Past News Items

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has scheduled eleven field hearings to discuss education policies and standards for Indian schools funded by the Bureau, Director of Indian Education Programs Earl Barlow announced today.

Policies for the Bureau-funded schools were published October 9 in the Federal Register and a draft statement of standards has been circulated by mail to tribal officials and school boards.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs today announced the award of a $161,960 contract for road improvement on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. The reservation was among those hard-hit by floods in 1965 which washed away several accesses to Indian communities.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk announced today that a listening session will take place at Haskell Indian Nations University on Monday, September 20, 2010. This youth listening session is a part of America’s Great Outdoors Initiative and will be hosted by the Department of the Interior Office of Youth in the Great Outdoors and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).

A move to provide better governmental services to Alaska Natives by the Bureau of Indian Affairs begins on September 24, 1979. Assistant Secretary of Interior for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard today announced that Price, Waterhouse and Company, a well-known consulting and accounting/firm with Alaska experience, will review the BIA area office in Juneau.

The study is part of Gerard's management improvement program to streamline and restructure the Bureau offices to serve Indian people in an effective and efficient manner.

John C. Dibbern, a career BIA employee and former university professor, is slated to head Bureau activities in connection with Missouri River Basin development, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash has announced.

With headquarters in Billings, Mont., Dibbern will head a staff of economist, soil scientists, and engineers engaged in continuing studies to protect the interests of Indian landowners in the multi-State Missouri Basin area.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Division of Transportation has obligated to-date $29.9 million of $38.7 million in funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (P.L. 111-5) to perform maintenance on transportation infrastructure on the Navajo Nation reservation in northeastern Arizona. These ARRA-funded maintenance projects will enhance or repair approximately 760 miles of roads and repair 41 bridges used by residents and visitors travelling through the Navajo Nation.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has announced that final regulations to implement the provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (P.L. 95- 608) are being published in the Federal Register.

The Act deals with the proper care of Indian children needing adoptive or foster home care. Its main objective is to restrict .the placement of Indian children by non-Indian social agencies in non-Indian homes and environments.

Robert L. Bennett, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, today hailed the agreement to provide electric power for the Quinault Indian village of Queets, Wash., as "the final step in bringing the basic comforts of adequate homes to this community."

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development has awarded $3.7 million to tribes that are developing renewable energy resources for their communities. Access to these resources will allow these communities to develop jobs and additional economic opportunities on their reservations, while decreasing their reliance on fossil fuels.

Proposed regulations effecting major developments and changes in the administration of Bureau of Indian Affairs education programs were published May 22 in the Federal Register, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Rick Lavis said today.

The regulations implement certain provisions of Title XI of the Education Amendments Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-561); and, the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 (P.L. 95-471).