First Nations Journal

 The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) stands as the most deeply rooted congressional body in federal Indian law, crafted for one purpose:  to exercise Congress’s plenary authority and trust responsibility over Indian affairs.  No other committee carries this mandate.  No other committee is charged with ensuring that federal agencies uphold their fiduciary duties to Indian beneficiaries. 

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First Nations Journal asserts that the SCIA must intervene immediately to prevent the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) from withdrawing accreditation from Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU).  The record is clear, the evidence is documented, and the federal failures are undeniable.  In July 2024, the House Committee on Natural Resources committee conducted a hearing of instability at Haskell and described the situation at Haskell as “severely dysfunctional”.

HLC-Action-Letter-Haskell-Indian-Nations-University-7.8.25.pdf

Congress created the SCIA to:

• Exercise oversight of federal agencies administering Indian programs
• Receive testimony from tribal leaders, beneficiaries, and federal officials
• Issue trust-responsibility recommendations to Congress
• Ensure federal agencies comply with treaty and trust obligation

This authority is not symbolic.  It is the legal mechanism through which Congress fulfills its guardian-ward duty, affirmed in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and enforced through generations of federal Indian law. 

Haskell is a federal Indian institution.  Its students are federal Indian beneficiaries.  Its land is federal trust land.  Therefore, Haskell falls squarely within SCIA’s jurisdiction.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is Chairperson of the SCIA and Senator Jerry Moran (R-KAN) is a member of the SCIA committee.  Senators Murkowski and Moran are long-standing Advocates for fulfilling federal trust rust responsibility to tribes and Native American people.  Both senators understand that trust responsibility is not discretionary.  It is a binding federal obligation.

The Haskell Accreditation crisis is a federal Department of the Interior (DOI), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) trustee failure.  HLC’s sanction of “Accredited on Notice” is not a campus-level issue.  It is a federal governance failure. 

FNJ has documented:

• A decade of DOI/BIA/BIE mismanagement
• Lack of structure, lack of accountability, and lack of compliance
• Retaliation against faculty, staff, and students who report violations
• Obstruction of accreditor inquiries
• Absence of whistleblower protections for Indian beneficiaries

The Haskell Faculty Senate letter and the Board of Regents response—now provided to Congress—confirm FNJ’s long-held analysis.  HLC’s findings are the direct result of federal trustee negligence.

Faculty Senate Response Letter for the BIE Apr26 (1) (3).pdf

BOR Responses to Faculty Senate VONC (1).pdf

These are documentation facts.

The SCIA must act now.  If SCIA does not intervene, HLC may withdraw accreditation.  If accreditation is withdrawn, Haskell will collapse.  If Haskell collapses, the federal government will have committed a catastrophic breach of trust responsibility.  

• Congress cannot claim ignorance
• Congress now holds the evidence
• Congress now stands in the position of Failure to Act

First Nations Journal urges the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to take the following actions immediately.    

• Hold an Emergency SCIA Oversight Hearing
• to receive testimony from:
• Haskell Faculty Senate
• Haskell Board of Regents     
• HLC leadership
• DOI/BIA/BIE officials
• Indian beneficiaries directly affected

This hearing must be public, transparent, and entered into the congressional record.

Issue a formal SCIA Finding of Federal Trustee Management, SCIA must document that: 

• DOI/BIA/BIE failed to maintain accreditation compliance
• Federal trustees obstructed investigations
• Indian beneficiaries were left defenseless

This finding is essential for congressional action.  The SCIA should recommend:

• Suspend DOI/BIA/BIE Authority over Haskell pending investigation to
• Prevent further harm.
• Appointment of an external approving agent for expenditures
• A forensic audit of all Haskell-related federal spending

Advance the Haskell Indian Nations University Improvement Act.  The Act provides the structural reforms necessary to:

• Restore governance
• Protect accreditation
• Ensure long-term federal compliance

SCIA must move the legislation forward with urgency.  Ultimately, Congress must vote on SCIA’s recommendations.  SCIA’s leadership will determine whether Haskell survives.  Strong, affirmative SCIA action will prevent HLC from withdrawing accreditation.  Failure to act will be a historic breach of trust responsibility.

First Nations Journal writes the time for congressional decision is now.  FNJ looks forward to the federal government fulfilling Indian treaty and trust responsibility and obligation.  It is a Call to Congress Action. 

                                                                 FIRST NATIONS JOURNAL

M’gwitch, Steve Cadue 🪶

Steve Cadue

Kickapoo