DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TASKING PROFILE ACCN £S0-00044394 Status Open Fiscal Year: 2013, Document Date: Received Date: Due Date: Action Office: ‘Signature Level: Doe Source: 0201/2013 2072013 031272013 1A AS m To (Recipient): Salazar, Ken From (Author): Macarro, Mark Chairman Subject Text: Reg. Sumames: Copies To: Status Tracking: Signed: Pachenga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians Post Office Box 1477 Temecula, CA 92593, *e: opposition to federal acknowledgment to the Gabrieleno Tongva group through reaffirmation SOL. Mall Track #: SIO-OES. SIO-OES Amanda Burley/202-513-0705PECHANGA INDIAN RESERVATION Tribal Chairman: Temecula Band of tateone vr wana acer Come enter ! Boe 147 + ees Come eben: 5 2896 (951) 770-6000 Fax. oe: Cin Corrina R. Garbant Saneher Andrew Masi Robert "RJ" Min Russell Butch” Murphy. Benjamin “Ben” Vasque, Tribal Secretary: Louise Burke Tribal Treasurer February 1, 2013, Christina McMenamin The Honorable Ken Salazar Secretary United States Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NW Washington D.C. 20240 Dear Honorable Secretary Salazar: | ‘The Pechanga Band of Luisefio Indians, a federally recognized tribe, writes to express our concerns Tegarding the new manner in which the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is contemplating granting federal recognition to currently unrecognized groups. Specifically, it has come to our attention that an unrecognized group from Southern California, a faction of the Gabrielino Tongva, is aggressively lobbying the Department of Interior seeking federal recognition through a reaffirmation of its tribal government status. We strongly oppose this effort. This new means of gaining federal recognition is completely arbitrary and subject to the whim of the Secretary of Interior or thetr designee. If an unrecognized Indian group cannot meet the established process for federal recognition under Title 25 § 83, then there should be no new option created in an attempt to circumvent the process, which other tribes have gone through successfully The current procedure under 25 CFR 83 has criteria that a petitioning and hopeful Indian group must achieve in order to be considered a federally recognized Indian tribe, The procedure is lengthy and can take a number of years to achieve and has protections builtin for both the Indian group and other interested parties. The reason for the criteria is to create an established record in the interest of full disclosure, ‘The reaffirmation process, which was only recently created without consultation or the establishment of any standards or procedures, is the exact opposite of 25 CFR 83. From what can be pereeived, there sno reference as to what would cause the Department of Interior to make the decision to reaffirm. It is in the best interest of federally recognized tribes and the public to require that the BIA immediately suspend all activity to reaffirm any tribal group until such time as both the federal courts have completed theit work examining the legal issues surrounding the reaffirmation process and the BIA has finalized and published rules in the Federal Register that create standards and procedures that will govern the reaffirmation process. (continued)The Honorable Ken Salazar February 1, 2013, Secretary, United States Department of the Interior Page 2 Again, we strongly oppose the efforts of the Gabrielino Tongya to achieve federal recognition through reaffirmation. We urge you to suspend the consideration of this request until the Department has established clear policies and procedures that will govern the reaffirmation process, Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding our position on this matter. Respectfully, MSA rear Mark Macarro ‘Tribal Chairman Ce: Kevin Washburn ~ Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs PECHANGA INDIAN RESERVATION Temecula Band of Luiseno Mission Indians —