Past News Items

WASHINGTON – A federal judge, in response to a motion on behalf of the Department of the Interior, has granted permission for Interior officials to begin communicating with class members on land trust consolidation provisions of the Cobell Settlement agreement. The Department will soon publish a Federal Register notice announcing its intent to begin formal government-to-government consultations with tribal leaders. Interior expects the land consolidation consultations to begin by late-summer.

Regulations to extend the filing period for persons applying for membership on the roll of Grand River Ottawa Indians to be used for the distribution of more than $932,000 awarded by the Indian Claims Commission are being published in the Federal Register, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

In regulations published May 25, 1977 the deadline for filing was September 2, 1977. With the extension, the new deadline will be November 1, 1977.

WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Del Laverdure today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will be holding tribal consultation meetings for tribal leaders to review and provide input on draft regulations on leasing in Indian Country. The draft regulations would establish subparts to 25 CFR Part 162 (Leases and Permits) addressing residential leasing, business leasing and wind and solar resource permitting and leasing on Indian trust lands.

Under Secretary of the Interior James A. Joseph said today that Indian affairs are now a major priority within the Department of the Interior.

In an address before the National Tribal Chairmen's Association in Atlanta, Georgia, tonight, Joseph described five areas of concern to Indian people in which progress is being made in the Department: internal changes; the commitment to Indian self-determination; the approach to economic development on Indian reservations; the protection of Indian rights; and the development of Indian policy.

Washington, D.C.—Today is Native American Heritage Day, thanks to legislation signed by President Obama that permanently designates the Friday after Thanksgiving Day each year as a day of honoring American Indian and Alaska Native cultural heritage and tribal sovereignty.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk thanked President Obama and the Congress for the designation.

Three units of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Indian Education Resources Center in Albuquerque were cited for excellence of service by Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus March 28.

Department of the Interior Unit Citation Awards were presented to division chiefs by the Resources Center Administrator Dr. William J. Benham, Jr., representing the Secretary. The brief ceremony was part of a general staff meeting at the Center.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that he will visit the Theodore Jamerson Elementary School (TJES) in Bismarck, N.D., to join students and teachers in viewing President Obama’s address “My Education, My Future.” The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) funded school is located on the campus of the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC), and provides educational services for American Indian students in grades K-8.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus pledged the full cooperation of his Department in carrying out the five-year plan for the allocation of Columbia River fish runs which was announced today.

"I want to extend my earnest personal congratulations to all those who have worked so effectively to achieve this equitable solution to the volatile situations arising from the implementation of the mandates of the courts on Indian fishing rights," Secretary Andrus said.

WASHINGTON – A graduation ceremony for members comprising the inaugural class of a federally supported pilot project to train American Indians in the commercial building trade will be held December 19, 2008, near the city of Chicago.

Ralph F. Keen, a Cherokee Indian from Oklahoma, has been appointed Acting Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Trust
Responsibilities, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has announced.

In this position, Keen is responsible for the administration of more than 50 million acres of tribal lands held in trust by the United States.