Past News Items

Donald Dodge, a member of the Navajo Tribe, has been appointed Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Navajo Area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Ben Reifel announced today.

One of 12 BIA regional jurisdictions, the Navajo Area serves only the one tribe, by far the Nation's largest, and one reservation of some 14 million acres in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Dodge has been the Superintendent of the Fort Defiance Agency on the reservation since 1972. He was earlier the Administrative Manager at Fort Defiance and the Tribal Operations Officer in the Area Office.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today lauded the Senate’s approval of Larry Echo Hawk, a law professor and former Idaho Attorney General and state legislator, as Interior’s Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. The President had nominated Echo Hawk on April 20, 2009.

The awarding of four contracts totaling more than $5 million for construction projects on the Papago Indian Reservation in southern Arizona was announced today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson.

A contract for $4,215,636 was awarded to the Lembe Construction Co., Albuquerque, N.H., for the construction of additional school facilities at Santa Rosa, Ariz.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman today issued a proposed finding not to acknowledge the petitioner known as the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation, (Petitioner #84A) as an Indian tribe. This petitioner, located in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, Calif., has 1,640 members.

Eddie V. Edwards, a Choctaw Indian, has been appointed Assistant Area Director (Resources Management) for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Sacramento, California office, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

PHOENIX – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Carl Artman delivered the keynote address at the National Native American Economic Policy Summit, calling on tribal leaders to share ideas on economic development and follow the example of tribes who have become local or regional business leaders.

“We are exploring the reinvigoration of tribal governments nation building, and how one tribe’s success can spark the success of others,” said Artman. “Successful tribes must continue to expand their outreach to tribes that strive for success.”

Acting Secretary of the Interior John C. Whitaker and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today a decision, the result of which is that the Chemehuevi Tribe of Indians has equitable title to 18 miles of shoreline along Lake Havasu, a portion of the Colorado River. The shoreline is located in San Bernardino County about forty miles southeast of Needles California.

The decision administratively puts to rest an ownership dispute concerning over 21 miles of shoreline which has been pending before the Department for several years.

WASHINGTON – Carl J. Artman was sworn into office today as the Interior Department’s tenth Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. Artman is an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin whose nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 5, 2007.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today named Dr. Clennon E. Sockey, 48, a Choctaw Indian of Oklahoma, to be Director of Indian Education Programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"Indian education is the largest program in the Bureau," Commissioner Thompson said. "Almost one-third of the total Bureau budget and one-third of the Bureau's employees are involved in education or school-related activities. Dr. Sockey will bring to its direction a unique background in education, experience, and Indian heritage."

WASHINGTON – Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James E. Cason will appear October 7 at the National Indian Education Association’s (NIEA) 36th Annual Convention in Denver, Colo., where he will speak on Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Indian education programs and policy. The NIEA convention is the largest annual convocation of American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian educators in the United States.