Past News Items

Jon C. Wade, an enrolled member of the Santee Sioux Tribe, has been appointed President of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) at Santa Fe, New Mexico, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs Sidney Mills announced today.

Wade has been director of the Division of Education Assistance for the Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1975. He had previously been Superintendent of the Phoenix Indian School and educational assistance officer for the BIA's Aberdeen, South Dakota area office.

Dale M. Baldwin, a career employee of 17 years' service, will head the Bureau of Indian Affairs area office in Portland, Oregon, the Department of the Interior has announced.

The transfer from his present post as Superintendent of the Nevada Indian Agency at Stewart, Nev., will be effective March 20, 1966.

In 1965 Baldwin was cited for outstanding performance during his five years of work with the 26 tribal groups throughout Nevada.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that he has selected Keith O. Moore as Director of the Bureau of Indian Education. Moore, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, had been serving as the Chief Diversity Officer at the University of South Dakota since August 15, 2009. He takes over from the acting BIE director, Bartholomew “Bart” Stevens. Moore’s appointment will become effective on June 1, 2010.

Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard has announced that Sidney L. Mills, Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Albuquerque Area, will serve as Acting Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs, beginning July 30.

In this capacity Mills will direct the day-to-day operations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs until, the announcement says, "the appointment of a Commissioner takes place."

With the filing deadline only two months away, the Bureau of Indian Affairs reported only 2,000 applications have been received from descendants of Miami Indians who believe they are eligible to share in more than $4 million in Indian Claims Commission awards to the tribe as additional payment for Ohio and Indiana land the Miami's sold the Government in 1818.

Virgil M. Harrington, BIA Area Director, Muskogee, Okla., said that he has issued 5,000 application forms and received only 2,000 back. All applications must be received at his office no later than July 31, 1967, he said.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Jerold L. “Jerry” Gidner today announced that he has named Diane K. Rosen as Regional Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Midwest Regional Office in Ft. Snelling, Minn. Rosen, who has ancestry from two federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin, the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians where she is enrolled and the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, had been serving as the acting regional director since October 25, 2009.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus has announced the excavation of the 6.8-mile-long Buckskin Mountains Tunnel is expected to be completed on Thursday, May 24. The tunnel, located near Parker, Ariz., is a major feature of the Central Arizona Project.

SALT RIVER SPONSORS TRADE FAIR -- The first National All-Indian Trade Fair sponsored by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indians will be held May 4-7 on the Salt River Reservation near Scottsdale, Ariz.

More than 40 Indian tribes have been invited to participate in the program, which will feature products of nationally-known industrial firms employing Indian workers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced a Tribal Consultation Policy for the Department of the Interior, launching a new era of enhanced communication with American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The new policy emphasizes trust, respect and shared responsibility in providing tribal governments an expanded role in informing federal policy that impacts Indian Country.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus today applauded the decision announced March 21 by the State of Utah and the Ute Indian Tribe to return to the conference table to resolve the dispute which threatens the Central Utah Project.

"Both the State and the Tribe have too much at stake in the Central Utah Project to risk unwarranted delays in the Project at this stage," Secretary Andrus said, "Governor Matheson and the Ute Indian people are to be commended for the step they have taken."