Past News Items

In a resolution commending the Eisenhower Administration's program to provide school facilities for reservation children, the Navajo Tribal Council declared that for the "first time in American history since the Treaty of 1868 the Congress of the United States has taken effective action to provide adequate schools for Navajos."

The Navajo emergency education program, which is designed to put every Navajo child of school age in school within two years, has had the personal support of President Eisenhower and Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay.

Proposed amendments to the regulations governing the enrollment of Alaska Natives under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as amended, were published in the Federal Register, June 4, 1976 Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The proposed revision of the regulations is for the purpose of permitting the filing and review of applications for enrollment pursuant to the Act of January 2, 1976. This Act re-opened the rolls for those persons who missed the original enrollment deadline of March 30, 1973.

"We are excited about President Obama's selection of Sally Jewell for Secretary of the Interior," says Chairman Billy Frank of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. "We think she's a great choice."

Jewell, the former chief executive officer for outdoor gear giant REI, grew up in Washington state and knows the issues important to Indian tribes, Frank said. "She's one of us, and we couldn't be more pleased that she will be leading the Department of Interior for the next four years," he said.

Consolidation of the two Minnesota Indian agencies, now located at Cass Lake and Red Lake, in a new headquarters at Bemidji on December 1 was announced today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons.

Michael .A. Fairbanks, a member of' the Red lake Band of' Chippewa Indians, has been appointed the first Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs new Michigan Agency at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Fairbanks, 39, has been the Tribal Operations Officer at the Western Nevada Agency. He had previously held that position in the Great Lakes Agency from which the Michigan Agency was created.

WASHINGTON D.C. –The Department of the Interior today announced the initial framework of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations that will purchase fractional interests in American Indian trust lands from willing sellers, enabling tribal governments to use the consolidated parcels for the benefit of their communities.

Promotion of Perry E. Skarra from the superintendency of the Yakima Indian Agency., Toppenish, Wash., to the position of assistant area director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Portland, Oreg., and appointment of Dannie E. L. Crone, soil conservationist with the Bureau at Window Rock, Ariz., as the new Yakima superintendent were announced today by Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay. The changes will be effective July 25.

A contract amounting to nearly $2.4 million has been awarded to Nielson's, Inc. of Dolores, Colorado, to build slightly more than 12 miles of road and a bridge over a wash on the Navajo Indian reservation about 10 miles south of Shiprock, New Mexico, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform will hold a public webinar meeting on Nov. 7, 2012. The objectives of the meeting are to:

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced four personnel changes in the Bureau of Indian Affairs as part of the general reorganization of the agency, which has been proceeding for several months.

The transfers follow:

Raymond H. Bitney, superintendent, Western Washington, Everett, Wash., to same post at Menominee Agency, Neopit, Wisconsin, Effective June 6.

Melvin L. Robertson, superintendent, Northern Idaho, Lapwai, Idaho, replaces Bitney. Effective May 23.

Frell M. Owl, superintendent, Red Lake, Minn., replaces Robertson. Effective May 23.