Past News Items

Twelve Indian high school students selected from schools all over the west will participate in "A Better Chance" program originating on the campus of Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H., this summer, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett announced today.

(WASHINGTON) – With the stroke of a pen today, President George W. Bush signed into law the “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001,” the historic education bill that for the first time will bring to BIA-funded schools the four pillars of his education reform plan: accountability and testing, flexibility and local control, funding for what works and expanded parental options for children attending failing schools.

The award of a $3,386,999 contract for the construction of high school facilities at Sisseton, S.D., was announced by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation (Tribes), The Montana Power Company (MPC), PPL Montana (PPLM), Trout Unlimited (TU), and the U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior) announce that they have reached an agreement to settle the Montana Power Company v. FERC lawsuit, currently pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the storm-stricken areas of Arizona, where snow depths, up to 79 inches are reported, said today everything humanly possible is being done for the affected Indians and their livestock.

Similarly, the Public Health Service's Division of Indian Health reported its staff in the storm area participating in rescue work and alert to possible heavy demands on personnel and facilities in the storm aftermath.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona will join Hopi and Navajo leaders at a historic signing ceremony in Phoenix, Ariz., tomorrow. Representatives of the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe will sign a compact resolving a long-standing dispute over access to sites for traditional tribal religious observances.

Signing the agreement will be Todd .Honyaoma, Vice Chairman of the Hopi Tribal Council, and Joe Shirley, President of the Navajo Nation. The signers, Secretary Kempthorne and Rep. Renzi will make remarks.

Formal dedication of the Chippewa Ranch Conservation Center, operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs near Mahnomen, Minn. is scheduled for Sunday, October 29. Principal speaker for the event will be Will Rogers. Jr., assistant to Robert L. Bennett, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

In announcing the dedication of the Job Corps Center on the White Earth Reservation, Commissioner Bennett said it is the eighth center to be established on or near an Indian reservation.

Today in Billings, Montana the Bureau of Indian Affairs unveiled the Trust Assets Accounting Management System. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt hit the switch that officially started the pilot project of TAAMS. The program designed by the Trust management employees of the BIA and implemented by Applied Terra Vision, Artesia Systems Group, worked perfectly.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett has endorsed in principle the construction and operation of Indian-owned motels under franchise arrangements with interested regional or national motel groups, the Department of the Interior reported today.

Three Denver based Offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) are assisting tribes to prepare for the 21st Century by providing access to state-of-the-art science in resource management. The Division of Energy and Mineral Resources, Geographic Data Service Center, and the Division of Forestry's Branch of Forest Resources Planning provide highly technical assistance and services to the Indian Community. "These offices offer the latest technology and software programs available.