Past News Items

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of George A. Laverdure, 58, enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Indian Tribe, to the post of Superintendent of the Crow Agency, Mont., of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He has been serving in that post in an acting capacity since June 1973. His appointment was effective March 31.

Anson Baker, former Crow Agency Superintendent, has been transferred to the Fort Berthold Agency, New Town, N. Dak., as Superintendent.

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary Jim Cason today announced that Captain John Herrington, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma and the first American Indian astronaut to serve with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, will provide the keynote address this morning at the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) FACE and Baby FACE National Training Conference in Pearl River, Miss. The event is scheduled for March 8-10 at the Silver Star and Golden Moon Resort on the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians reservation.

Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe today hailed the new spirit of determination and confidence among Indian leaders. In remarks to 200 leaders of the American Indian community at a White House meeting, Secretary Kleppe said: "Whether young or old, the Indian leaders today have a new spirit --perhaps it is revival of a very old spirit-- of determination and of confidence."

WASHINGTON – Secretary Gale Norton today announced that the foundation established by Congress to support Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) education programs has been renamed the National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education (NFEAIE) in a bill signed by President Bush on July 2, 2004. The foundation, designated the American Indian Education Foundation in its original legislation, felt the change was needed in order to avoid confusion with organizations having similar names.

More authority for the Johnson-O' Malley program -- by which American Indians in public schools get special help from the Bureau of Indian Affairs -- may be placed in the hands of Johnson-O' Malley parent committees that must approve special need programs for eligible Indians submitted by public school districts, Morris Thompson, Commissioner of Indian Affairs indicated today.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will give the main address at the May 8 commencement ceremony for graduates of Sitting Bull College, a tribally controlled community college in Fort Yates, N.D., located on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, an area bisected by the North Dakota-South Dakota border. The event will be held at the tribe’s Prairie Knight Casino and Lodge Pavillion located south of Mandan, N.D., starting at 2:00 p.m. (CDT). The 2003-2004 graduating class of 54 students will be the largest in the college’s history.

Robert Abbey will hold a news media teleconference regarding domestic oil and gas production on public and Tribal lands.
Credentialed media may also participate in the teleconference media roundtable by telephone by dialing 1-888-972-9240 and entering the access code INTERIOR.

SELLS, Ariz. – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today announced that President Bush has requested $1.4 million for Fiscal Year 2005 to support border security efforts of the Tohono O’odham Nation, whose reservation in southern Arizona shares a 75-mile border with Mexico. The President’s request will help the tribe address law enforcement border issues on the Tohono O’Odham Nation reservation as part of the administration’s efforts to improve homeland security in Indian Country.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney announced the appointment of two leadership posts within the Bureau of Indian Affairs: Johnna Blackhair, a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe in Montana, will serve as Deputy Bureau Director for Trust Services at the Bureau of Indian Affairs’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and Patricia Mattingly, of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in New Mexico and the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, will serve as Regional Director of the Bureau’s Southwest Regional Office in Albuquerque, N.M.

WASHINGTON - Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb today announced the formation of the National Indian Country Telecom Infrastructure Consortium (NICTIC) to coordinate an effort to build and improve the telecommunications infrastructure throughout Indian Country. "Creating this consortium supports the President's National Strategy for Homeland Security by providing critical direction to improving the telecommunications infrastructure in Indian Country," said Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb.