Past News Items

PHOENIX - Following approval by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, the largest Indian water rights settlement in U.S. history is now fully in effect, concluding more than three decades of extraordinary effort by federal, state and tribal leaders to resolve critical water use issues facing tribal communities and the State of Arizona.

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.

Effective April 2000, all remaining Individual Indian Monies (IIM) trust fund accounts have been converted to a new, automated Trust Fund Accounting System (TFAS). The implementation of this new accounting system at all BIA Regional Offices marks the completion of a significant component of the Secretary of the Interior’s Trust Management Improvement Project. TFAS is the responsibility of the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST).

The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon (Tribes), Portland General Electric Company (PGE), and the U.S. Department of the Interior today approved an agreement providing for the Tribes and PGE to share the 408-megawatt Pelton Round Butte hydroelectric project near Madras, Ore. Before the signing of the agreement, Warm Springs tribal elder, Delvis Heath, provided a beautiful traditional blessing for the ceremony.

Members of Tribes overwhelmingly approved the agreement in a referendum election held on March 28, 2000.

Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Hilda Manuel, has announced her resignation from government service effective April 7, 2000. Ms. Manuel, a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation, has worked at the BIA for ten years, including more than five years as Deputy Commissioner. She served two Assistant Secretary -Indian Affairs appointees. Ms. Manuel has provided strong leadership during some tumultuous times for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Kevin Gover, today issued two proposed positive findings concerning petitions for Federal acknowledgment from the Eastern Pequot Indians and the Paucatuck Eastern Pequot Indians, both groups are headquartered in North Stonington, Connecticut.

The Department of the Interior published a final rule on governing review of per capita distributions in the Federal Register. The new regulation establishes procedures for the submission, review and approval of tribal revenue allocation plans for the distribution of net gaming revenues from tribal gaming activities. Assistant Secretary -Indian Affairs Kevin Gover in announcing these regulations stated, "These new rules will provide clarity and guidance to tribal governments in meeting the mandates of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act."

Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs, Kevin Gover announces that there is currently $59 million dollars available in loan guaranty authority to assist tribal and individual economic development projects and business ventures through the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Indian Loan Guaranty Program.

Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs, Kevin Gover has approved immediate distribution of $108 million to build roads and bridges on Indian lands proposed by the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) Regulatory Negotiations Committee. The Assistant Secretary also set into motion a process for distributing the remaining funds within 45 days.

Surrounded by more than 35 Cowlitz Indians from the State of Washington, Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Kevin Gover today signed the final determination to federally acknowledge their tribe. With 1,482 members, the tribe is located in southwestern Washington state. Historically its villages ranged a distance of 60 miles from the source to the mouth of the Cowlitz River, with an important center at the well-known landmark of the Cowlitz Indian Mission.