘The Services 

shall coordinate with affected Indian tribes in order to fulfill the Services’ trust responsibilities and encourage meaningful tribal participation in the following programs under the Act, and shall: (E)(1) Solicit and utilize the expertise of affected 

Indian tribes by having tribal representation, as appropriate, on Recovery Teams 

when the species occurs on Indian lands (including tribally-owned fee lands), affects 

tribal trust resources, or affects the exercise of tribal rights’’ (DOI 1997). 

Integration with Yurok Tribal Goals 

Reintroduction of condor in northern California, will meet several Constitution 

goals of the Yurok Tribe, a sovereign nation. Restoration of the Tribe’s cultural 

landscape, including natural resources, and more specifically culturally significant 

species, promotes, maintains, and enhances the lifeway of the Yurok People and specifically fulfills both objectives four and six of the Yurok Constitution. 

Another primary Yurok Constitutional goal is reacquiring the Tribe’s aboriginal 

territory, a slow process. While the Yurok Reservation is the second largest in California, over 90 percent of reservation land is held in fee, with only a little over 5,000 

acres held in trust, and most of our aboriginal territory falls outside the reservation 

boundaries. Recently, the Tribe reacquired over 60,000 acres of land on the east side 

of the reservation and is working to purchase more land within the reservation. As 

land is purchased, the Tribe develops lands management plans that incorporate the 

land and habitat restoration activities. The Yurok Lands Act plays a critical role in 

the ability of the Tribe to be successful in that it would extend the Yurok Reservation to include recently acquired lands, assist with jurisdictional issues on the reservation, authorize cooperative agreements with RNP and US Forest Service, and 

confirm the 2006 cooperative agreement with the Department of Interior. Each component of the legislation is critical to empowering the Yurok Tribe and local federal 

land managers with the authorization and jurisdiction needed to take action to further these land management goals, and importantly, the condor program. 

Experience in Applying 

YTWP began the application process about one month previous to the due date, 

having spent the previous month refining the desired goal and objectives, and acquiring Technical Assistance which was readily available for reviewing the project. 

The application process for the ERE grant is typically one of the more technically 

difficult of tribal funding sources, in YTWP’s opinion due to an unwieldy RFP, which 

is described more fully below in Suggestions for the ERE Process. The most recent 

submission upload process through Grants.gov was one of the smoothest in the history of YTWP applications to the ERE. Past iterations using Grants.gov have been 

riddled with upload issues and errors in the RFP providing misguidance on how to 

appropriately load attachments, which were clarified in this round. The versatility 

of data inputs was appreciated, as YTWP could either directly input a lot of the information requested, for example with the SF–424A, or upload in a variety of formats. 

YTWP’s experience with revisions requested by ANA was similarly smooth, but, 

as is often the case, too short of notice. Typically, YTWP has received less than one 

work week to respond to requests for revisions to applications. Time is always tight 

in a grant funded program, as project deadlines are always on the horizon. Having 

28 

such a short turnaround time often means one or more staff has to abandon all 

other projects to respond. Ultimately it results in a clarified project that better fits 

the needs of ANA and the Tribe, but often puts significant stress on the applicant. 

Suggestions for the ERE Process 

Fundamentally, the ERE funding opportunity has proven to be essential to the 

Yurok Tribe condor reintroduction efforts. It is, however, a rigorous application process, and a somewhat daunting one. On the one hand, the rigor of the application 

process is a benefit. The ANA grant opportunity, ERE included, is designed to ensure the applicant has considered all aspects of successful project implementation, 

including accurate identification of the problem to be addressed and an effective solution. Concrete objectives and actions to take must be developed to affect that solution. Sufficient capacity must be available or acquired to implement actions. Community and partnership support is also required to increase likelihood of success, 

and long-term benefits that will continue to positively impact the community over 

time. All sections are complementary, and the process is educational. One of the 

lead project development staff for YTWP swears that she has learned more about 

project design and management from ANA than from all other grant projects combined. 

Challenges in the ERE Application Process 

The RFP is long and convoluted. The multiple and complementary layers described above can be hard to interpret, and can result in a behemoth of an application as the applicant writes more and more to try and clarify apparently redundant 

requests for information. YTWP has not written an ERE application that was less 

than 140 pages, inclusive of attachments. As a tool to understand exactly what was 

being asked for, YTWP had to go through page by page and copy and paste different 

directions for different parts of the application from multiple sources into a Word 

document to bring all the bits together. Once that was done, it was clearer what 

was requested, but there still seemed to be some redundancy between sections. 

Also, there is an abundance of technical terms used to define various components 

within the grant structure. Long-Term Community Goals, Current Community Conditions, Project Goal, Project Objectives, Outcomes, Indicators, Means of Measurements, Outputs, Targets, Milestones, and Populations are all terms that interact in 

complex ways. The organizing Word document mentioned earlier helped in fitting 

these various terms together into the complex roadmap we used to formulate our 

proposal. Even with the roadmap we used, there was much debate about the specifics of these terms within our writing team. Eventually we settled on agreed upon 

definitions and came together to write the proposal as a four-person team. This is 

quite a burden for a small Program such as ours. For a one or two-person program, 

as many tribes have a proposal of this complex a structure may prove to be too 

much a burden to undertake. 

Finally, there is a wealth of technical assistance provided. However, if one is not 

familiar with resources available, it can be quite difficult to find them and connect 

them to the RFP. Additionally, the support documentation designed to help describe 

what the application is looking for is written as if for a SEDS grant, with goals and 

objectives that do not necessarily fit well into an ERE proposal, making it difficult 

to ascertain what would be considered strong goals and objectives. 

Suggestions for Making the ERE Application More Accessible 

Being 100 percent grant funded, YTWP could be considered experienced in grant 

writing, and yet, the ERE grant is still daunting. For younger tribal organizations, 

or for programs with a less experienced project lead, there are some ways that ERE 

grants could be made more accessible. 

1) Provide funding to attend in-person grant development trainings. ANA provides a wealth of online learning opportunities, as well as excellent technical 

support through telecommunications. However, in-person help with project 

development can be impactful in a very different way, allowing the potential 

grantee to engage more fully with their technical aid and more fluidly converse. ANA does provide in-person training, but as regions are so large, it 

can be a full day’s travel for some organizations to attend trainings. Speaking from YTWP’s experience, being 100 percent grant funded YTWP has no 

funds to attend such trainings, and so never has. One potential way to improve tribes’ ability to successfully apply would be to provide small travel 

grants to tribes wishing to attain in-person training. Such trainings would 

allow for program managers to learn about project planning, budgeting, realistic personnel needs, how to locate match and leverage funds, etc. These are 

lessons we learned through years of grant writing and management and 

29 

could essentially be considered as capacity building grants as they would not 

only apply to ANA opportunities, but overall grant and program management. 

2) Conduct a ‘‘Request for Proposal’’ overhaul. Having been applying for ERE 

grants for nearly a decade, YTWP staff can say that they can see the ways 

that the program has evolved due to changing federal priorities, program priorities, suggestions by tribal applicants, changes in application processes, 

and for a myriad of other reasons. This has all been done with good intentions, but there are vestigial tags left over from past iterations, and the RFP 

has become unwieldy. Not only is it long, but, especially in this last round, 

requirements or information about various application segments seemed 

scattered across the RFP and an entirely separate application toolkit and it 

became something of a hunt to find all the descriptions. There are many 

helpful aids, but without prior understanding of the system, a new applicant 

would not be able to easily find them. One potential solution is to hire a tribal consultant who has not been involved in the ANA application process to 

attempt to write an actual ‘‘proposal’’ and identify the difficulties or lack of 

clarity that they encounter. From that point, in coordination with current 

technical assistance and ANA staff, they could work to streamline and clarify 

the document. A panel could be created of successful and unsuccessful applicants to provide feedback on the process in a detailed and concrete way. 

3) Develop and require viewing of an application and available resource 

webinar. Since the application is largely electronic, perhaps it would be possible to create an online process in which applicants must sign-up for and 

run through the webinar, accompanied by a streamlined, no more than 5- 

page guide on where to find aids to the application and where to find information on the various segments of the application according to page number. This may prove redundant for experienced applicants, but, then again, 

it may prove beneficial even to them. A complete template of the expected 

application proposal with full formatting would be extremely helpful such 

that applicants can clearly see where they may be missing pieces. 

4) Create ERE specific examples. Nearly all examples given in the supporting 

information are for community initiatives that might better fit under SEDS 

opportunities. YTWP has often found that project needs do not follow the 

same sort of structure as the examples given, requiring ERE applicants to 

put significantly more effort into trying to come up with metrics with little 

relatable guidance. 

5) Allow more time for applications to be completed. While ANA is clear that 

community scoping should be done prior to writing an application, many organizations like YTWP, which is usually working on a deficit in time and 

money due to the great needs of the Tribe, rarely have time to think about 

community input before the application period comes. An additional month 

could provide the opportunity to conduct more effectively targeted community 

outreach to better inform project development. YTWP has learned to conduct 

and collect community scoping whenever possible at this point, to guide overall program directions. But a tribal organization new to the process may not 

know how to adequately prepare. 

6) Develop a pre-proposal. As part of an extended application process, a pre-proposal could be created to help focus interested tribes’ project goals. This preproposal should contain a streamlined version of the full scope of the project, 

and should be required to be kept small, for example, less than 10 pages. 

This could be used to separate applicants with sufficient planning from those 

who need to conduct additional preparation or scoping. The first group could 

continue on to a funding request, and the second could be directed to the 

technical assistance available to improve their project design and be better 

prepared to apply successfully in the next round. This would save an incredible amount of time and effort for both applicants and reviewers. Further, we 

have never had an ERE proposal accepted outright. There is always a need 

for additional revisions prior to being given acceptance. Reviewers could provide some direction up front as a result of what is presented in the pre-proposal to help direct efforts in the following lager proposal to aid applicants 

in honing their asks. A pre-proposal may not be feasible given the timeframe 

of Congressional allocations and the intense review process, but would be 

helpful if it were possible to create. 

Overall, the ERE application process has been educational and informative, and 

has helped grow the capacity of the Yurok Tribe Wildlife Program to conduct and 

30 

implement project design. If ANA is successful in engaging more tribes in the application process, and tribes become more capable of managing an ANA grant, it is our 

hope that ANA funding would be expanded. 

Continuing Challenges for Yurok Condor Reintroduction 

Need for Consistent and Continuing Funding for Natural Resource Conservation 

Ultimately, the Yurok Tribe Condor Reintroduction Program will need additional 

support, and more consistent funding than competitive federal grants can currently 

provide. As proposed, the 10(j) experimental population will be run for 20 years before an assessment of success is made. YTWP estimates that the first year will require $600,000 in program support to be successfully implemented. Subsequent 

years are expected to require $400,000-$500,000 in program support, which will 

cover a foundational biologist base, interns, vehicles, new and replacement satellite 

and VHF radio transmitters, broadband support for data transmission in the remote 

backcountry, facilities maintenance and utilities, veterinary supplies as well as 

many other aspects of an active and growing program. 

The Yurok Tribe would like to engage with the United States Senate Committee 

on Indian Affairs regarding the potential to establish an annual support mechanism 

for projects like these through an Annual Funding Agreement. Such a support 

mechanism, time bound and result oriented, could act as a model for other tribal 

initiatives that have the potential to meet tribal, federal, and state environmental 

goals. Furthermore, we urge the Committee to continue their support of Indian 

Country environmental restoration, through Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and non-BIA Annual funding agreements, as well as through tribally oriented competitive funding opportunities through the USFWS, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency. In truth, there are 

too few opportunities to support tribal natural resource management and too often 

when engaging with contacts for other funding opportunities we are directed to tribe 

specific programs. Such federal programs can be counted on one hand, and the 

Yurok Tribe has three federally-listed species, two species likely to be federally-listed within the next year, five state-listed species, and multiple species that are critical culturally and/or for subsistence uses. This need far outweighs available funding 

opportunities for work which, by its nature, is not fiscally self-sustaining. Tribal 

lands have suffered when removed from the care of the tribes charged with 

stewarding them; but still they remain in large part some of the most pristine and 

ecologically resilient systems in existence due to tribal paradigms of managing for 

future generations in perpetuity. 

NEPA Finalization 

The current NEPA process requires, under the Department of the Interior’s own 

timeline, that a finding of no significant impact, or FONSI, be completed by the end 

of this June. To accomplish this, publication of the Environmental Assessment, inclusive of the 10(j) piece, must occur by April 1st to allow for adequate public comment. Recent turnover in the Secretary of the Interior’s Office has made acquiring 

proper approvals for the 10(j) designation difficult to impossible. Any assistance that 

this committee might provide in acquiring the necessary approval from Interim Secretary Bernhardt by mid-March, would be greatly appreciated by the Tribe, our coleads in the NEPA process, our public supporters, and the Yurok people. 

Conclusion 

Thank you again for the opportunity to provide testimony to the Committee regarding the great benefits provided by the ERE funding opportunity to the Yurok 

Tribe Condor Recovery Program. I am particularly blessed to be part of a restoration 

project that means so much to my community, in terms of environmental, cultural, 

and social restoration. I am honored to represent my elders and our youth as we 

work to continue the Tribe’s long history of sustainable landscape management. It 

has been particularly meaningful to me to share with the Committee today in front 

of my mother, also a Tribe member dedicated to tribal restoration as a Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Tribe, and my child, who will be the first generation of Yurok 

children to grow up with condors in their sky in over one hundred years. 

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David, J. Theule, S. Kasielke, and R.W. Risebrough. 2013. Eggshell Thinning and 

Depressed Hatching Success of California Condors Reintroduced to Central California. The Condor 115:477–491. 

Condor MOU. 2014. Memorandum of understanding between, The U.S. Fish and 

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31 

ation, Ventana Wildlife Society, and the Yurok Tribe on California condor conservation. Agreement date March 4th 2014. http://www.fws.gov/cno/es/CalCondor/ 

PDFlfiles/Expansion-FinalMOUwYurok.pdf. 

Condor MOU. 2017. Memorandum of understanding among, the U.S. Fish and 

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Service, Yurok Tribe, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of Parks and Recreation, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Zoo, 

Sequoia Park Zoo, Ventana Wildlife Society, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, 

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Act (June 5, 1997). 

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Accessed 27 Aug 2014. 

Finkelstein, M.E., D.F. Doak, D. George, J. Burnett, J. Brandt, M. Church, J. 

Grantham, and D.R. Smith. 2012. Lead poisoning and the deceptive recovery of the 

critically endangered California condor. Proceedings of the National Academy of 

Sciences. U. S. A. 1–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1203141109. 

Fry, D.M., and J. Maurer. 2003. Assessment of Lead Contamination Sources Exposing California Condors; Species Conservation and Recovery Report 2003–02. 

California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento, CA. 

Kelly TR, B.A. Rideout, J. Grantham, J. Brandt, L.J. Burnett, K.J. Sorenson, et 

al. (2015) Two decades of cumulative impacts to survivorship of endangered California condors in California. Biological Conservation 191:391–399 

Mee, A. and L.S. Hall, Editors. 2007. California Condors in the 21st Century. The 

Nuttall Ornithological Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts and The American Ornithological Union, Washington D.C. 279 pp. 

Rideout, B.A., I. Stalis, R. Papendick, A. Pessier, B. Puschner, M.E. Finkelstein, 

D.R. Smith, M. Johnson, M. Mace, R. Stroud, J. Brandt, J. Burnett, C. Parish, J. 

Petterson, C. Witte, C. Stringfield, K. Orr, J. Zuba, M. Wallace, and J. Grantham. 

2012. Patterns of mortality in free-ranging California condors (Gymnogyps 

californianus). Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48:95–112. 

Snyder, NFR and H.A. Snyder. 2000. The California Condor: A Saga of Natural 

History and Conservation. Academic Press, London, UK. 410 pp. 

Snyder, NFR and H.A. Snyder. 2005. Introduction to the California Condor. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, California. 271 pp. 

USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1996. California Condor Recovery Plan, 

Third Revision. Portland, Oregon. 62 pp. 

USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2005. Fish and Wildlife Service strategic 

plan. http://www.fws.gov/planning/usfwstrategicplanv3.pdf. Accessed 27 Aug 2014 

USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2009. Spotlight species action plan: California Condor. Region 8 Office, Sacramento, CA. 11pp. 

USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2012a. Migratory bird program. Focal 

species strategy. http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/CurrentBirdIssues/Management/FocalSpecies.html. Accessed 27 Aug 2014. 

USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2012b. California Condor (Gymnogyps 

californianus) 5 Year Review: Summary and Evaluation. California Condor Recovery 

Program Partners, Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and 

USFWS Region 8. August, 2012. 

USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2014a. Letter to partner organizations related to condor recovery in the Pacific Northwest. Received January 21, 2014. 

USFWS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2014b. Attachment to letter to partner 

organizations related to condor recovery in the Pacific Northwest. Received January 

21, 2014. 

Walters, J., S.R. Derrickson, D.M. Fry, S.M. Haig, J.M. Marzluff, and J.M. 

Wundrle, Jr. 2008. Status of the California condor and efforts to achieve its recovery. Report submitted to the American Ornithologists Union and Audubon California. 57 pp. 

32 

Watson, R.T., M. Fuller, M. Pokras, and G. Hunt, Editors. 2008. Ingestion of Lead 

from Spent Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and Humans. The Peregrine 

Fund, Boise, Idaho. 383 pp. 

West, C.J., J.D. Wolfe, A. Wiegardt, and T. Williams-Classen. 2017. Feasibility of 

California Condor recovery in northern California, USA: Contaminants in surrogate 

Turkey Vultures and Common Ravens. The Condor 119:720–731. 

Yurok Tribe, 1993. Constitution of the Yurok Tribe. Ratified November 19, 1993. 

22 pp. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Chairman. We will proceed with fiveminute rounds of questioning. I would like to start with Ms. 

Hovland. 

Commissioner Hovland, according to the fiscal year 2015 annual 

report to Congress on outcome of evaluations of Administration for 

Native American Programs, 67 percent of projects visited met or 

exceeded their effectiveness expectations. In addition, 79 percent 

had a positive or significant positive impact on the grantee’s community. 

From projects on which the ANA cannot conduct a site visit or 

that cannot meet the effectiveness expectations, how are you refining your process to ensure that the grantees are making good 

progress? So, good stats, but for those that aren’t in the good stat 

column, what do you do? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you, Chairman, that is an excellent question. At ANA, we want to be part of the success that happens with 

our projects. We offer, at no cost, technical assistance throughout 

the life of the grant. We also have a project specialist who is assigned to each of the grants that we have, that grantees can reach 

at any time. Again, if we need to come in and offer technical assistance or training, we offer to do that. 

But the majority of our projects at least meet the minimum, if 

not exceed, the outcomes that they projected. 

The CHAIRMAN. How about, for example, economic development 

projects? Do you track jobs? What kinds of things do you track to 

get an assessment of the impact? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you, Chairman. We do track jobs. I was 

able to report that we looked back on those five years and the fiscal 

years 2011 through 2015 and mention how many Natives were employed. We do have an evaluation team that can go through and 

pull data and get specifics. Yes, we can find that information. 

The CHAIRMAN. Okay. Are there improvements to the legislation 

to NAPA that you would like to see from Congress, or are there 

things that would help? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you, Chairman. Yes, there are a few items 

that we have looked at that we think would be beneficial. One is, 

NAPA requires that whenever ANA makes any administrative or 

programmatic changes, even if it is minor, that we give public notice. In order to comply, we issue a notice of public comment 

through the Federal Register, which typically, as you know, is a 

three to four month process, and it delays our issuing of funding 

opportunities. 

I have heard, since I have been here, since June, that our applicants really want that 90-day window to be able to apply for the 

grants and have a good application put forth. When we have to 

issue the public comment, it delays the funding opportunities from 

33 

being published, and then we typically have to narrow the window 

that we are able to keep the applications open to either 60 days, 

and sometimes down to 45 days. 

We do feel there already is a mechanism in place for tribes and 

Pacific Islanders to provide their comment whenever we make 

changes to our annual consultation. 

Also, NAPA requires, as the language is worded, us to provide 

the impact. At ANA, we fund grants with a definitive beginning 

and end. Typically they are three-year grants. We have no way to 

go back in and evaluate the impact, once the grant has ended. 

We are able to measure the outcomes throughout the process of 

the grant and at the end of the grant. We would like to see that 

change from impact to outcomes, which we are able to measure and 

we are measuring. 

Under NAPA, it asks for Native language grantees that want to 

give their resources that they develop with their grants, to ANA if 

they choose to, and they can store it and digitize and catalog it and 

make it available to the public if the grantee agrees to. We have 

been able to store that in-house. But now with several more grantees, we are getting to the point where we are going to need a partner. 

We would like to look at the possibility of partnering with NMAI, 

the National Museum for American Indians. I met with them to see 

if we could utilize their facility and store, digitize, and catalog the 

materials that we have. It would be more accessible to the tribes 

when they come to Washington, D.C. That is the other area that 

we have looked at that would be beneficial. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Councilman Socobasin, your part of the Country is famous for 

maple syrup. I was intrigued, when you were talking about that, 

I can see why it would be a tremendous business enterprise. 

How do you go about harvesting from the trees? You used to see 

in the movie or the cartoon where they would pound a nail in the 

tree and hang a bucket on it to get at the sap. I am sure it is more 

sophisticated now. How does that whole process work now? Just 

give us some sense of the scope of that business, like people employed and the revenue. Obviously, you are very famous for maple 

syrup. 

Mr. SOCOBASIN. We have moved past the days of hanging a bucket from the tree. 

[Laughter.] 

The CHAIRMAN. Now, Tester does that in Montana, still, just so 

you know. He is a farmer, and that is how he does it. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. SOCOBASIN. We have a collection system now so that you 

don’t have to go out and empty each bucket. There are lines that 

are hooked to each of the taps. This year, we will have about 

15,000 taps. So that would be a lot of buckets to empty, and it 

would take a lot of time. 

With the equipment we have in place now, along with a vacuum, 

which creates constant pressure, so that you maximize the flow 

throughout the day, when the sun hits the trees, the sap starts to 

flow. As it sets, it slows down or stops. That goes into a collection 

34 

system. We have two tanks, 10,000 gallons each. From that point, 

it goes into a reverse osmosis machine. 

So when the sap comes out, it takes about 40 gallons of sap to 

make one gallon of syrup. When we put it through the reverse osmosis machine, that ratio is about eight to one. So the processing 

time was greatly decreased because of that. It goes into the evaporator at that point, and becomes syrup. We throw it into barrels, 

haul it into town to our bottling facility. 

But our project has created six jobs. That is the bottling side, 

and also in the field, directly. But it has also created opportunity 

within our forestry program. Because each of these areas that we 

tap have to be prepared. So our forestry department hires guys to 

come in and clear these areas, leaving nothing behind but usually 

white birch and maple trees. That typically could be eight to ten 

guys when the weather is, usually through the spring, summer, is 

when they are prepping our next areas that we tap. 

The CHAIRMAN. Can you tap a tree every year? Or does it have 

to rest? 

Mr. SOCOBASIN. You can. So one of the things, we are organically 

certified. In order to have that, the tree has to be a certain size. 

Then you have to move down eight inches and over eight inches the 

following year. So you can tap the tree from year to year, you just 

have to constantly move your tap. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. 

Vice Chairman Udall, I know you knew all that, but I thought 

it was kind of interesting. 

Senator UDALL. [Presiding.] I thought it was fascinating, too. The 

success on these ANA grants is very impressive. 

Earlier this month, this Committee convened a listening session 

to hear more about Indian Country’s priorities for Native language 

revitalization. A lot of folks mentioned the need to develop pathways for more teachers and community members to get involved. 

Governor Vallo, I understand that Acoma used part of its ANA 

grant to support a Kares language summer institute, which offered 

training opportunities for both teachers and community members. 

Why did Acoma feel it was important to offer opportunities to all 

community members, not just language teachers, when designing 

the institute? 

Mr. VALLO. Thank you for the question, Vice Chairman. 

The institute was designed to expand the opportunities for teaching and learning. This is all in alignment with this ongoing development of our language program. Initially, the intent was to train 

teachers who would work in the classroom setting within the community school and also the public school system. 

What we learned is that because there was such great interest 

by community members and families that the training would be extended to include our own community members. We see that today, 

that those individuals who are trained, using the same training 

programs and curriculum developed by our language retention program staff, that that information is now used in the home. It is 

used within family settings and extended family settings, while 

also being implemented in our local school systems. 

So the intent has expanded beyond the formal training which 

was identified in the very early years for teachers in the school sysVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:57 May 08, 2019 Jkt 036242 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\36242.TXT JACK
35 

tems only. So we are really grateful that there has been an expressed interest by the community to obtain this training. We see 

that there is a much greater impact than on who the beneficiaries 

are, which are our children and other tribal members. But also this 

interest by the community to be teachers and stewards of the language. 

Senator UDALL. Great, thank you very much for that answer. 

Chairman James, you mentioned the reintroduction. Yes, sir. 

Mr. JAMES. Mr. Vice Chairman, if I may. May I ask to be allowed 

to have Ms. Tiana Williams-Claussen, our Yurok lead wildlife biologist, accompany me at the table in case there are questions about 

the condor program that I may not be able to answer? 

Senator UDALL. That would be great. Ask Tiana WilliamsClaussen to come forward. That young baby you hear cooing back 

there is her baby, Morgan, who traveled all the way across the 

Country from California and I understand made a very good trip. 

She has been very good here today. 

I am going to actually ask about the condor, so we are glad to 

have you both here. The reintroduction of the California condor is 

really a remarkable story of species recovery made possible by cooperation among Federal agencies, the State of California and an 

extensive network of non-profit organizations to share research, expertise and resources. The Tribe also deserves to be recognized for 

its efforts in developing tribal capacity to undertake projects of this 

magnitude, by hiring and training tribal members for key positions. 

I understand that your tribal biologist, who we have just introduced, is here. We appreciate your being here and the remarkable 

job you have done on this recovery of the condor. 

How has the Yurok Tribe leveraged the ANA grant to complement these condor recovery efforts? What resource void has the 

ANA grant filled that contributed to its success? 

Mr. JAMES. Thank you, Vice Chair. The Yurok Tribe has utilized 

a number of grants that we do at the Tribe. Leveraging is what we 

do with the grants that we receive. But specifically regarding the 

ANA, and Ms. Claussen is the point of contact. So I would like to 

share the hard work that she has started on behalf of the Tribe 

back in 2010. She can highlight the importance of how hard she 

has worked with the Tribe leveraging these ANA grant funds. 

Senator UDALL. That would be great. Tiana, please proceed. 

Ms. WILLIAMS-CLAUSSEN. Sure. Again, I am Tiana WilliamsClaussen. I am the lead biologist with the Yurok Tribe and a Yurok 

tribal member from the Village of Wehl-kewe. I am very happy to 

share my experience with you. 

The ANA opportunity fits into a rather complicated and large set 

of grants and funding opportunities from the tribal wildlife grants, 

Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other funding. We receive TSCA 

agreements from our local partner, Redwood National Park, to conduct some of the research that we need to do. 

But in particular for this ANA, which runs from 2019 to 2021, 

we are receiving support from the local utility company, PG&E. 

Senator UDALL. Pacific Gas and Electric. 

Ms. WILLIAMS-CLAUSSEN. I completely apologize there. We always say PG&E and then those acronyms get stuck in your head. 

They are actually providing for creating the release facility itself. 

36 

Redwood National Park is providing a huge in-kind match by allowing us to use one of their buildings to create our operations center where all of our staff will be based. Our own TERO program, 

the Tribal Employee Rights Office, is providing staff training to 

Yurok members to renovate that building. So not only are we creating the new building, but we are also creating new capacity 

amongst our tribal members. 

Members of the California Condor Recovery Program are offering 

us trainings, like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pinnacles National Park, L.A. Zoo. The Oregon Zoo, we just got back from a 

training in Portland, as well. All of this coming together, the 

Ventana Wildlife Society, to give us the capacity and training to be 

able to actually implement, hopefully within the next year, condor 

releases. 

Senator UDALL. Thank you very much. It is really, as I said, a 

remarkable story of recovery. 

Senator Tester? 

STATEMENT OF HON. JON TESTER, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM MONTANA 

Senator TESTER. Thank you, Vice Chair Udall. I want to touch 

back on the maple syrup stuff for a second here. What is the name 

of your website? 

Mr. SOCOBASIN. Passamaquoddymaple.com. 

Senator TESTER. Do you ship to Montana? 

Mr. SOCOBASIN. We do. We do, and if you order enough, there is 

no shipping cost. 

Senator TESTER. No kidding? 

[Laughter.] 

Senator TESTER. I like that. Free shipping on bulk orders. I like 

that. 

Commissioner Hovland, I want to thank you for being here 

today. There is no doubt that this has been an effective program 

for Indian Country, whether we are talking health care, language, 

once the money gets on the ground, you have been able to make 

a real difference in economic development. 

In talking to tribes, though, I find that this application process 

can be kind of difficult. My question is, have you had a chance to 

review the application process? Do you agree with that? And what 

can be done to simplify it? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you, Senator. I have heard that through 

the years also. ANA is a fantastic office, but it does have a difficult 

application process. Prior to my arrival in June, early in 2018, 

ANA staff had looked at the application process and provided more 

tools to help it be a little more user-friendly. On the funding opportunities, which by the way are open right now until April 15th, 

there are examples in there that are helpful as well as a framework. 

So that is one way of addressing the process. Also, staff, prior to 

my arrival, developed a pre-application online tool kit, which also 

includes the template and additional examples. To make it more 

user-friendly. 

I have asked, and formed an internal work group, to review the 

application line by line thoroughly, to see if there are things that 

37 

we can do to streamline it, and make it more user-friendly. I traveled to Minneapolis a few weeks ago to one of ANA’s pre-application trainings and heard from many of the grant writers that came 

to that training. We are going to bring those comments back to our 

work group and continue to work to see if we can make it easier 

and streamline it. 

Senator TESTER. I appreciate that. The goal is to increase economic opportunity out there. I don’t think there is much argument 

here. The tribes that could use it the most are the tribes that are 

the poorest, and consequently the tribes that are the poorest probably don’t have grant writers. And so I appreciate your taking a 

look at this to make sure that you make it as user-friendly as possible. 

Ms. HOVLAND. Absolutely. 

Senator TESTER. Do you have at your fingertips what the budget 

was last year for this program? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Yes, Senator, it was $54.5 million, and that was 

a half a million dollar increase. We thank you and Congress for the 

increase. 

Senator TESTER. We haven’t got the President’s budget yet, but 

I am sure you have been working on it. What are you going to ask 

for this year? 

Ms. HOVLAND. I am not able to comment on that until it is published. 

Senator TESTER. Oh, come on, you can let us know. Slip it out, 

we won’t tell anybody. 

[Laughter.] 

Senator TESTER. Well, look, your program is a good program. 

Ms. HOVLAND. It is. 

Senator TESTER. We like results. It appears you get results. 

Ms. HOVLAND. Absolutely. 

Senator TESTER. I don’t know if I can name another program in 

Indian Country that gets results, just to be honest with you. 

So I hope that you fight for what you need, okay? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Absolutely. Thank you. 

Senator TESTER. I also understand that you are leading an effort 

on the Intra-Departmental Council for Native American Affairs at 

the Department of Health and Human Services, and intend to 

make that council more active. Is that fairly accurate? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Yes, Senator, absolutely. 

Senator TESTER. Well, I applaud your efforts. Communication is 

key if we are going to tackle big issues. One of those big issues is 

missing and murdered indigenous women. 

Ms. HOVLAND. Yes. 

Senator TESTER. The Committee held a hearing on it at the request of myself and other members here. It was an interesting 

hearing. It was one of those ones where you were smiling when you 

walked out of the room. It is a problem, and it is a problem that 

is a crisis. Is this something that you intend to have the council 

look at in the upcoming year? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you, Senator, for your interest in this very 

important topic. The Intra-Departmental Council on Native American Affairs, or ICNAA, is the vehicle for us to look at murdered 

and missing indigenous. It is so important, like you said, that we 

38 

are talking with one another within HHS and not in silos. I am 

sure what you have discovered through your listening sessions and 

conversations is that when we are dealing with murdered and 

missing indigenous women, we also need to look at human trafficking, the opioid and substance abuse epidemic and how they 

cross-tie. That is where ICNAA is very important. As we are addressing one issue, we are addressing all of them. 

Yes, it is something that we will be discussing. 

Senator TESTER. Okay. So to be a little more clear, because it is 

an issue that I hear about a lot, it is an issue that we hear a lot 

about here too. And by the way, it is one of those issues we didn’t— 

it was probably still there, we certainly didn’t hear much about it 

five or ten years ago. But we are hearing about it now. 

So I gather from your question that you will be utilizing the 

Council to do something positive in that realm. 

Ms. HOVLAND. Yes, that is correct. 

Senator TESTER. Do you see anything else that Health and 

Human Services could do when it comes to missing and murdered 

indigenous women, over and above that Council? 

Ms. HOVLAND. That is an excellent question. As you heard the 

example of today, just how flexible our funding is, especially under 

the social and economic development strategy grant, this is a 

project that our Native communities could put together to address, 

to develop codes, however they choose to address it. 

Really, it is a grant that could be written under a SEDS program. 

Senator TESTER. Do you need anything from us when it comes 

to this realm, missing and murdered indigenous women? 

Ms. HOVLAND. I appreciate your bringing attention to this and 

having listening sessions. I would be happy to meet with you or 

your staff to talk about ways that we can address it. 

Senator TESTER. I do think one of your fortes is communication. 

As I said earlier, my comment is communication can solve a lot of 

problems in government, with marriages, you name it. I just really 

think that we have a lot of work to do, and the more folks who can 

throw in their skill sets to help solve this problem, the better 

chance we have at solving it. Not only at the Federal level, not only 

your office, but also at the tribal council level, FBI, U.S. Marshal, 

tribal law enforcement, you name it. 

Thank you all for being here. I appreciate it very much. I look 

forward to having some Maine maple syrup on my pancakes. 

[Laughter.] 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you, Senator. 

Senator UDALL. Thank you so much, Senator Tester. 

STATEMENT OF HON. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Thank you. I also want to thank all of 

you for being here. I so appreciate the comments today. 

And I want to echo Senator Tester’s comments with respect to 

missing and murdered indigenous women, and everything that we 

need to do to address this issue. So know it is a priority for me. 

But I also know, Commissioner Hovland, in your introduction 

today you also talked about combatting the crisis of human trafVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:57 May 08, 2019 Jkt 036242 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\36242.TXT JACK
39 

ficking. So thank you. As you may know, last Congress, along with 

some of my colleagues here, I introduced the End Trafficking of Native Americans Act. We are going to reintroduce it again this Congress, to bring awareness and resources to combatting this horrific 

crime of human trafficking in Indian Country. I look forward to 

working with you with respect to that issue as well. Thank you. 

There is something else I want to jump back to on this idea of 

the grants that go out. It is an incredible program. I think it is fantastic. But we need to make sure that more Native Americans in 

Indian Country across the United States have access to these 

grants. My concern is just what I had heard earlier, sometimes it 

is challenging to even apply for these grants. 

I just came back from Nevada. We were at a statewide grants 

conference. Some of our Native American communities were there. 

This is the one thing I hear all the time. There are many territories 

and Native American communities actually missing out on this 

funding because they are challenged. 

So one of the things that I want to point out, because I so appreciate what you are doing, but I think more needs to be done. I 

think it was Chairman James in your comments, I think it was 

page 15, you literally talk about some of the concerns with ERE, 

the application process. 

The fact that your tribe is considered experienced in grant-writing and you have some ideas about how we can streamline it and 

this process, I would recommend, please take a look at that. I understand you provide technical assistance and training, but a lot of 

the tribes don’t have access to that. They can’t fly out for that. Unless you are bringing the training to them, they are not going to 

be able to access in-person training. Sometimes that helps for the 

grant-writing process. 

I know there are other things that are recommended here. To the 

extent that we can streamline it, tear down those barriers, and give 

them access, that is what I am looking for. So if you can work with 

us, we are happy to work with you in how you guys are addressing 

that, that would be wonderful. 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you. Yes, you have my commitment on 

that. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Thank you. And there are imperious, 

first of all, let me just say your website is fantastic. I was just on 

the website, looking at all the grants. You are able to pull them 

up, you are seeing across the Country where the grants have been 

identified and who the recipients are. Is it right there, out of the— 

correct me if I am wrong—195 grant recipients are listed on your 

website. They have received the grants. And this is beginning in 

the year 2013 to the present, is that right? Or is it just year by 

year? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you, Senator. are you asking about what 

is currently on our website? 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Yes. 

Ms. HOVLAND. Some of them are three-year grants, some are 

five-year. So I would have to look back and get the exact information. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Here is my concern. If I read the website 

correctly, there is not one zero granting going into the State of NeVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:57 May 08, 2019 Jkt 036242 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\36242.TXT JACK
40 

vada. Not one Native American community in the State of Nevada 

has received a grant. I don’t know if that is because they haven’t 

applied or they were denied, or if it is difficult to apply for the 

grants. 

If you would work with my office, I would like to know what is 

going on. If anybody from Nevada has every applied, and if they 

have, were they denied? Why were they denied, or some of the 

challenges that are out there. 

I think one of the key things is making sure we are doing everything e can in Native communities across this Country to make 

them aware of these grants. What are you doing to make sure it 

gets out to the communities as the grants are available? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you. Excellent questions. I appreciate that. 

First of all, at my request, I have asked our training and technical assistance centers, we have four, one in the east region, west 

region, Alaska and Hawaii. I asked them to identify, and they are 

in the process of doing this, all Native communities and tribes that 

have either never received an ANA grant or have not received one 

in several years, to reach out to them to identify why that is, and 

to start offering training in those areas. 

So it is in process. We did identify what you brought up was a 

barrier. There are not a lot of resources to travel. We are trying 

to get to those communities and we have offered some training. In 

Nevada, we received 50 applications since 2011, six of which were 

funded and the last grant ended in 2015. We had identified that 

Nevada was an area where we needed to really get out there, 

spread the word about ANA, and get more training out there. 

As a result, we held a project planning and development training 

in Reno in October. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Wonderful. 

Ms. HOVLAND. We recently held a preapplication training in Henderson. We are trying to identify those. I have asked that we identify those communities, and then we start reaching out and finding 

out what can we do better, so that you are applying for these, or 

if you have applied, what can we be doing better. It is a priority 

of mine. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Thank you. And as you go out, please 

don’t hesitate to talk with our office. Because we can get word out 

as well. We can make sure that there is a good turnout, people 

know about it in the State of Nevada, our tribal communities, and 

they are able to come out as well and participate in the training. 

Ms. HOVLAND. That is fantastic, thank you. 

Senator CORTEZ MASTO. Thank you. 

Senator UDALL. Thank you, Senator Cortez Masto, very much for 

that questioning. And thank you for working with her. I think one 

of the issues we do find sometimes when we have pots of money 

is, tribes have a hard time accessing them. If you could let us know 

if there is a problem there, I mean, we can try to work through 

with whatever issues there are. 

Commissioner, in November of 2018, HHS collaborated with 12 

other Federal agencies to produce the Fourth National Climate Assessment. The report found that climate change increasingly 

threatens Americans’ health and well-being, particularly vulnerable 

populations and many Native populations. The report specifically 

41 

found, and now I am quoting from it, climate change increasingly 

threatens indigenous communities’ livelihoods, economies, health 

and cultural identities by disrupting interconnected social, physical 

and ecological systems. That is the end of the quote there. 

In your position as commissioner and co-chair of HHS’ Interagency Council on Native Affairs, you are in a unique position to 

address this issue. What is HHS doing to respond to the public 

health impacts of climate change? 

Ms. HOVLAND. Thank you, Senator. I will have to follow up with 

you on the specifics that HHS is doing. I did host and Admiral 

Wyocki vice-chaired our first ICNAA meeting on Friday. We are 

planning to have more meetings. It will be an item that I followup on. 

I can tell you, and as you know, under ANA we had the Environmental Regulatory Enhancement Act, which really is great for our 

tribes to be able to write grants, which can provide the resources 

to write their tribal code, so they can develop and enforce environmental codes in their communities. 

Senator UDALL. Great. Thank you. On this particular area, it 

seems like convening an interagency council on Native affairs, 

meeting to discuss the public health impacts of climate change on 

tribes, might make a real impact. So I would suggest you look into 

that. 

Chairman James, I understand that the California condor plays 

a central role in the Yurok Tribe’s traditional dances and practice 

of traditional Yurok religion. Can you explain how re-introducing 

the condor, and I am happy, too, to have Tiana weigh in on this, 

reintroducing the condor will improve the Tribe’s efforts to maintain and revitalize traditional Yurok culture and Yurok language? 

Mr. JAMES. Thank you, Vice Chair. Condor plays a huge role in 

our ceremonies and our way of life, for our jump dance and our 

Deer Skin Dance back at home. We have been using the condor 

since time immemorial in our ceremonies. So it is vital and critical 

as we continue to move forward. We are still going to do that. 

To answer your question, through prayer and through song, from 

my heart, from myself as a Yurok tribal chairman, as a traditional 

ceremonial leader, I would like to sing a brief tune of what it 

means to us to carry on that message. What it is for us, it is balance. We are balancing the world, and we are using that condor 

that flies high above us to pack that medicine to take it up to the 

Creator. So it is creating and exciting that we are here today and 

talking about a grand opportunity. We mentioned leveraging. You 

are actually leveraging it with our traditional way of life and our 

partners. It is impacting. So I would like to share a quick tune to 

let you know from my heart and my spirit and where I am from. 

[Singing in Native tongue.] 

Mr. JAMES. So again, imagine our baskets, our prayers going up 

in ceremony, that condor flying high above, packing that medicine, 

taking it up to the Creator. So it is vital and critical, and I thank 

you. It is an honor for me to be here with my staff, and again, we 

look forward to working with you, not just on this project, but 

many more that impact not just Indian Country. I wanted to share 

the impact that you are providing to the Yurok Tribe in Northern 

California on the Klamath River. [Phrase in Native tongue.] 

42 

Senator UDALL. Thank you so much for that inspiring song. I noticed when you were doing that that Tiana’s baby, Morgan, just 

really settled down. So that was very impressive. Very impressive. 

The CHAIRMAN. [Presiding] I did, too. 

Senator UDALL. Mr. Chairman, you did, too. 

Let me ask Governor Vallo and Council Member Socobasin, have 

your tribes seen similar complementary benefits from language revitalization and economic development efforts as a result of the 

ANA and what you have heard here today? 

Mr. VALLO. Thank you, Vice Chairman Udall. Yes, most definitely. We are very happy to say that the language revitalization 

initiative at Acoma has really rooted itself in Acoma, in very significant ways. So it not only has impacted and generated interest 

by community members and engaged them in an active revitalization initiative, but it has initiated a conversation. And it has initiated a very critical thought process internally about our inherent 

responsibility around language and culture, and preserving that 

language and culture. 

This conversation involves all generations. So we are realizing 

without any real effort that this discussion around language and 

cultural preservation is inter-generational. Everyone is taking ownership over this issue. When you consider Acoma being in its place 

for over 1,000 years, we are singing the same songs. When we have 

that opportunity to celebrate our culture through our own Native 

tongue, that says a lot for the resilience of our communities, but 

also this passion that we have to fulfill that inherent responsibility. 

I think that we have a much stronger understanding of that in 

this time. So the intergenerational engagement is happening, and 

it must be sustained if we are to continue to be successful at language revitalization moving forward. So yes, definite benefits. We 

have one Acoma woman who is now a Ph.D. who has dedicated her 

career and her scholarship to the study of indigenous languages, 

and is the scholar on the Keres language in New Mexico. So to that 

end, we also see a prayer realized, when our elders have always 

offered prayers on our behalf that we would embrace the western 

language and culture and use it to benefit our responsibility, or the 

fulfillment of our cultural responsibilities. 

Senator UDALL. Thank you. Council Member Socobasin? 

Mr. SOCOBASIN. We came here prepared to talk about maple 

syrup, but we do have a language grant as well. And actually, my 

time as chief was when that was first awarded. 

In our communities, as I mentioned earlier, we have 3,600 tribal 

members. Of those, about 5 percent are fluent in our language. We 

are one of the tribes of first contact, so we are one of the few tribes 

in the east that still has our language. Part of that being I think 

we are so far north and it is so cold that all we have is us. 

But a big influence on the Wasaba language was the Catholic 

church. I was one of the first generations that, my first language 

was English. My wife, who is the same age as I, her first language 

was Passamaquoddy. And our story is very similar to what has 

been already said today. Our culture is connected and our language 

is very important to our ceremonies. 

Because of the ANA grant, we have been able to implement an 

immersion class into our schools, in the pre-school and kinderVerDate Mar 15 2010 09:57 May 08, 2019 Jkt 036242 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\36242.TXT JACK
43 

garten. Our goal is, we have a school on the reservation that goes 

up to the eighth grade. I hope within the next ten years that all 

their lessons are taught in Passamaquoddy. 

Senator UDALL. Thank you very much, and thank you for your 

courtesies, Mr. Chairman. I think we covered some good ground 

today and we have realized the real benefits of this grant program. 

I appreciate very much the hard work of Jeannie Hovland. 

The CHAIRMAN. Absolutely. Thank you, Vice Chairman. 

Thanks again to all the witnesses. If there are no more questions 

for today, members can also submit follow-up questions for the 

record. The hearing record will be open for two weeks. 

Again, thanks to all of our witnesses for being here, and Commissioner Hovland, for your good work. We appreciate it so much. 

Thanks to all of you. We are adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 3:48 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

(45) 

1 Headstart, Economic Opportunity, and Community Partnership Act of 1974, Pub. L. No. 93– 

644 § 11, 88 Stat. 2324 (1975). 2 NAPA was signed into law as Section 11 of the Headstart, Economic Opportunity, and Community Partnership Act of 1974, Pub. L. No. 93–644 (1/4/75), and enacted as Title VIII of the 

Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, Pub. L. No. 88–452 (8/20/64). 3Pub. L. No. 100–175 (11/30/87). 

4Pub. L. No. 102–375 (9/30/92). 

5Pub. L. No. 102–524 (10/26/92). 

6Pub. L. No. 105–361 (11/10/98). 

A P P E N D I X 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF KAMANA‘OPONO M. CRABBE, PH.D, KA POUHANA/CEO, 

OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS

Aloha e Honorable Chairman John Hoeven, Vice Chairman Tom Udall, and members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs: 

Mahalo for the opportunity to submit testimony regarding the Committee’s February 27, 2019 Oversight Hearing on the ‘‘45th Anniversary of the Native American 

Programs Act and the establishment of the Administration for Native Americans.’’ 

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is a public trust and independent state agency 

established through the Hawai’i State Constitution to improve the lives of the indigenous people of Hawai‘i (Native Hawaiians). OHA’s enabling statute charges it to 

advocate on behalf of Native Hawaiians, and to assess policies and practices as they 

may affect Native Hawaiians. OHA is also named in various federal statutes as a 

recognized Native Hawaiian organization with standing to be consulted with on 

matters pertaining to Native Hawaiian rights and cultural resources. With that 

kuleana (responsibility) in mind, our agency is pleased to submit testimony for the 

record and urge Congress to act in reauthorizing the Administration for Native 

Americans (ANA) and the Native American Programs Act of 1974 (NAPA). 

Forty-five years ago, Congress established a network of federal assistance programs under the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) ‘‘to promote the 

goal of economic and social self-sufficiency for American Indians, Hawaiian Natives 

and Alaskan Natives’’ 1 through passage of NAPA. 2 In the mid-1970s, a pivotal time 

in the Native Hawaiian cultural renaissance movement in Hawai‘i, our community 

was just finding our voice and reclaiming our traditions after generations of suppressing our cultural identity. It was timely that Congress passed NAPA—dedicated 

to supporting the self-determination and economic development for Natives Americans across the United States, including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. NAPA opened access to much needed funds, technical assistance, 

and in-service training for a broad range of public and private projects, as well as 

research, demonstration, and pilot programs. 

Since the initial passage of NAPA, Congress has periodically revisited the act to 

broaden and strengthen its provisions and to reinforce its mission. In 1987, Congress passed the Older Americans Act Amendments of 1987, 3 which reauthorized 

NAPA and established several new programs to aid in promoting self-determination, 

including the Native Hawaiian Revolving Loan Fund (NHRLF), which OHA helps 

to administer and oversee today. In 1992, Congress established ANA through the 

Older Americans Act Amendments of 1992, 4 to carry out the important programs 

under NAPA and to advise the HHS Secretary on all matters affecting Native Americans that involve HHS. Also in 1992, Congress enacted the Native American Languages Act of 1992, 5 which provided funds specifically to ensure the survival and 

continuing vitality of Native American Languages. And in 1997, Congress passed 

the Native American Programs Acts Amendments of 1998, 6 which reauthorized 

NAPA through 2002. Unfortunately, this was the last time that NAPA was reauthorized. 

Through the last four and a half decades, various Native Hawaiian groups have 

used NAPA grants to bolster our community’s language proficiency, health care, agriculture, economic opportunities, and youth leadership. Grants created through 

46 

7See ADMIN. FOR NATIVE AM., CURRENT GRANTEES (2017), https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ 

ana/current-grantees [https://web.archive.org/web/20180129142724/https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ 

ana/current-grantees]. 

NAPA have become a critical source of funding for Native Hawaiian organizations 

seeking to expand their impacts with new pilots and demonstration projects. In Fiscal Year 2017 alone, thirteen different Native Hawaiian projects received just under 

$3.9 million dollars in grants from ANA. 7 Some of these groups initially began their 

work with smaller grants from OHA before continuing on to develop larger scale 

projects through ANA. Projects like ‘Aha Ka ̄ne, a program promoting Native Hawaiian health through reinvigorating ancient and traditional cultural practices, were 

able to grow and further develop their capacity to make a difference in our communities through not only the funding provided by ANA, but also the technical assistance of ANA and its contracted program managers. 

ANA and OHA have fostered a strong working relationship related to the coordinated administration of NHRLF and other Native Hawaiian programs that have received both ANA and OHA grants. Further, ANA and OHA have begun to discuss 

the possibilities of further collaborating to support Native Hawaiian organizations 

through mentorships and coordinating grant program criteria to make both of our 

grant programs more effective in supporting Native Hawaiian organizations with 

their work. These opportunities look promising and we look forward to continuing 

to work with ANA Commissioner Hovland. During her short time as ANA Commissioner, she has demonstrated her strong support for empowering Native Hawaiians 

and we are encouraged by our shared vision for developing self-determination in the 

Native Hawaiian community. 

In light of the long and positive history that ANA has served in our community 

and the 45th anniversary of NAPA’s initial passage, NAPA’s reauthorization is long 

overdue. OHA strongly urges this Committee to offer legislation to reauthorize 

NAPA so that ANA can continue its work without this added uncertainty. 

OHA once again thanks the Committee for holding this oversight hearing on ANA 

and NAPA. This important topic needs to be addressed for the betterment of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. I look forward to 

continuing to work with you on these issues and others affecting our Native people. 

RESPONSE TO WRITTEN QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY HON. TOM UDALL TO

JEANNIE HOVLAND

Question 1. Please provide the Committee with an overview of all actions HHS 

is taking to address the public health impacts of climate change, specifically, the 

particular threats climate change poses to Indigenous Peoples. 

Answer. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) supports a 

broad portfolio of research and initiatives related to environmental health. Within 

the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Administration for Native 

Americans’ (ANA) Environmental Regulatory Enhancement (ERE) grants provide 

resources for tribes and native communities to develop legal, technical, and organizational capacities for protecting their natural environments. Prospective applicants 

have the flexibility to tailor their grant applications based on the environmental 

needs of their community, consistent with the parameters of the funding opportunity announcement. 

Question 2. Please provide us with an update on the status of the Council’s discussions (to raise the finding of the National Climate Assessment with the 

Intradepartmental Council on Native American Affairs). 

Answer. The next meeting of the Intradepartmental Council on Native American 

Affairs will take place in late May. The Committee’s request to discuss the National 

Climate Assessment will be addressed at that time. 

Question 3. Please provide the Committee with an update on HHS’ involvement 

in the draft White House Executive Order establishing a Presidential Committee on 

Climate Security. 

Answer. Neither ACF nor ANA have been involved in any negotiations about a 

prospective Executive Order concerning climate security issues. 

Question 4. Given the dire warning signs of climate change impacts on these communities, are these communities eligible to receive ERE grants for climate change 

adaption measures such as the development of climate change action plans? 

Answer. ANA ERE grants are used by tribes to develop a variety of resource management plans. Action plans with respect to climate change could fit within the 

scope of these types of projects. The ERE program is designed to support projects 

47 

that plan, develop, and implement initiatives that improve the capability of an Indian tribe to regulate environmental quality pursuant to federal and tribal laws. 

The ERE program enhances the ability of tribal governments to provide effective 

stewardship over the land, water, and air that encompass their native communities. 

The ERE program supports the principle that projects must follow tribal cultural 

preservation and natural resource management priorities in order to achieve environmentally healthy and sustainable AI/AN communities. ANA is therefore interested in supporting projects that are locally designed and strengthen environmental 

regulatory programs in a manner consistent with the goals of American Indian and 

Alaska-Native communities. 

Question 5. The Yurok Tribe encountered several difficulties in applying for the 

ERE grant to implement their California Condor Reintroduction Program. Specifically the Tribe (1) found that the ‘‘request for proposal’’ (FRP) is unwieldy; (2) felt 

ANA gave them too short of a notice to make needed revision to their application; 

and (3) notices the ANA’s applications included an abundance of technical terms 

that took a four person team hours to decipher. Is ANA addressing these challenges 

so that more Tribes are able to successfully navigate the grant application process? 

Answer. ANA understands that the application process can be challenging and we 

are making improvements. In particular, we have received feedback that the evaluation components included in our Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) can 

be difficult for new applicants to understand. ANA strives to find an appropriate 

balance between requesting sufficient information to demonstrate thorough planning 

and implementation readiness with the need for a fair and diverse competition. 

ANA rolled out a project framework in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, within the FOA’s 

expected outcomes section, focusing on long-term community goals that are achievable and can produce measurable project outcomes. ANA’s project framework incorporates long-term community goals, current community conditions, project goals, objectives, indicators, outcomes, and outputs. These components convert long-term 

community goals into specific project goals, define targets for project achievement, 

and provide structure to measure project outcomes. The ANA project framework is 

designed to demonstrate the logical relationship between all concepts. 

Program offices within ACF use a Paperwork Reduction Act-approved, standardized template for FOAs that includes required government-wide data elements. This 

standardization helps ensure transparency, consistency, and reduces the burden on 

prospective applicants and grantees. Grants are awarded to eligible entities who 

demonstrate the capacity to implement them effectively. Conversely, it may limit 

the ability of a particular program to tailor a FOA to the capacities of specific potential applicants. 

ANA worked with the ACF Office of Planning and Research Evaluation to update 

our terminology for performance evaluation of funded projects. As a result, the terminology used in our FY 2018 FOAs was more standardized and better aligned with 

our ACF partner offices. Moreover, each FOA includes an appendix of definitions for 

project framework and other terminology used in the FOA. Most of the terms are 

also HHS standardized interpretations based on 45 CFR Part 75, HHS’s implementation of the OMB Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR 200. 

In addition, with respect to achieving long-term goals for ANA-funded communities, we decided to move from a deficit needs-based approach to a strengths-based 

approach. While this shift created some challenges for applicants, it produced 

stronger project proposals. However, ANA recognized a need to provide assistance 

and guidance based on the new FOA and subsequently updated our training and 

technical assistance (TTA) to include in-person workshops and online manuals. The 

manuals and workshop registrations are available on ANA’s website and numerous 

announcements were sent out about these resources through ANA’s listserv from 

the Office of the Commissioner and from our four regional TTA centers. 

In FY 2018, ANA reduced the application period to 60 days to ensure that our 

language awards were made one month earlier than in the past. This year, ANA 

allows a 90-day application period. 

The ‘‘timeframe for revisions’’ referred to by the Yurok tribe is part of ANA’s negotiation period. Once an application is scored and is undergoing funding consideration, there may be additional information required before finalizing an award. During these negotiations, ANA contacts the applicants that have scored the highest 

and allows them the opportunity to revise specific elements of their application. The 

turnaround for this information is typically three days. Often the shortened timeframe is necessary to put funding in place prior to the end of the fiscal year. However, this is something ANA will look at internally to determine if the timeframe 

can be lengthened. 

ANA is committed to continuous improvement of our FOAs based on feedback 

from tribes and lessons learned from the previous funding opportunity cycle. As our 

48 

FOAs become more standardized and familiar, the process and terms should become 

easier for applicants to understand. 

Question 6. Your written testimony states ANA received 266 applications in 

FY2018 but only awarded 63 new grant awards in the Administration’s six project 

areas. Please provide a breakdown of the number of applicants and new awards 

made for each of the six project areas. 

Answer. See table below. 

Question 6a. Please provide an estimate of the number of qualified applicants for 

each project area that ANA was not able to award grants to due to funding limitations. 

Answer. Below is a table of the applications received in 2018 and awards made 

by ANA. 

Language— 

Esther 

Martinez 

Language— 

Preservation & Maintenance 

Social 

Economic 

Development 

Strategies 

(SEDS) 

SEDSAlaska 

SEDS 

Native 

Youth 

Initiative 

Environmental 

Regulatory 

Enhancement 

2018 

TOTAL 

Number of Applications Received 16 68 99 6 61 16 266 

Number of Applications Reviewed 15 60 80 5 55 16 231 

Number of New Awards 8 10 27 3 11 4 63 

Number of Qualified Applications 

scoring 70 percent and above (z 

score, if available) 12 41 53 4 34 14 158 

Secondary Benefits 

Question 7. ANA provides grants to three main program areas: Social and Economic Strategies, Native Languages, and Environmental Regulatory Enhancement. 

Tribes and organizations may receive an ANA grant for a project in one program 

area, which they use to accomplish goals in other program areas as well. Based on 

your review of ANA grantees, do many Tribes see multiple benefits from their 

NAPA projects? 

Answer. Yes. ANA most recently conducted a data review based on outcome evaluations conducted through site visits between 2011 and 2015. The analysis of this 

data clearly shows that projects returned multiple benefits. For example, with the 

Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS) grants, an analysis of 128 

projects primarily for social development, governance, and health family projects 

found that of 213 objectives, 71 addressed multiple themes with the greatest crossover being culture and education. Projects with educational objectives were also 

linked with environment objectives. Likewise, cultural objectives were linked with 

job training, agriculture, and education. For more information, please review the attached document: QuaNative on SEDS Social Projects 2011–2015. 

During beneficiary interviews with participants of ANA’s language projects, evaluators asked respondents about the benefits experienced as a result of the project. 

As you can see from the ANA’s QuaNative for Language Projects 2011–2015, there 

were a number of self-identified social benefits experienced as a result of the language projects. Community members identified more language in the community as 

a benefit, but they also identified cultural visibility and community connectedness 

as additional social benefits. Not only did families experience the expected cultural 

transference, they also noted intergenerational bonding, family and community 

bonding, and healing from historical trauma as a result of the language project. 

Æ