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"Though the Secretary has espoused the "C's" of communication, coordination, and consultation, her Department and its leadership have repudiated the tenets it has claimed to embrace in the proposal of this reorganization," said NCAI

President Susan Masten stated:

"Without consultation with the Tribes, the process is not well thought out, and does not represent Tribal priorities," said Masten. "Dialogue is the cornerstone of democracy - would anyone go about reorganizing the Department of Agriculture, for example, without consultation with the country's farmers? This move is a throwback to the old days when the BIA functioned in a mode of high-handedness and paternalism."

Tribal leaders have expressed openness to the idea of reforming trust management, but such a sweeping change-a scheme developed in under a week-with no details on how the agency will function raises red flags for the Tribes. "I want to stress that any trust reform will require both Tribes and the federal government to come together to negotiate how trust responsibilities will change." said Masten. "Deliberate and thoughtful consultation must take place. The finalization goal of 30 days set by the Secretary is not enough. Six months may not be enough."

The move comes in response to litigation of the Cobell class-action suit, and as an alternative to a court-appointed receiver over the management of Individual Indian Money (IIM) accounts. However, the reorganization will remove all trust management from the BIA, including tribal trust management, probate, and trust management contracts and compacts, and will change the nature of the relationship between Tribal governments and the federal government. As Masten stated:

"The Department of Interior has been consistently criticized in its trust reform efforts for making cosmetic changes while ignoring the real problems of accountability, systems and trust property management. "The DOI has a well documented track record of repeatedly making short-term decisions in response to court-imposed deadlines while failing to develop a rational long-term plan for structural trust reform - at first glance, this new plan seems like more of the same; the Department may look like it is taking significant action, but as currently framed, the overhaul amounts
to little more than window dressing. Substantive change has been left undone. Moreover, the reorganization will eat up years of time and precious resources while the real issues go unaddressed, The Department clearly does not have the existing resources to establish a new
agency."

Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles and Assistant Secretary McCaleb have requested time at NCAI's 58th Annual Session, which will be held Nov. 25-30, in Spokane, Wash., to develop a dialogue on the issue. More than 2,500 American Indians are expected to attend the conference, which is this year's largest national gathering of Tribal leaders.

"It is NCAI's opinion that for real change to occur at DOI there must be a shift in the paradigm of management," said Masten. "Decisions cannot be made with regard to short-term political interests, but must conform to long-term management goals - a political appointee has no ability to change this paradigm."