Past News Items

Bison and the American Indian people have a symbiotic relationship that needs to be honored and respected. After a visit to the Ft. Belknap Indian reservation in Montana, Assistant Secretary Kevin Gover is encouraging American Indians everywhere to let their voices be heard in determining the outcome of the current controversy over the management of the bison herd in Yellowstone National Park.

Award of a $309,000 contract for the construction of a gymnasium at the Cherokee Indian School operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Cherokee, North Carolina was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

President Clinton has signed an executive order that expands opportunities for federal assistance to tribal colleges and universities that serve approximately 25,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students. At the request of the White House, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt made the announcement in Phoenix, AZ, today before the opening session of the National Congress of American Indians.

Award of a $51,625.00 contract for improving 5.7 miles of the Mineral Center Grand Portage Road, on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, Cook County, Minnesota, was announced by the Department of the Interior today.

The project will provide all-weather transportation facilities for the residents of the Village of Grand Portage and will encourage tourist travel to this Indian village. The road also serves as a farm-to-market outlet, and mail and school bus route. It is the only road outlet for the residents of the Village.

Rising enrollment at Bureau of Indian Affairs schools and a decline in federal funds per student mean that American Indian children will experience such serious problems as fewer teachers and less time in the classroom next fall.

"American Indian children deserve a decent education in accredited classrooms and safe, uncrowded dormitories to prepare them for the challenges of the 21st Century. These outrageous cuts are especially egregious because our schools already are drastically underfunded; says Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Ada Deer.

The Department of the Interior announced today award of a contract by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for $324,650 to build a 200-pupil dormitory at Oglala Community School, Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

The successful bidder was D. L. Moffitt Company of McCook, Nebraska. Thirteen higher bids, ranging in price from $328, 401 to $397,450, were received.

Oglala Community School, operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is a reservation boarding and day school, with a present enrollment of 457 boarding and 349 day school pupils in grades 1 through 12.

A $374,915.15 contract for construction of approximately 10 miles of highway on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona has been awarded to Richey Construction Company of St. Johns, Arizona, the Department of the Interior announced today.

The contract involves 1.593 miles from Chinle Junction to Chinle with a 291- foot, 9-span bridge across Nazlini Wash and 8.384 miles from Chinle Junction south toward Ganado with a 33-foot precast concrete beam bridge.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced the establishment of a special Indian Minerals Service Office devoted exclusively to serving Native Americans in the Four corners area of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona.

The new office, located in Farmington, New Mexico, will be operated cooperatively by three Interior Department agencies: the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Minerals Management Service (MMS), and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Plans for further insuring the secrecy of absentee ballots in Osage Indian Tribal Council elections, and representation proportionate to each voter’s financial interest in the Osage mineral estate, were announced today by the Department of the Interior.

In a letter to the chairman of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, the Department said it has submitted a notice of the proposed changes for publication in the Federal Register.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced the appointment of six private citizens as members of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee "The committee faces a challenging set or tasks," Lujan said in making the appointments. "Among their duties, they must advise me on regulations needed to implement the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, and they will assist in the resolution of disputes caused by its requirements. This will require careful reading of the law and a willingness to listen to each side of an issue."