Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced that a National Tribal Leaders Conference will be held September 28, 1990, in Albuquerque, N.M.

Final approval of an extensive revision of the Federal regulations on the management of Indian forest lands was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Among other changes, the new rules provide a system of appeal to the Secretary of the Interior from decisions made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on timber sales contracts.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie Brown will open the second in a series of regional economic development conferences with Indian tribal leaders March 15-16 in Hollywood, Florida. The conference will include tribal representatives from Florida, Louisiana, Maine, New York, North Carolina, Mississippi, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin and business and industry leaders from the private sector.

The Department of the Interior has recommended the enactment of S. 2085, a bill authorizing the use of a judgment fund of approximately $1,860,000 awarded to the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache Indian Tribes of Oklahoma by the Indian Claims Commission, it was announced today.

The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) announces the availability of its publication, Mineral Revenues: The 1985 Report on Receipts from Federal and Indian Leases.

The booklet reports on the 1985 activities of the MMS Royalty Management Program, including collection of $6.5 billion in bonuses, rents and royalties from Indian and federal {offshore and onshore) minerals 1eases.

The report also offers tables and statistics relating to the generation, distribution, and history of revenues obtained under th1s program.

The Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the Department of the Interior announced today the second set of four awards which are made annually “in recognition of long and outstanding services in the preservation, encouragement and development of the arts and crafts of the American Indians."

These awards, consisting of certificates of appreciation, were presented yesterday in Flagstaff, Arizona. Recipients, and the categories for which they won, include:

1. The Museum of Northern Arizona, of Flagstaff, Arizona--Nonprofit organizations.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ross swimmer departs Sunday on a 15- day trip to Indian Country that has him visiting 26 Indian reservations and meeting with more than 125 Indian tribes.

"Since I was sworn in about six months ago, I have spent most of my time in Washington involved in putting my ·staff together and working on administrative matters. This trip will be the first opportunity I have to get out and visit with many Indian tribal governments and talk with them about the issues in Indian Country," Swimmer said.

Award of a $67,275 contract for construction of three bridges on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, Dewey County, South Dakota, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The Interior Department's Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, John Fritz, ruled today that the attempted removal June 2 of eight members of the business committee of the Wisconsin Winnebago Indian Tribe would not be recognized because procedures required by the tribe's constitution had not been followed.

"We decline to recognize the attempted June 2 removal," Fritz said, "but will recognize the results of a special general council removal hearing conducted in accordance with Wisconsin Winnebago law."

The Department or the Interior today announced the award of a $331,445 contract for construction or new dormitory facilities at Magdalena, New Mexico, that will make it possible for 128 Navajo children from the surrounding area to attend the local public schools.