Home Working with Section 106 ACHP Native American Program: Guidance for Federal Agencies

In 2004, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) established a Native American Advisory Group (NAAG) to assist the ACHP in improving National Historic Preservation Act consultations among tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and federal agencies.

The purpose of NAAG is to ensure that Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations have a more effective voice within the ACHP and to work with the ACHP on policy matters affecting Native Americans, heritage preservation initiatives including heritage tourism, and consultation with the federal government. In 1992, Congress required federal agencies to consult with Indian tribes that attach religious and cultural significance to historic properties, regardless of their location, when engaged in undertakings that may affect those properties. The same 1992 modifications to the National Historic Preservation Act allow federally recognized Indian tribes to take on more formal responsibility for the preservation of significant historic properties on tribal lands.

President George W. Bush’s 2003 Executive Order 13287, Preserve America, is another major impetus for the ACHP’s efforts to more effectively and comprehensively involve tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations in historic preservation issues affecting their traditional lands and sacred places.

NAAG convenes quarterly through conference calls and face-to-face meetings and actively participates in ACHP task forces and other activities. For example, NAAG members serve on the ACHP’s Archaeology Task Force, providing a Native perspective on guidance and policy. The group also works closely with the ACHP Native American Program on a variety of initiatives including training, consultation guidance, and communications with Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.

The White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs hosted two briefings and multiple individual meetings for NAAG with federal agencies in which the agencies reported on their efforts to address issues and concerns raised by NAAG. These issues range from greater involvement of Indian tribes in historic sites interpretation to improving federal agency consultation with tribes. NAAG continues to work with selected agencies to resolve their concerns.
 
There are 13 NAAG positions, representing each of the administrative regions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Hawaii.

Honorable Arden Kucate (Chairman)
Councilman
Pueblo of Zuni

Honorable Gordon Pullar
President
Lesnoi Village

Honorable Ben Shelly
Vice President
Navajo Nation

Mr. William Jones, Sr.
Lummi Nation

Mr. Jeremy Finch
Tribal Historic Preservation Officer
Citizen Potawatomi Nation

Mr. Shad Kane
Oahu Island Burial Council

Ms. Vernelda Grant
Tribal Historic Preservation Officer
San Carlos Apache Tribe

Ms. Kelly Jackson-Golly
Tribal Historic Preservation Officer
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa Indians

Ms. Hillary Renick
Sherwood Valley Rancheria

Ms. Lona Barrick
Administrator, Division of Arts and Humanities
Chickasaw Nation

Mr. Eddie Tullis
Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Ms. Miranda Wright
(Designee for President Pullar)
Doyon, Ltd.

Mr. Mark LeBeau
(Designee for Ms. Renick)
Pit River Tribe

Mr. Ken Carleton
(Designee for Mr. Tullis)
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

Ms. Lorie Robins
(Designee for Ms. Barrick)

Mr. William Jones, Jr.
(Designee for Mr. Jones, Sr.)

Mr. Pablo Padilla
(Designee for Councilman Kucate)

Ms. Carol Brown
(Designee for Ms. Jackson-Golly)

Mr. Arvin Trujillo
Dr. Alan Downer
(Designees for Vice President Shelly)

Mr. Fred Cachola
(Designee for Mr. Kane)

Updated June 24, 2008

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