Past News Items

The Department of the Interior announced today several proposed amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations governing the election of Osage Tribal officers.

Under the proposed rule changes, the requirement for a nominating convention in Osage County, Okla., would be eliminated and nominations would be accepted from any group of at least 25 qualified Osage voters. Write-in candidates would be barred.

WASHINGTON – Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske and the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that on Saturday, October 29, 2011, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time, Americans will be able to drop off their expired, unused and unwanted prescription drug pills at sites across Indian Country free of charge, no questions asked. By doing so, they will be helping prevent drug abuse and theft.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has authorized a $44,000 contract with the Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C., to examine the needs in English language teaching programs for American Indians.

In announcing the contract, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett said:

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Associate Deputy Secretary Meghan Conklin and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Director Michael Black today were in Tulalip, Washington for the third of six regional government-to-government tribal consultations regarding the Trust Land Consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement. The meetings with tribal leaders represent part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to re-invigorating nation-to-nation relationships with tribes.

The Departments of "the Interior and Commerce announced today the addition of representatives of the Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to the federal task force working to attain a settlement of the salmon fishing controversy in Washington state.

Washington, DC— On Monday July 11, 2011 at 10 AM, DC area and Native American youth will visit the White House for a South Lawn Series event highlighting Let’s Move! in Indian Country and celebrating lacrosse and its origins. Students will participate in lacrosse stations on the South Lawn that will demonstrate both the traditional and modern forms of the game.

Dr. William J. Benham, Jr., Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Indian Education Resources Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico has been selected for a year of special study at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Benham will begin in September a mid-career program "designed to broaden the perspective and increase the professional competence of Federal employees." He will resume his duties in Albuquerque in June, 1978.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will be joined by Office of the First Lady, Executive Director of Let’s Move! Initiative Robin Schepper, USDA Deputy Administrator for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Lisa Pino, IHS Director for Improving Patient Care Program Lyle A. Ignace M.D., M.P.H., and Menominee Tribal Chairman Randal Chevalier to launch Let’s Move! in Indian Country (LMIC). This event marks the First Lady’s launch of Let’s Move! in Indian Country hosted by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.

Interior Department Solicitor Leo M. Krulitz announced today that on June 29 the Department made a final recommendation to the Justice Department to bring actions on behalf of three Indian tribes to recover lands in New York State. The Justice Department has agreed to bring the suits. Two claims were first referred to Justice in 1975 and the third was initially referred in 1976.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk announced today that the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools will participate in the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) Challenge inspired by the First Lady's Let's Move! initiative and commemorating the Let’s Move! one year anniversary. PALA is a six-week long physical fitness challenge managed by the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, Sports, & Nutrition (PCFSN) and is part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign to end childhood obesity within a generation.