Past News Items

PHOENIX - Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne will meet with tribal leaders and law enforcement officials from tribes in Arizona at the Heard Museum on Thursday, Feb. 22 and hold a press conference on the President's budget proposals for Indian country.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton said today that the Administration will seek full funding of $80,000,000 for the Indian Financing Act approved by President Nixon April 12, 1974.

Secretary Morton said that although the Act was originally slated for only partial funding during this fiscal year, the President has determined that the Act's programs should be accorded a higher priority and be fully funded in Fiscal Year 1975.

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has undertaken its initial response to assisting tribes in the Gulf Coast states who are victims of Hurricane Katrina. There are six federally recognized tribes located in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi who were impacted by the powerful storm. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of this devastating event and their families,” Cason said.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson praised volunteer activity in behalf of Indian foster children April 2, as he bestowed the Indian Leadership Award of the Bureau of Indian Affairs upon an individual and a committee as part of National Action for Foster Children Week March 31 -April 6. The ceremony was held in the Department of the Interior Auditorium Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of the Interior today announced that its Office of Hearings and Appeals is operating under a new structure that will improve and expedite the resolution of Indian probate cases. OHA has created a separate hearings division to focus exclusively on these cases; is opening new offices in Alaska, S.D, and Ore.; and is increasing its staff devoted to probate adjudication.

President Ford will meet with more than 200 leaders of the American Indian community at the White House Friday afternoon (July 16), Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

It will be the first time a President of the United States has met with such a broad representation of the Indian leadership.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced he has confirmed Clayton J. Gregory as regional director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Pacific Regional Office in Sacramento, Calif., effective July 11. Gregory, an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe of Montana with more than 20 years of government service, had been serving as the acting regional director since May 2003.

It would appear that the origins of our State names would be well-established facts; however, when an attempt is made to trace these origins, they are found to be quite elusive and controversial. In most instances, loose translations are offered as an explanation for the meaning of the original word; this is especially true for State names of Indian origin. Some of the following information is quoted, and some is a composite of ideas and opinions expressed by several authorities.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will give the keynote address at the United Tribes Technical College 2004 commencement ceremony scheduled for May 7. The event will be held at the UTTC campus in Bismarck, N.D., starting at 1:00 p.m. (CDT). This year’s graduating class of 89 students, representing 25 tribes from across the United States, is the largest in the college’s 35-year history. Over 10,000 students have graduated from UTTC since the school’s founding.

Tomorrow, June 1, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. EDT, the White House will host a panel discussion of leaders who have contributed to the progress of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! in Indian Country initiative and whose work can be expanded across Indian Country. The discussion will be streamed online at www.WhiteHouse.gov/live. As a key component of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, Let’s Move! in Indian Country focuses on four pillars that are essential to building a healthy future for American Indian and Alaska Native youth: