Past News Items

The Bureau of Indian Affairs awarded a $61,540.78 contract today to improve the entrance road to the Taos Pueblo of New Mexico, which annually attracts thousands of visitors.

The improvement will provide a bituminous surface for a little more than two miles with adequate drainage and right-of-way into one of the most popular and spectacular pueblos of the Southwest.

Floyd Haake of Santa Fe, New Mexico, received the contract. One other bid was received, for $86,860.41.

To discuss Indian Trust Management Reform regulations: • Probate of Indian Estates (25 CFR 15, 43 CFR 4) • Tribal Probate Codes (25 CFR 18) (New) • Life Estates and Future Interests (25 CFR 179) • Land Records and Title Documents (25 CFR 150) • Conveyances of Trust and Restricted Land, Removal of Trust or Restricted Status (25 CFR 152)

Reappointment of Floyd E. Maytubby, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as Governor of the Chickasaw Indian Tribe for a two-year term beginning October 18 was announced today by secretary of the interior Fred A. Seaton.

In advising Mr. Maytubby of the reappointment, Secretary Seaton noted that he had served in the office "with dignity and integrity" since October 18, 1939.

(DENVER) - Interior's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Aurene Martin announced today that Secretary Gale A. Norton approved $1,088,000 in federal Save America's Treasures grants to help protect and preserve the nation's American Indian cultural heritage. Martin made the announcement at a meeting today at a national Indian education summit in Denver, Colo. The meeting, "Learn Today, Lead Tomorrow: Accountability for Results," is sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indian Education Programs.

Immediate transfer of administrative jurisdiction over two small Indian reservations, Kaibab in Arizona and Skull Valley in Utah, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Special Trustee Ross O. Swimmer today announced four tribal consultation sessions that will be held to discuss issues relating to the participation of the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) in the Department of the Interior consolidation of all real estate appraisal functions. The consultations will be held on September 24,2003, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and on October 28,2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Formal notice of the consultations will be published in the Federal Register later this week.

Award of a $136,837.21 contract for grading, draining, and crushed-gravel surfacing of 11.6 miles of road on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Shannon County, South Dakota, to Roy Kindt of Winner, South Dakota, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Roy Kindt was the low bidder. Five other bids were received, ranging from $140,927.37 to $161,914.18.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of the Interior (DOI) will continue its schedule of presentations to employees of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) on the reorganization of both agencies. This week, employees of the Navajo Region will be briefed on June 6 at the Navajo Nation Museum Auditorium in Window Rock, Ariz. The Department is seeking to increase accountability and efficiency in its trust management functions by reorganizing the agencies that manage Indian trust funds and assets.

Acting Secretary of the Interior Hatfield Chilson today announced awarding of two contracts totaling $276,803 for road and bridge construction on the Yakima Indian reservation in the State of Washington.

The contracts are as follows:

C &E Construction Company of Yakima, Wash., a contract for $226,995.63 for the construction of a total of 11.059 miles of road; engineer's estimate $242,969.90.

WASHINGTON – Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today announced the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is part of a three-year Department of the Interior (DOI) agreement with one of the nation’s leading producers of high-tech geographic mapping software that will expand the usage of geographic information system (GIS) technology throughout Indian Country.