Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 16 - History, Humanities and Arts › Part 3 - Historic Preservation Division › Chapter 12 - Mississippi Standards and Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations › Rule 16-3-12.12.2 - Federal Agency Policies

Current through June 25, 2024
Federal Agency regulations and policies pertaining to
				  consultation with Native Americans are noted briefly below (Note: Some policies
				  are titled protocol, but contain a statement of policy rather than an
				  operational protocol. Agency protocols for consultation are listed in Section
				  IV).
NPS
Management Policies include the following:
1. Regarding burials (5.3.4)
2. Regarding cultural
				interpretation (7.5.5)
3.
				Regarding cultural resources (5.2.1)
4. Regarding ethnographic resources
				(5.3.5.3.1)
5. Regarding game
				harvest regulations (4.4.3)
6.
				Regarding museum objects (5.3.5.5)
7. Regarding natural resource management
				(4.1.4)
8. Regarding Sacred Sites
				(5.3.5.3.2)
In general these polices state that the practices,
				  traditions and beliefs of Native Americans will be considered in any treatment
				  and planning decision of the NPS, and that Native Americans will be a
				  meaningful part of the information gathering process to ascertain knowledge of
				  the sites and concerns and desires of Native Americans.
The
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA),
which is
				  responsible for over 50 million acres of land held in trust by the federal
				  government on behalf of Tribes and Alaskan Natives, has Guidelines for
				  Integrated Resource Management Planning in Indian Country (IRMP). The IRMP
				  outlines an involved process as a blueprint for consultation with Tribes on the
				  management of cultural resources on Tribal lands by the Tribe.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
				  Forest
Service has a draft general consultation policy process (FSM
				  1563) which references the regulations to which it applies.
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
				  (NRCS)
executed a nationwide Programmatic Agreement, May 2002, with the
				  ACHP and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, to
				  institute a policy of developing consultation agreements at the state level
				  with individual Tribal governments.
Department of Defense (DoD)
adopted a policy on
				  American Indians and Alaska Natives in 1998, which includes consultation with
				  Tribes concerning proposed military activities that could affect Tribal lands
				  and resources, including sacred sites, on and off military reservations.
The
Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal
				  Highway Administration (FHWA)
has a Native American Coordination
				  Program, which provides guidance and technical assistance to
				  Federally-recognized Tribes, and information for state DOTs on working
				  relationships with Tribes, including a section with individual Tribal
				  programmatic agreements.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
				  (HUD)
has a Governmentto-Government Tribal Consultation Policy (2001)
				  and American Indian and Alaskan Native Policy Statement (1994).
Department of Energy (DOE)
has a Native
				  American and Alaska Native Tribal Government Policy (2000) and an Environmental
				  Policy & Guidance, which has a section on the American Indian Religious
				  Freedom and Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Acts.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has a
				  Policy for the Administration of Environmental Programs on Indian Reservations
				  (1984) and a Memorandum of Actions for Strengthening EPA's Tribal Operations
				  (1994). 11
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
has a
				  Statement of Policy on Establishing a Government-to-Government Relationship
				  with Indian Tribes (2000).
Some Primary Consultation Principles include:
a. True government-to-government
				contact between the Agency and Tribe, where high level Agency representatives
				meet with Tribal leaders;
b.
				Multiple contacts that begin early in the planning process and continue
				throughout the project;
c.
				Multiple venues for consultation, such as the Agency office and locations close
				to Tribes and the area of the undertaking;
d. Formal and informal meetings;
e. The existence of an Agency Tribal Liaison;
f. The Agency's fostering of a
				relationship with the THPO;
g. An
				inclusive approach to contacting Tribes having an interest;
h. Consultation with unrecognized Tribes,
				separate from recognized Tribes, unless the unrecognized Tribe has an on-going
				relationship with the recognized Tribe;
i. An early effort to identify the areas of
				concern to the Tribes;
j.
				Provision to Tribes of full and candid information prior to the first meeting;
k. An open-ended and flexible
				agenda (no hidden agendas);
l.
				Facilitators for the sessions alternate between Agency and Tribal leaders;
m. A concerted effort by the
				Agency to have all Tribes with an interest be present for all sessions;
n. A successful result is viewed
				as partners arriving at an agreement, but reaching an agreement is not an end
				in itself;
o. Tribes participate
				in consultation on the invitee list as a preliminary consultation and
				participate on the agenda setting and planning of the consultation.
It is the federal agency's responsibility to conduct formal
				  tribal consultation, not the contractor and/or archaeologist. For further
				  information on Tribal Consultation, please see Tribal Consultation Best
				  Practices in Historic Preservation 2005 which can be found at:
http://www.nathpo.org/PDF/Tribal_Consultation.pdf
or the Department of Interior's Tribal Consultation Policy webpage at:
https://www.doi.gov/tribes/Tribal-Consultation-Policy