Past News Items

Assistant Secretary Forrest J. Gerard today announced that Deputy Assistant Secretary George V. Goodwin, Jr., will return to his native Minnesota to work with his Tribe.

"Mr. Goodwin has outstanding experience and leadership qualities" stated Gerard, "and he has been a vigorous advocate for the Indian interest. The focus of his work in our administration has been the improvement of the management systems and structure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, in order that: the agency might be fully responsive to the unique and pressing needs of the Indian tribes."

WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Lawrence S. “Larry” Roberts today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services (OJS) is once again partnering with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, which will take place on Saturday, October 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. local time. OJS is working with tribal law enforcement agencies to implement Take-Back Day in their jurisdictions.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus, accompanied by his Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Forrest Gerard, will visit the lower Klamath River area in northern California next Thursday, September 7, for meetings with Indian leaders concerned about fishing controversies in that region.

WASHINGTON, DC – With a transfer of nearly $1 million, the Department of the Interior today announced that total contributions to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund have surpassed $5 million for 2014. The Scholarship Fund was authorized by the historic Cobell Settlement and is funded in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program). The Scholarship Fund will provide financial assistance through scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary education and training.

Secretary of the Interior James Watt announced today that Roy H. Sampsel, a Choctaw Indian from Portland, Oregon, has been appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior.

Sampsel has worked in Indian Affairs as a consultant, as executive director of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, as a reservation program officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and as a special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior.

Proposed regulations dealing with the acquisition of and for Indians in a trust or restricted status are being published in the Federal Register, Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard announced today.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of the Obama Administration’s historic commitment to ensure that all students attending Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-funded schools receive a world class education, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that six federally recognized tribes have been awarded $1.2 million in Sovereignty in Indian Education (SIE) enhancement funds to promote tribal control and operation of BIE-funded schools on their reservations.

Proposed regulations establishing uniform procedures for federal land managers to protect and conserve archeological resources on public and Indian lands have been published in the Federal Register of January 19, 1981.

The proposed regulations would implement the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (P. L. 96-95) which was signed by President Carter on October 31, 1979.

The Archaeological Resources Protection Act has two major purposes:

The Department of the Interior is seeking public comment on regulations proposed for establishing public easements across Native lands in Alaska. The proposed regulations are published in the May 25 Federal Register. They carry out the policy decisions which were announced on March 6, 1978, following months of work by the Department with the Joint Federal-State Land Use Planning Commission, Alaska Natives and the State.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today issued a positive Secretarial Determination to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin for an off-reservation class III gaming facility located on a 228-acre parcel in the City of Kenosha, Wisconsin. The land can be acquired in trust for gaming purposes only if the Governor concurs in the determination within one year.