MINUTES

BE IT REMEMBERED that a Special Session of ACQTC Inc. Tribal Corporation of its Executive Business Council and Board of Directors / Executives / Elders was convened on the 21st day of OCTOBER, 2007 (Neeshoag-kesos / Eel-moon), and:

It has come to our attention that the Honorable Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General of the State of Connecticut appeared before a “federal congressional committee” to criticize a “proposed federal tribal recognition bill” on October 3rd, 2007. A federal BILL was sent to the U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES for hearings. This Bill is entitled: “THE INDIAN TRIBAL FEDERAL RECOGNITION ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES ACT.”

BE IT ALSO REMEMBERED that on September 1st, 2007 ACQTC Inc. sent/filed its "Letter of Intent" to the Bureau of Indian Affairs - Office of Federal Acknowledgement with our assurances that a formal PETITION and SUPPORTING EVIDENCE would be subsequently FILED by ACQTC Inc. by January 1st, 2008.

Our PETITION is now 95% complete (40 pages). Our CFO is in the process of coordinating preparation of the documentary evidence, while our CEO / Grand Sachem is coordinating the execution of Affidavits and Official Statements for APPENDIX F to be attached to the Petition. Our estimated time of completion should be moved up at least 30 days and subsequently we hope to have it all FILED in December 2007.

This Executive Session of ACQTC Inc. Tribal Corporation Board of Directors / Executives / Elders and Business / Non-Profit 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(2) Status Committee has verified that these hearings have taken place and the need for our Grand Sachem / Culture-Bearer / Legal Sovereign to provide us with his expert advice on this proposed Bill.

The following RESOLUTION was developed upon hearing his advice and has been adopted. This RESOLUTION shall not be construed as an effort to lobby the passage of the current BILL. ACQTC Inc. officially CONCURS IN PART that the procedures as they exist are fatally flawed, as our PETITION will readily reflect. However, we DISSENT on the manner in which the current Bill forces Tribal Entities such as ACQTC who has no INTEREST in land claims, allotments, financial equity settlements, etc. to be subjected to the same strict criterion that is used to acknowledge those Tribal Entities who seek these advanced forms of acknowledgement.

WHEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that ACQTC Inc. CONCURS that the pending Bill and its procedures are fatally flawed whereas they unnecessarily and unconstitutionally discriminate against Tribal Entities that do not seek advanced forms of Federal Acknowledgement. ACQTC Inc. therefore urges, advises and recommends that the Bill and existing Procedures codified as 25 CFR 83 et seq be AMENDED and / or REVISED to reflect the following changes, improvements etc.

The HOUSE BILL on INDIAN TRIBAL FEDERAL RECOGNITION ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES ACT should be amended and/or revised to reflect the following: The Procedures should reflect that:

a 3-STAGE (3) process should be immediately established that effectively separates the current Federal Acknowledgement process into three (3) essential but varying and progressively more advanced degrees of Federal Acknowledgement of a Petitioner’s Tribal Existence which basically operates as follows:

STATE ONE: Basic Recognition/Acknowledgement shall remain under the purview of the current Bureau of Indian Affairs Department of the Interior – Office of Federal Acknowledgement codified under 25 CFR Section 83 et seq. This system was REFORMED in 1994 and again in 2001 to reflect and comply with United States Supreme Court decisions. A few of the enumerated provisions are possibly redundant and superfluous for purposes of basic acknowledgement whereas the close scrutiny of enrolled members who are earmarked to receive advanced benefits are essentially irrelevant and non-applicable and should thus only apply to stage three criterion.

STAGE ONE BASIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT should be resolved in a minimum of six (6) months where evidence presents a prima facie showing, and when a showing is lacking a maximum of one (1) year to resolve. Once approved this First Stage Acknowledgement will entitle the approved petitioning tribal Entity to: l) be approved for Federal Grants, 2) be approved for NAGPRA applications to work directly with the National Park Service’s NAGPRA Committee, 3) be approved for a select number of programs and services deemed appropriate by the Office of Federal Acknowledgement, and 4) listing on the BIAs list of acknowledged tribes, nations, band and confederations. Programs and services determination should be on a case-by-case basis depending on the size and needs of the Petitioner. A Petitioner must achieve STEP ONE acknowledgement before proceeding to Step Two and may decline proceeding further.

STAGE TWO: INTERMEDIATE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT will be reserved exclusively for any and all INDIAN LAND CLAIMS matters and disputes involving TREATY RIGHTS (e.g. hunting, fishing, and natural resources such as timber, water etc.). These claims should be referred to a separate COMMISSION on Indian Claims upon recommendation by the BIA Office of Federal Acknowledgement after Step One Acknowledgement has been satisfied, and should be completed within one (1) to three (3) years.

STAGE TWO Federal Acknowledgement COMMISSION should be staffed with knowledgeable experts in Tribal genealogy, languages, treaty law, Indian law, land claims dispute resolution, and should include a balanced and equal division of tribal and non-tribal experts. This COMMISSION should have legal authority to hear these additional and separate STAGE TWO RECOGNITION PETITIONS and a stricter set of guideline criterion should be implemented for a just and proper level of equitable resolution for all parties including the public who may support the tribe and / or regional residences etc. Stage two should have its own APPEAL process as well as a manager of COMPLIANCE to assure that all final resolutions on this level shall be implemented.

STAGE THREE: ADVANCED ACKNOWLEDGEMENT should be reserved for the most complex claims such as allotments and financial distributions resulting from mineral, water, timber and other natural resource rights of vast land settlements agreed upon by the parties.

STAGE THREE ADVANCED FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT should be considered only upon separate petition after Stage Two approval has been completed and should take no less that one year and no longer than five years to accomplish the most advanced claims The COMMISSION appointed for STAGE TWO Claims may also convene STAGE THREE CLAIMS, upon separate petition and the subjects to be considered in addition to large land claims, natural resources claims are all claims involving a Tribal Petitioner’s intention to establish any form of tribal gaming interests. There shall be special nonlapsing SUPER FUNDS made mandatory to each tribal entity granted the right to establish tribal gaming. Part of these FUNDS will be made available in the form of GRANTS to cities, towns, etc. impacted by the gaming to be established. Moreover, the tribal Entities who refrain from seeking such gaming interests shall also be eligible to apply for GRANTS to assist them in any and all non-profit tribal programs that have an educational, religious, environmental and/or ecological impact on the public interest to improve the quality of life in the respective communities shared by native and non-native entities impacted. STAGE THREE shall also have its own level of APPEAL established.

IN SUM, this three stage system of Federal Acknowledgement incorporates all forseeable interests of Tribal entities who seek Federal Acknowledgement on varying degrees of interest. A Tribal Entity who has no interest in land claims, advanced allotment, mineral rights, and resource rights etc. should not be subjected to, prejudiced by or discriminated against by more advanced criterion of these advanced levels of acknowledgement. This system is a just and proper RESOLUTION to the fatally flawed system that currently exists.

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, ACQTC Inc. by and through its Executive Board of Directors/Executives/Elders and Business Council as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt and 509(a)(2) Tribal Corporation hereby strongly urges the amendment and or revision of its pending BILL (supra) to include the changes suggested above.

Quttiantamauwe / Respectfully Submitted by and Acknowledged under our Corporate Seal on this 27th day of October, 2007 by:

Signed
Biwabiko Paddaquahas/Iron Thunderhorse
ACQTC Grand Sachem & Legal Sovereign, CEO

Signed
Ohomousiz Paddaquahas/Ruth Mahweeyeuh Thunderhorse
ACQTC Sunksquaw & CFO

SEAL OF ACQTC INC.

ACQTC, Inc. is organized exclusively for charitable, educational, religious, and cultural purposes within the meanings of Section 501 (C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, with Group or Subgroup status identification to include all programs, memberships and institutions under the purview of ACQTC. The contents of this webpage (except where noted otherwise) are © 2012 ACQTC, Inc. All rights reserved.
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