was created as a direct response to the emergent threats endangering Tribal sovereignty and Tribal treaty rights. The purpose of the Task Force meetings is to bring together Tribal leaders, lawyers, lobbyists, and other interested parties to discuss issues related to legal, administrative, and legislative threats to sovereignty and treaty rights.

For updates from the IGA-NCAI Tribal Leaders Task Force, sign up below.

 — Briefing on DeFi Intersections with Prediction Markets in Crypto Legislation

: Protecting Tribal Sovereignty and Regulated Gambling from Illegal Unregulated Event Gambling

: Urging the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to Prohibit Contracts from Being Listed or Made Available for Clearing or Trading

IGA-NCAI Tribal Leaders Task Force

Tribal Leaders Program, Harvard Business School, June 2024

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is committed to building and protecting Tribal sovereignty, supporting healthy Tribal governments, and fostering vibrant Tribal communities. Central to that task is equipping Tribal leaders with the knowledge, skills, tools, and strategies they need to advance those fundamental priorities on behalf of their Tribal Nations.

In 2023, NCAI established two interconnected initiatives to provide intensive professional development and leadership training to Indian Country. Learn more about these two programs below.

The Empowering Leaders Series is made possible through the generous support of the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation. NCAI deeply appreciates their essential role in establishing and sustaining the endowment that supports the growth and empowerment of Tribal leaders across Indian Country.

Empowering Leaders

In recent decades, tribes have witnessed the negative impact of a lack of both judicial diversity and knowledge of federal Indian law on tribal sovereignty and the ability of tribes to self-govern. Recent federal-court decisions have undermined longstanding Indian policy in crucial areas, including tribal adjudicative authority over non-Indians; the power of tribal governments to tax certain activities by non-Indians on tribal lands; the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for tribes; and the scope of the federal government’s trust responsibility to Indians. Whether done consciously or not, the federal judiciary has succeeded in dismantling favorable precedent and creating new law that disregards tribal sovereignty and will harm tribal interests if applied in future cases.

In response to disastrous court opinions and legislative attacks on the status of tribal governments, tribal leaders formed the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative (TSPI) in September, 2001. Tribal leaders structured the TSPI as four separate components: the Legislative Committee, the Tribal Supreme Court Project, the Federal Judicial Selection Project, and the Education and Public Outreach Committee—all working together toward the common goal to protect tribal sovereignty. Under this framework, tribal leaders, attorneys, and other experts have coordinated and developed an array of educational, legal, political, and grassroots strategies.

One of TSPI’s key components, on which NCAI continues to work daily, is the NCAI Project on the Judiciary. The Project is a comprehensive effort that has primarily focused on ensuring that the federal judiciary is composed of judges that understand federal Indian law and the contours of tribal sovereignty. The Project has hosted several groundbreaking meetings between tribal leaders and federal appellate judges. However, with the current dearth of Native judges on the federal bench, the Project recently expanded its outreach and education campaign in tribal communities and judicial circles in hopes of getting more Native attorneys involved in the judicial selection process.

NCAI will continue to work toward fulfillment of the Project’s goals by expanding its outreach and educational efforts and ensuring that qualified Native American candidates are given fair consideration during the federal judicial selection process.

For more information on the NCAI Project on the Judiciary, please visit 

Project on the Judiciary

Ending the Era of Harmful Native “Themed” Mascots

NCAI's Longstanding Opposition to Harmful Native "Themed" Sports Mascots

As the nation's oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native advocacy organization, NCAI has long held a clear position against derogatory and harmful stereotypes of Native people—including sports mascots—in media and popular culture. Since NCAI launched its campaign to address stereotypes of Native people in popular culture, media, and sports in 1968, 

 in pursuit of ending the era of unsanctioned Native “themed” mascots.

NCAI's position is clear, longstanding, and deeply rooted in our 78 years as a leading voice for Indian Country — we advocate for and protect the civil rights, social justice, and racial equity of all Native people in all parts of American society.

NCAI's Work to Retire Unsanctioned Native "Themed" Mascots

NCAI is the oldest, largest, and most representative national organization sharing the unified voice of hundreds of Tribal Nations representing millions of Native people, and that voice has been consistent and clear for decades: unsanctioned sports mascots are symbols of disrespect that degrade, mock, and harm Native people, particularly Native youth. NCAI’s work to retire “Indian” or Native “themed” mascots, used interchangeably, is guided by our numerous resolutions pertaining to cultural appropriation and the harmful effects of these mascots. These resolutions—passed via consensus among NCAI membership—emphasize the importance of education by means of tribally-informed curriculum, such that stereotypical appropriation gives way to sanctioned representation. For decades, NCAI largely focused its efforts on ending Native “themed” mascots at the professional level, directing specific attention to the former mascot of the NFL’s Washington "Commanders". In 2020, NCAI formally expanded the initiative to include work at the K-12 level, which included the development of a National School Mascot Tracking Database. In 2021, NCAI further expanded the initiative to include work at the state level, developing a State Activity Tracker and engaging directly with state legislatures pursuing mascot bans through legislation.

NCAI’s Ending “Indian” Mascots initiative currently focuses on three primary levels: the K-12 school level, the state level, and the professional sports level.

Proud To Be

DOI Tribal Consultation and Comments: Focused TIBC Session, May 2026

On March 16, 2026, the Department of the Interior (DOI) issued a 

 inviting Tribal Nations to submit written comments by 

focused Tribal Interior Budget Council (TIBC) consultation session in Washington, D.C., on 

, where discussions will center on the FY2028 budget process and the future structure of TIBC itself. The DOI 

 to its Dear Tribal Leader Letter (DTLL) on April 21, 2026, regarding the upcoming consultations.

Find resources for submitting written comments and answering the follow-up survey below. 

Submit your comments by Friday, May 29, via email to 

NCAI Budget Task Force Pre-TIBC Caucus Meeting — May 18, 2026

NCAI hosted a pre-caucus meeting at the Residence Inn by Marriott Washington, DC National Mall at 

Department of the Interior (DOI) consultation focused on the Tribal Interior Budget Council (TIBC)

In preparation for the DOI consultation, NCAI 

 on Monday, April 13 to ensure Tribal Leaders are fully informed and prepared to engage in the next chapter of TIBC. Watch the webinar below to walk through the original DOI Dear Tribal Leader Letter, learn about resources and talking points to craft meaningful comment letters, as well as upcoming engagement opportunities to ensure your Nation's priorities are heard.

The mission of the Tribal Interior Budget Council (TIBC) is to provide an advisory government-to-government forum and process for Tribes and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to develop budgets that allow for the fulfillment of Tribal Nations' self-determination, self-governance, sovereignty, and treaty rights, as well as sufficient levels of funding to address the needs of Tribes and their tribal citizens.

The TIBC cooperative agreement between the DOI and NCAI expired on January 1, 2026. DOI will lead all TIBC meeting coordination and planning in-house. NCAI will continue to update Tribal Leaders on TIBC developments, but Meeting Materials for future meetings will not be available through NCAI. 

 for previous meetings held in accordance with the previous cooperative agreement will be maintained for archival purposes.

TIBC Member Orientation Webinar: The Federal Budget Process & TIBC

Submit your comments by Friday, May 20, via email to 

NOTE: The TIBC cooperative agreement between the DOI and NCAI expired on January 1, 2026. DOI will lead all TIBC meeting coordination and planning in-house. NCAI will continue to update Tribal Leaders on TIBC developments, but Meeting Materials for future meetings will not be available through NCAI. The Meeting Materials below are maintained for archival purposes.

We regret to inform you that the Tribal Interior Budget Council (TIBC) Fall 2025 meeting, originally scheduled for November 3-6, 2025, has been canceled.

We understand this creates uncertainty and inconvenience, and we sincerely apologize for the disruption to your schedules.

We are committed to working with the Department of the Interior (DOI), TIBC Tribal Representatives, and Indian Affairs to continue convening meeting(s) on critical budget matters. More information will be made available as we know more in the future. We will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates regarding potential meeting dates as we learn more.

Thank you for your understanding and patience during this time. We value your participation and look forward to the next meeting when we are able to do so.

Please watch for further communications regarding potential upcoming meeting dates.

TIBC Meeting Materials - August 2025 TIBC Meeting

FY27 Executive Summary Tribal Interior Budget Council 5.7.25

Division of Facilities Management & Construction & BIE Presentation

Land, Water, and Natural Resources Subcommittee

Land, Water, and Natural Resources Subcommittee Agenda

Land, Water, and Natural Resources Subcommittee Report

Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee Agenda

Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee Report

Fiscal Year 2027 Bureau of Indian Education Appropriations

Letter to Sec of Interior on Lack of Response from the BIA

Johnson O’Malley Cost Adjustments Following Updated Student Counts from 25 U.S.C. 5301

Strategic Lifting of BIE Hiring Freeze for School Employees

Request to Fully Fund the BIA Road Maintenance Program at $58 Million for FY2026

Tribal Interior Budget Council Past Meetings 

Two resolutions were passed at the March 2025 TIBC Meeting.

 Asserting Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Schools are Schools of Choice and Opposing Voucher Program Proposed under BIE through Executive Order

 Calling on the Administration to Limit Impacts of Federal Hiring Freezes and Reductions in Workforce on Tribal Nations

Approved meeting minutes from August 2024 meeting

Draft meeting minutes from November 2024 meeting

2027 National Tribal Priority Program Ranking by Category & Program

FY27 Education Ranking Tribal v. BIE Funded Schools

Bureau of Trust Funds Administration Budget Strategy

Office of Indian Economic Development Updates

Congressional Research Service BIA Budget Review

Two resolutions were passed at the November 2024 TIBC meeting

Calling on the BIA Division of Transportation to Conduct a Third-Party Review of the Tribal Transportation Program Funding Distribution Formula

Calling Upon Congress to Enact Legislation Regarding USDA Authority to Enter into Co-Management Agreements, Contracts, and Compacts with Tribes for Lands Under US Forest System Jurisdiction

Meeting Materials


Created at the November 2015 TIBC meeting

Public Safety and Justice Workgroup Documents

TIBC Workgroups

Tribal Interior Budget Council


In response to disastrous court opinions and legislative attacks on the status of tribal governments, tribal leaders formed the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative (TSPI) in September, 2001. Tribal leaders structured the TSPI as four separate components: the Legislative Committee, the Tribal Supreme Court Project, the Federal Judicial Selection Project, and the Education and Public Outreach Committee—all working together toward the common goal of protecting tribal sovereignty. Under this framework, tribal leaders, attorneys, and other experts have coordinated and developed an array of educational, legal, political, and grassroots strategies.

A key component of the TSPI on which NCAI continues to work daily is the Tribal Supreme Court Project. The Tribal Supreme Court Project—a collaboration between NCAI and the Native American Rights Fund— monitors litigation in which Native people have a significant stake and coordinates strategy among a network of over 250 tribal leaders, attorneys, and law professors. That strategy includes the preparation and submission, where appropriate, of amicus briefs on behalf of tribes or tribal organizations. Efforts like these have succeeded in slowing and, in some instances, reversing the detrimental impacts of federal court decisions.

Protection of tribal sovereignty in US courts is fundamental to the continued existence of tribes as distinct peoples and cultures. NCAI is dedicated to protecting tribal sovereignty and treaty rights through the courts.

For additional information on the Tribal Supreme Court Project, please visit 

Tribal Supreme Court Project

NCAI’s partnerships and initiatives blend together the knowledge of our members and our organization with the power of direct and on-the-ground efforts in tribal communities, coalition efforts, and national education and information campaigns.

As a unifying entity, NCAI has the ability to bring government, private, and public sector partners together to take on some of Indian Country’s greatest challenges

IGA-NCAI Tribal Leaders Task Force

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