Sovereign-to-Sovereign Cooperative Agreements

Executive Order 13007, issued in 1996 by former President Clinton, requires federal land management agencies to accommodate access to and ceremonial use of Indian sacred sites and to preserve such sites’ physical integrity. The order provides a basis for departmental commitments to using a co-management approach in managing sacred sites and directives instructing agencies how to comply with the order in the context of other processes and responsibilities under applicable laws.  

• Executive Order No. 13007, 64 FR 43255 (May 24, 1996)

MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS

• Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, The Relationship between EO 13007 Regarding Indian Sacred Sites and Section 106 (Apr. 24, 2019)
• Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Interagency Coordination and Collaboration for the Protection of Indigenous Sacred Sites (Nov.  2021) 
• Best Practices Guide for Federal Agencies Regarding Tribal and Native Hawaiian Sacred Sites (Dec. 2023)
• Native American Sacred Sites and the Federal Government: A Training for Federal Employees and Contract Staff Developed under the Sacred Sites Memorandum of Understanding (PDF of PowerPoint presentation)
• Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Policy Statement on Indigenous Knowledge and Historic Preservation (Mar. 21, 2024)

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (DOI)

• Departmental Responsibilities for Protecting/Accommodating Access to Indian Sacred Sites, 512 DM 3

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA)

• USDA and Forest Service: Sacred Sites Policy Review and Recommendations (2012)

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (NPS)

• Nat'l Register Bull. No. 38, Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties (1992)
  • see also, Draft Bull. No. 38 (Oct. 27, 2022))

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION (BOR)

• Guidance for Implementing Indian Sacred Sites Executive Order (No. 13007) (Sept. 16, 1998)

FOREST SERVICE (FS)

• FS Directive FSM 1563.4, Closures for Traditional and Cultural Purposes
• FS Directive FSM 1563.31, General Reburial Considerations
• FS Directive FSH 1509.13_30, American Indian and Alaska Native Relations Handbook (U.S.D.A. 2016)
• Cultural and Heritage Cooperation Authority Technical Guide: A Companion to the Forest Service Directives (Oct. 2019)