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within the exterior boundaries of the Mescalero Apache Nation. Subsequent cases 

 involving the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Jicarilla Apache Tribe 

 have reaffirmed this position. In all these cases, the overriding factor in favor of the 

 tribes was their experience and expertise in managing their wildlife resources. In 

 observation of these facts, the Governor of New Mexico appointed in 1991 the 

 Wildlife Working Group for cooperative management between the State and local 

 Indian tribes. Last month, the State officially endorsed the Wildlife Working Group. 

 The Navajo Nation looks forward to realizing the potential of this collaborative effort. 

 CONCLUSION 



In sum, remedial legislation is urgently needed (1) to recognize the government- 

 to-government relationship that exists between tribes and the federal government, by 

 extending existing federal aid programs to tribes, and (2) to fulfill the federal 

 government's trust responsibility to tribes by ensuring that they have the wherewithal 

 to exercise their sovereign rights over their lands and resources. 



Tribal self-determination must mean that tribes have the authority and 

 sophistication to assume exclusive management of fish and wildlife resources on their 

 lands. The greatest prohibitions are lack of statutory authorizations in significant 

 federal acts and the lower priority of fish and wildlife in relation to other needs. The 

 Navajo Nation urges this Subcommittee to overcome these two barriers by amending 

 such federal laws and supporting increased funding as we have stated earlier. The 

 Navajo Nation looks forward to working with this Subcommittee towards those goals. 



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