Past News Items

A unique collection representing the traditional and contemporary aspects of American Indian art is currently drawing capacity-plus crowds at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and is slated to open September 26 for a two-weeks showing in Berlin, Germany.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of the Interior today announced it has transferred more than $12 million to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund, bringing the total amount transferred so far to $17 million. Authorized by the historic Cobell Settlement, and funded in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), the Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance through scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary and graduate education and training.

Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel leaves Washington today for an “on the scene” environmental inspection tour of three National Park System areas in Wyoming and Montana and a meeting with tribal chiefs of the Crow Indian Reservation.

His trip will include official visits to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks Wednesday, July 1, through Saturday, July 4, followed by a meeting with the Crow Indian leaders—with whom he will smoke an “environmental peace pipe,” at a ceremony in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreational Area.

Two contracts totaling $367,043 have been awarded by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs for road construction projects on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, S. D. and the Yakima Reservation in Washington.

A $247, 885 contract for crushed rock and bituminous mat surfacing of approximately 15.5 miles of the Signal Peak road on the Yakima Reservation was awarded to Bohannon Asphalt Paving, Inc.; of Yakima, Wash. Five bids were received, ranging to a high of $298,520.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will visit South Florida this week for a series of events focused on restoring the health of the Everglades. While there, Jewell will also meet with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to announce a milestone in increasing self-determination and economic development for Native American tribes.

Forrest J. Gerard, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, today announced his resignation effective January 19, 1980, to re-enter private business.

Gerard, a Presidential appointee who has served since September 1977 as the Department's first Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, said in a letter to President Carter: ''My decision to re-enter private business was not easily reached. In these difficult times, however, my responsibility to assist two of my daughters with their college education left me but a single choice."

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced three appointments to high-level positions in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and said the appointments were "key steps in making the Bureau more responsive to the needs of the Indian people."

Named to the top-level posts under Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert LaFollette Bennett were:

-- Theodore W. Taylor, a career civil servant, to be Deputy Commissioner. Taylor has been Assistant to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution since 1959, and is a veteran of Interior and BIA service.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services (OJS) will conduct tribal consultation with the federally recognized tribes throughout the month of October, 2010. A letter announcing the meetings was sent to tribal leaders on September 17, 2010. “The input from tribal leaders is crucial to ensuring safety in Indian Country,” Echo Hawk said.

Proposed revisions to regulations dealing with the tribal purchase of certain property interests of decedents under special laws applicable to the Yakima Tribes of Washington, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho are being published in the Federal Register, the Department of the Interior's Office of Hearings and Appeals announced today.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today gave the Department's Distinguished Service Award for outstanding records or exceptional contribution to the public service to 43 employees and a Valor Award to another employee for bravery in attempting to save a child's life.

Included among the recipients of certificates for superior Federal service were John M. Kelly, former Assistant Secretary for Mineral Resources, and Dr. Thomas B. Nolan, former Director of the Geological Survey.