Past News Items

After careful consideration of a progress report submitted in person recently by T. B. Watters and Eugene G. Favell, management specialists working under Secretarial contract with the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Wesley A. D'Ewart today expressed the opinion that amendment of the Klamath Termination Act (Public Law 587 of the 83rd Congress) would be premature at the present time.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman this week invited leaders from the 562 federally recognized tribes to attend a national meeting in Washington, D.C., on January 30, 2008, on the Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative. The one-day event will take place at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Horizon Room, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST).

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay announced today that, in accordance with a decision jointly reached by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons and himself, a three-man departmental committee has been appointed to hold hearings in the State of Washington beginning February 13 on the controversial Yakima tribal election held last December 6.

WASHINGTON – Former Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan, Jr., will join Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason and Special Trustee for American Indians Ross O. Swimmer in Albuquerque, N.M., on April 27, 2006, at a ceremony to officially dedicate the Bureau of Indian Affairs Manuel Lujan, Jr. Indian Affairs Building and to open DOI’s National Indian Programs Training Center (NIPTC). They will be joined by All Indian Pueblo Council Chairman Amadeo Shije and Governor Roland Johnson of the Pueblo of Laguna.

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton today paid tribute to the courageous men and women from the Department of the Interior who participated in the Gulf Coast Hurricane Relief effort last year. One hundred and twenty men and women representing thirteen departments and bureaus were chosen to represent the more than six thousand DOI employees who worked tirelessly to bring relief to the devastated citizens of the Gulf Coast Region.

Award of two contracts for rehabilitation of dormitories at Cheyenne and Arapaho School, Concho, Oklahoma, and at Ft. Sill School, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Los Angeles, CA - Deputy Secretary of the Interior Steven Griles today joined representatives of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the San Luis Rey Indian Water Authority, the City of Escondido and the Vista Irrigation District to sign Principles of Agreement for the San Luis Rey Indian Water Settlement Act.

Award of a $271,570 contract for construction of day school facilities at Borrego Pass on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico to Wilson Hockinson & Cantrall, Inc.; of Albuquerque was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Two other New Mexico firms submitted higher bids of $279,900 and $283,630.

The new four-classroom school will serve 120 Indian children living in the Borrego Pass area. It will be erected at the site of the present trailer school operated by the Indian Bureau.

WASHINGTON – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today announced that an employee at the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) was named as a finalist for the 2003 Service to America Medals, a national awards program to honor the groundbreaking achievements of federal employees. Special Agent John Oliveria, a Law Enforcement Agent at BIA, is one of 28 national finalists for the awards due to his work in developing initiatives to fight child abuse and sexual assault cases in American Indian communities while in federal service.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton has submitted a proposed bill to Congress that would equalize the value of tribal property divided among members of the Ague Caliente Band of Indians on the Palm Springs Reservation in California.

The legislation was developed after numerous conferences with the Ague Caliente Band. It would affect 92 Indians, 31 adults and 61 minors," who live in and around the resort community of Palm Springs. Also affected would be undivided tribal properties estimated to be worth over $12,000,000.