Past News Items

The U.S. Department of the Interior will hold a public panel discussion to gather comments on the proposed amendment to the Federal Regulations governing the Department's decisions about whether to take land into trust on behalf of Indian tribes. The amendment of these regulations is an important step in providing tribes and their non-Indian neighbors with a clearer understanding of how the Department reviews requests to take land into trust.

The Department of the Interior is proposing to amend the federal regulations used in determining whether to take land into trust on behalf of Indians. The proposed amendments will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, April 12. Their publication will open up a 90-day period of public comment.

The Department of the Interior will publish final regulations to deal with Indian gaming compact negotiations between States and Tribes when Tribes have exhausted other federal judicial remedies. A final rule has been sent to the Federal Register for publication. The new regulation will only apply in cases where Tribes and States have been unable to voluntarily negotiate Class III gaming compacts and where States otherwise allow Class III gaming activities and when States assert immunity from lawsuits to resolve the dispute.

Education for American Indian children, safety for Indian reservation residents, the restoration of the environment and a continuation of the remarkable comeback of an American icon lead the way in President Clinton's Fiscal Year 2000 budget request for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The FY 2000 budget request for the BIA is 1.9 billion dollars; an increase of $155.6 million above the 1999 enacted level.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover today thanked both Congress and President Clinton for approving a land claims settlement act that awards approximately $70 million to five Ottawa and Chippewa tribes of Michigan.

Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover will hold a media briefing on Thursday, September 9. Their briefing will focus on a new report documenting the management of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and other issues affecting the BIA budget.

The briefing will be held in Room 7000 of the Main Interior Building, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC, it begins at 4:00 p.m. EST.

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today announced the appointment of Robert T. Anderson as Counselor to the Secretary. Anderson will be based in Seattle and advise the Secretary on a wide variety of policy matters, including Native American, environmental and Northwest issues.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover today announced that $16.5 million will be distributed this month to 310 small and needy American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes to provide adequate funding for tribal governments and operations. Small and needy tribes are those that have less than $160,000 in annual funding and have 1,500 or fewer members enrolled. Tribes in Alaska must have less than $200,000 in annual funding to qualify.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced to day that the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma will resume their Law Enforcement activities.

"Eight federally recognized Indian tribes and approximately 56,000 Indian people have been adversely affected by the recent disastrous weather in South Dakota," Ms. Deer said.

The Dakotas have been hit by freezing temperatures and record snowfall. Snow has drifted to as high as 15 feet in some areas closing all roads and stranding people in remote areas. "Mercifully, there has been only one reported Indian death as a result of this bad weather." Mr. Delbert Brewer, Area Director for the Aberdeen Area Office said.