IHS Tribal Consultation & Urban Confer - Proposed Realignment
2026-01-06 15:00 - 18:00, 2026-01-08 12:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
Dear Tribal Leader Letter

As part of this second Tribal Consultation and Urban Confer process, the IHS will convene four (4) in-person Tribal Consultation sessions and one (1) virtual Urban Confer session to provide multiple opportunities for feedback and discussion on the proposed IHS realignment.

We invite you to register for the sessions you plan to attend using the following link: https://ihs-gov.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/0WsSdf0JRFm8dA6aTjqXdA.

Tribal Consultation No. 1 – Durant, OklahomaDate: Monday, December 15, 2025Time: 1:00 – 4:00 PM CTVenue To Be Determined

Tribal Consultation No. 2 – Denver, ColoradoDate: Tuesday, December 16, 2025Time: 1:00 – 4:00 PM MTVenue To Be Determined

Tribal Consultation No. 3 – San Diego, CaliforniaDate: Wednesday, December 17, 2025Time: 1:00 – 4:00 PM PTVenue To Be Determined

Tribal Consultation No. 4 – Seattle, WashingtonDate: Tuesday, January 6, 2026Time: 1:00 – 4:00 PM PTVenue To Be Determined

Urban Confer Session – VirtualDate: Thursday, January 8, 2026Time: 1:00 – 4:00 PM ET

The comment submission deadline for both the Tribal Consultation and Urban Confer is February 9, 2026.

Please email Tribal Consultation comments to consultation@ihs.gov.

Please email Urban Confer comments to urbanconfer@ihs.gov.

Please use the SUBJECT LINE: IHS Proposed Realignment.

Investigating and Prosecuting Child Fatalities and Abuse Skills Seminar
2026-01-12 00:00 - 2026-01-16 23:59
This seminar is for federal and tribal prosecutors, investigators, medical and mental health providers, social workers, and child protective services workers who investigate and prosecute Indian Country fatalities, neglect, and abuse cases involving children. This training is also applicable to individuals who investigate and prosecute child fatalities, neglect, and abuse cases on military bases and other federal enclaves. This seminar will provide participants with knowledge and skills necessary to investigate and prosecute complex abuse cases involving children through presentations by national experts in medicine, forensic investigation, and prosecution. The following topics will be addressed: federal jurisdiction and mandatory reporting statutes; causes of abuse-related injuries and death; medical evidence in severe abuse and neglect; interview and interrogation; scene investigation; effective prosecution strategies; countering defense strategies; and evidence collection and documentation. This training will contain graphic videos, photographs and material that some may find disturbing. CLE will be requested.

Investigating and Prosecuting Child Fatalities and Abuse Skills Seminar; January 12-16, 2026. This meeting is being hosted by the Department of Justice’s National Indian Country Training Initiative and will be held at the National Advocacy Center (NAC) in Columbia, SC. Travel expenses, including airfare and lodging, for approved attendees, will be covered by United States Department of Justice (DOJ). Anyone interested in attending the meeting must register no later than December 8, 2025. If multiple representatives from the same tribe or organization are interested in attending the meeting, please submit a separate registration form for each individual and rank them in order of priority for acceptance. Registration for this event is limited; however, every effort will be made to accommodate all interested parties. CLE will be requested.

Registration deadline: December 8, 2025.Applicants will receive notification of their application status by December 10, 2025.

Please do not book travel and lodging until instructions are provided by DOJ.

The Executive Office for United States Attorneys will provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. Requests should be made to Deborah Thomas as early as possible, preferably at least two weeks in advance of the seminar. No nominee will be excluded from a course based on a disability-related accommodations request. This training is authorized under the Government Employees Training Act. If you have any questions regarding this training, please feel free to contact Lamesha Bowman at Lamesha.Bowman@usdoj.gov or Deborah Thomas at Deborah.Thomas@usdoj.gov or Leslie A. Hagen at Leslie.Hagen3@usdoj.gov.

FCC Consultation on Potential Changes to NEPA Rules
2026-01-14 12:00 - 15:00 | Virtual Event
By Public Notice (DA 25-1003), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announces two new dates for virtual Tribal Consultation on potential changes to the FCC’s National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rules. The FCC has also updated the framing paper to reflect changes to key dates.

December 11, 2025, from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET

January 14, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET

Federally-recognized Tribal Nations and Native Hawaiian Organizations (NHOs) interested in consulting should send an email to Native@fcc.gov with a subject line indicating the date of participation, “Consultation – December 11,” or “Consultation – January 14.”

Please note that comments and meetings are also permitted at any time after the reply comment deadline, subject to the FCC’s ex parte rules for presentations on the merits or outcome of the rulemaking. Virtual Tribal Consultations may be recorded and transcribed.

DHS FLETC Tribal Law Enforcement Resource Webinar Series
2026-01-15 11:00 | Virtual Event
Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, State, Local, & Tribal DivisionFY-26 Webinar Series: Tribal Law Enforcement Resources

Topic: Missing Persons & DNA Resources

Date: Thursday, October 23, 2025, 10:00 am Mountain Time

TEAMS LINK

Featured Speaker: Mr. Mark Pooley, Director

Description: The Center for Human Identification (CHI) is an accredited law enforcement DNA lab and a CODIS participant. CHI works with law enforcement, medicolegal, and other criminal justice agencies as a DNA testing resource for unidentified and missing person cases. Currently, CHI has a Bureau of Justice Assistance Program which provides free DNA testing for Family Reference Samples (FRS) and Unidentified Human Remains (UHR) for missing Indigenous person cases. To date, 45 identifications have been made in Indian Country under this program.

Topic: Resources, Training, and Tools to Address Substance Misuse and Human Trafficking, National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children

Date: Wednesday: November 19, 2025, 10:00 Mountain Time

TEAMS LINK

Featured Speaker: Mr. Eric Nation, Executive Director

Description: Learn of resources available for Tribal law enforcement specific to training on the topics of early identification, human trafficking, and drug endangered children.

Topic: State & Rural Law Enforcement Executive Association (SRLEEA) Training and Resources

Date: Wednesday: December 10, 2025, 10:00 Mountain Time

TEAMS LINK

Featured Speaker: Mr. Mark Bensen, Chief of Police- Nez Perce Tribe

Description: The SRLEEA is dedicated solely to supporting and promoting law enforcement executives and agencies that serve small, rural & tribal communities across America. The organization provides resources and training to support departments in leadership, jail management, and more.

Topic: DHS Resources to Support Tribal Law Enforcement

Date: Thursday, January 15, 2026, 10:00 am Mountain Time

TEAMS LINK

Featured Speaker: Mr. David Flute, Senior Advisor- Tribal Affairs Description: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is comprised of several agencies who work with state, local, and Tribal departments and possess several resources that may interact to support Tribal law enforcement. This webinar provides an overview of various DHS agencies and specific resources for Tribal law enforcement departments related to human trafficking, search and rescue, and more.

20th Annual Government-to-Government Violence Against Women Tribal Consultation
2026-01-21 00:00 - 2026-01-23 23:59 | Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, 2400 Mystic Lake Blvd NW, Prior Lake, Minnesota, 55372, United States
UPDATE: The 20th Annual Government-to-Government Violence Against Women Tribal Consultation, originally scheduled for October 28 – 30, 2025 has been postponed to January 2026 due to the federal government shutdown, which has interfered with the government’s ability to ensure sufficient representation from federal agencies at the Consultation, as required by the Violence Against Women Act. We regret any difficulty this postponement causes you. Additional details will be available soon.

Please direct questions about the Consultation to OVW’s Acting Deputy Director for Tribal Affairs, Rebekah Jones, (202) 532-3287, and/or Ginger Baran Lyons, (202) 598-9445.

Dear Tribal Leader,

We are honored to invite your participation in the 20th Annual Government-to-Government Violence Against Women Tribal Consultation to be conducted, in person, October 28-30, 2025, at the Mystic Lake Center, Prior Lake, Minnesota. The Department of Justice will be joined by other federal stakeholders, including our colleagues from the United States Departments of Health and Human Services and the Interior. We will conduct the Tribal Consultation over three full days.

Pursuant to 34 U.S.C. § 20126, the purpose of the Violence Against Women Tribal Consultationis to solicit recommendations from Tribal leaders on the following four topics:

Administering Tribal funds and programs;

Enhancing the safety oflndian women from domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, homicide, stalking, and sex trafficking;

Strengthening the federal response to such crimes; and

Improving access to local, regional, state, and federal crime information databases and criminal justice information systems.

A copy of the 2024 Government-to-Government Violence Against Women Tribal Consultation Annual Report of Proceedings will be emailed to you and posted on the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) website at: www.justice.gov/ovw/tribal-consultation. OVW will also email and post any consultation framing papers and related materials along with OVW’s update report on the status of 2024 consultation recommendations. Logistical information about the Tribal Consultation and registration will be available soon at: www.ovwconsultation.org.

We look forward to seeing and hearing from you in October. If you have questions about the Government-to-Government Violence Against Women Tribal Consultation, please contact OVW’s Acting Deputy Director for Tribal Affairs, Rebekah Jones, at: Rebekah.Jones@usdoj.gov or (202) 307-6026.

IRS office hours: elective payment of energy credits
2026-01-21 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual Event
The IRS is offering office hours (through Microsoft Teams) to help entities with the pre-filing registration process on the Pre-filing Registration Tool. Pre-filing registration is a required step for applicable entities to take advantage of elective payment of certain credits. Representatives from the IRS will be available to answer your pre-filing registration questions.
Registration for office hours is open. Registration is required and can be completed by clicking on the links below.

Date
Time
Register

August 20, 2025
1-2:00 p.m. Eastern time
Register

September 17, 2025
1-2:00 p.m. Eastern time
Register

October 15, 2025
1-2:00 p.m. Eastern time
Register

November 19, 2025
1-2:00 p.m. Eastern time
Register

December 17, 2025
1-2:00 p.m. Eastern time
Register

January 21, 2026
1-2:00 p.m. Eastern time
Register

Resources:

Video: How to complete Form 990-T for elective payment election
Video: Pre-filing Registration Tool Overview
Pre-Filing Registration Tool — User Guide and Instructions, Publication 5884 PDF
Clean Energy Authorization Permission Management User Guide, Publication 5902 PDF
Elective pay and transferability frequently asked questions

The tribal community can find answers to many questions on IRS.gov/tribes. If you have a question on any tribal tax matter, please visit Contact ITG.
For the latest tribal news, connect via IRS Social Media and subscribe to this and other IRS newsletters.

Introduction to the FBI Laboratory for Indian Country
2026-01-28 13:00 - 15:00 | Virtual Event
This webinar presentation, led by the FBI Laboratory’s Evidence Management Unit, will cover the Unit’s laboratory discipline availability, laboratory and discipline acceptance policies, submission of evidence and laboratory procedures and supervision of the Indian country evidence program. Finally, the presenter will address what is needed from investigators to conduct forensic testing in Indian Country cases.

This training is restricted to federal, state, and Tribal prosecutors, law enforcement and intelligence analysts employed by a law enforcement agency . There is no charge to attend this webinar. CLE will not be provided.This training is a joint effort hosted by federal law enforcement agencies responding to violent crime in Indian Country. Sponsoring agencies include the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Indian Country Training Initiative, the United States Indian Police Academy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Department of the Interior’s Office of Law Enforcement and Security’s Victim Assistance Program.

If you have any questions, please contact Lamesha Bowman at Lamesha.Bowman@usdoj.gov, Deborah Thomas at Deborah.Thomas@usdoj.gov or Leslie A. Hagen at Leslie.Hagen3@usdoj.gov.
