Past News Items

WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton today conducted a ceremonial swearing-in of the founding members of the American Indian Education Foundation (AIEF) Board of Directors at its inaugural meeting in the Interior Department's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Congress established the Foundation in December, 2000 under the Omnibus Indian Advancement Act (Public Law 106-568).

Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith has denied the request of an Oklahoma tribe to have off-reservation land given U.S. trust status to allow the tribe to operate a bingo game free of state regulation.

In rejecting the request of the Kaw Tribe to have five acres of land in Kay County, Oklahoma, taken in trust by the United States, Smith said he considered the legal and political impact on all tribes, not just the tribe making the request.

WASHINGTON – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin will observe Earth Day 2003 during a visit she will make to the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) on April 23 at 2:20 p.m.(local time) to view its new Science and Technology Building and reforestation project. SIPI is a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funded, two-year institution located in Albuquerque, N.M., that provides general education, business, science and technical instruction at the associate degree and certificate levels for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin will be a guest on the “Indian in the Spotlight” program of Native America Calling on the show’s April 25, 2003, edition. NAC is the national public affairs and news radio program on the American Indian Radio on Satellite (AIROS) and National Public Radio networks. Assistant Secretary Martin will speak on today’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the 179-yearold federal agency that serves the nation’s 562 federally recognized tribes.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin and Special Trustee for American Indians Ross O. Swimmer today announced the issuance of a new Departmental Manual (DM) that makes effective the reorganization of the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs (OAS/IA), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) within the Department of the Interior.

(Washington, D.C.) -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Law Enforcement Services (OLES) will hold its 12th Annual Memorial Service on Thursday May 1, 2003, to commemorate the sacrifice made by law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty while serving on Indian lands. The Memorial Service will start at 10:30 A.M. on the BIA Indian Police Academy grounds in Artesia, New Mexico.

Washington -- Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Aurene Martin announced today that Riverside Indian School, Anadarko, Okla., has been chosen for a pilot program, sponsored by NASA and presented by the Busey Group. The grant is for the purpose of promoting careers in the math, science, IT and healthcare area with special emphasis in the space industry.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Special Trustee for American Indians Ross O. Swimmer and Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin will testify before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs at its May 21 hearing on the reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). By reorganizing the agencies that manage Indian trust funds and assets, the Interior Department seeks to bring increased accountability and efficiency into the trust management area.

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Aurene Martin, a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, say that a conference starting today at the University of Montana in Missoula will bring a "welcome" and needed forum for Native American perspectives on the Bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.