Past News Items

(SACATON, ARIZ.) – On a visit to the Gila River Indian Reservation in south-central Arizona, Interior Secretary Gale Norton, joined by Gila River Governor Richard Narcia, today announced that the Gila River Indian Community has been designated as an expansion site of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Indian Land Consolidation Program.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, announced award of a contract for $1,098,491.74 to provide for bituminous surfacing of 11.28 miles of road on the Navajo Indian Reservation, from Indian Service Route 12 to Washington Pass, via Crystal, N.M.

This project is the first half of an eventual all-weather road from Crystal through Washington Pass to Sheep Springs, N.M., on U.S. Highway 666.

The successful low bid was submitted by Nielsons, Inc., of Dolores, Colo. Eight other bids were submitted, ranging from $1,199,481.91 to a high of $1,496,646.90.

CATOOSA, Oklahoma, November 6, 2019 – The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve tribes’ and tribal members’ access to farm conservation programs to advance conservation in Indian Country. The MOU was signed in Catoosa, Oklahoma, where USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey was joined by BIA Director Darryl LaCounte at the Indian Nations Conservation Alliance - National Tribal Conservation Districts Conference.

WASHINGTON - Interior Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb today affirmed his support for efforts by Alaska Natives to preserve their traditional bowhead whaling activity. McCaleb met today with members of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission's (AEWC) on the eve of the delegation's journey to Cambridge, England, where they will defend the whaling rights of their people before the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Award of a $980,000 contract to construct a dormitory with sleeping rooms for 64 students, a kitchen-multi-use building adequate for 128 students, and adjunct facilities, , including utilities and paving at Eufaula, Okla., was announced today by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior.

When completed, the project will provide living facilities for elementary and secondary school-age Indian children attending public schools in the City of Eufaula.

WASHINGTON – Today, the Department of the Interior (DOI) forged a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by signing the National Programmatic Agreement among the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Programs, National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation for Sequencing Section 106 (USDA-RD NPA).

WASHINGTON – Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb will address the pressing need for economic and employment growth throughout Indian Country at the National Summit on Emerging Tribal Economies, which will be held September 16-19, 2002 in Phoenix, Ariz., at the Phoenix Civic Plaza. Norton and McCaleb are scheduled to speak on September 17.

Sarah Ann Johnson, Miss Indian America XIV, will visit Washington March 3 through 7 for a round of meetings with Congressmen, Department of the Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials, and Indian leaders.

She will fly to New York March 7 for radio and TV appearances, to attend a coffee Friday morning given by the Girl Scouts of America Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett and Indian leaders will be a guest at a luncheon Friday given by industrialists who have plants on or near Indian lands.

WASHINGTON - In a letter sent to the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb expressed the Department of the Interior's deep regret over the International Whaling Commission's (IWC) decision not to renew the aboriginal subsistence whale quota for the 2003 - 2007 period. He also offered his agency's support to ensure that the subsistence needs of Alaska Natives are met, and that their whaling traditions continue.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today the release of a new, updated booklet, "Answers to Your Questions about American Indians."

Earlier editions have been popular with persons interested in the American Indian. The questions answered are chosen from the many thousands directed to the Bureau during the past years.

According to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett, the answers to some of the questions will startle those with preconceived ideas about Indians and their status in this country.