Past News Items

Federal supervision over the Indians of Blue Lake Rancheria in Humboldt County, Calif., has been terminated with their consent, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today. Notice is being published in the Federal Register.

Blue Lake is the 30th rancheria in California to be removed from Federal trust supervision, in accordance with legislation enacted in 1958 and amended two years ago. More than 100 small Indian rancherias are affected by the law.

Washington, D.C. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona will hold a VAWA Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Training focusing on the challenges that occur when a tribe uses its special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction (SDVCJ) authority as authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 (VAWA) to prosecute offenders. The training is scheduled for May 5-7 on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation in Tucson.

Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel announced today the appointment of Sam Yankee to the Department's new 15-member Advisory Board on Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. The newly established Board, composed of citizens from all over the country, will provide counsel and advice to the Secretary on policy matters relating to the conservation of our wildlife resources.

Opportunities for developers and investors to grow along with America's rapidly expanding recreational industry are being offered by the Cochiti Indian Tribe of New Mexico, which has concession rights on what will be the biggest lake in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe area.

When the Cochiti Dam is completed across the Rio Grande, 50 miles north of Albuquerque, in 1970, it will create a 2,300 acre-lake in the midst of some of the Southwest's most scenic and historic country.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In keeping with President Obama’s commitment to empowering tribal nations and strengthening their economies, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced his approval of three separate land leasing codes for the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Today’s action brings to 18 the number of federally recognized tribes whose land leasing regulations have been approved by the Department of the Interior in accordance with the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership (or HEARTH) Act.

Good morning - distinguished members of the press, Representatives of the Indian desks, ladies and gentlemen.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has announced the award of a $238,895 contract for improving the road that serves Kahneeta Hot Springs, a popular resort on the Warm Springs Reservation in central Oregon.

WASHINGTON - On Thursday, December 16, 2010, President Obama will host the White House Tribal Nations Conference. As part of President Obama's ongoing outreach to the American people, this conference will provide leaders from the 565 federally recognized tribes the opportunity to interact directly with the President and representatives from the highest levels of his Administration. Each federally recognized tribe will be invited to send one representative to the conference.

Interior Solicitor Leo M. Krulitz said today that any water needed for mineral development on western public lands will have to be acquired by developers through states systems and under applicable state law and not through the assertion by the United States of a federal water right.

Krulitz, speaking to the annual convention of the Wyoming Water Development Association in Casper, said it has been and continues to be the policy of the Carter Administration that the states must be allowed to allocate their water resources in their own way.

I have chosen to discuss two subjects today - - Indian development and the development of the natural resources of the West.

It would be an untoward event if any Secretary of the Interior appeared before "an assembled group of Western Governors and did not discuss natural resources. It is, on the other hand, a rare occasion when any Secretary does discuss the future of our Indian people with a gathering of Governors. However, the time has come for all of us to face up to the failure of many of our Indian programs, and I propose that we confront them candidly here today.