Past News Items

Joseph W. Gorrell, Deputy Director of Interior's Bureau of Outdoor Recreation (BOR), has been appointed to direct financial management programs for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Commissioner Thompson said, ''This is a position of critical importance so I am pleased to fill it with someone so highly qualified and competent."

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to empowering American Indian tribal nations and strengthening their economies, today Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn joined Pueblo of Sandia Governor Victor Montoya to approve one of the first tribal regulations in the nation issued under the newly enacted Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act (HEARTH Act).

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced four personnel changes, effective September 1, in agency superintendent positions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Guy Robertson, superintendent of the Blackfeet Agency, Browning, Mont., will be transferred to the superintendency at Rosebud, S. Dak., replacing Will J. Pitner, recently assigned as Bureau area director at Anadarko, Oklahoma.

Charles S. Spencer, superintendent at Standing Rock Agency, Fort Yates, N. Dak., succeeds Robertson.

Regulations governing the enrollment of Cherokee Indians who will share in the per capita distribution of $1 million are being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The fund to be distributed is part of an award made by the Indian Claims Commission to the Cherokee Nation as additional compensation for lands taken between 1872 and 1893.

According to the regulations, only those Cherokees who were alive on November 5, 1975 and whose names appear on one of eight final rolls of the tribe are eligible for enrollment.

On Thanksgiving Day, Americans everywhere gather with family and friends to recount the joys and blessings of the past year. This day is a time to take stock of the fortune we have known and the kindnesses we have shared, grateful for the God-given bounty that enriches our lives. As many pause to lend a hand to those in need, we are also reminded of the indelible spirit of compassion and mutual responsibility that has distinguished our Nation since its earliest days.

Commissioner Glenn L. Emmons of the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today that the museum of the Northern Plains Indians at Browning, Montana, will continue to be operated by the Bureau without any change except a reduction in staff required by reduced appropriations for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

It had been proposed to transfer management responsibility for the museum to the Arts and Crafts Board, created in the Department of the Interior by the act of August 27, 1935 (49 Stat. 891).

Indians of North Carolina, II a new 24-page booklet describing the life or the 5,000 members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians living today in the Tarheel state, has just been published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Richard S. Bodman announced today. Bodman has administrative control of all Indian operations for Interior.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today applauded the Senate’s confirmation of Kevin K. Washburn, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, to serve as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior. The Senate confirmed Washburn’s nomination, which President Obama announced in early August, by unanimous consent last night.

In moving to take over the management of Alaska Native Industries Cooperative Association, Seattle, Wash., during recent weeks, the Department of the Interior has acted to protect the financial interests of the United States and the operating interests of stores of the native villages of Alaska, Secretary Douglas McKay said today.

Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Marvin L. Franklin announced today the award of a $2.4 million contract with Burgess Construction Company of Phoenix, Ariz., for the bituminous surfacing of 12.768 miles of Navajo India n Reservation road extending from Ganado, Ariz.; to the Nazlini - Sawmill Road Junction. Included in the contract is a 200-foot bridge to be built over Ganado Wash near Ganado Lake.