Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced the opening of a new national headquarters for the Buildings and Utilities Branch of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Albuquerque, N. Mex.

The new office, which will supervise all construction activities of the Bureau) is being staffed with construction personnel drawn from the Bureau's central office in Washington, D. C. and from area offices throughout the country. When fully staffed, it will consist of 37 technical and 15 clerical or administrative employees.

Plans for the use and distribution of $4.9 million awarded by Indian Claims Commission to the Western Apache Indians are being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The award, for lands taken by the United States without compensation between 1873 and 1902, will be divided equally between the White Mountain Apache Tribe and the San Carlos Apache Tribe as present-day successors of the Western Apaches.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today welcomed leadership from the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo Nation to Washington, D.C. to hold discussions on a potential Little Colorado River water settlement that could be acted upon by Congress. This is the first time that leaders of the two tribes have joined with a Secretary of the Interior to address this shared water issue.

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs will continue for the present operating its two area offices in Oklahoma at Muskogee and Anadarko.

The Department of the Interior has proposed amendment of Title 25 of the Code of Federal regulations to establish requirements and filing application deadlines for enrollment with the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Tribe of Sioux Indians and the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe, Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced today.

The proposed amendment is being published in the Federal Register.

TULSA, Okla. — The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs has added an extra session to the Interior Department’s series of listening meetings on sacred sites in Indian Country. A sixth session will be held on Tuesday, September 18, 2012, in Tulsa, Okla. The first five were held last month in Albuquerque, N.M., Billings, Mont., Prior Lake, Minn., Uncasville, Conn., and Portland, Ore.

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today said the Department has submitted for congressional consideration a series of bills providing for orderly termination of Federal administration of Indian Affairs in eight tribal jurisdictions.

Distribution of Indian Claims Commission judgments totaling $2.7 million awarded to the Peoria Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, will be made beginning about September 6, Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced today.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Donald E. “Del” Laverdure today announced that the proposed rule implementing the Buy Indian Act has been published in the Federal Register. The Buy Indian Act provides Indian Affairs with the authority to set-aside procurement contracts for qualified Indian-owned businesses.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs today awarded a contract to Southern Cafeteria Operating Company, Birmingham, Alabama, for the provision of noonday meals during the coming school year at five Federal day schools on the Cherokee Reservation in western North Carolina.

Southern Cafeteria’s bid of 44 cents per meal was the lowest of those received in response to invitations issued by the Indian Bureau on July 22. The bids were opened August 15.