Past News Items

Interior Secretary Cecil D. Andrus today commended the nomination by President Carter of Thomas W. Fredericks to be Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs.

"We are pleased that Tom Fredericks will be returning to Interior, this time as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs," Andrus said. "This is an extremely important position to the Indian community and the Nation as a whole. He is among the Nation's most qualified Indians and will handle matters of great importance to Native Americans

The Department of the Interior today announced the award of a $976,677.84 contract for construction of 18 miles of roadway on Navajo Route 1, starting approximately 38 miles west of Shiprock, New Mexico, and running westerly to Walker Creek, Arizona.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney announced today that the Department of the Interior has signed agreements with the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana, and the Santee Sioux Nation of the Santee Sioux Reservation in Nebraska to guide implementation of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations at each of these reservations.

Assistant Interior Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard today released the text of a telegram sent to Red Lake Chippewa Tribal Chairman, Roger Jourdain. Gerard says the telegram was sent to meet objections about a petition presented to the tribal council on October 12, 1979. The council, in Resolution Number I-80 rejected the petitions on grounds the original petitions on grounds the original petitions were not filed with the council. The council received only copies of the original.

I have looked forward to this day -- to the chance to meet with you, to share in your 25th Anniversary celebration, to congratulate you - and especially your charter members, some of whom are here today -- for your vision and leadership.

An impressive as your past growth has been, even more impressive are the prospects for your contributions to the Indian future. As never before, the nation is aware of Indian problems and the need for clear, decisive Indian leadership.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Eight federally recognized tribes will collectively receive nearly $2.5 million in grant awards from the U.S. Departments of Education and Interior to bolster their educational programs and advance self-determination goals through the development of academically rigorous and culturally relevant programs.

Final regulations to establish officially the Reservation Acceleration Program (RAP) are being published in the Federal Register, the Commissioner of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, Louis R. Bruce, announced today. Publication of the-new regulations in the Federal Register officially establishes the Bureau program which has been in operation since January.

A White Mountain Apache tribal delegation from Arizona will arrive in Washington Saturday, December 11, poised for a full week of activities prior to the official Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony slated for next Friday.

The five-member delegation, representing the Tribe which donated the Nation's Christmas tree this year, will be composed of: Lester Oliver, Tribal Chairman; Fred Banashley, Vice-Chairman; Mary Enfield; Mary V. Riley; and Nelson Lupe, Sr.

WASHINGTON – Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Lawrence S. Roberts announced today the availability of approximately $9.1 million for three funding opportunities for federally recognized Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages, Alaska Native regional or village corporations, authorized tribal organizations, and Tribal Energy Resource Development Organizations.

Three major exhibitions of Indian arts now being shown by museums administered by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the Department of the Interior were described today by Secretary Rogers C.B. Morton as “demonstrating the vitality of contemporary contributions to the arts by modern Indian people”

The Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, Oklahoma, is presenting through September 14 the first historic survey to feature 43 paintings created during the past four decades by 42 outstanding Indian artists of the Southern Plains region.