Past News Items

Reappointment of Waldo E. McIntosh, Tulsa, Okla., as principal chief of the Creek Indian Tribe of Oklahoma for a two-year term starting October 6, 1963, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

A former lumber dealer and descendant of a long line of prominent Creek leaders, Mr. McIntosh has been principal chief the past two years. His reappointment was recommended by a recent unanimous vote of the Creek Indian Council.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Jeff. Muskrat, 52, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma to be Superintendent of the Cherokee Agency of North Carolina, which serves the Eastern Band of Cherokee. The Cherokees were divided during the Indian Removal of the mid-1800’s. Muskrat will assume his new post October 14.

WASHINGTON – Interior Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman announced today that tribes and tribal organizations will team up with numerous federal agencies at the National Native American Economic Policy Summit, May 15-17, 2007 in Phoenix, Arizona to brainstorm and come away with sound economic policy recommendations for Indian Country. This unprecedented effort will bring together federal policymakers, tribal leaders, Native entrepreneurs, tribal economic development professionals, and the private sector for a high-level economic development policy dialogue.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall said today that ten more conservation projects totaling $927,400 and assuring more than 100 man-years of employment have just been approved under the Accelerated Public Works Program for administration by the Department of the Interior.

The projects are in addition to the $4,970,000 in public works allotments announced January 30 by Secretary Udall for 49 projects in 18 States.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Alph H. Secakuku to the position of Superintendent of the Hopi Agency in Arizona.

Secakuku, a member of the Hopi Tribe, had been appointed acting Superintendent at the Hopi Agency earlier this year.

Thompson said he was extremely pleased to make the appointment and - noted that Secakuku would be the first member of the Hopi Tribe to serve as Superintendent of the Hopi Agency. The Hopi Tribal Council had asked that he be considered for the position, Thompson said.

WASHINGTON – President Bush has proposed a $2.2 billion budget for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) for Fiscal Year 2008. The 2008 request is $7.0 million above the President’s 2007 budget request and $1.0 million below the 2007 continuing resolution. The budget includes two initiatives to ensure that future generations of Native Americans have safe and secure communities to call home and that Indian children attending BIE schools can fulfill their potential through education.

Award of a $1,543,500 contract for the construction of school facilities that will provide for 150 additional students at Lukachukai, Arizona on the Navajo Indian Reservation was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Clarence Antioquia, 34, Assistant Area Director, Juneau Area Office and a Tlingit Indian of Alaska, to be Area Director at Juneau, Alaska. He has been acting in that capacity since September 1973.

“We wish to join Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith in expressing our grief and deepest sympathy to the Cherokee Nation people and to the Dawes family over the loss of Mike Dawes, a Cherokee citizen and lifetime law enforcement officer who died in service to his tribe and his country while endeavoring to bring peace in a country at war. As a Bureau of Indian Affairs-deputized law enforcement officer in the 1990s, he brought an esprit de corps and level of professionalism to the performance of his duties that set a standard for others.

Barney Old Coyote, a Crow Indian and career civil servant, has been appointed coordinator of the youth conservation camps for the Job Corps and related antipoverty programs of the Department, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.