Past News Items

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Michael S. Black will deliver the keynote address at the 23rd Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service on Thursday, May 1, 2014, at the BIA Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M. He will be accompanied by BIA Office of Justice Services (OJS) Deputy Bureau Director Darren Cruzan.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today that Donald I. Morgan, 37, a member of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe, has been named Superintendent of the Crow Creek Agency, Bureau of India, at Fort Thompson, South Dakota.

The appointment will became effective on May 14. He will be become the first superintendent of the Crow Creek Agency. This agency was formed when what had been the Pierre Agency was split into the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Agencies.

A $16 million road construction program has been carried out on Indian reservations by the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the fiscal year which will end June 30, 1965, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash announced today.

Improved roads open up undeveloped sections of Indian reservations for industrial and commercial development, tourism, and increased recreational use. More and better roads also mean improved school bus services for Indian youngsters and easier access to market areas for Indian farmers and ranchers.

Proposal for Fiscal Year 2015 fully funds contract support costs, launches the “Tiwahe Initiative” to address family welfare and poverty issues, invests in education, economic development, and sustainable stewardship of natural resources, and advances a strategy to reduce incarceration in Indian Country.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

(Following is a statement delivered by Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton during a visit to the Uintah-Ouray Indian preservation in Utah Tuesday evening, October 5, 1971.)

I am very pleased to report to you that before I left Washington, a Secretarial Order was signed that revokes a 1930 oil shale withdrawal order as it pertained to your Indian lands.

Thus, we have erased any doubt that might have existed as to the Tribe1s ownership of lands and minerals affected by the 1930 order.

MAJOR COMPANIES TO BOOST INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN INDIAN COUNTRY

Executives of an electronics company, a petro-chemical company and several other major corporations have reported to BIA that they have arranged to sponsor meetings of business leaders to inform them of industrial development opportunities in Indian areas. Six such meetings will soon be scheduled for various parts of the country, at which more than 300 industrial executives will consult with Indian tribal leaders about advantages available to industries in Indian population areas.

Washington, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn announced today that the Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians and the Kaw Nation are the latest tribes to receive clearance of tribal leasing codes to enable them to handle leasing of their own Indian lands without having to obtain the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) approval.

The clearance came under the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act (HEARTH Act), signed by President Obama in July 2012.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is proposing a reV1S10n in Federal regulations in order to tighten environmental protection stipulations in f leases for the surface use of Indian-owned lands under Federal trusteeship.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce said today the proposed change is being published in the Federal Register. It relates to section 11, part 131, Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Interested persons have 30 days from the date of publication to submit comments.

An agreement between the Public Housing Administration and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs was signed today by Housing Commissioner Marie C. McGuire and Indian Commissioner Philleo Nash, calling for joint efforts in bringing low-rent housing to thousands of American Indian families.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Education today, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of the Interior, announced the award of more than $5 million in grants to help Native American youth become college- and career-ready.