Past News Items

Five awards totaling more than $709 million were granted to seven American Indian groups in judgments by the Indian Claims Commission during 1966, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs reported today.

In addition, case that was filed Indians of Utah and Commission in 1946 0 the year brought final settlement of a long-pending in the United States Court of Claims by the Ute Colorado prior to establishment of the Indian Claims The Court of Claims awarded $4.4 million to the Utes.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer expresses concern about the well-being of the Indian people who are directly affected by the inclement weather in the northern part of the country.

"Eight federally recognized Indian tribes and approximately 56,000 Indian people have been adversely affected by the recent disastrous weather in South Dakota," Ms. Deer said.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said today that key staff people from Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Offices have participated in intensive training this month in preparation for the implementation of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

Final regulations for the Act, published in the Federal Register November 4, will become effective December 4.

The National Park Service has compiled a list of Federal, Tribal, Native Alaskan, Native American and Native Hawaiian contacts to assist other Federal agencies and museums in complying with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that Rebecca H. Dotson, a Navajo woman, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' agency at Chinle, Arizona.

Ms. Dotson is the second Indian woman to hold an agency superintendent's position. She had been the education program administrator at the agency, one of five on the Navajo Reservation.

Ms. Dotson, 45, is a graduate of the Northern Arizona University and has a Master's degree from Arizona State University. Much of her career has been spent as a classroom teacher.

Interior Secretary Don Hodel today pledged to work with tribal governments so that Indian reservations can share in economic prosperity and not be "islands surrounded by the rest of America."

Addressing a joint meeting of the National Congress of American Indians and the National Tribal Chairmen's Association in Tulsa, Okla., the Secretary also said that he does not plan to abolish the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or to establish an additional agency to take over Indian trust responsibilities now administered by BIA.

The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) welcomes tribal leadership and stakeholders to attend an informational virtual meeting scheduled for 2:00 pm eastern standard time on July 8 to hear BIE leadership present its plans for distributing its Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to schools to support the COVID-19 Pandemic recovery.

A Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) investment that created three "business opportunity centers" last September is paying off with real jobs for Indian people.

The Rensselaerville Institute of Rensselaerville, N.Y., one of the three new centers, has been working with tribes and individual Indian entrepreneurs across the country. It has created and saved a total of 84 jobs.

A second series of regional meetings with Indians to discuss implementation of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act will begin May 28, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Draft regulations for the Act, mailed to leaders of Indian tribes and organizations May 16, will be reviewed at these sessions, conducted jointly by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service.

The first series of meetings was held in March prior to the drafting of regulations.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Richard Darman and the Intertribal Monitoring Association for Indian Trust Funds announced today the creation of a new OMB-Interior "SWAT" team. Its purpose is to address financial management problems associated with the $2 billion in Indian trust funds. The management problems include:

Failure to reconcile or audit the 300,000 trust fund accounts, some of which are more than 50 years old;