Tribal Governments and Section 106 Consultation
The Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) provides the following information to assist federal agency officials and others working with tribal governments located in Oklahoma. It is the federal agency's responsibility to identify and consult with the appropriate tribal governments pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) early in the planning of federal undertakings. Contact information for each tribe, for the Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs) which have assumed SHPO duties pursuant to Section 101(d)(2) of the NHPA, for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), and for the National Park Service (NPS) Tribal Preservation Program is provided below. Other guidance, including links to helpful websites, is provided.
Oklahoma's Tribal Governments & THPO Contacts
The ACHP's regulations (36 CFR Part 800 – Protection of Historic Properties) set forth the process for a federal agency's compliance with Section 106 of the NHPA. These regulations can be found at http://www.achp.gov and at http://www.okhistory.org/shpo/section106.htm. Federal agencies and their applicants/designees should be familiar with these regulations and take special notice of their responsibilities to consult with all appropriate parties. Tribal governments are among these parties, and 36 CFR Part 800.1(c) says in part:
- (B) The Federal Government has a unique legal relationship with Indian tribes set forth in the Constitution of the United States, treaties, statutes, and court decisions. Consultation with Indian tribes should be conducted in a sensitive manner respectful of tribal sovereignty. Nothing in this part alters, amends, repeals, interprets or modifies tribal sovereignty, any treaty rights, or other rights of an Indian tribe, or preempts, modifies or limits the exercise of any such rights.
- (C) Consultation with an Indian tribe must recognize the government-to government relationship between the Federal Government and Indian tribes. The agency official shall consult with representatives designated or identified by the tribal government or the governing body of a Native Hawaiian organization. Consultation with Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations should be conducted in a manner sensitive to the concerns and needs of the Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
- (D) When Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations attach religious and cultural significance to historic properties off tribal lands, section 101(d)(6)(B) of the act requires Federal agencies to consult with such Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations in the section 106 process. Federal agencies should be aware that frequently historic properties of religious and cultural significance are located on ancestral, aboriginal, or ceded lands of Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations and should consider that when complying with the procedures in this part.
Many tribal governments have established historic preservation programs, and some have exercised their rights under the NHPA to take responsibility for historic properties on tribal lands. The THPO is the tribal official appointed by the tribe’s chief governing authority or designated by a tribal ordinance or preservation program who has assumed all or any part of the responsibilities of the SHPO on tribal lands in accordance with Section 101(d)(2) of the NHPA. Tribes submit an application to the National Park Service that identifies the NHPA programs for which they elect to assume responsibility and detail how they will meet the requirements for doing so.
The THPO title is also frequently used for individuals administering cultural resource programs for tribes that have not assumed SHPO duties. Regardless of the Section 101(d)(2) status, tribal governments play a critical role in the national preservation program and federal agencies must consult them, as appropriate, during project planning to comply with Section 106 of the NHPA (see 36 CFR Part 800). Federal agencies should confer with their respective Federal Preservation Officers (FPOs) for guidance in consultation with tribal governments, and the list of FPOs is available on the ACHP's website at http://www.achp.gov. The ACHP also provides guidance to federal agencies, tribal governments, and others concerning issues relate to tribal consultation under Section 106.
The ACHP contact person is:
Ira Matt
Director, Office of Native American Affairs
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
202-517-1481
imatt@achp.gov
http://www.achp.gov
Of Oklahoma's tribal governments, 27 currently have formal THPO status (Section 101(d)(2) of the NHPA), including the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Caddo Nation; Cherokee Nation; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes; Choctaw Nation; Citizen Potawatomi Nation; Comanche Nation, Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Modoc Nation; Muscogee (Creek) Nation; Osage Nation; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma; Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Quapaw Nation; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma; Wichita and Affiliated Tribes; and, Wyandotte Nation. The Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs) can be found in the document above.
For information about the application process for tribal governments, a complete list of THPOs nationwide, and other information about NPS tribal preservation programs, contact:
Jamie Lee Marks
Acting Program Manager
Tribal Historic Preservation Program
National Park Service
1201 Eye Street NW (2255)
Washington, DC 20005
202-354-6463
FAX 202-371-1794
thpo_program@nps.gov
(Tribal Historic Preservation Office Program)
Helpful Links
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides information about which tribes to consult under their programs at https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/environmental-review/historic-preservation/tribal-consultation/.
Other useful information may be found on the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) website at:
http://www.bia.gov.
NPS provides resources for tribes as they work to protect their heritage and agencies consulting with them at https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1015/index.htm.
The websites of individual tribes can be extremely helpful to federal agencies as they plan the tribal consultation for their undertakings. For example, some sites feature maps that clearly indicate the tribe's areas of interest for Section 106 consultation. Other helpful information, including contact persons, is also provided. The SHPO invited all federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma to have links to their respective websites listed below. Other tribes will be added as the SHPO receives their information.
Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
http://www.astribe.com
The THPO program is our busiest and provides the bulk of our daily work. The office determines the necessary response for the Tribe’s areas of concern in our former land base, consisting of at least 23 states.
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
https://www.choctawnation.com/about/culture/historic-preservation/
With nine staff members, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Historic Preservation Department (CNHPD) upholds the sacred duty of protecting historic and sacred sites for the Choctaw people in a nine-state area of interest. The CNHPD website is an avenue for facility preservation-related consultation with federal and state agencies, as well as a means for disseminating information about Choctaw history, traditional culture, and classes offered by the department.
Comanche Nation
https://comanchenation.com/departments/cultural-programs/historic-preservation
OR http://www.comanchenation.com then scroll over the culture icon
The HP page has a link to Comanche Nation "Areas of Interest" maps for Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming, to aid in the search of the Section 106 Review Client.
Delaware Tribe
http://delawaretribe.org/services-and-programs/historic-preservation/
Contains contact information for tribe’s Section 106 and NAGPRA activities, links to tribal administrative pages and cultural preservation pages.
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
http://www.estoo-nsn.gov
This website provides tribal history, Shawnee language, lists of cultural events and various services the tribe provides to membership. the Eastern Shawnee Tribe’s consultation procedures for telecommunication projects and procedures for archaeological fieldwork and report format for consultation under section 106 of the national historic preservation act is also available on the website.
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
https://www.miamination.com/tribal-historic-preservation-office/
Contains information about the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma's interests and responsibilities in consultation under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and contact information for staff.
Osage Nation
https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/
Contains (1) literary and academic references on the Osage, (2) map and state by state listing of counties of the Osage Ancestral Territories, and (3) the ONHPO Standards and Procedures documents. We also have a large number of photographs and news articles documenting our work over the last four years as well as our contact information.
Quapaw Nation
http://www.quapawtribe.com/192/Quapaw-Nation-Historic-Preservation-Prog
The Quapaw Nation Historic Preservation Program’s page has information about the duties and functions of the Quapaw Nation Historic Preservation Office, and includes up to date contact information, office hours and consultation preferences for the Quapaw Nation.
