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Indian Program
Related Information
Indian Nations:
For more information contact: Consultation and issues beyond reservation boundaries: Indian Nation capacity building and implementation of environmental programs: |
The Hiawatha Belt
The Hiawatha Belt symbolizes the five original nations from west to east in their respective territories across New York state - Seneca (People of the Great Hill), Cayuga (People of the Swamp), Onondaga (Keepers of the Fire), Oneida (People of the Standing Stone), and Mohawk (People of the Flint). |
Federally-Recognized Indian Nations
The Indian Nation lands in Region 2 are ecologically varied, with wetlands, agricultural areas, and notable proximity to rivers and water bodies, such as the St Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes. The peoples located in the Northeast, specifically the Haudenosaunee (i.e., the indigenous peoples, also, known by some as the Six Nations, the Iroquois, or People of the Longhouse), were among the first that immigrants and colonists came into contact with; the history is one of both assistance, cultural exchange and trade, and of difficulties, conflict and war.
Today, the federal government recognizes the unique political relationship, based on treaties and history, between the federally-recognized Indian Nation governments and the federal government. As such, the EPA Indian Policy was developed and signed in 1984 and is key to the Agency’s environmental program building approach for Indian country.
The Regional Indian Program Coordinator heads up the Regional Indian Workgroup. Each Region 2 program and the Region 2 Office of Regional Counsel have designated a Regional Indian Workgroup member to serve as their primary representative participating in the workgroup to prepare for and schedule EPA manager/Indian nation leader meetings, and address Regional Indian Program action items. Further, this workgroup identifies key issues underlying the federal-Indian relationship, which potentially hamper the Region's implementation of the Agency's Indian Policy, and has recommended actions to address these issues.
Region 2 has designed a training program entitled Training on Working Effectively with Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples to provide Region 2 employees with the necessary knowledge and skills to assist them in working with Indian Nations and indigenous people,
and implementing the Agency's Indian Policy.
Overview of EPA Region 2 Indian Program
Indian Nation Accomplishments [PDF 87 KB, 5 pp]
Training on Working Effectively with Indian Nations
and Indigenous Peoples
