Past News Items

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fiscal Year 2001 budget request is $2.2 billion, a net increase of $331.9 million above the FY 2000 enacted level. Leading the way in the increases in FY 2001 are School Construction, Trust Services, Law Enforcement, and Tribal Priority Allocation funds. Assistant Secretary Kevin Gover praised this budget, stating, "This budget is a good step forward. For too long, the needs of the American Indian people were ignored, and that neglect has created problems that are difficult to solve and expensive to fix.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs announces that the Webster/Dudley Band of Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Indians of Dudley, Massachusetts does not exist as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. This notice is based on a determination that the petitioner does not satisfy criteria 83.7(a), 83.7(b), and 83.7(c) of 25 CFR Part 83 and therefore, does not meet the requirements for government-to-government relationship with the United States. Criterion Part 83.7(a) requires that the petitioner have been identified as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1900.

Robert Abbey will hold a news media teleconference regarding domestic oil and gas production on public and Tribal lands.

Credentialed media may also participate in the teleconference media roundtable by telephone by dialing 1-888-972-9240 and entering the access code INTERIOR.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to fulfilling this nation’s trust responsibilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives, the Office of the Secretary of the Interior will convene the Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform’s third public meeting on June 11-12, 2012.

WASHINGTON - Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development - Indian Affairs George T. Skibine today congratulated the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe on the grand opening of the Cheyenne River Reservation Achievement Center in Eagle Butte, S.D. The Center was established with support from the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED), Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) and Wal-Mart Stores. Skibine was represented at the Sept. 18 opening by IEED Division of Economic Development Chief Jack Stevens.

I am sad to announce that Mr. Thomas Richard Tippeconnic passed away on April 7, 1997 at the University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. He was an Assistant Area Director for the Navajo Area Office, before retiring from the Bureau of Indian Affairs after 35 years of service. He spent most of his adult life working on the Navajo reservation.

He was born on February 10, 1937 in Phoenix, Arizona and was a member of the Comanche Tribe of Oklahoma. Mr. Tippeconnic earned a bachelors degree in Range Management from Oklahoma State University.

WASHINGTON – As part of its efforts to improve and reform the management of the Indian trust for the benefit of all Indians, the Department of the Interior has revised existing—and drafted new—federal Indian trust regulations to implement the American Indian Probate Reform Act (AIPRA) and the Fiduciary Trust Model. The Department held an initial comment period on the first drafts of new regulations from January through April of this year. After incorporating comments, the proposed AIPRA regulations will be published in the Federal Register in coming weeks.

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.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. and Hopi Vice Chairman Todd Honyaoma today signed an historic Navajo-Hopi intergovernmental Compact, resolving a 40-year-old dispute over tribal land in northeastern Arizona.

"I am grateful to all the people who worked so hard over the years to resolve this dispute," Kempthorne said at the signing ceremony in Phoenix. "You have overcome a long history of bitterness and dispute. You truly have laid the foundation for a new relationship - one that will benefit all your people. You have made history."

WASHINGTON, DC - At a press conference at the National Press Club today, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced budget increases for Indian Country initiatives and joined Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson and other Administration officials and Indian leaders in announcing a new Native American-focused training course. Called "Working Effectively with Tribal Governments," the online course is now available to federal employees.