2008 Tribal Consultation

April 15, 2008

Dear Tribal Leader:

Section 903 of Title IX of the Violence Against Women Act of 2005 requires the United States Attorney General and the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services to hold an annual consultation with Indian tribal governments on the subject of violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women. The purpose of the consultation is to solicit recommendations from tribal government leaders on the following three topics:

Administering grant funds appropriated for tribal governments and programs created to benefit tribal governments by the original Violence Against Women Act and subsequent legislation;
Enhancing the safety of Indian women from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking; and
Strengthening the Federal response to crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

The Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) hosted its 2007 annual consultation on September 19, 2007 at the Sandia Pueblo in New Mexico. We are pleased to announce that this year’s consultation has been scheduled for September 9, 2008 at Seminole Nation’s Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (Hard Rock) in Hollywood, Florida. The deadline to reserve a room at the Hard Rock is August 17, 2008. Please see the enclosed R.S.V.P. form for more details. In addition, pre-meetings have been scheduled for September 8, 2008 at the same location. Further details on the pre-meetings will be forthcoming.

The date and location of this year’s consultation were selected after OVW consulted with a group of tribal leaders, government officials, and victim advocates. OVW has also consulted with this group in developing the agenda for the consultation. We anticipate that the agenda will be disseminated to tribal government leaders in early July. It will be posted on the OVW Web site, www.ovw.usdoj.gov and will be sent via e-mail to each individual who registers to attend the consultation.

The number of tribes represented at last year’s consultation was impressive. It is OVW’s goal to accommodate as many tribal leaders and representatives as we possibly can at this year’s consultation as well. If your tribe currently receives grant funding from OVW, you may use your travel funding to pay for the cost of your travel to the consultation. You may also use the funding to pay for the travel costs of up to two additional representatives from your tribe. Regrettably, OVW does not have funding to help defray the cost of attending the consultation for tribal governments who do not currently receive OVW grant funding. Non-OVW grantees are welcome to attend the consultation at their own expense. OVW will accept written recommendations from tribal governments who are unable to attend the consultation. Written comments may be submitted using first-class mail, e-mail, or fax to:

Office on Violence Against Women
United States Department of Justice
ATTN: Tribal Unit
800 K Street, NW, Ste. 920
Washington, DC 20530
Fax: (202) 305-2589
E-mail: OVW.VAIW@usdoj.gov

OVW recognizes that your tribe may decide to authorize an individual who is not a tribal leader to offer testimony on its behalf at the consultation. If your tribe elects to designate someone as its official representative, OVW is requesting that the individual who will be presenting testimony on behalf of your tribe be prepared to submit either a resolution from your tribal council, or a letter from you on official letterhead which confirms their status as the official representative of your tribe.

Please find enclosed a fact sheet on OVW and its work in Indian country. This sheet should provide you with some insight into the purpose of OVW and how the grant funding available to tribal governments from OVW can help in addressing violence against Alaska Native and American Indian women. We look forward to seeing you in Florida in September. If you have any questions or concerns about the consultation please contact OVW’s Tribal Unit at (202) 307-6026.

Sincerely,
Cindy Dyer

Director

Enclosures

This project is supported by grant number 2008-X0125-AZ-TA awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, United States Department of Justice.
Points of view expressed on this website are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Office on Violence Against Women,
United States Department of Justice.