Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton said today that two sets of documents of major significance to Alaska and to all Americans will be made public within the next 10 days.

On Wednesday, March 15, at 2 p.m., Secretary Morf9n twill hold a general news conference, principally devoted to Interior's action on preliminary set asides of public lands. In Alaska, pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The news conference will be held in the Interior Department Auditorium on the first floor of the building, at 18th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.

MULTIPURPOSE CONSERVATION PROJECT AT FORT HALL

A multipurpose project on the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho will combine a 12,000-acre bird refuge on Grays Lake with efficient irrigation and flood control. The project was made possible through joint agreement of the Fort Hall Indians, the Grays Lake Protective Committee, and the Department of the Interior.

The White House Office of Public Engagement and Council on Environmental Quality, in conjunction with the U.S. Departments of Energy, Agriculture, the Interior, Health and Human Services (DHS), Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation; the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is pleased to announce a webinar series entitled “The Climate Change Impacts and Indian Country.”

I am highly gratified to see the enactment of legislation that provides funds for construction of facilities for the Navajo Community College. Of This school is unique as a community development aide. The new construction will culminate a long-time dream of many Navajo leaders.

The development of the Navajo Community College is a truly significant achievement for the Navajo people. What has been done in planning and implementing this unique educational program is illustrative of self-determination working at its best.

Effective May 17 the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs offices was moved to 1951 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, D. C. The Bureau formerly had its headquarters in the Interior Department's main building at 18th and C Sts., NW.

The new quarters were formerly occupied by the National Science Foundation. The building was constructed in the early 1930's.

The move will enable most of the Bureau's Washington staff to be together under one roof for the first time in several years. About 350 persons will be affected.

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today that it has awarded more than $600,000 in grants to 18 tribes or tribal consortiums to support them in addressing the challenges of climate change as part of the President’s Climate Action Plan to reduce carbon pollution, move the economy toward clean energy sources and prepare communities for the impacts of climate change.

The 1971 “American Indian Calendar” listing everts from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Hollywood, Florida, hosted by Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut groups, is now available from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 20402. The price is 30 cents.

Dates and locations of observances are given. Among the annual activities of the various tribes that are included in the 1971 calendar are Alaskan sled dog races, Eskimo blanket-tosses, pow-wows, potlatches, rodeos, fairs, snake and crown dances, and arts and crafts exhibits.

Indians, Aleuts and Eskimos who are qualified under the 1906 Alaska Native Allotment Act will find it easier and quicker to obtain land allotments up to 160 acres under liberalized regulations announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

He said the new regulations--which recognize that the Natives' mode of life, the Alaska climate and the character of the land are all different from conditions on the homestead States of the West--are in effect a return to the interpretation of the statute regarding use and occupancy of the land in effect prior to 1930.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to help strengthen Indian communities, and following nation-to-nation consultations with tribal leaders, the Department of the Interior is expanding the implementation strategy for the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program).

The deadline has been extended to June 4, 1971, for filing applications by descendants of Kansas and Wisconsin Munsees for enrollment to, share in a $1,627,244.64 judgment awarded to the Delaware Nation of Indians by the ! Indian Claims Commission, according to Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

The money comes from an award in settlement of an Indian claim against the United States Government for additional payment for approximately 3,859,000 acres of Indian land ceded by the Delaware Nation pursuant to the Treaty of October 3, 1818 (7 Stat. 188).