Past News Items

Dennis L. Petersen, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Tribal Government Services Officer for the Bureau
of Indian Affairs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Petersen has been Superintendent of the BIA Sisseton Agency in South Dakota since January, 1972.

An Army veteran of both World War II and the Korean conflict, Petersen has worked with Indian communities since 1952 in resource and economic development.

WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today formally swore in Carl Artman as the department's new Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.

"Carl's extensive work with tribal governments, his work in the private sector, his legal training, his passion for Indian Country, his intensity as well as his experience in the executive and legislative branches of the U.S Government prepare him well for this new responsibility," Kempthorne said at a headquarters' ceremony attended by tribal leaders and Artman's family and friends.

Robert R. Nathan Associates, Inc., has been awarded a contract by the Department of the Interior to head up a team of independent consulting groups which will prepare a study and report on various characteristics of the Alaska Native community and on selected Federal programs, it was announced today.

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason will appear November 1 at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) 62nd Annual Convention in Tulsa, Okla. The NCAI convention is the oldest and largest annual meeting of American Indian and Alaska Native tribal leaders held in the United States.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of James P. Howell, 53, enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, Okla., to the post of Superintendent, San Carlos Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, with headquarters at San Carlos, Ariz.

Howell moves to this field position from one of Equal Employment Opportunity Officer of the Bureau in Washington, D.C., a position he has held since August 1972.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director W. Patrick Ragsdale will be the keynote speaker this week at the 14th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial taking place on May 5 at the United States Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M.

Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe and officers of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation today approved an agreement paving the way for the first major conveyance of land to Alaska Natives under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President George W. Bush has signed into law a measure championed by U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado and supported by Interior Secretary Gale Norton that will reform American Indian probate rules and will help facilitate the consolidation of Indian land ownership across the nation. The legislation introduced by Sen. Campbell, chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, was passed by both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate under 'unanimous consent' rules - meaning no member of Congress expressed opposition to the measure.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced that he has appointed Ignatius L. Billy, 57, a Pomo Indian of Hopland, California, to be Personnel Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C.

"Billy comes to his post with a wealth of experience in all fields of personnel administration," Thompson pointed out. "He demonstrates the development of expert capabilities by American Indians in many professional fields."

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will join Secretary Gale Norton, officials of the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management and other government and private-sector partners at the “Get Fit With US” kick-off event for Summer 2004 under President Bush’s HealthierUS Initiative that will be held June 5 at Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul, Minn., starting at 10:00 a.m. (CDT).