Past News Items

John A. Jollie, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe of North Dakota, has been selected as the new coordinator of the Tribal Managers Corps (TMC), a program in the BIA's Division of Self-Determination Services.

Indian Affairs Assistant Secretary Forrest J. Gerard today announced that he has appointed Suzan Harjo to be Special Assistant for Legislation and Liaison.

Harjo, 32, is Cheyenne and Creek and an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. She will serve on the Assistant Secretary's immediate staff in the areas of Congressional and Tribal relations.

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior – Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) will provide limited services to tribes, students and individuals during the shutdown of the federal government. Of the total 8,143 employees, a total of 2,860 will be furloughed.

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today named three businessmen from outside the Government to make a survey of the operations and programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Walter Bimson, chairman of the board, Valley National bank of Phoenix, Arizona, was chosen as the chairman of the team. The other non-Government members are Robert D. Lutton, Santa Fe Railroad, Chicago, Illinois, and J.R. Johns, Sears Roebuck Company, Dallas, Texas.

Three officials of the Department will assist in the survey.

A plan for the distribution and use of more than $6 million awarded to the Potawatomi Nation is being published in the Federal Register, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard announced today.

The judgment award, granted by the Indian Claims Commission, is compensation for lands in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan ceded to the United States by the Indians during the treaty making period of 1795 to 1833.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, June 18, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes will hold a news media teleconference to discuss the next phase of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), including launching pilot efforts to establish cooperative agreements with Tribal governments. Hayes will be joined by Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn.

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced the appointment of Carl W. Beck of Apache County, Arizona; as a special consultant on Indian Affairs.

A former official of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Mr. Beck resigned in 1948 to enter private business.

He served in the Indian Service for 23 years in a number of responsible positions including the superintendencies of the Western Shoshone Agency, Owyhee, Nevada, and Fort Hall, Idaho. He entered the Navajo Indian Service in 1929.

An American Indian planning committee has set three goals for a White House Pre-conference dealing with library services on reservations, Dr. William Demmert, Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Indian Education announced today.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will reopen its search for a new regional director of the Bureau’s Alaska Regional Office. The BIA will begin soliciting applicants for the Senior Executive Service (SES) position, which is located in Anchorage, starting on April 22, 2013.

Christian H. Beitzel will replace Robert B. McKee as superintendent of the Crow Creek Indian Agency in South Dakota when the agency moves from Fort Thompson to Pierre on December 1, Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay announced today.