Western Shoshone Educational Trust Fund

According the P.L. 108-270, the Western Shoshone Claims Dis­tribution Act, there is an administra­tive committee established to oversee the distribution of educational grants and assistance under subsection (b)(2).  This committee is called the Western Shoshone Education Trust Fund - Administrative Committee (WSETF-AC).

WSETF-AC Members

Duckwater Shoshone Tribe 

·        Annette George

hrtwarrior_1017@yahoo.com

Ely Shoshone Tribe

·        Delores Marques, Treasurer

dmarques1977@hotmail.com

Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe

·        Jon Pishion, Chairman

jon.pishion@gmail.com

Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation

·        Rozilyn Jones

rozilyn_spttribe@yahoo.com 

Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone

·        Yolanda McDade, Secretary

yolandamcdade@hotmail.com

 Yomba Shoshone Tribe

·        Not Current Representative

Off-Reservation Representative (appointed by BIA)

·        Norma Darrough, Vice-Chairman

ndarrough13@yahoo.com

WSETF-AC General information 

Each member of the Committee shall serve a term of 4 years.  The Committee shall:

• Distribute interest funds from the Trust Fund
• For each fiscal year, compile a list of names of all individuals approved to receive those funds;
• Ensure that those funds are used in a manner consistent with this Act;
• Develop written rules and procedures, subject to the approval of the Secretary,
• Carry out financial management
• Use a portion of the interest funds to pay the reasonable and necessary expenses of the Committee
• Employ an independent certified public accountant to pre­pare a financial statement for each fiscal year  
• For each fiscal year, the Committee shall provide documentation to the Secretary, to each organization represented on the Committee, and, on the request of a Western Shoshone member

WSETF Timeline & History

2013

• Committee met to develop and finalized the WSETF-AC Bylaws, guidelines and application and submitted WSETF-AC Bylaws
• Committee submitted WSETF guidelines and application
• Committee notified of legal concerns from BIA
• Committee revised WSETF-AC Bylaws and submitted them to BIA
• Solicitor’s Office contacted Chair and Committee revised recommendations and resubmitted them to the Solicitor’s Office.

2014

• BIA email stating that the letter has been given to the Assistant Secretary for signature.
• Email to Tribal Chair people with a request from the committee to write letters of support to get WSETF-AC Bylaws, guidelines and application approved.
• Committee letter to Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell request an expedited approval.
• Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, letter approving WSETF-AC Bylaws with notation that the application form would need to be approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
• Jimmy Hastings office notifying the Committee that the application was in Washington and being forward to OMB along with a federal register notice.  This would take a 90 day process.

2015

• WSETF-AC Chairman Virginia Sanchez visited and emailed to Senator Reid’s Washington office regarding OMB
• Communicated with Amanda Begay regarding OMB review and the Paperwork Reduction Act.
• Hastings notified Committee that there was no one in Sacramento BIE office that Committee had noted on the application and had intended to use Assistant to receive applications and maintain files. 
• Amanda Begay, BIA Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action, notified committee that our application had not been submitted to OMB.    Notified committee that the process was restarted and would be published in the Federal Register and solicit public comments for 60-days.
• Committee met and voted to remove BIA/BIE from application process.  Committee notified BIA to withdraw application from OMB  review.  Committee will administer guidelines and application process in consultation with BIA Eastern and Western Nevada agencies.