Census Bureau October 30, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In preparation for the 2010 Census, the Bureau of the Census (Census Bureau) adopts the following American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) policy statement. This final policy outlines the principles to be followed in all Census Bureau interactions with federally recognized AIAN tribal governments. The policy affirms the unique government-to- government relationship that exists between AIAN tribal governments and the Census Bureau and is consistent with the AIAN policy statement adopted by the Department of Commerce (DOC) on March 30, 1995. The adoption of this policy satisfies a long-standing request from AIAN populations, and the Census Bureau believes it will encourage and facilitate greater cooperation from these populations during decennial censuses and help us to better communicate with and enumerate this difficult-to-count population. This Notice also summarizes comments received on the draft AIAN policy statement published in the Federal Register on May 23, 2007 (72 FR 28952) and the Census Bureau's response to these comments. The policy statement adopted in this Notice differs from the proposed policy statement as follows: (a) The Introduction section was modified in response to comments received; (b) the definition of Federally Recognized Indian Tribe was modified in response to comments; (c) the definition of trust responsibility was deleted after agency review; (d) the definition of American Indian or Alaska Native Tribal Government was modified after agency review; (e) proposed Policy Principle No. 2 is renumbered as Policy Principle No. 4; (f) proposed Policy Principle No. 3 is renumbered as Policy Principle No. 5; (g) proposed Policy Principle No. 4 was modified in response to comments and is renumbered as Policy Principle No. 2; (h) proposed Policy Principle No. 5 is renumbered as Policy Principle No. 6; (i) proposed Policy Principle No. 6 was modified in response to comments and is renumbered as Policy Principle No. 7; (j) proposed Policy Principle No. 7 is renumbered as Policy Principle No. 8; (k) proposed Policy Principle No. 8 is renumbered as Policy Principle No. 9; and (l) proposed Policy Principle No. 9 was modified in response to comments and is renumbered as Policy Principle No. 3.