Past News Items

Washington, D.C. — As part of the Obama Administration’s effort to prepare communities nationwide for the impacts of a changing climate, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced that the Interior Department will make available $8 million to fund projects that promote tribal climate change adaptation and ocean and coastal management planning through its Tribal Climate Resilience Program.

Robert L. Bennett, Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has announced the appointment of new superintendents for three field Agencies.

Jose A. Zuni, a Pueblo Indian from Isleta, N. Mex., and former superintendent of the Consolidated Ute Agency, Ignacio, Colo., will move to the position of superintendent of the Nevada Agency (mainly Paiute, Shoshone and Washo Indians) at Stewart, Nev. His appointment becomes effective June 26, 1966.

Zuni will fill the vacancy created by the transfer of Dale M. Baldwin to post of Director for the Portland, Oreg., Area last March.

Washington, D.C. - Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today lauded Senate approval of legislation to authorize implementation of the Cobell Settlement, a $3.4 billion agreement that will resolve the long-running and highly contentious class action lawsuit regarding the U.S. government's trust management and accounting of individual American Indian trust accounts.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR BIA TEACHER--Mrs. Iva Kingsley, the academic head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs School at Kayenta, Ariz., was recently honored as an Outstanding World Educator. The award was presented by the Society of International Educators, headquartered in London, and recognizes Mrs. Kingsleys skilled service in elementary education. Mrs. Kingsley has been a Bureau teacher for the past 26 years, with the exception of three years spent in teaching military dependent children at Flagstaff, Ariz.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that tribal consultation will be held regarding the Interior Department’s Fiscal Year 2011-2016 Strategic Plan in a series of meetings across Indian Country from September 15 through October 7, 2010. The Plan is a roadmap for the Department for the next six years, and a means of communicating its goals and specific commitments to the federally recognized tribes, DOI employees and other stakeholders.

Dale M. Baldwin, a career employee of 17 years' service, will head the Bureau of Indian Affairs area office in Portland, Oregon, the Department of the Interior has announced.

The transfer from his present post as Superintendent of the Nevada Indian Agency at Stewart, Nev., will be effective March 20, 1966.

In 1965 Baldwin was cited for outstanding performance during his five years of work with the 26 tribal groups throughout Nevada.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that he has selected Keith O. Moore as Director of the Bureau of Indian Education. Moore, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, had been serving as the Chief Diversity Officer at the University of South Dakota since August 15, 2009. He takes over from the acting BIE director, Bartholomew “Bart” Stevens. Moore’s appointment will become effective on June 1, 2010.

With the filing deadline only two months away, the Bureau of Indian Affairs reported only 2,000 applications have been received from descendants of Miami Indians who believe they are eligible to share in more than $4 million in Indian Claims Commission awards to the tribe as additional payment for Ohio and Indiana land the Miami's sold the Government in 1818.

Virgil M. Harrington, BIA Area Director, Muskogee, Okla., said that he has issued 5,000 application forms and received only 2,000 back. All applications must be received at his office no later than July 31, 1967, he said.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Jerold L. “Jerry” Gidner today announced that he has named Diane K. Rosen as Regional Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Midwest Regional Office in Ft. Snelling, Minn. Rosen, who has ancestry from two federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin, the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians where she is enrolled and the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, had been serving as the acting regional director since October 25, 2009.

SALT RIVER SPONSORS TRADE FAIR -- The first National All-Indian Trade Fair sponsored by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indians will be held May 4-7 on the Salt River Reservation near Scottsdale, Ariz.

More than 40 Indian tribes have been invited to participate in the program, which will feature products of nationally-known industrial firms employing Indian workers.