Past News Items

WASHINGTON--Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and Deputy Secretary Lynn Scarlett today honored twenty-eight departmental executives at a ceremony in the nation's capital.

Presidential Rank Awards honoring exceptional long-term accomplishments went to seven employees, while 21 received the Secretary's Executive Leadership Award honoring them for their superior performance and excellence in leadership.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash today announced the completion of an agreement between the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, and a Pelham, N.Y., electronics company which will lead to the establishment of I a new branch plant providing jobs for at least 200 workers on the Laguna Indian Pueblo west of Albuquerque, N. Mex.

The firm involved is Burnell & Co., Inc., which manufactures electronic filters and related components.

A contract amounting to nearly $1.4 million has been awarded to Burgraff Construction Company of Idaho Falls, Idaho, to pave, drain, and surface slightly more than 16 miles of road and build two reinforced concrete bridges on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in the village of Owyhee, Nevada Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason today issued a Final Determination to acknowledge the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Inc., (Mashpee) as an Indian tribe. The Mashpee is a group of 1,453 members located on Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Mass.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced the appointment of E. B. Maytubby, Muskogee, Okla., to fill out the unexpired term of his late nephew, Floyd Maytubby, as Governor of the Chickasaw Indian Nation and the designation of Overton James, Oklahoma City, to serve a two-year term as Governor starting with expiration of the Maytubby term on October 18, 1963.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced two decisions resolving long standing controversies over Indian rights.

In a controversy between the Fort Mohave Indian Tribe and the Bureau of Land Management over the ownership of 3,500 acres of land near the Colorado River in California, the Solicitor has determined that the Tribe is legally entitled to equitable ownership of the land and the Secretary has signed an order directing the Bureau of Land Management to take prompt action to carry out the decision.

WASHINGTON – The Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason will visit the Hopi Tribe of Arizona on September 1 to meet with Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor and tribal council members, as well as school officials and students of the tribe’s seven Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)-funded schools who have met their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirement under the No Child Left Behind Act for a second year in a row. The Hopi Tribe is one of several federally recognized tribes who have multiple BIA-funded schools on their reservations.

Perry E. Skarra, a specialist in resources management for Indian trust land, has been appointed chief of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' branch of forestry, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash announced today.

Cam1issioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the awarding of two contracts accounting to nearly $9 million in Federal money for Bureau of Indian Affairs day schools at Acomita, New Mexico, and Wanblee, South Dakota.

"These two schools, when completed, will serve a need that has existed for many years," Thompson said.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced a cooperative initiative with the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide Federally recognized tribes participating in the Office of Indian Affairs (OIA) Native Sovereign Nation (NSN) Domain Name Program with the opportunity to use E-Buy, GSA’s online procurement system for products and services.