The Interior Department on Tuesday said it is taking several steps to make it easier for Native American tribes to take land back into trust and simplify a process that was slowed by the Trump administration.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland issued a secretarial order that re-delegated authority to review and approve applications by tribes to regional Bureau of Indian Affairs directors, a reversal of a Trump-era order that gave jurisdiction to the Interior Department’s headquarters, which led to delays.
The policy of placing tribal lands in federal trust lets tribes re-acquire historic land and aims to remedy federal policies dating back more than a century that have resulted in Native American tribes losing their land base across the United States.
“At Interior, we have an obligation to work with Tribes to protect their lands and ensure that each Tribe has a homeland where its citizens can live together and lead safe and fulfilling lives,” Haaland, the first Native American U.S. cabinet secretary, said in a statement…..
Marin American Indian Alliance 