Past News Items

Development of both human and natural resources on Indian reservations will be the prime objective for the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Kennedy Administration, Commissioner Philleo Nash told an audience in Denver, Colorado, Tuesday evening.

Visiting in Denver for a nationwide conference on Indian Bureau superintendents, the new Commissioner, woe entered on duty September 26, spoke on “The New Trail for American Indians” before a meeting of the Indian Visitors of the American Friends Service Committee.

The final act ending federal supervision over Klamath Indian tribal property has been completed in Washington, D. C. with signing of the Klamath Termination Proclamation by the Acting Secretary of the Interior, James K. Carr.

Robert D. Holtz, director of the Portland area, Bureau of Indian Affairs, said today that Under Secretary Carr signed the proclamation on behalf of Secretary Stewart Udall who was away from the capital.

The proclamation is effective Sunday, August 13.

Award of a $777,777 Bureau of Reclamation contract for the clearing of approximately 15,600 acres of land along the border of New Mexico and Colorado, to be inundated by the waters of Navajo Reservoir, was announced by the Department of the Interior today.

The contract went to Universal Grading Company, Incorporated, of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Award of five contracts totaling $878,597 for road and bridge construction on three Indian reservations in South Dakota was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contracts are for road and bridge construction work on the Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations.

WASHINGTON –Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs John Tahsuda, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center Director Thomas J. Walters, Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety Director Jesse Delmar and the Department of the Interior-Office of Law Enforcement and Security Director Darren Cruzan, are among federal and Indian Country representatives slated to speak at the 27 th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service on Thursday, May 3, 2018, at the United States Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M.

To have the opportunity to address the group that represents so many of America's first citizens is indeed an honor for the Secretary of the Interior.

It is good to have the opportunity to get away from Washington, D. C. and out in the land, with you - America's first citizens. It is good to join you in celebrating this 25th anniversary of the NCAI.

Through your organization, America's Indians, individually and collectively have made great strides, unfortunately, the NCAI and all of the other Indian groups, for too long have been trying to carve out their niche alone.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that $1 million in funding is being made available to federally recognized tribes through the Bureau of Indian Education’s Sovereignty in Indian Education (SIE) Enhancement Program. The SIE Enhancement Program supports tribes in their efforts to assume control of the BIE-funded schools serving their communities.

An increase in the "standard" royalty rate for oil and gas leases on Indian lands from 12.5 to 16-2/3 percent was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

SPOKANE, WA – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today joined leaders of the Spokane Tribe of Indians in Washington State to commemorate the tribe’s selection as a Promise Zone, which was announced by President Obama on June 6 as part of the third and final round of Promise Zone designations.

The National Community Christmas Tree for 1965 which will be erected in the Ellipse, just south of the White House in Washington, is being donated by the White Mountain Apache Indians from the Fort Apache Reservation near White River, Arizona, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.

Secretary Udall added that this marks the first time an American Indian Tribal Council has provided a Christmas Tree for the Pageant of Peace ceremony, and the first tree from the state of Arizona tor this pageant.