Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced the appointment of E. B. Maytubby, Muskogee, Okla., to fill out the unexpired term of his late nephew, Floyd Maytubby, as Governor of the Chickasaw Indian Nation and the designation of Overton James, Oklahoma City, to serve a two-year term as Governor starting with expiration of the Maytubby term on October 18, 1963.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced two decisions resolving long standing controversies over Indian rights.

In a controversy between the Fort Mohave Indian Tribe and the Bureau of Land Management over the ownership of 3,500 acres of land near the Colorado River in California, the Solicitor has determined that the Tribe is legally entitled to equitable ownership of the land and the Secretary has signed an order directing the Bureau of Land Management to take prompt action to carry out the decision.

WASHINGTON – The Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason will visit the Hopi Tribe of Arizona on September 1 to meet with Hopi Chairman Wayne Taylor and tribal council members, as well as school officials and students of the tribe’s seven Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)-funded schools who have met their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirement under the No Child Left Behind Act for a second year in a row. The Hopi Tribe is one of several federally recognized tribes who have multiple BIA-funded schools on their reservations.

Perry E. Skarra, a specialist in resources management for Indian trust land, has been appointed chief of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' branch of forestry, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash announced today.

Cam1issioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the awarding of two contracts accounting to nearly $9 million in Federal money for Bureau of Indian Affairs day schools at Acomita, New Mexico, and Wanblee, South Dakota.

"These two schools, when completed, will serve a need that has existed for many years," Thompson said.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced a cooperative initiative with the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide Federally recognized tribes participating in the Office of Indian Affairs (OIA) Native Sovereign Nation (NSN) Domain Name Program with the opportunity to use E-Buy, GSA’s online procurement system for products and services.

The Department of the Interior has announced its support of proposed Federal legislation providing for distribution of a judgment fund of over $6 million recovered by the Pawnee Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.

The amount actually awarded the Tribe by the Indian Claims Commission and appropriated by Congress in May 1963, was $7,316,096.55. However, payment of attorneys' fees and expenses and other costs of litigation reduced the sum available for distribution to $6,439,088,88, including accrued interest.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that the Minnesota Sioux Indian Tribes presented a Peace Pipe to the United States in a recent White House Ceremony.

Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller accepted the pipe June 25 from Glynn A. Crooks, tribal councilman of the Shakopee-Mdewakanton Sioux Tribe. Crooks called the pipe a symbol of "trust, unity, friendship and peace."

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced he has named William F. Benjamin as regional director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Great Plains Regional Office in Aberdeen, S.D. The appointment was effective May 16, 2004. Benjamin, who is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana, comes to his appointment after having served as deputy regional director of the bureau’s Rocky Mountain Regional Office in Billings, Mont.

Seeking to encourage broader private financing of economic development on Indian reservations, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall has asked Congress for authority to establish an Indians' Loan Guaranty and Insurance Fund of $15 million under administration of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Department anticipates that this fund should result in providing $100 million or more of financing to Indians from non-governmental sources.