Region 2
Serving New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Eight Tribal Nations
Indian Nations
Related Information
- Indian Program Home
- American Indian Environmental Office
- EPA Policy for the Administration of Environmental Programs on Indian Reservations [PDF 200 KB, 4 pp]
Indian Nations:
- Cayuga Nation
- Oneida Indian Nation
- Onondaga Nation
- St. Regis Mohawk Tribe
- Seneca Nation of Indians
- Shinnecock Indian Nation
- Tonawanda Band of Senecas
- Tuscarora Nation
For more information contact:
Consultation, Issues beyond reservation boundaries and Indian Nation capacity building and implementation of environmental programs at Oneida Nation, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Shinnecock Nation:
Janice Whitney
Indian Nation capacity building and implementation of environmental programs at Cayuga Nation, Onondaga Nation, Tonawanda Seneca Nation, Tuscarora Nation (Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force- HETF):
Grant Jonathan
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
Training on Working Effectively with Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples