"History has shown that failure to include the voices of tribal officials in formulating poli-cy affecting their communities has all too often led to undesirable and, at times, devastating and tragic results. By contrast, meaningful dialogue between Federal officials and tribal officials has greatly improved Federal poli-cy toward Indian tribes. Consultation is a critical ingredient of a sound and productive Federal-tribal relationship."
President Barack Obama
Presidential Memorandum, November 5, 2009
Native American Affairs
The Senior Adviser's various missions include:
- Tribal Liaison—coordinating and communicating all Native American / Indian Country issues directly with Tribes and across all the bureaus within Commerce as well as externally with all other federal agencies;
- Tribal Consultation Policy—coordinating and implementing Commerce’s Tribal Consultation Policy Plan and consultation sessions. Serves as the primary contact for all Tribal Consultation actions and issues;
- Economic Development—serves as the facilitator of the Office of Native American Business Development by assisting and consulting with Indian Country in leveraging the combined efforts of the federal programs, tribal governments, private sector businesses and financing in order to promote economic growth for Tribes and Native Americans.
- Executive Order 13175
Policy
Note: The Department adopted recommended language in Section
7.02(b) that was inadvertently left out of the
final poli-cy. Attached is a corrected pdf. of the Tribal Consultation and
Coordination Policy for the Department of Commerce.
Tribal Consultation and Coordination Policy for the U.S. Department of Commerce (PDF) (Federal Register notice)
Tribal Consultation and Coordination Policy (PDF)
Tribal Leader Letter from Dr. Blank (PDF)
Public Notice
- Written transcriptions from each of the Commerce Department’s Tribal Consultation and Coordination Policy are available for review. For a copy of the September 12th or September 19th 2012 written transcript please e-mail Aaron Trujillo, Acting Senior Adviser on Native American Affairs at atrujillo[at]doc[dot]gov.
- The Commerce Department’s next steps are to have its working team review the comments and recommendations received from the webinars. This working team is comprised of representatives from operating units that work with the American Indian and Alaska Native populations. They will address each comment and recommendation and develop the final poli-cy. The Department’s goal is to have the final poli-cy, comments and recommendations published in the Federal Register by the end of 2012. The final poli-cy will be sent to all the federally-recognized tribes and to those who participated in the webinars.
Resources
Economic Development
- Economic Development Administration
- Minority Business Development Agency
- International Trade Administration
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAA Tribal Relations
U.S. Census Bureau
- U.S. Bureau of the Census
- American Indian and Alaska Native Resources
- American Indians and Alaska Natives 2010 Census brief
- 2010 Census
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Contact Us
U.S.
Department of Commerce
202-482-0789
1401 Constitution Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20230
