Past News Items

Commissioner of Indian. Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Jon C. Wade as Superintendent of the Phoenix Indian School. Wade a member of the Santee Sioux Tribe, will take office January 5.

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Speaking to a summit of American Indian leaders,Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today highlighted more than $2 billion in President Obama’s economic recovery package to create jobs and economic opportunity in Indian Country.

Rogers C. B. Morton, Secretary of the Interior, was honored as an "advocate or the American Indian" in an award given him by the Crow Indian Tribe of Montana. The presentation ceremony was held October 16 in the Secretary's office.

The framed document presented to Morton by the Crow Chairman, Pat Stands, cited his leadership in promoting Indian self-determination and his role in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement. The restoration of Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo and Mount Adams to the Yakima Tribe were also mentioned.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Gaming (OIG) has cancelled its October 25, 2007, tribal consultation meeting on tribal gaming revenue allocation plans (RAPs), which was to be held at the Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino in Lakeside, Calif., due to Southern California’s wildland fire emergency, which is occurring near the facility’s location.

Morris Thompson, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, announced today that four American Indian tribal councils in the Great Lakes Area have been awarded contracts totaling over $90,000 under the Tribal Government Development Program of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in order that their governments can be made more effective.

The four tribal councils are Red Cliff Tribal Council, Bayfield, Wisc., $22, 000; Bad River Tribal Council, Ashland, Wisc., $24,850; Bay Mills Executive Council, Brimley, Mich., $25,000; and St. Croix Chippewa Council, Webster, Wisc., $18,850.

The State of Idaho, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the U.S. Department of the Interior finalized a major water rights agreement for the Snake River today. The settlement resolves a number of water rights issues as part of the Snake River Basin Adjudication (SRBA).

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of two Superintendents of Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies in the Pacific Northwest - the Umatilla, Western Washington Agencies --and one Assistant Superintendent -- within the Yakima Agency.

WASHINGTON - Combatting a methamphetamine crisis in Indian Country and promoting higher academic achievement in Indian schools are key initiatives in President Bush's FY2008 budget for the Department of the Interior, Secretary Kempthorne said today.

Theodore C. Krenzke, 44, Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Cherokee Agency, North Carolina, for eight years, has been named Director of Indian Services of the entire Bureau, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. He will assume his duties in early June.

Krenzke's post is the third of five directorships - top jobs within the Bureau of Indian Affairs - to be filled.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director W. Patrick Ragsdale today announced that he has named Christopher B. Chaney as Deputy Bureau Director of the BIA’s Office of Law Enforcement Services (OLES). Chaney, an enrolled member of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, had previously served as Associate Solicitor for the Division of Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The appointment became effective August 7.