Past News Items

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and the Tulalip Tribes of Washington will co-host a VAWA Tribal Trial Advocacy Skills Training session September 2-4, 2015, for tribal court judges, prosecutors and criminal defenders covering basic trial advocacy skills and the use of special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction (SDVCJ) authority granted federally recognized tribes by the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 (VAWA). The training will take place on the Tulalip Reservation.

Federal supervision over the Indians of Blue Lake Rancheria in Humboldt County, Calif., has been terminated with their consent, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today. Notice is being published in the Federal Register.

Blue Lake is the 30th rancheria in California to be removed from Federal trust supervision, in accordance with legislation enacted in 1958 and amended two years ago. More than 100 small Indian rancherias are affected by the law.

Washington, D.C. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona will hold a VAWA Tribal Court Trial Advocacy Training focusing on the challenges that occur when a tribe uses its special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction (SDVCJ) authority as authorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 (VAWA) to prosecute offenders. The training is scheduled for May 5-7 on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation in Tucson.

Opportunities for developers and investors to grow along with America's rapidly expanding recreational industry are being offered by the Cochiti Indian Tribe of New Mexico, which has concession rights on what will be the biggest lake in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe area.

When the Cochiti Dam is completed across the Rio Grande, 50 miles north of Albuquerque, in 1970, it will create a 2,300 acre-lake in the midst of some of the Southwest's most scenic and historic country.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In keeping with President Obama’s commitment to empowering tribal nations and strengthening their economies, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced his approval of three separate land leasing codes for the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Today’s action brings to 18 the number of federally recognized tribes whose land leasing regulations have been approved by the Department of the Interior in accordance with the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership (or HEARTH) Act.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has announced the award of a $238,895 contract for improving the road that serves Kahneeta Hot Springs, a popular resort on the Warm Springs Reservation in central Oregon.

WASHINGTON - On Thursday, December 16, 2010, President Obama will host the White House Tribal Nations Conference. As part of President Obama's ongoing outreach to the American people, this conference will provide leaders from the 565 federally recognized tribes the opportunity to interact directly with the President and representatives from the highest levels of his Administration. Each federally recognized tribe will be invited to send one representative to the conference.

I have chosen to discuss two subjects today - - Indian development and the development of the natural resources of the West.

It would be an untoward event if any Secretary of the Interior appeared before "an assembled group of Western Governors and did not discuss natural resources. It is, on the other hand, a rare occasion when any Secretary does discuss the future of our Indian people with a gathering of Governors. However, the time has come for all of us to face up to the failure of many of our Indian programs, and I propose that we confront them candidly here today.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Gaming (OIG) will conduct tribal consultation with federally recognized tribes on Indian Gaming Land into Trust Determinations. A letter announcing the meetings was sent to tribal leaders on August 24, 2010.

“I am pleased that Indian Affairs is continuing our consultation with tribes,” Echo Hawk said. “It is critical that we work together with tribes to address important issues regarding Indian Gaming and sovereignty.”

Thomas H. Tommany, a Creek Indian from Oklahoma, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Haskell Institute at Lawrence, Kansas.

Established in 1884 as a boarding high school, and the alma mater of numerous Indians prominent in public life today, Haskell moved into a new phase in its , history last year. The high school program was closed out, new curricula and facilities were created, and Haskell became the first Indian school offering vocational and technical training exclusively at the post-secondary level.