Past News Items

Ada E. Deer announced today that a settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma (the Nation) by the federal government. "This settlement will bring to a conclusion almost five (5) decades of dispute over the issue of pollution, caused by oil and gas drilling, of groundwater used by the Nation," Ms. Deer said.

Award of a $40,905.34 road construction project to improve transportation facilities in Beltrami County, Minnesota, on the Red Lake Indian Reservation was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The 2.84-mile project is part of an over-all plan by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to improve the 22-mile link between Minnesota Trunk Highway No. 1 and the Village of Ponemah. The road is constantly used by the school bus and by local Red Lake commercial fishermen, and is the only outlet for the residents of the Village.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer signed a preliminary decision in which she proposes to deny Federal recognition of the Duwamish Tribal Organization of Renton, WA, a petitioner for Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe.

"The petitioner failed to meet three of the fundamental criteria contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 25, Section 83.7," Ms. Deer said.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has tightened up its procedure to protect Indian landowners against unwise or unwitting disposition of actual or potentially valuable mineral assets when they sell their lands, Commissioner Glenn L. Emmons announced today.

Restoration of federal funds needed for Tribal Priority Allocations (TPA) that provide basic reservation programs and develop strong and stable tribal governments is a key component of the Fiscal Year 1997 Bureau of Indian Affairs $1. 78-billion budget request.

Acting Secretary of the Interior Hatfield Chilson today expressed the Department’s opposition to the so-called “Four States" Indian bills.

He said the three identical bills, S.574, H. R. 3362 and H. R. 3634, would make the Federal Government financially responsible for a multitude of services which rightfully should be provided by the States.

Moreover, it would extend special Federal responsibility to include a great number of additional persons, some of them not even necessarily Indians, he said.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Eddie Brown today ordered the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to revise procedures and to focus attention on increased monitoring and inspections to curtail abuses and mismanagement in federal programs to improve housing for American Indians.

Additional progress toward the goal of full educational and economic opportunities for American Indians was accomplished by the Bureau of Indian Affairs along many different lines in the fiscal year 1957, the Department of the Interior reported today.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today directed implementation of short-term and long-range plans-to improve regulation of gaming on Indian reservations

The Department of the Interior today announced plans for liberalizing the Federal regulations covering the bonds required in connection with leases and permits for developing minerals other than oil and gas on Indian lands.

The purpose of the proposed change is to allow bonds of less than $1, 000 in cases where the Department believes that such bonding will adequately protect the interests of the Indian landowners. Bonds in the amount of $1, 000 are the lowest permitted under the present regulations.