Although talks began in May 1995, they broke down in December of that year in bitter recriminations and anger. There was no further contact until the summer of 1997 when IDRS was able to get parties to agree to engage in formal negotiations. The main part of the final agreement was negotiated over a twelve months period during fifteen days of face-to-face discussions that began in January 1998. President Clinton signed the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland Act on November 1, 2000 that embodied the negotiated agreement.

IDRS staff members were instrumental in training the Tribe’s negotiating team, helping it prepare for negotiations, coaching it during negotiations, and sitting as part of the Tribe's team during the second round of talks from January 1998 through January 1999. IDRS took the lead in proposing and getting accepted ground rules and a negotiation process that lead to a “win/win” agreement. IDRS assisted the Tribe’s and the federal negotiation teams design and implement a strategy for building broad-based public and Congressional support needed to pass the new federal legislation.

Contact: Barbara Durham, Tribal Administrator (760) 786-2374; Dorothy Alther, Attorney, California Indian Legal Services, (760) 920-8000.

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Indian Water Rights Negotiation . IDRS assisted the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe and the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Solicitors Office, and the Bureau of Reclamation and the Assistant Secretary’s Office of Wildlife and Parks of the Department of Interior reach an agreement on the Tribe’s annual ground water rights on three different sites in and outside Death Valley National Park. The negotiated agreement establishes the ground water rights as well as a plan for monitoring adverse impacts of water pumping on water flow along several major underground aquifers that provide water to Death Valley. An innovative three-tiered dispute resolution process was agreed to at various allocation thresholds. The negotiations took place over a four months period involving at least twelve full days of dialogue. The agreement became an integral part of national legislation, the Timbisha Shoshone Homelands Act.

Contact: John Reynolds, Director, Pacific Regional Office of the National Park Service in San Francisco. (510) 537-5456

Nine Oregon Tribes and Twenty-Two State Agencies . In 1998, Governor Kitzhaber took the initiative to establish a new kind of “government to government” relationship with its nine federally recognized tribes. To prepare for tribal/state negotiations, IDRS staff and associates trained elected tribal leaders and department staff from the federally recognized Oregon tribes. The training was in cross-cultural communications and negotiation skills and processes. IDRS assisted the tribes develop internal consensus regarding how they wanted to approach the negotiations with the State and to organize a state-wide summit meeting. IDRS staff and Associates facilitated two days of discussions between the representatives of the Tribes and the Directors and Deputy Directors from twenty-two different state agencies. The focus was on establishing a framework and protocols for all future "government to government" consultations and negotiations in the state of Oregon.

Contact: Skip Lasenbee, Special Legal Counsel to Governor Kitzhaber

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Negotiations Between the Governor, his Cabinet and 227 Native Tribes in the State of Alaska . IDRS assisted 227 tribes in Alaska select a representative negotiation team and prepare for its first negotiation session with the Governor and his Cabinet in May, 2000. IDRS staff provided facilitation services over a five-day period to assist participants design an internal process for selecting, providing advice to, and communicating with representatives on the Tribal Negotiation Team, and with their constituents at home. The team representing the 227 Alaska tribes went on to engage in a yearlong series of negotiation sessions with the Governor. The tribes reached agreement with the Governor on a new “protocol” for “government to government” consultations and negotiations with Native Alaskans.

Contact: Executive Director of the Intertribal Council of Alaska

Facilitated Discussions among 24 Athabascan Villages and the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) . IDRS conducted a four-day training in Fairbanks, Alaska for 72 staff members of the TCC Community and Natural Resource Department in “Cross-Cultural Communication and Government to Government Negotiations”. In addition, IDRS staff facilitated a two-day conference among village representatives and management staff from the TCC agency that covers the Alaska Interior, a region three times the size of Texas. After two days of facilitated deliberations, the members of the group formed a new “Intertribal Natural Resource Management Coalition”. The new Coalition committed itself to promote a greater role for villages and native organizations in the management of natural resources, and to establish partnerships with federal and state agencies that now have control and jurisdiction over these resources. Potential partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, USDA Forest Service, etc.

Contact: Darlene Wright, Director, Department of Community and Natural Resource Development, Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC). (907) 452-8251 ext 3239

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U.S.D.A. Forest Service Tribal Regulations Conference . Two IDRS facilitators provided training in cross-cultural communication skills and processes to 22 Forest Service officials and 24 tribal leaders from Tuolumne, Calaveras, Mariposa and Alpine Counties. Also present were members of the California Basketweavers Association (CIBA). After the group was trained, IDRS facilitated discussions among the participants regarding herbicide and pesticide issues and impacts on the health and environments of Indian communities.

Contact: Elizabeth Sewell, Planner for the Tribal Relations Conference with the Forest Service. (209) 533-8556

Facilitated Consultations Between Northern California Tribes and the California Department of Pesticide Regulations (DPR). Under a contract with DPR, IDRS was commissioned to generate participation among rural Indians, and organize and facilitate ten (10) meetings throughout Northern California for Indian people to present their views to state and federal agencies regarding the impact of pesticide use by public agencies and private users. Attending these meetings were officials from DPR as well as representatives from California Department of Transportation (CalTrans), California Department of Forestry, County Agricultural Commissioners, EPA and the U.S. Forest Service, all of which have the responsibility for designing and enforcing pesticide regulations. One of the primary issues addressed was how the use of pesticides by the agencies was endangering the health of native people as they engaged in subsistence activities. The consultations resulted in specific agreements to jointly engage in research and monitoring activities to track adverse impacts over time.

Kathy Brunetti, DPR (916) 324-4100

Facilitated “Government to Government” Consultations Between Tribes throughout the United States and the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indian Education Programs. IDRS facilitated consultations in Minneapolis, Portland, Nashville, Aberdeen, Oklahoma City, Billings, Phoenix, Gallup, Albuquerque and Sacramento. In addition to discussing topics such as the proposal to change accounting classification codes for BIA operated schools and BIA grant and contract schools, there were two open ended questions pertaining to BIA’s plans to establish a new national “life skills” curriculum and to pilot the establishment of several comprehensive Leadership Academies in BIA operated and BIA funded schools for Indian students. In addition, there were several questions regarding the upcoming BIA sponsored “Negotiated Rulemaking” Process to develop new policies and regulations for school facilities construction, replacement, remodeling and repair. One of these concerned the preferred composition of the “Neg-Reg” Committee being formed by the BIA Office of Indian Education Programs. IDRS facilitators prepared individual case studies on the ten sessions convened throughout the country and submitted them in a Report to the Agency.

Contact: Edward Parisian, Director, Office of Indian Education Programs, Bureau of Indian Affairs (202) 208-6123; and Dale Keel, Facilities Management Officer, BIA-OIEP Facilities Management, (505) 248-6954.

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Facilitated Negotiations Between Coalition Of Tribal ICWA Advocates and California State Department Of Social Services. IDRS facilitated negotiations between the Directors of the Department Of Social Services and its Child Protection and Family Support Branch and a coalition of tribal representatives who were advocating changes in the administration and implementation of Indian Child Welfare Act at the state and county levels. IDRS facilitated the negotiations that took place over nine months and resulted in a written agreement concerning changes in structure, roles, policy, practice and partnerships among the state, counties and tribes.

Contact: Cheryl Treadwell, Manager, CDSS—Resources and Development Bureau, (916) 323-6024.

Tribal/Public School District Collaboration Project. IDRS facilitated structured “government to government” negotiations between tribal parents and leaders and school staff and decision makers in four different public school districts in California. The discussions focused on a range of issues affecting the quality of educational services for Indian children and youth. To prepare for the negotiations, IDRS provided three days of training in cross-cultural communications and negotiation skills and processes to about 40 people from the tribe(s) and then to a similar amount of participants in a training workshop for the schools. Once both sides were trained, IDRS brought representative from each side together to establish an agenda, agree on procedural ground rules, and negotiate agreements on significant school reforms. As a result there have been significant changes made in curriculum and school practice as well as in school attendance and parent involvement. In each case there has emerged greater trust and a strong working partnership between the schools and Indian community

IDRS has provided training and facilitated negotiations between: (1) the Hoopa Tribe and the Klamath/Trinity Joint Unified School District, (2) the Ukiah Unified School District and five tribes in Mendocino County (CA) that send their children to the district schools, (3) the Washoe Tribe and the schools in Alpine County, and (4) the Big Pine Unified School District and the Big Pine Paiute Tribe. In each of these Projects, IDRS mediator/facilitators prepared writte n summaries of the mutually agreed upon recommendations for consideration by the tribal governments and District School Boards that were involved

Contact: Tracey Bowers Stidham, Tribal Administrator, Big Pine Tribe, (760) 938-3079; Kate McCartney, Woodford Indian Education Center, (530) 694-296; Judy Fisch, Director of Education, Coyote Valley Indian Tribe, (707) 485-6770.