Past News Items

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, June 18, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes will hold a news media teleconference to discuss the next phase of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), including launching pilot efforts to establish cooperative agreements with Tribal governments. Hayes will be joined by Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn.

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced the appointment of Carl W. Beck of Apache County, Arizona; as a special consultant on Indian Affairs.

A former official of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Mr. Beck resigned in 1948 to enter private business.

He served in the Indian Service for 23 years in a number of responsible positions including the superintendencies of the Western Shoshone Agency, Owyhee, Nevada, and Fort Hall, Idaho. He entered the Navajo Indian Service in 1929.

An American Indian planning committee has set three goals for a White House Pre-conference dealing with library services on reservations, Dr. William Demmert, Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Indian Education announced today.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will reopen its search for a new regional director of the Bureau’s Alaska Regional Office. The BIA will begin soliciting applicants for the Senior Executive Service (SES) position, which is located in Anchorage, starting on April 22, 2013.

Christian H. Beitzel will replace Robert B. McKee as superintendent of the Crow Creek Indian Agency in South Dakota when the agency moves from Fort Thompson to Pierre on December 1, Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay announced today.

Ronald L. Esquerra, an enrolled member of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, has been appointed Director of the bureau of Indian Affair’s Albuquerque Area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Esquerra, 31, has been Executive Assistant to Commissioner Thompson the past two years. He will report Albuquerque in mid-June. He succeeds Walter O. Olson retired in 1974.

"Ron has been my right hand," Thompson said. "I know he has the ability to handle the important responsibilities of the Albuquerque Area. He has proven his competence."

STANDING ROCK, N.D. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (OJS) officers, working with tribal and county law enforcement, were instrumental in apprehending an “armed and dangerous” adult male approximately 12 miles from Fort Yates community on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. The individual was wanted on a federal warrant for Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamines.

Persons claiming Menominee Indian blood have until September 17 for filing applications to have their names added to the present tribal roll, Acting Secretary Fred G. Aandahl said today. Applications should be filed with the Menominee Tribe, in care of the Superintendent, Neopit, Wisconsin.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that a contract to construct additional school facilities for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Gray Hill High School at Tuba City, Ariz., has been awarded to the Hunt Building Corporation, El Faso, Texas.

The $2.9 million contract requires the construction of' three dormitory wings, two annexes to the present gymnasium, a practical arts shop addition and a new student union.

The dormitory additions, when completed, will provide accommodations for 400 students.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6, 2012—Four cabinet-level departments joined the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation today in signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve the protection of Indian sacred sites. The MOU also calls for improving tribal access to the sites. It was signed by cabinet secretaries from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy and Interior. It was also signed by the chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.