Past News Items

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Michael S. Black today announced that he has named Bryan L. Bowker as Regional Director of the BIA’s Western Regional Office in Phoenix, Ariz. Bowker, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, had been serving as Project Manager of the Bureau’s San Carlos Irrigation Project in Coolidge, Ariz. The Western Regional Office oversees 13 agencies and one federal irrigation project serving 44 federally recognized tribes located within the states of Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.

From prosperity to poverty and back again--three times! That’s the story of North Carolina's Cherokee Indians, as told in a new booklet published this week by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs.

“Indians of North Carolina," second in a series of regional brochures devoted to the life and times of American Indians, traces Cherokee history in the State from the 18th century to date. According to the booklet, progress of the tribe has been phenomenal in almost every field. For example:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Acquisition and Property Management (OAPM) will conduct tribal consultation with the federally recognized tribes on draft regulations to implement the Buy Indian Act (25 U.S.C. 47), which provides authority to set aside procurement contracts for qualified Indian-owned businesses. A letter announcing the meetings was sent to tribal leaders on March 26, 2010. A notice announcing the meetings was published in the Federal Register also on March 26.

The Department of the Interior has recommended to Congress enactment of legislation designed to amend the Indian Long-Term Leasing Act of 1955.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Obama’s proposed $2.6 billion budget request for Indian Affairs is a fiscally responsible plan that focuses strategic investments to empower tribal nations. Overall, the proposed budget is a net decrease of $3.6 million from the 2010 enacted level, when taking into account the elimination of the one-time increase in 2010 to forward fund the tribal colleges.

The Department of the Interior announced today several proposed amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations governing the election of Osage Tribal officers.

Under the proposed rule changes, the requirement for a nominating convention in Osage County, Okla., would be eliminated and nominations would be accepted from any group of at least 25 qualified Osage voters. Write-in candidates would be barred.

WASHINGTON – Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske and the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that on Saturday, October 29, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time, Americans will be able to drop off their expired, unused and unwanted prescription drug pills at sites across Indian Country free of charge, no questions asked. By doing so, they will be helping prevent drug abuse and theft.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has authorized a $44,000 contract with the Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C., to examine the needs in English language teaching programs for American Indians.

In announcing the contract, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett said:

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Associate Deputy Secretary Meghan Conklin and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Director Michael Black today were in Tulalip, Washington for the third of six regional government-to-government tribal consultations regarding the Trust Land Consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement. The meetings with tribal leaders represent part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to re-invigorating nation-to-nation relationships with tribes.

The Departments of "the Interior and Commerce announced today the addition of representatives of the Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the federal task force working to attain a settlement of the salmon fishing controversy in Washington state.