Past News Items

Regulations governing the administration of funds to assist Indian irrigation projects and fisheries under the Drought Emergency Act of April 7, 1977, are being published in the Federal Register, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond V. Butler announced today.

The regulations tell how qualified applicants may obtain funds to remedy some detrimental effects of the 1976-77 drought. Provisions are made for short-term actions to increase water supplies and to repair, or improve water supply facilities.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – There is not enough evidence to meet the legal requirements for federal recognition of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs George T. Skibine said today. The Department of the Interior, therefore, has issued a final determination not to acknowledge the petitioner group as a federally-recognized Indian tribe.

Although I have been in office only a little over seven months, it has been an extremely crowded period. So I really welcome the opportunity to back off here in a somewhat more cloistered atmosphere and cast an appraising eye on our present situation in Indian affairs.

The appointment of Rebecca H. Dotson as Assistant Area Director for Education in the Navajo area was announced today by Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond V. Butler.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Bureau of Indian Education, Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) in Lawrence, Kan., and the Haskell Indian National Board of Regents have formed a partnership to develop a post secondary education learning model to improve the educational experience of Haskell students. HINU is one of two BIE-operated post secondary institutions of higher learning for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Appointment of Roderick H. Riley, former economic advisor to the U. S. Information Agency, as assistant and economic advisor to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash was reported today by the Department of the Interior.

A career civil servant and native of Antigo, Wisc., Riley entered Federal service in 1933 as research assistant to the late Senator Robert M. La Follette, In He has been with USIA for the past two years.

Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe announced today that he had approved a tribal tax on coal mining on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana and a tribal zoning ordinance for the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho.

In both instances, the tribal laws call for the exercise of jurisdiction by the Indian tribe over non-Indians on the reservation. The question of tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians in civil matters has become a major issue in many parts of the country.

WASHINGTON , D.C.—Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today praised President Obama’s announcement that he intends to nominate Larry EchoHawk, a former Idaho Attorney General and state legislator, as Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. The nomination requires Senate confirmation.

The Department of the Interior today announced the completion of an Indian-approved property distribution plan for the Redding Rancheria in Shasta County, California, under terms of a 1958 law.

Under the 1958 enactment the group property of the rancheria, consisting mainly of 30.89 acres of land, was divided among the 44 Indian beneficiaries in accordance with a plan approved by the Indians in referendum ballot. In all cases, unrestricted title was conveyed to the Indians.

Billie D. Ott has been appointed Assistant Director for Management Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Administration,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Ott, a member of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma, has been Assistant Director for Support Services in the Administration office. In his new position he replaces Sidney Mills who is now Executive Assistant to the Commissioner.