Chief Wacoche attends TIBC in DC

Chief Wacoche met acting Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Brian Mercier in D.C. (courtesy photo).

WASHINGTON — Like last year, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma Chief Jeff Wacoche joined tribal delegates from across the United States to advocate for needed federal support in public safety, transportation, and education at the Tribal Interior Budget Council in Washington, D.C., from March 10 through March 18.

The Budget Advisory Council was established in 1999 to facilitate tribal government participation in the planning of the BIA budget and includes two tribal representatives from each of the 12 BIA regions.

The mission of the TIBC is to provide an advisory government-to-government forum and process for tribes and the Department to develop budgets that allow for the fulfillment of tribes’ 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 UKB’s presence at TIBC is crucial to demonstrating the needs of the smaller tribes in the U.S. that depend on funding. It ensures that federal budget allocations adequately support the essential services necessary to maintain the sovereignty and well-being of all the nations entitled to the funding.