The National Park Service is Offering a Grant for Yakutat Tlingit Community Histories Documentation

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service (NPS), intention to fund the following project activities.

ABSTRACT

Funding Announcement: P11AC30730

Project Title: Yakutat Community Histories

Recipient: Yakutat Tlingit Tribe

Principle
Investigator: Judy Ramos
Total Anticipated
Award Amount: $6,000

Cost Share: N/A

New Award
Or Continuation: New

Anticipated
Length of
Agreement: 2 Years

Anticipated
Period of
Performance: August 31 � June 30, 2013

Award
Instrument: Cooperative Agreement

Statutory
Authority: 16 U.S.C. �1(g): The National Park Service may in fiscal year 1997 and thereafter enter into cooperative agreements that involve the transfer of National Park Service appropriated funds to State, local and tribal governments, other public entities, educational institutions, and private nonprofit organizations for the public purpose of carrying out National Park Service programs pursuant to section 6305 of title 31 to carry out public purposes of National Park Service programs.

CFDA#: 15.946, Cultural Resources Management
Single Source
Justification
Criteria Sited:

BACKGROUND: Community History of Former Village Sites in the Nabesna District

NPS and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe (YTT) have had a formal, written government-to-government agreement since 2004. In that agreement the parties have agreed work together to promote the understanding of Tlingit history, culture, and the interpretation of traditions of the Tribe. Furthermore, the NPS agrees to participate in cooperative historical, ethnographic, and archeological research with the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe. This project coordinates with a larger Ethnographic Overview and Assessment that is currently being carried out by cooperators from Portland State University. It provides a local voice to that more academic report. It is intended meet the needs of both the tribe and the park, consistent with the agreement mentioned above.

1) 505 DM 2 Single Source – Only one responsible source will satisfy agency requirements.

� The source is the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, a federally recognized tribal government.
� YTT is on the list of tribes and tribal organizations that are qualified to enter into agreements with NPS units for cultural resource projects under the Self-Governance Act. It is the organization on the list of qualified self-governance tribes that is most closely affiliated with the project community.
� Judy Ramos, the PI for YTT, is a tribal member as well as tribal employee who has formal academic training in anthropology (BA from the University of Alaska, Anchorage) and has worked experience working on ethnographic projects in Yakutat.
� There are no other tribal organizations in Yakutat with the qualifications that would satisfy agency requirements.

2) Nature and description of the deliverable required to meet the agency�s needs:

� The base year is Fiscal Year 2011 and the cost is $6,000. This is a single year project.
� December 31, 2011: draft report outline due.
� June 30, 2012: draft report due.
� December 31, 2012: final report due.

3) Criteria for justifying award without competition. In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria. Please explain which criterion specifically addresses the proposed agreement.

� Unique Qualifications — The applicant is uniquely qualified to accomplish this project based on location, local knowledge, and technical expertise. YTT is based in Yakutat and is ideally situated to conduct the necessary interviews and associated research without expending more than minimal funds on interviewer travel. In addition, YTT staff are uniquely qualified to carry out the project based on language skills, social contacts, and cultural knowledge. In addition, the elders to be interviewed will be more comfortable talking to people they know than strangers from outside their area.
� Continuation — This Cooperative Agreement is a continuation and extension of a cooperative relationship between NPS and YTT that has been ongoing since 2004.

4) A description of the market research that was conducted and the results, or a statement of the reason a market research was not conducted:

Market research was not conducted, because the goal of providing a tribal voice to the ethnographic overview and assessment required working with the tribe. This is also consistent with the NPS�s formal Memorandum of Understanding with YTT. No other parities would satisfy the agency�s requirements.

5) Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

16 U.S.C. �1g authorizes the NPS to enter into cooperative agreements that involve the transfer of NPS appropriated funds to state, local and tribal governments, other public entities, educational institutions, and private nonprofit organizations for the public purpose of carrying out National Park Service programs.

25 U.S.C. �485 Amendments to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act in 1994 instituted a permanent tribal self-governance program at the Department of the Interior. These amendments were designed to ”to enable the United States to maintain and improve its unique and continuing [government-to-government] relationship with, and responsibility to, Indian tribes;� and �to provide Indian tribes with meaningful authority to plan, conduct, redesign, and administer programs, services, functions, and activities that meet the needs of the individual tribal communities.� The self-governance tribal government must be able to show that there is a “special geographic, historical, or cultural” link between the tribe and the national park unit. Within the NPS program areas eligible for self-governance agreements include ethnographic studies and gathering baseline subsistence data (in Alaska). Due to the time involved in completing such an agreement, the parties are not pursing a self-governance agreement at this time. However it is relevant to point out that YTT would qualify for such an agreement under this Act specifically for the type of project being proposed.

6) A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers for competition before any potential future agreement award:

� Not applicable

Substantial Involvement:
� l. What type of competition is appropriate?
�
� Sole source. The intent of this agreement is to provide funding to the federally recognized Indian tribe in Yakutat to produce a report about itself.
�
� 2. Why was this cooperator selected?
�
� The Yakutat Tlingit Tribe (YTT) is a federally recognized tribal government. It is the tribe most directly related to the southern flank of the park. The NPS has a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the tribe in which it agrees to participate in cooperative historical, ethnographic, and archeological research with the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe.
�
� 3. Who are the parties to the agreement?
�
� Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, a federally recognized tribal government.
�
� 4. What is the purpose of the agreement?
�
� The agreement will result in the research for and production of a community or clan history of the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe. The purpose of this history is to add a community voice to a larger and more academic ethnographic overview and assessment that is now being prepared by anthropologists at Portland State University through a separate cooperative agreement. The NPS requires this information to guide its future consultation and compliance requirements relative to American Indian tribes and other communities that have historically used the lands and resources at this Park and Preserve.
�
� 5. What are the deliverables expected?
�
� Proposed outline, draft report, final report
�
� 6. Explain the nature of the anticipated substantial involvement. What will NPS specifically do to carry out the project?
�
� The ATR and/or NPS staff designated to this project by the ATR will provide professional anthropological expertise to the cooperator and collaborate with the PI in project management decisions throughout the duration of the project. The ATR will also serve as a liaison for information sharing between this project and the parallel ethnographic overview and assessment and arrange for both internal NPS and external reviews.
�
� 7. Why is the substantial involvement considered to be necessary?
�
� NPS staff have been working collaboratively with YTT on the development of the project proposal and will continue to do so as the project progresses, because both parties will make use of the data that are collected. Melding the cultural knowledge of YTT with the technical expertise of NPS staff will produce better quality information than if either partner did the project on their own. Finally, direct participation in the project by NPS staff is important for the park�s relationship with the community.
�
� 8. Explain why the project or activity entails a relationship of assistance rather than a contract. How will the NPS benefit from this collaboration?
�
� Principals at NPS and YTT agree that the research activities for this project will be more productive and mutually beneficial in the context of a collaborative relationship than would be the case in a conventional contract. In the short-term, NPS and YTT will share responsibility for decision making about various research activities. In the long-term, NPS and YTT will continue to develop a mutually beneficial institutional relationship with the goal of promoting the understanding of Tlingit history, culture, and the interpretation of traditions of the tribe.
�
� 9. What is the public purpose of support or stimulation?
�
� The public will benefit from this agreement because it will provide critical data to the park Superintendent that will guide federally mandated compliance with Alaska Native communities with historical associations with Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, as well as in managing this NPS unit in a manner consistent with its enabling legislation, including provisions of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Cumulatively, this will help the agency to achieve its mission of conserving the cultural resources and heritage of the park while providing for the enjoyment of the same in such manner that will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.
�
� 10. Which law or laws authorize granting of assistance for performance of this project or activity?
�
� This cooperative agreement is enabled by the following authorities and policy direction: 16 U.S.C. �1g, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) of December 2, 1980 (16 U.S.C. �3119), the National Park Service Native American Relations Management Policy of 1987, and Public Law 104-208, the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997.
�
� 11. How was the determination made that the costs proposed are accurate and proper? Provide a breakdown of costs and rationale for determining they are acceptable.*
�
� On the basis of past experience on similar research projects and a critical evaluation of funding resources that are needed to conduct the research and produce final products that will be of great value to the NPS as well as the tribal partner.
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