Past News Items

To stimulate greater economic growth and development on Indian reservations, the Department of the Interior has asked Congress to increase by $35 million the authorized amount of the revolving loan fund of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Under a bill proposed by the Department, authorization for the program would be boosted from $27 million to $62 million and the Bureau would be permitted to make grants of not more than 20 percent of the borrowed amount in connection with the loans under certain circumstances.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) published in the Federal Register on Jan. 29 a notice with the updated listing of all federally recognized tribes in the United States, as required by law. The list is maintained, updated and published by the BIA’s Office of Indian Services, Division of Tribal Government Services. The list was last published on May 6, 2013.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced the award of a $1,040,677 contract to Skousen Corporation, Albuquerque, N. M. to build 10.838 miles of road on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation. It 'will open up a recreation complex at stone Lake that is to include a 20 room lodge, trailer camp, boat docks, and wild game park.

The contract is for grading, draining, plant-mix bituminous base and seal coat surfacing of a road beginning at New Mexico state Road 537 and going to stone Lake. It is scheduled for completion late in 1972.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today appealed to the increasing millions of visitors to Interior-administered recreation areas throughout the United States to "arrive safely, play safely, and return home safely."

WASHINGTON – The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform has added a public meeting on Dec. 10, 2013, to its schedule, which will be held via webinar. The meeting will gather public comments to help the Commission complete a comprehensive evaluation of the Department of the Interior’s administration of nearly $4 billion in Indian trust assets and will offer recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior about how to improve in the future.

Charles W. Swallow, 41, an Oglala Sioux "Indian, was today named J" Chief of the Branch of Credit and Financing of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D. C. Announcement was made by Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Swallow succeed Albert Huber, who retired.

The Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service have entered into an agreement on the construction and management of recreation at Yellowtail Darn and Reservoir in Montana and Wyoming, the Department of the Interior reported today.

WASHINGTON – Today, Thursday, September 17, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will lead a press conference call to discuss a landmark settlement with a nationwide class of tribes and tribal entities. Jewell will be joined by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn and U.S. Department of Justice Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer.

WHO: Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior

Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs

Celestine P. Mau., 49, loan specialist, Branch of Credit, Red Lake Agency, Bureau of Indian Affair, Redlake, Minn., was named, Superintendent of the Red Lake Agency today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. Maus, who replaces P. Miller in the post, has been Acting Superintendent since October.

The popularity of the Eskimo Graphic Arts and Sculpture exhibit in the Department of the Interior's Art Galleries has brought about an extension of the hours and addition of more than a hundred additional new pieces of sculpture and eighty new prints, according to Mrs. Stewart L. Udall, president of the Center for Arts of Indian America, sponsoring the unusual display.