Past News Items

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Bureau of Indian Education Director Keith Moore announced today that BIE-funded schools across Indian Country will have the opportunity to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Green Ribbon Schools program, and will soon invite them to apply to the BIE to be nominated for this national recognition.

Zane O. Browning, a Chickasaw Indian, has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Agency at Ardmore, Oklahoma, Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard announced today.

Browning has been Program Analysis Officer in the BlA's Muskogee Area Office.

The 43-year-old Haskell Indian School alumnus has worked for the Bureau since 1955. He studied Business and Public Administration at Oklahoma State and Oklahoma University. He also completed the Interior's Departmental Management Training Program.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall has ordered rolls prepared for use in distributing judgment funds awarded by the Indian Claims Commission to six tribes.

To share in the awards~ which were ordered in five separate cases, are the Miami Indians of Oklahoma and Indiana; the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; the Quileute Tribe and the Hoh Indians of Western Washington; and two other Western Washington Tribes -- Nooksack and Duwamish.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk issued the following statement today on the passing of Elouise Cobell:

“Indian Country, as well as the entire nation, has lost a champion of human rights. Elouise Cobell battled to make our country acknowledge historical wrongdoing, and she spoke truth to power so that justice could prevail.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, in its fiscal year 1980 budget request, has asked Congress for Federal funding of $948,120,000 -- approximately $86.5 million less than the 1979 funding.

Most of the decrease, reflecting the President's anti-inflation concern will be in the new construction of buildings, utilities and roads. For the operation of Indian programs, the Bureau has asked for $792,020,000 -- about $3.3 million less than the 1979 funding.

Ben Reifel, a former South Dakota Congressman and an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, has accepted a "recess appointment" as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

President Ford announced the appointment of Reifel December 7 following a recommendation by Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe. Reifel succeeds Morris Thompson who left the post November 3 to return to Alaska as Vice President of the Alcan Pipeline Co.

Reifel will take the oath of office in a ceremony in Secretary Kleppe's office at 3:30 p.m. today.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today celebrated the opening of the new educational facilities at Rough Rock Community School, noting the high-tech, culturally sensitive buildings and classrooms will better serve students and teachers on the Navajo Nation reservation in Arizona. Following his participation in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the official opening of the Rough Rock Community School’s new replacement school facilities, Echo Hawk spoke to attendees about the significance of the occasion.

Fred Kabotie, the well-known Hopi Indian artist, will join the staff of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board this week, the Department of the Interior announced today. His headquarters will be at Oraibi, Arizona, and his territory the Hopi Indian Reservation.

In keeping with the purpose of the Board, Hr. Kabotie will promote the economic welfare of the Hopi people through the development of their arts and crafts.

Donald E. Loudner, a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs agency at Horton, Kansas.

Loudner has been Superintendent of the Yankton Agency at Wagner South Dakota. He was for six years a member of the South Dakota Indian Commission and for about 20 years served as a liaison with Indian tribes in the state for Mitchell, South Dakota. He also functioned as a consultant for the public school system there.

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today affirmed that the Department of the Interior will continue to pursue a balanced course on off-reservation gaming policy, taking into account the views and concerns of tribes, Federal, State and local elected officials and affected citizens. Echo Hawk spoke at a gathering of the National Congress of American Indians in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.