Past News Items

Award of three contracts totaling $152,508 on the Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations in Arizona, and the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico, for water drilling and water-storage development facilities was announced today by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Water development at the contract locations is necessary to sustain present schools and facilities and to determine feasibility of additional school facilities planned at these locations.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs will represent the Department of the Interior at the signing ceremony of Truckee River Water Quality Settlement Agreement, in Reno, Nevada. The execution of this agreement ends a long standing emotionally charged lawsuit initiated by The Pyramid Lake Tribe against the Cities of Reno, Sparks, the State of Nevada, and the EPA This agreement establishes a joint program to improve water quality in the Truckee River through purchase and dedication of water rights and to use treatment plant effluent in place of fresh water for certain uses.

Award of a $157,300 contract for the construction of Indian school facilities at Conehatta, Mississippi, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Conehatta School, operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has a present enrollment of 180 pupils. The new facilities will provide more adequate facilities for the present enrollment and allow the enrollment of 30 pupils not now in school due to lack of school facilities.

H.R. 3286 introduced into the House of Representatives on April 23, 1996 proposes to amend the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 making it easier for non-Indians to adopt Indian children without tribal consent, Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced today.

With the retirement of Kenneth A. Marmon as superintendent of the Seminole Indian Agency, Dania, Fla.; on May 31, Virgil N. Harrington will take over full responsibilities of the position, the Department of the Interior announced today.

Since last January Mr. Harrington has been sharing the responsibilities jointly with Mr. Marmon, who retires after 35 years of service with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

A national conference of area directors of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS) culminated here October 20 with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that updates a 1988 agreement and spells out the management framework for implementation of a national strategy the two federal agencies are undertaking to prevent and treat alcohol and substance abuse among American Indians and Alaska Natives.

A $51,306.45 contract for road construction on the Big Pine Reservation at Big Pine, Inyo County, California, has been awarded.to J. T. Smith Company, San Fernando, California, the Department of the Interior announced today.

It was the lowest of the fourteen bids received.

The construction of the 2.66 miles of road will give access to existing residential areas and other areas within the reservation.

The White House Conference on Indian Education will take place January 22-24 at the Ramada Renaissance at Techworld, 999 9th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Roger Ernst today announced proposed changes in the Federal regulations on the granting of rights-of-way across Indian lands.

The major effect of the proposed amendments would be to increase the permissible term on rights-of-way for oil or natural gas pipelines from 20 to 50 years.

The 20-year limitation, Mr. Ernst explained, was originally adopted many years ago and has become obsolete. Modern trunk pipelines, he added, are engineered to last much longer.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan and Secretary of Energy James D. Watkins have signed an agreement committing their departments to a cooperative program to improve the teaching of science, mathematics computer science and other technical subjects in American Indian elementary and secondary schools in New Mexico and Arizona.