137 



But now tribes are able to show that natural resources, specifi- 

 cally fish and wildlife, are high priorities in Indian country, and 

 hopefiilly the funding will follow. 



Mr. Faleomavaega. Thank you, Mr. Poynter. 

 Mr. DuBray. 



Mr. DuBray. Yes. As far as a rating from one to ten, that's very 

 difficult to put a number on there, especially in light of the dif- 

 ficulty that the federal agencies, as well as the Congress, have in 

 defining just what trust responsibility is and who is responsible for 

 it. 



So I guess to answer your question though, right now, because 

 of our situation, I would have to give them a ten. Because here we 

 are on our way to the Supreme Court against the State of South 

 Dakota threatening to undermine our very sovereign jurisdiction. 



And so in light of what these gentlemen say, I agree that it 

 maybe is not necessarily the BIA's fault, but it is a federal trust 

 responsibility that has been neglected. 



And so I know the Bureau tries as hard as they can to do the 

 best they can with the limited funding they have, but some of the 

 responsibility has to be shared by the whole Federal Government. 

 And I think that all of the federal agencies need to recognize 

 tribes as visible and full participants in the fish and wildlife re- 

 source management. 



The BIA, on the other hand, can't make that decision. They can't 

 say that tribes can receive equal funding or equal status to a state, 

 for instance. That has to come from here, from the Congress. 



And so I can't say that I put all the blame on the Bureau, and 

 that's why I give them that kind of rating. But those are the kinds 

 of things that need to happen. 



And from a Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal perspective, we feel 

 that legislation is absolutely necessary that recognizes tribes as full 

 participants and equal managers, as states are. 



Without that kind of legislation, when everybody comes to the 

 table to participate and receive a piece of the funding, tribes are 

 neglected. 



One of the federal agencies goes, they get the money, they build 

 up their capability to manage our resources. 



What we're suggesting is that we need that money directly out 

 to our tribe and out to our reservations so we can build up our ca- 

 pability, not the Bureau's capability, not the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, not any other federal agency. We need to build our capabil- 

 ity. 



Because our projects, we live on the land, these resources are 

 very important to us, and we know them best how to manage them. 

 And that has to be recognized by everyone involved. 

 Thank you. 



Mr. Faleomavaega. I'm reminded of a statement made by Mr. 

 John Wesley about the missionaries who are here to convert the In- 

 dians, and then he said, but who will convert me. 



And I want to raise again a measuring stick. Please don't feel 

 that maybe I'm being simplistic, but I'm not specifically asking for 

 a scientific method to say exactly where we are, as it was alluded 

 to eariier by our friend from the Nav^o Nation, because every tnbe 



