Past News Items

WASHINGTON – Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason announced that the Department of the Interior declined to acknowledge the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. This Reconsidered Final Determination concluded that the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation did not meet two of the seven mandatory requirements for Federal acknowledgment under 25 CFR Part 83, and therefore, the Department declines to acknowledge a government-to-government relationship between the United States and the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Daniel D. McDonald, 46, to be Director of Tribal Resources Development, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. His post is the first of an anticipated five top jobs within the Bureau to be filled.

WASHINGTON – Amy Hall, an early childhood teacher with the Hannahville Indian School Family and Child Education (FACE) program and the 2005 Toyota Family Literacy Teacher of the Year, was honored today at the National Center for Family Literacy’s 14th Annual National Conference on Family Literacy in Louisville, Ky. Hannahville is a Bureau of Indian Affairs funded day school operated by the Hannahville Indian Community, a Potawatomi tribe located in Wilson, Mich.

Regulations governing the enrollment of persons under the amended Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act were published today in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The Settlement Act was amended by legislation enacted January 2, 1976, which reopened the rolls for a period of one year for those persons who missed the original enrollment deadline of March 30,1973.

Alaska Natives will receive 40 million acres of land and almost one billion dollars under the provisions of the Settlement Act, signed into law December 18,1971.

Washington - Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will address attendees at the 618t Annual National Congress of the American Indians Convention on Tuesday, October 12, 2004, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The theme for this year's convention is "Renewing the Vision: Setting a New Course for Indian Country."

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced a streamlined system for the use or distribution of judgments made to American Indian tribes and groups by the Indian Claims Commission or the United States Court of Claims.

In implementing a 180-day time schedule in accord with the Act of October 19, 1973, new Regulations published in the Federal Register January 15, 1974 include these provisions:

LENEXA, Kan. – The dedication today of the American Indian Records Repository at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) records facility here marks a new chapter in the Interior Department’s undertaking to improve federal management of Indian records, said Interior Assistant Deputy Secretary Abraham E. Haspel.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Ralph E. Paisano, a Laguna Pueblo Indian, as Superintendent of the BIA's Ramah Navajo Agency, Ramah, New Mexico.

Paisano, who has been an Employment Assistance Specialist in the Albuquerque Area Office, assumed responsibility at Ramah on April 11.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson and Special Trustee for American Indians Ross O. Swimmer testified jointly today before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on the Interior Department’s trust initiatives for the 21st century and the successful implementation of Secretary Gale Norton’s Comprehensive Trust Management Plan.

WASHINGTON, DC – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney announced the appointment of Timothy LaPointe as the Great Plains Regional Director. The appointment is effective June 23, 2019.