Past News Items

Almost $1 million to be used to help Indian students in public schools has been awarded under contracts this month to Indian tribal groups in the Great Lakes Area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. The contracts were let by the BLA's Minneapolis Area Office.

The Minnesota Chippewa Resource Development Corporation received the bulk of the money, $863,668, for the benefit of the six Chippewa Indian reservations in Minnesota - Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs and White Earth.

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today praised the U.S. Senate's confirmation of Carl J.' Artman to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs.

Artman, an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, currently serves as the department's Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs. He previously was chief counsel of the Oneida Tribe and served on the staff of U.S. Rep. Michael Oxley.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Director W. Patrick Ragsdale today announced that BIA Special Agent Leonard Merriam, an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan, is now a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy (FBINA). Merriam, who works in the Bureau’s Office of Law Enforcement Services (OLES) in Washington, D.C., joins a select group of BIA law enforcement officers who are also graduates of the Academy. The graduation ceremony took place on September 16 at the FBINA campus in Quantico, Va.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of Karen R. Ducheneaux, enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, South Dakota, to be his Special Assistant. She will prepare Bureau position papers and help present the Bureau’s policies, goals, and objectives to the public.

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) has published in the Federal Register a final rule implementing the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110), President Bush’s signature education legislation, in the BIA-funded schools.

Sidney L. Mills, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has been named Executive Assistant to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson, it was announced today.

Mills, who has been Assistant Director for Management Services in the BIA's Office of Administration, succeeds Ronald L. Esguerra who was recently appointed Director of the BIA's Albuquerque Area.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will be in Albuquerque, N.M., on Wednesday, October 27, to lead a delegation in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new National Indian Programs Training Center. The delegation of the nation’s top Indian Affairs officials will also be joined by New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici, who will be honored in ceremonies dedicating Bureau of Indian Affairs offices on the Albuquerque site as the Pete V. Domenici Indian Affairs Building.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson on February 8, 1974 issued the following statement in connection with Feb, 7’s tribal election at the Oglala Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge, South Dakota:

Following yesterday's election in which the uncertified results indicate that Richard Wilson won by a plurality of about 200 votes over Russell Means, a number of allegations of "massive election fraud" have been made, and the Department of the Interior has been asked by Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee to send a large investigation team to the reservation.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced that he has named Brian J. Pogue as Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Pogue, who is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, had been serving as acting director of the agency since February 26, 2004. “I am pleased that Brian has accepted this new appointment,” said Anderson. “His extensive experience in Indian affairs and as a federal manager will make him a valuable member of my management team.” The appointment was effective starting May 27.

Ten young men from Alaska--five Indians and five Eskimos--will soon move into technical jobs in the space exploration program as a result of training received under auspices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of the Interior reported today.