Past News Items

The Navajo Indian Tribe and the Pomona (Calif.) Division of General Dynamics Corp. have joined forces to establish a missile parts plant at Fort Defiance, Ariz., it was announced today by the Tribe, the Company and the Department of the Interior.

Operations will consist mainly of electronic component and circuit assemblies for flight and guidance of the Standard Missile, a tactical weapon for use in U.S. Navy vessels.

WASHINGTON - Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 7 at 10:30 am eastern, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate and White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Cecilia Munoz will hold a press conference call with reporters to make an announcement regarding tribal nations and federal disaster aid.

A plan for the use and distribution of $600,000 awarded to the Seneca Nation of Indians by the Indian Claims Commission is being published in the Federal Register, the Bureau of Indian Affairs said today.

The award fa compensation for leased lands within the Allegany Reservation in New York State. The major portion, of the leased lands are within the boundaries of the City of Salamanca.

According to the plan, approved by Congress and made effective February l, 1979, 80 percent of the award will be distributed on a per capita basis to members of the Seneca Nation.

Nearly $200 million in new school construction and school improvement projects were approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the fiscal years 1962-1967, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall reported today.

The projects funded represent intensive efforts by the Department, during the six years beginning July 1, 1961, and continuing through next June 30, to expand and upgrade Federal school facilities serving young Indians who do not have access to public schools. Bureau schools and dormitories serve about 55,000 youngsters in 18 States.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today administered the oath of office to James C. Redman at his inauguration as Haskell Indian Nations University’s (HINU) sixth president. The ceremony took place today on the Haskell campus in Lawrence, Kan., where Echo Hawk and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Director Keith Moore were joined by local dignitaries, tribal leaders, students, staff, faculty and fellow regional academic community members.

INDIAN LAND TRUST RESTRICTIONS EXPIRING IN 1961 EXTENDED FIVE YEARS Trust restrictions on allotted Indian lands, scheduled to expire in calendar year 1961, have been extended for an additional five years, Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton announced today.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus announced today approval an agreement between the Gila River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Kennecott Copper Corp. to settle a long-standing dispute over water rights in Arizona's Gila River watershed.

Under the agreement, the Indians consent to Kennecott's continued use of water from Mineral Creek, a tributary of the Gila River, in its mining operation upstream from the Indian Reservation.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk and his principal deputy assistant secretary, Donald “Del” Laverdure, today announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Harvard University’s Project on American Indian Economic Development whereby DOI and Harvard will collaborate on promoting tribal economic development through research, outreach and leadership education. The MOU was finalized July 12, 2011.

Award of a $30,700 contract to begin construction of a new student union building at the Haskell Indian Institute, Lawrence, Kansas was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract covers the installation of concrete piling and grade beams for the new structure. When completed, the building will provide improved scholastic and recreational facilities for about 1,100 Indian students at the nationally famed Kansas institution.

Proposed regulations to implement the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, insofar as it pertains to coal mining on Indian lands, were published in the Federal Register September 15 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The proposed regulations are intended to bring surface coal mining activity on the Indian lands into compliance with the environmental safeguard and reclamation requirements imposed by the Act.