Past News Items

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced a new Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS) program to assist federally recognized tribal social services agencies seeking to place children in safe homes.

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service has proposed to modify the regulation governing the gathering of plants in national parks. The rule would allow members of federally recognized Indian tribes with traditional associations to areas within specific units of the National Park System to gather and remove plants or plant parts for traditional purposes.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In furthering President Obama’s efforts to support American Indian and Alaska Native families and protect tribal communities, Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn and Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Administrator Robert L.

Grants to Help Native Americans Identify and Repatriate Human Remains, Cultural Objects

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service today announced the award of eight Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Repatriation grants totaling $74,348. The grants will assist in the repatriation of individuals and sacred objects, objects of cultural patrimony and funerary objects back to the tribes.

WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of the Interior today announced it has transferred more than $12 million to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund, bringing the total amount transferred so far to $17 million. Authorized by the historic Cobell Settlement, and funded in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), the Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance through scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary and graduate education and training.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of the Interior, in partnership with the Crow Tribe, will enter into an agreement for hydropower development on the Yellowtail Afterbay Dam, downstream of Yellowtail Dam and Powerplant, on the Bighorn River near Fort Smith, Montana.

The agreement is part of the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010. Under the settlement, the Tribe holds the exclusive right to develop and market power generation on the Yellowtail Afterbay Dam.

WASHINGTON, DC – Continuing the momentum of the Department of the Interior’s Land BuyBack Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), Deputy Secretary Mike Connor today announced that more than $34 million in additional purchase offers have been sent to almost 11,000 landowners with fractional interests at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Interested sellers have 45 days – until May 16, 2015 – to return accepted offers in the pre-paid postage envelops provided.

LAVEEN, AZ – More than 150 tribal leaders and individual landowners joined Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary Michael Connor and Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn at the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program) 2015 Listening Session yesterday. The event, held on the Gila River Indian Community, allowed Interior officials to share updates and hear directly from tribal communities about how the Program can best be implemented across Indian Country.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In keeping with President Obama’s commitment to supporting Indian families and building resilient, stable and thriving tribal communities, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has published a proposed rule to govern the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) by state courts and child welfare agencies. The proposed rule also includes changes to current regulations that govern notice to state agencies under ICWA.

WASHINGTON – National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis this week announced $8.78 million of grants to 154 American Indian tribes to support their historic preservation offices in order to carry out national historic preservation program responsibilities on tribal lands.