Past News Items

Approximately 800 acres of federally-owned land, adjoining the Fort Sill Indian School at Lawton, Okla., has been added to the land held in trust for the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Indians of Oklahoma.

The land was administratively transferred to the Secretary of the Interior, as trustee, by Arthur F. Sampson, Administrator of the General Services Administration on March 17, 1975. Notice of the transfer has been published in the Federal Register.

WASHINGTON – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs John Tahsuda today announced the appointment of Charles Addington as deputy bureau director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Office of Justice Services (OJS). The appointment by BIA Director Bryan Rice became effective on December 24, 2017. Addington, a member of the Cherokee Nation, had been serving as OJS’s acting deputy bureau director since October 2, 2017.

Addington has over 25 years of law enforcement experience, 20 of which are in the management of Indian Country law enforcement programs.

Leaders of the Ak-Chin Tribe in Arizona and the Department of Interior have signed an "agreement in principle” for the revision of legislation designed to assure the Tribe of a permanent water supply, provided in an economically efficient manner, according to William P. Horn , Interior Deputy Under Secretary .

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus today signed an order restoring to the Quechan Indians 25,000 acres of land within the original 1884 boundaries of the Fort Yuma Reservation in Arizona and California.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke praised today’s announcement by the Department of Justice on the progress being made in coordinated federal, state, tribal and local efforts that are reducing the incidence of violent crime across the Nation.

Interior Secretary James Watt, Agricultural Secretary John R. Block and representatives of Chugach Natives, Inc. today signed an agreement that provides for the final major settlement with regional corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA). The State of Alaska, also a party to the agreement, will sign shortly. “

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus today released a draft supplement to the 1974 final environmental impact statement covering Executive Branch alternatives for protecting Alaska National Interest Lands until Congress can take final action.

WASHINGTON – Furthering President Obama’s Generation Indigenous (“Gen-I”) and Tiwahe initiatives that support American Indian and Alaska Native families and strengthen tribal communities, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Lawrence S.

Secretary Cecil D. Andrus announced today that he will visit the Pacific Northwest in September to review the status of salmon and steelhead runs and to make an official visit to the Quinault Indian Reservation

"There is a growing concern for the condition of the fishery and I want to take the opportunity not only to review its current status but also to obtain first-hand reports about the future of the runs from Federal, State and Tribal representatives," Andrus said.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today issued the following statement regarding the $40 million in additional Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-related funding in the recently enacted Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015.