Past News Items

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason will appear November 1 at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) 62nd Annual Convention in Tulsa, Okla. The NCAI convention is the oldest and largest annual meeting of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal leaders held in the United States.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of James P. Howell, 53, enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, Okla., to the post of Superintendent, San Carlos Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, with headquarters at San Carlos, Ariz.

Howell moves to this field position from one of Equal Employment Opportunity Officer of the Bureau in Washington, D.C., a position he has held since August 1972.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director W. Patrick Ragsdale will be the keynote speaker this week at the 14th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial taking place on May 5 at the United States Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M.

Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe and officers of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation today approved an agreement paving the way for the first major conveyance of land to Alaska Natives under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President George W. Bush has signed into law a measure championed by U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado and supported by Interior Secretary Gale Norton that will reform American Indian probate rules and will help facilitate the consolidation of Indian land ownership across the nation. The legislation introduced by Sen. Campbell, chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, was passed by both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate under 'unanimous consent' rules - meaning no member of Congress expressed opposition to the measure.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced that he has appointed Ignatius L. Billy, 57, a Pomo Indian of Hopland, California, to be Personnel Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C.

"Billy comes to his post with a wealth of experience in all fields of personnel administration," Thompson pointed out. "He demonstrates the development of expert capabilities by American Indians in many professional fields."

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will join Secretary Gale Norton, officials of the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management and other government and private-sector partners at the “Get Fit With US” kick-off event for Summer 2004 under President Bush’s HealthierUS Initiative that will be held June 5 at Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul, Minn., starting at 10:00 a.m. (CDT).

Two changes in the Federal regulations governing the mineral leasing of land owned by Indian tribes and by individual Indians were announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Underlying purpose of the changes is to provide better protection for the interests of the Indian landowners in the light of current economic conditions in the mining industry.

WASHINGTON – Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been awarded $32.4 million in three grants from the U.S. Department of Education to improve student reading, school performance and teacher quality in BIA-funded schools under President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – President Bush’s pledge on education that “no child shall be left behind” was reaffirmed today with the release of his Fiscal Year 2002 budget request of $2.2 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The request includes $292.5 million for BIA school construction – an increase of $162,000 over the 2001 enacted level – of which $122.8 million is to replace six aging BIA school facilities around the country, including the Santa Fe Indian School located in Santa Fe, N.M.