Past News Items

I was briefed this morning for the first time by Special Trustee Paul Homan on his final Strategic Plan to reform trust fund management for Tribal and individual trust funds and resources.

The plan represents his views, independent from the Department of the Interior or the Office of Management and Budget. Before I make final recommendations, I intend to give the Strategic Plan close and thorough study.

Thanks to a newly established Bureau of Indian Affairs service, Indian tribes and schools can now better protect their children by using a fingerprint service that will detect the past criminal history of prospective and newly hired employees.

"We are very pleased to announce this important and, needed new service, which will help to ensure the safety and well-being of our Indian children," says Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer.

"I appreciated the opportunity to hear from tribal leaders from across the country. Their input provided an important picture of the economic benefits reservations have gained from Indian Gaming."

"I want to continue to gather information from parties interested in this issue, and I continue to believe these issues are best resolved by bilateral negotiations between states and tribes as intended under the Indian Gaming Regulation Act, and that the Act provides room for compromise."

The Interior Department's Bureau of Indian affairs today recommended that the Agriculture Department provide emergency grain to feed cattle on the Tohono O'Odham Reservation in Arizona, where overstocking has brought about emergency conditions requiring a supplemental food supply.

Forty-three Indian tribal leaders and officials of the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will meet October 15-17 in Anchorage, Alaska, to discuss the reorganization of the BIA.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today appointed 36 Indian tribal representatives and seven departmental employees to an Advisory Task Force to develop goals and plans for the reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

"I look forward to working with this important group to define ways that we can strengthen the organization of the BIA to better serve the Indian people," Lujan said. "These are the people that know the Bureau and know how it can best be of benefit to Indian tribes. I value their judgment."

WASHINGTON, DC -- Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan, Jr. announced today that Secretary of Education Lauro Cavazos will join him on a two-day, three-state tour of Indian schools this week. The unprecedented visit by two Cabinet members to schools administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in California, Arizona and New Mexico "reflects the commitment to improved education for Native Americans that President Bush, Secretary Cavazos, and I share," said Lujan.

Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith today approved a joint venture agreement for the development of oil and gas on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana.

The contract between the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the reservation and the U.S. Energy corporation was the first contract approved under the new Indian Minerals Development Act of 1982, signed by President Reagan last December.

Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith has appointed Carl Shaw, a Cherokee Indian, as his special assistant and director of public affairs for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Smith said that Shaw would be the principal counselor to the Assistant Secretary and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations on all matters of public affairs nature.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ken Smith has appointed Jacob Lestenkof, an Aleut from St. George Island, Alaska, as the Bureau of Indian Affairs' area director for Alaska. The BIA's Alaska area office is in Juneau.

Lestenkof's appointment is Smith's first official action as Assistant Secretary, since being sworn into office May 15.

Smith said Lestenkof's "extensive experience with both Alaska Native organizations and the government demonstrated his qualifications for this position of critical importance to the Alaska Natives."