Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan hosted the first gathering of the Advisory Committee for the White House Conference on Indian Education in Washington, D.C., on April 17, 1991.

"Our program for Indian education must have one important objective in mind -- achieving the highest quality education for the children it serves," Lujan said in greeting the group. "As we strive to achieve this goal we realize that the essential roots of Indian heritage must be implicit in any program of Indian education. We can not separate Indian education from Indian communities."

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan announced today he has instructed the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs to publish a notice of opportunity to comment on the procedures proposed for Class III (casino-type) gaming to be conducted by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has officially cleared Kenneth Whitehorn, former BIA agency superintendent for education on the Tohono O'odham reservation in Arizona, of any knowledge or involvement in a child abuse case that occurred on the Hopi Indian Reservation in 1987.

A proposed project to develop oil and gas resources on the Seminole Indian Tribe's Brighton Reservation in Florida would not create significant environmental issues or concerns, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has concluded.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced his intention to appoint Jana McKeag, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, to the newly created National Indian Gaming Commission.

Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown said today the President's fiscal year 1992 budget request of $1.9 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) builds upon the foundation established last year by President Bush and Secretary Lujan to reform the deli very of key social, financial, and natural resources programs to American Indians.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced that the Department's Fiscal Year 1992 $8.7 billion budget continues the Bush Administration's commitment to improving our Nation's human, cultural and natural resources. Underscoring Lujan's goal of responsible stewardship, the budget increases funding for the America the Beautiful and Legacy '99 initiatives and establishes a new Tribal Horizons program.

Interior Assistant Secretary Eddie F. Brown and United states Peace Corps Director Paul D. Coverdell today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that provides for cooperation between the two agencies in recruitment of returned Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) to work in Bureau of Indian Affairs-funded (BIA) schools on Indian reservations.

Washington, D.C. - OMB Director Richard Darman and Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan announced today that, effective immediately, all adjustments associated with the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) accounting and financial management system must be reviewed by a special management team established by the Department of the Interior (DOI). Further, Darman and Lujan announced the establishment of a plan to improve management at the BIA.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today appointed 36 Indian tribal representatives and seven departmental employees to an Advisory Task Force to develop goals and plans for the reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

"I look forward to working with this important group to define ways that we can strengthen the organization of the BIA to better serve the Indian people," Lujan said. "These are the people that know the Bureau and know how it can best be of benefit to Indian tribes. I value their judgment."