Past News Items

WASHINGTON – Former Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan, Jr., will join Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason and Special Trustee for American Indians Ross O. Swimmer in Albuquerque, N.M., on April 27, 2006, at a ceremony to officially dedicate the Bureau of Indian Affairs Manuel Lujan, Jr. Indian Affairs Building and to open DOI’s National Indian Programs Training Center (NIPTC). They will be joined by All Indian Pueblo Council Chairman Amadeo Shije and Governor Roland Johnson of the Pueblo of Laguna.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director W. Patrick Ragsdale today announced the BIA Great Plains Regional Office in Aberdeen, S.D., will hold the 8th Annual Great Plains Region/Tribal Economic Development Summit on April 26-27, 2006 in Sioux Falls, S.D. The theme for this year’s summit is “Building Human Capital: Identifying Challenges and Creative Solutions in Indian Country.” It will focus on breaking down barriers that exist in business and workforce development by bringing together resources that can be utilized to overcome them.

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason today issued a proposed finding to acknowledge the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Incorporated, (Mashpee) as an Indian tribe. The 1,462-member tribe is located in Barnstable County, Cape Cod, Mass.

To discuss Indian Trust Management Reform regulations: • Probate of Indian Estates (25 CFR 15, 43 CFR 4) • Tribal Probate Codes (25 CFR 18) (New) • Life Estates and Future Interests (25 CFR 179) • Land Records and Title Documents (25 CFR 150) • Conveyances of Trust and Restricted Land, Removal of Trust or Restricted Status (25 CFR 152)

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior’s Office of Indian Gaming Management (OIGM) will hold a series of tribal consultation meetings on the development of proposed regulations to establish standards for implementing Section 20 of IGRA, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (25 USC 2701-2721). The meetings will take place in Uncasville, Conn., Albuquerque, N.M., Sacramento, Calif., and Minneapolis, Minn., starting on March 30, 2006.

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior will hold a tribal consultation meeting on draft DOI Indian trust management regulations on March 29, 2006, at the Doubletree Hotel, Lloyd Center in Portland, Ore., starting at 8:00 a.m. (local time). The consultation meetings are a component of the Department’s implementation of its Fiduciary Trust Model to improve and reform Indian trust management for the benefit of all Indian beneficiaries.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Director W. Patrick Ragsdale today announced that the BIA Winnebago (Nebr.) Agency Fire and Fuels Management Group was honored March 7 at the Department of the Interior National Fire Center’s 2006 National Fire Plan Awards ceremony held in Phoenix, Ariz. National Fire Plan awards are given annually in recognition of outstanding accomplishments related to the implementation of the Department’s National Fire Plan (NFP).

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced today the completion of a historic interagency memorandum of agreement (MOA) between 12 federal agencies for expanded participation by federal agencies in the 477-Demonstration Project (“477-initiative”).

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development has given final approval for the Spokane Tribe of Washington State to participate in DOI’s 477 Demonstration Initiative, a comprehensive employment, training and welfare program for federally recognized tribes to address economic and workforce needs in their communities. With an enrolled population of just over 2,300 members, the Spokane Tribe is combating a 50 percent unemployment rate.

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior, as part of the implementation of its Fiduciary Trust Model (FTM) to improve and reform the management of Indian trust for the benefit of all Indian beneficiaries, will hold the first of three tribal consultation meetings on revising DOI Indian trust management regulations on February 14-15, 2006, in Albuquerque, N.M. The meeting will take place both days at the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town starting at 8:00 a.m. (local time).