Past News Items

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb today announced the awarding of a $460,518 grant to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, to support the Tribes’ efforts to enter the oil refining business by building a Clean Fuels Petroleum Refinery (CFPR) on its reservation. “With the right help, tribes can find innovative ways of developing and using their natural resources to build a strong economic base and provide jobs for their people,” McCaleb said.

Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel has announced the publication, in the Federal Register, of a list of 83 Indian tribes which conduct their own local law enforcement and are therefore eligible for assistance under the I Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968.

"These are the tribes which have clear-cut jurisdiction over law and order on their reservations," Hickel said, "and this publication makes it possible for them to make timely applications for Federal assistance in improving local crime control."

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney announced today a new internal policy governing how the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) processes tribal applications under the “Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act of 2012” (HEARTH Act).

WASHINGTON--The Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Law Enforcement Services (BIAOLES) announces the 2nd Annual Indian Country Corrections Summit to be held from July 16 - 18, 2002, at the Hyatt Regency in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The summit theme is "Positive Change Through Effective Partnership." The purpose of the Summit is to create awareness, share ideas, establish partnerships and enhance commitment to Indian Country Corrections.

Fourteen final awards totaling almost $33 million were granted 11 American Indian groups by judgments of the Indian/Claims Commission during 1967, the Bureau of Indian Affairs reported today.

In addition, six other Indian groups were given awards in 1965 and 1967 totaling another $21,363,355.33, but these have not become final because of appeal or other legal actions.

Congress has appropriated funds for $15.3 million of the total granted. The appropriated funds earn interest for the tribes involved, while awaiting Congressional action and final disbursement.

WASHINGTON -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Law Enforcement Services (OLES) will hold its 11th Annual Memorial Service May 9, 2002, to commemorate the sacrifice made by tribal law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty while serving on Indian lands. The Memorial Service will start at 10:30 A.M. on the BIA Indian Police Academy grounds in Artesia, New Mexico.

New superintendents of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for Eastern Navajo Agency, Crownpoint, N.M., and Fort Totten Agency, Fort Totten, N. D., were named today by Commissioner Robert L. Bennett. Both superintendents are of Indian descent.

Edward O. Plummer, Tohatchi, N.M., was names to the superintendence of the Eastern Navajo Agency. He is now realty officer at the Navajo Area Office, Window Rock, Ariz. Plummer is the first Navajo Indian appointed by Commissioner Bennett to be superintendent of an agency in the Navajo area.

On Monday, December 18, 2000, at 11:00 a.m. (EST), Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Gover will formally open the Ely S. Parker Building, the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) new facility in Reston, Virginia, with the unveiling of a plaque naming the building for the first American Indian to serve as Commissioner for Indian Affairs. The facility will house the BIA’s Office of Management and Administration and Office of Information Technology, and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Business Center (NBC).

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall has announced the appointment of Henry B. Taliaferro, Jr., of Oklahoma, as an Associate Solicitor to head the Division of Indian Affairs in the Office of the Solicitor in Washington, D. C.

Taliaferro, 36, is a native of Shawnee, Okla., who graduated from high school in Oklahoma City and holds a bachelor of arts and a law degree from the University of Oklahoma.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Kevin Gover, today issued two proposed positive findings concerning petitions for Federal acknowledgment from the Eastern Pequot Indians and the Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Indians, both groups are headquartered in North Stonington, Connecticut.