Dept of Interior and Native American leaders will meet to return tribal lands

 The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced on Tuesday that it will launch new dialogues with Native American tribes as part of a larger mission to restore native land ownership.

With the invitation, federally recognized Native American tribal leadership would consult with DOI officials on protecting and restoring Tribal homelands through the longstanding land-into-trust process, leasing, sacred sites and treaty rights.

In April, DOI Secretary Deb Haaland — the first Native American to helm the agency — issued a new ordinance that strengthened the land-into-trust application process for Native American tribes near reservations as an extension of federally-protected and designated tribal lands.

The newest initiative announced on Tuesday works to add more tribal input into these decisions...MORE