The meeting was called to order at noon by the Chairman, Wayne Brewer.

Discussion Topics:

The Council recognized and welcomed new members Garet Moravec, Debbie Lombardino, Andrea Lewis, and Jean Daniel.

According to our bylaws, Wayne must appoint a new Vice-Chair to replace Janet Wright, who has left USDA for greener pastures (U.S. Information Agency, with a three-year tour of duty in Brazil and South America!). He has asked someone to consider taking the position and should have a name for us by next month.

Emily and Ame Eduardo visited the Administrator at Van Ness Elementary School last month to present the gifts that the Council had collected. The Administrator expressed her appreciation to Council members and felt sure that students and teachers alike will be delighted to receive the materials.

Emily met with Sam Thornton, the Director of USDA's Office of Outreach. Mr. Thornton was made aware of our Council and invited a representative of AIC to attend the monthly National Outreach Council meetings. Emily attended on April 7, and said that the group is still getting organized and there was nothing much to report yet. We will continue to send a representative to these meetings and will report on this next month.

Emily attended and reported on the Civil Rights Leadership Council meeting held on April 15. The Director of Civil Rights, Rosalind Gray, presided at the meeting, which included representatives from several other employee organizations. At that meeting, Ms. Gray was asked when she intended to fill the vacant positions of the Hispanic Employment Manager and the Black Emphasis Program Manager. (Both these positions are considered "Special Emphasis Program [SEP] Manager" positions.) Ms. Gray's response was that USDA doesn't have enough staff to designate a separate manager for each protected interest group. Her office is looking closely at whether this structure (of a separate SEP manager for each group) violates civil rights laws. Employees came away with the impression that Ms. Gray will not replace the HEP Manager or the Black Emphasis Manager and will "de-emphasize" special emphasis programs.

The American Indian Council resolved to oppose this direction the Office of Civil Rights is taking. We agreed that the conditions which gave rise to the development of SEPs still exist and we believe that these conditions warrant a vigorous and focused SEP. We will draft a resolution for Secretary Glickman to this effect and we will copy Ms. Gray and the leaders of other employee organizations. In fact, we will attempt to collaborate with other employee groups on this resolution because we already know several are in agreement with us.

AIC members will remind the Secretary that American Indians and Alaska Natives enjoy a legal status that is unique among other "protected groups." Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations is devoted to Indian law. Indian Country, if put together, would be larger than Montana, the fourth-largest State. The agriculture sector is the largest single employer of Indian people. Issues in Indian Country are often a culmination of a complex history and evolving Federal policy. USDA has acknowledged its trust responsibility to Indian Country and pledged to help promote the highest and best use of Indian trust lands. Therefore, AIC will recommend that there continue to be a separate Program Manager for the Native American SEP, and that that person have specialized experience in the field of Indian relations and be familiar with Indian law and the Federal trust responsibility. AIC members who wish to work on wordsmithing this resolution, please contact Wayne or Emily by COB Thursday April 29.

We also want to urge the Secretary to quickly replace Mary McNeil, the former Director of Native American Programs. This position is a Presidential appointment, located in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Jean suggested someone should check with other agencies or departments to see if there's someone qualified who is already vetted. Anyone with any suggestions, please contact an AIC officer! This is an extremely important position but if past experience is any indication, it will remain vacant for many months -- probably until Administrations change.

Dave Bell talked about AIC's new webpage. Everyone congratulated him on a job well done! However, the site is still under construction. Dave's still working on getting the Heritage Month posters to load. Any AIC members out there with an artistic side are urged to come forward and lend your talents to further developing this webpage. Suggestions were made about what else we can include on the site, such as information on scholarships, employment opportunities, how to contact AIC officers, etc. Please contact Dave or an AIC officer with your comments and suggestions.

Albert Barros, the Native American Special Emphasis Program Manager for the Department, has been organizing a seminar to be held in Oklahoma City. The seminar will include employees from USDA, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and representatives from Oklahoma tribes. This seminar has been postponed once but now it looks like it might happen June 1-2. We hope that Albert will let the agencies know in plenty of time so they can plan to have employees attend. (Albert gets copies of these minutes!)

The handouts this month were:

Two Washington Post articles: "Canada's Natives Reclaim 'Our Land'"; "HUD Seeks to Expand Housing Aid to Indians"

An article from the Department of Justice's newsletter, the Civil Rights Forum, "A Look at the Civil Rights Division's Recent Activities in 'Indian Country.'"

An article from the Oklahoma Observer, "Native Americans Top Crime Victims"

Several articles off the Internet regarding the new Canadian Territory, Nunavut.

A printout of our new website, http://www.usda.gov/da/employ/AICHomePage.htm

Pow Wow flyer for the Sixth Annual Native American Heritage Festival and Pow Wow in Marion, Maryland, May 1-2.

Flyer for the American Indian Society's Mothers' Day Pow Wow May 8-9.

Flyer for the Noc Bay Trading Company (quality craft supplies!)

March 1999 Report from the Office of Inspector General, "Evaluation of the Office of Civil Rights' Efforts to Implement Civil Rights Settlements"

The next AIC meeting will be on May 20, at noon, in room 2854-S. Mark your calendars! Chairman Wayne Brewer adjourned the meeting at 12:55.