Past News Items

The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs today announced the award of two road construction contracts on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota and the Colville Indian Reservation in eastern Washington.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Cowlitz Tribe of Indians in Washington State may conduct gaming under a decision approved by the Department of the Interior today.

Regulations governing the off-reservation treaty-rights fishing of the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan were published in the Federal Register November 15, Interior Secretary Cecil D. Andrus said today

The Federal regulations were developed pursuant to a September 5 memorandum of understanding between the tribes and the Interior Department concerning the regulation of treaty Indian fishing in the Great Lakes and connecting waters.

"Hoss" Cartwright of "Bonanza" and Sergeant O'Rourke of "F Troop" are in there pitching for the American Indians.

The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs announced that the two television personalities--Dan Blocker and Forrest Tucker--are making radio and TV spot announcements for the Bureau-sponsored campaign: "See America first with the first Americans."

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced the second competition for students attending high schools and tribal colleges funded by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) that will promote careers in the fields of green and renewable energy. This year’s competition will be looking for designs of a conversion process that will change biomass into diesel fuel.

Interior Secretary Cecil Andrus said today he was "pleased by the White House announcement that President Carter had nominated William Hallett, a Red Lake Chippewa, to be Commissioner of Indian Affairs."

Andrus said that the "filling of the Commissioner's post with a competent, knowledgeable man like Bill Hallett will be good for both the Indian community and the Department of the Interior."

Hallett's nomination was sent to the Senate September 28. A tentative date of November 13 has been set for the confirmation hearings.

With American families taking to the highways in greater numbers every year, often in search of a scenic trail or a restful campsite, Indian reservations are putting up welcome signs.

American Indians have discovered that they are the owners of some of the most scenic, unspoiled and undeveloped real estate to be found. As business men, they are turning these natural beauties into profits, with financial and technical aid from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

WASHINGTON – Secretary Ken Salazar has laid out his vision that restoration of tribal lands is key to Interior’s strategy of empowering tribes and that there must be an improved land-into-trust process for non-gaming applications, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk said today.

The final report of the Indian Religious Freedom Task Force has been sent to the Congress Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus said today.

Andrus chaired the task force, which was established pursuant to President Carter's signing into law the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978. More than thirty Federal agencies were represented on the task force. The report to the Congress was mandated by the Act.

A total of $65.8 million was awarded to Indian tribes in judgments handed down by the Indian Claims Commission during calendar year 1965, the Bureau of Indian Affairs reported today. Appropriations to meet the judgments were made during the year in 17 of the 24 cases.

Judgment funds from land claims settlements are held in trust for the tribes by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Programs for use of the funds are developed by tribal governing bodies and approved by the Secretary of the Interior.