Past News Items

Award of a $78,643 contract for development and rehabilitation of approximately 500 acres on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation on the Nevada-Idaho boundary was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contractor will level the land and construct canals, laterals, and water control structures for irrigation purposes.

Solicitor Leo M. Krulitz announced today that the Interior Department is recommending to the Department of Justice that legal action be started on behalf of the Catawba Indian Tribe to recover its 140,000 acre reservation in South Carolina.

The proposed suit would be similar to actions now pending on behalf of the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Indians land claims in Maine and the land claims of three tribes in New York State.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Director Keith Moore has selected Chris Redman as president of Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU), the 127-year old, BIE Education administered post secondary institution for American Indian and Alaska Natives from the nation’s 565 federally recognized tribes. Redman, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, was an education specialist with the BIE who had served as Haskell’s acting president in times of need.

The Department of the Interior has submitted to Congress a proposal for legislation that would donate 640 acres in Sandoval County, New Mexico, to the Indian Pueblos of Zia and Jemez, Assistant Secretary Roger Ernst announced today.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus said today that he was very pleased with President Carter's nomination of Forrest J. Gerard to be the first Assistant Secretary of the interior for Indian Affairs.

ANADARKO, Okla. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today visited the Riverside Indian School in Anadarko, Oklahoma as part of Interior’s commitment to expanding quality educational opportunities for American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. Riverside Indian School is run by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and is an Off-Reservation Boarding School (ORBS) that serves over 500 students representing 72 federally recognized tribes.

The Department of the Interior today announced its support of legislation that would transfer to the Citizen and of Potawatomi Indians of Oklahoma about 58 acres of federally owned land near Shawnee, Oklahoma.

In a report on H. R. 7990, Assistant Secretary Roger Ernst pointed out that the land was originally part of a large area ceded to the Federal Government in the 1890’s by the Citizen Potawatomi and the Absentee Shawnees. Subsequently it is used as the site for a Bureau of Indian Affairs school farm. It has not, however, been used for this purpose for many years.

Proposed regulations governing eligibility for preference in employment in the Bureau of Indian Affairs are being published in the Federal Register, Acting Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond V. Butler announced today.

The regulations define the term "Indian" for purposes of initial hire, promotions, transfers and all other appointments to vacancies in the Bureau.

Those persons entitled to Indian preference, according to the regulations are:

ON TUESDAY, DEC. 8, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder will make a major announcement. Credentialed news media are invited to attend the 10:30 AM Eastern Time announcement in the South Penthouse of the Main Interior Building or to join a moderated media teleconference by dialing 1-800-857-9808 and entering the access code 5212385.

Who: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Attorney General Eric Holder

What: Major news announcement

The Department of the Interior said today it has recommended enactment of Federal legislation (8.2384) that would bring greater benefits to Navajo Indians living in San Juan County, Utah, from the leasing of reservation lands for oil and gas development.