Past News Items

Robert Schoning, Oregon State Fisheries Director, and Thor Tollefson, Director of the Washington State Department of Fisheries, conferred this week with top officials of the Department of the Interior in Washington to explore possibilities of cooperatively developing regulations that would recognize and provide for Indian off-reservation treaty fishing rights.

Governor Tom McCall of Oregon, at whose request the meeting was held, was unable to attend because of adverse flying weather.

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.

A coordinated effort to develop more effective leadership for Indian community development has been launched by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Commissioner Robert Lo Bennett said today.

"We hope th4t the group spirit and cultural strengths which have enabled many Indian groups to survive and maintain their identity against tremendous odds may be translated into new community actions which can generate the social and economic progress necessary to bring Indians into their rightful place in American society." Bennett said.

When the fire started on June 11 at the Over the Rainbow housing subdivision located on the Fort Apache Reservation in central-eastern Arizona, the initial response to it was performed by the Fort Apache Bureau of Indian Affairs Fire Department. But the fire grew quickly and in minutes was beyond the capacity of local resources. The Bureau of Indian Affairs coordinated the effort to get other resources from the state of Arizona and the U.S. Fish and Game Department to combat the fire that was quickly threatening surrounding property.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall has approved changes in Federal regulations governing conduct of certain tribal elections authorized under the Indian Reorganization Act. The changes, which are being published in the Federal Register, are designed primarily to facilitate tribal government.

Comments received by the Bureau of Indian Affairs since proposed changes were announced in February have been considered in preparation of the new regulations.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer on June 23 signed a preliminary decision that proposes extending Federal acknowledgment to the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Bradley, MI. Assistant Secretary Deer said the petitioner meets all seven of the required criteria in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 25, Section 83. 7, as modified by Section 83.8, and therefore qualifies for a government-to-government relationship with the United States.

The reassignment of two Indian Agency superintendents and the appointment of a third was announced today by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

William W. Grissom will move from the Superintendent's post at the Blackfeet Agency, Browning, Mont., to Superintendent of the Anadarko Agency, Anadarko, Okla. He succeeds Robert Meshaw, who died Aug. 30, 1966.

Born in Noble, Okla., Grissom served in the Coast Guard during World War II. He joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1949 as a soil conservationist at Anadarko after being graduated from Oklahoma A & M College.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada Deer today announced her resignation. Deer, appointed by President Clinton in 1993, is the first American Indian woman to serve in this position.

At the request of Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, Deer has agreed to remain in office until a successor is in place. Deer said she is not ready to announce her future plans publicly at this time.

A full-blooded Navajo Indian, Wilson Barber, Jr., has been appointed Superintendent of the BIA Cheyenne River Agency at Eagle Butte, South Dakota, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. His appointment will be effective December 7.

Barber, 34, has been Realty Officer at the Eastern Navajo Agency in New Mexico. He succeeds Thomas Claymore who has retired.

Barber worked for the Navajo Tribe as a Department Supervisor before taking a position with the BIA Navajo Area Office in 1967.

Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Daniel P. Beard today announced a new policy designed to protect Indian trust assets from adverse impacts of Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) programs and activities.