Past News Items

Action restores former lands to the Tribe with projected jobs and revenue benefitting it as well as local and regional economies.

Ross Swimmer, the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, has sent Indian tribes, organizations and Congressional leaders a nine-page paper that provides answers to 48 of the most commonly asked questions concerning a contract with Mellon Bank of Pittsburgh for trust fund services.

In an attached letter, Swimmer said he or his representative will be visiting each of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) 12 area offices to meet with tribes and employees about trust fund changes.

Carl J. Cornelius, a 40-year veteran with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has been named Field Administrator for the Bureau, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. In his new position in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cornelius will be responsible for administrative and management services for Bureau field units.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan announced today the appointment of David J. Matheson a former chairman of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, as Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs effective May 20

"Dave Matheson has an outstanding record of leadership in Indian affairs in the federal government, as a tribal official and in the private sector," Lujan said. "He is especially well equipped to stimulate much needed economic development on tribal lands across America."

William J. Lawrence has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Colorado River Agency at Parker, Arizona.

Lawrence, a Red Lake Chippewa, graduated from the University Of North Dakota School Of Law in 1972 and had been working for the Terry C. Holter Law Firm in Bemidji, Minnesota. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962 from the Bemidji State College.

The Department of Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Eddie F. Brown, today announced the appointment of Walter R. Mills as Deputy to the Assistant Secretary for Operations. Mills, a 17-year employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe in Pine Ridge, S.D., has been acting in the position since last month. His new appointment is effective September 24.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Santa Fe, New Mexico, will be chartered as a junior college.

The school, established in 1962, has had for many years a post­secondary program in the fine arts and has many distinguished Indian artists among its alumni. It has not been, however, a degree granting institution.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke and Mark Macarro, Chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians today signed the Pechanga Water Rights Settlement Agreement (Agreement), formally executing a Congressionally authorized pact that protects the Pechanga Band’s access to groundwater in the region and provides the tribe with more than $30 million in federal funding to pay for water storage projects.

Kenneth L. Payton, former deputy director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Albuquerque area office, received the Distinguished Service Award of the Department of the Interior today in a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Interior Secretary James Watt made the presentation to Payton "in recognition of 32 years of outstanding leadership and superior performance in service to the Indian people and the Bureau of Indian Affairs."

Leo J. O'Connor, an enrolled member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Yankton Agency at Wagner, South Dakota. Acting Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs Martin E. Seneca, Jr. said that O'Connor's appointment was effective December 3, 1978.

O'Connor has been the Agency Administrative Officer. From 1971 to 1976 he held various positions with the tribe. He was the acting tribal chairman, executive director of the tribal development program and director of the business and claims committee.