Past News Items

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer expresses concern about the well-being of the Indian people who are directly affected by the inclement weather in the northern part of the country.

"Eight federally recognized Indian tribes and approximately 56,000 Indian people have been adversely affected by the recent disastrous weather in South Dakota," Ms. Deer said.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said today that key staff people from Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Offices have participated in intensive training this month in preparation for the implementation of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

Final regulations for the Act, published in the Federal Register November 4, will become effective December 4.

The National Park Service has compiled a list of Federal, Tribal, Native Alaskan, Native American and Native Hawaiian contacts to assist other Federal agencies and museums in complying with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that Rebecca H. Dotson, a Navajo woman, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' agency at Chinle, Arizona.

Ms. Dotson is the second Indian woman to hold an agency superintendent's position. She had been the education program administrator at the agency, one of five on the Navajo Reservation.

Ms. Dotson, 45, is a graduate of the Northern Arizona University and has a Master's degree from Arizona State University. Much of her career has been spent as a classroom teacher.

Interior Secretary Don Hodel today pledged to work with tribal governments so that Indian reservations can share in economic prosperity and not be "islands surrounded by the rest of America."

Addressing a joint meeting of the National Congress of American Indians and the National Tribal Chairmen's Association in Tulsa, Okla., the Secretary also said that he does not plan to abolish the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or to establish an additional agency to take over Indian trust responsibilities now administered by BIA.

Acting Under Secretary of the Interior Kent Frizzell has approved an amendment to an existing water service contract relating to the use by Utah International, Inc. of water stored in the Navajo Reservoir for a proposed commercial coal gasification project near Farmington, New Mexico.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary -- Indian Affairs Tara Katuk Sweeney announced today that the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) has approved $1.55 million in Tribal Energy Development Capacity (TEDC)

Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel today announced an FY 1988 budget "Supports the President's goals of providing a better quality life through a stronger, more productive America.

"We have made decisions in the budget that emphasize our goal of maintaining or improving the multitude of Interior agency facilities and services used by the public while continuing to meet the budget limitations under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has appointed William Lynn Engles as Public Information Officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C.

Engles, an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, has been the Public Affairs Officer for ACTION in Seattle, Wash. since May, 1972. His experience before that included almost seven years with United Press as a state broadcast editor, news bureau manager and political reporter in Oregon and Montana.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan announced today he has instructed the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs to publish a notice of opportunity to comment on the procedures proposed for Class III (casino-type) gaming to be conducted by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut.