Past News Items

WASHINGTON –The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) today released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed 350-megawatt solar energy project on tribal trust land of the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians in Clark County, Nevada.

The publication in the Federal Register tomorrow of a notice of availability begins the 30-day public comment period. Access to the Final EIS document can be viewed at:

Proposed regulations establishing procedures and policy for determining whether an Indian group is a federally recognized Indian tribe are being published in the Federal Register, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

The proposed regulations have been developed to enable the Secretary of the Interior to review objectively the increasing number of petitions submitted by Indian groups requesting Federal recognition. The regulations do not apply to any group which has already been acknowledged by the Secretary as constituting a federally recognized Indian tribe.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary- Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today provided the Department’s draft Tribal Consultation Policy to the leaders of the nation’s 565 federally-recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes for their review and comment.

Edmund Manydeeds, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Great Lakes Agency at Ashland, Wisconsin, Acting Commissioner Raymond v. Butler announced today.

Manydeeds has been at the agency since 1960 and has been the Acting Superintendent the past year.

A World War II veteran, Manydeeds earned both a B.S. and M.S. in Education at North State College, South Dakota.

Manydeeds, 55, began working with the BIA in 1948 as a teacher at the Cheyenne River Agency, South Dakota.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that the Bureau of Reclamation has awarded American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to additional tribes to help improve infrastructure and water supplies while bringing jobs to Indian country.

Proposed regulations to govern the preparation of a roll of Grand River Ottawa Indians are being published in the Federal Register, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond V. Butler announced today. The roll will be used for a per capita distribution of about one million dollars awarded by the Indian Claims Commission.

A question about the payment of these funds was put to President Carter during his telephone-question program March 5. It was asked by Mrs. John Ritchie of Georgetown, Ky., who identified herself as a member of the tribe.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk announced today that the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan’s reservation proclamation has been signed. Approximately 147 acres, more or less, will serve as the Tribe’s initial reservation under the authority of the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 986; 25 U.S.C. 467). The land is located in Wayland Township, Allegan County, Michigan.

A new Assistant Area Director for Administration in the BIA's Portland Area has been appointed by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson. He is William V. Battese, who has been serving as Acting Deputy Area Director in the Anadarko, Oklahoma Area. The Portland Area includes three states: Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

"Bill is an Indian himself --a member of the Potawatomi Tribe and he has more than 25 years experience working in Indian programs. He will be a valuable addition to the Portland staff," said Commissioner Thompson.

WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), has launched a website to create a web-based clearinghouse of environmental information that will support American Indian and Alaska Native traditional and renewable energy resource development.

Anthony Whirlwind Horse, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs agency
on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Whirlwind Horse has been the Education Program Administrator at the agency. He succeeds Albert Trimble who is now Tribal Chairman of
the Oglala Sioux Tribe.