Past News Items

The. Department of the Interior announced today a proposed revision of that part of the Code of Federal Regulations governing the process for obtaining rights-of-way over Indian lands.

The most important change would be the substitution of the methods of conveyance used in the commercial world -- recordable deeds -- for the archaic practice of granting rights-of-way by endorsing approval on a plat or map of definite location.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Bureau of Indian Education Director Keith Moore announced today that BIE-funded schools across Indian Country will have the opportunity to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Green Ribbon Schools program, and will soon invite them to apply to the BIE to be nominated for this national recognition.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall has ordered rolls prepared for use in distributing judgment funds awarded by the Indian Claims Commission to six tribes.

To share in the awards~ which were ordered in five separate cases, are the Miami Indians of Oklahoma and Indiana; the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; the Quileute Tribe and the Hoh Indians of Western Washington; and two other Western Washington Tribes -- Nooksack and Duwamish.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk issued the following statement today on the passing of Elouise Cobell:

“Indian Country, as well as the entire nation, has lost a champion of human rights. Elouise Cobell battled to make our country acknowledge historical wrongdoing, and she spoke truth to power so that justice could prevail.

Ben Reifel, a former South Dakota Congressman and an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, has accepted a "recess appointment" as Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

President Ford announced the appointment of Reifel December 7 following a recommendation by Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe. Reifel succeeds Morris Thompson who left the post November 3 to return to Alaska as Vice President of the Alcan Pipeline Co.

Reifel will take the oath of office in a ceremony in Secretary Kleppe's office at 3:30 p.m. today.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today celebrated the opening of the new educational facilities at Rough Rock Community School, noting the high-tech, culturally sensitive buildings and classrooms will better serve students and teachers on the Navajo Nation reservation in Arizona. Following his participation in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the official opening of the Rough Rock Community School’s new replacement school facilities, Echo Hawk spoke to attendees about the significance of the occasion.

Donald E. Loudner, a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs agency at Horton, Kansas.

Loudner has been Superintendent of the Yankton Agency at Wagner South Dakota. He was for six years a member of the South Dakota Indian Commission and for about 20 years served as a liaison with Indian tribes in the state for Mitchell, South Dakota. He also functioned as a consultant for the public school system there.

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today affirmed that the Department of the Interior will continue to pursue a balanced course on off-reservation gaming policy, taking into account the views and concerns of tribes, Federal, State and local elected officials and affected citizens. Echo Hawk spoke at a gathering of the National Congress of American Indians in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Peter Three Stars, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has been named superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Western Washington Agency at Everett, Washington. The appointment is effective August 28.

Three Stars, 50, has been superintendent of the BIA agency at Bethel, Alaska since 1974.

A World War II Army veteran, Three Stars has worked with BIA for 27 years. He has been a teacher, worked in job placement programs and for many years was a specialist in tribal government services. He worked in the Bureau's Central Office in Washington, D.C., from 1971 to 1974.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk conveyed the nation’s gratitude to the families of seven police officers who were being remembered and honored at the 20th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service held today at the United States Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M.