Past News Items

Formal dedication of the Chippewa Ranch Conservation Center, operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs near Mahnomen, Minn. is scheduled for Sunday, October 29. Principal speaker for the event will be Will Rogers. Jr., assistant to Robert L. Bennett, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

In announcing the dedication of the Job Corps Center on the White Earth Reservation, Commissioner Bennett said it is the eighth center to be established on or near an Indian reservation.

Today in Billings, Montana the Bureau of Indian Affairs unveiled the Trust Assets Accounting Management System. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt hit the switch that officially started the pilot project of TAAMS. The program designed by the Trust management employees of the BIA and implemented by Applied Terra Vision, Artesia Systems Group, worked perfectly.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett has endorsed in principle the construction and operation of Indian-owned motels under franchise arrangements with interested regional or national motel groups, the Department of the Interior reported today.

Three Denver based Offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) are assisting tribes to prepare for the 21st Century by providing access to state-of-the-art science in resource management. The Division of Energy and Mineral Resources, Geographic Data Service Center, and the Division of Forestry's Branch of Forest Resources Planning provide highly technical assistance and services to the Indian Community. "These offices offer the latest technology and software programs available.

Robert L. Bennett, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, announced today that Sidney M. Carney, the BIA's special liaison representative to the Seneca Indians of New York State, has been appointed Director of the Bureau's Anadarko, Okla., Area Office.

Carney, 47, is of Choctaw and Creek descent and was born in Quinton, Okla. He joined the Bureau in 1957 as an administrative officer at the Fort Defiance Agency, Ariz. He also served at the Jicarilla Agency, N. M., and in the Washington office before his assignment to New York State in 1962.

Strengthening local tribal programs, Indian education, and critical infrastructure projects are among the key components of the Fiscal Year 1998 Bureau of Indian Affairs' $1.73-billion budget request.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that Indian tribal groups would be receiving this fiscal year almost $10 million for projects to provide additional job opportunities on reservations.

Commissioner Thompson said that 39 tribal projects submitted through the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the Department of Commerce have been approved for funding under Title X of the Public Works and Economic Development Act. The purpose of this Title of the Act is to create job opportunities in areas of high unemployment.

Ada Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the u.s. Department of the Interior, has accepted an invitation from U.S. Rep. Sam Gejdenson to attend a public forum he is sponsoring in Ledyard Connecticut on September 18. The Assistant Secretary will appear to explain the general process involved in accepting lands into trust and how such applications are evaluated. "My administration is dedicated to building partnership and fostering understanding between Indians and non-Indians on issues that concern us all, Deer said.

Proposed regulations to implement the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (P.L. 93-638) are being published September 4 in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

There will be 30 days after publication for comments from interested parties.

Interior Secretary Don Hodel today announced the appointment of LaDonna Harris, a nationally known enrolled member of the Comanche Tribe, as the U.S. representative "to the Inter-American Indian Institute (III.).