Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel said today he was "absolutely that the President had nominated Ross Swimmer for Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. “We are exceedingly fortunate that Mr. Swimmer is willing to accept this position,” Hodel said, "for he has extraordinary qualities of leadership and business experience vital to the success of U.S Indian programs.

Nine American Indian high school students met their Congressmen, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and other Washington luminaries last week.

They were participants in the Washington Workshops Congressional Seminar June 15-22.

This week they are in New York City studying the operations of a large corporation as guests of the Union Carbide Corporation the Company also picked up the tab for the Washington seminar.

San Carlos Irrigation Project Online Pay Now Available. Pay your #SCIPPower bill at the link or through your bank's online bill service. It's never been easier to #PaySCIP!

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today denied an application by the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska for the Federal Government to take in trust three acres of land in Council Bluffs, Iowa, as the site for an Indian gaming casino.

Proposed regulations governing the preparation of the membership roll for the per capita distribution of more than $20 million awarded to Northern Paiute Indians by the Indian Claims Commission (Docket 87) are being published in the Federal Register.

The proposed regulations state that all persons who meet the following requirements shall be entitled to be enrolled to share in the distribution of the fund:

1) Persons who were born on or prior to and living on October 10, 1974;

2) Who are lineal descendants of Northern Paiute Indians and;

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has officially cleared Kenneth Whitehorn, former BIA agency superintendent for education on the Tohono O'odham reservation in Arizona, of any knowledge or involvement in a child abuse case that occurred on the Hopi Indian Reservation in 1987.

Indian leaders throughout the country will be meeting with representatives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service to plan the implementation of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (P.L. 93-638).

The Act is considered by many as the most important legislation for Indians since the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. Signed January 4 of this year by President Ford, it is designed to promote maximum Indian participation in the government and education of Indian people.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Tara Katuk Sweeney announced today that approximately $5.5 million is available for Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) Energy Mineral Development Program (EMDP) grants to help federally recognized American Indian tribes, Alaska Native entities and tribal energy resource development organizations identify, evaluate or assess the market for energy or mineral resources to be developed. EMDP will fund about 25 to 30 grants. The application deadline is December 2, 2020.

Eddie F. Brown, newly-installed Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, today outlined an action plan for the next 90 days to focus on improving education programs, addressing tribal development on the reservations, and improving Bureau of Indian Affairs management at the central office, area and agency levels.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan, Jr., after meeting with Brown to discuss Indian affairs programs, strongly endorsed Brown's priorities.

The tribal land of the Menominee Indians of Wisconsin once again became a reservation today when Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton in a ceremony in his office formally accepted the deed conveying it to the United States in for the tribe.

Ada Deer, Chairperson of the Menominee Restoration Committee, the tribe's interim governing body, described the transfer plan as "the epitome of Indian self-determination." She said, "It gives the tribe Federal protection without Federal domination.”