Past News Items

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer signed a preliminary decision in which she proposes to deny Federal recognition of the Duwamish Tribal Organization of Renton, WA, a petitioner for Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe.

"The petitioner failed to meet three of the fundamental criteria contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 25, Section 83.7," Ms. Deer said.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, will appear on ABC's Unity '99 hosted program which is a nationally televised electronic town hall meeting on Affirmative Action. The program is scheduled to be aired on Wednesday, June 12, 1996 which is telecasted from Chicago, on channel 7. This program is replacing ABC's Nightline on the 12th.

The broadcast will take place on WLS-TV (ABC), Channel 7, at 11:30 EDT; 10:30 CDT.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs signed a final decision denying recognition of the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe. The decision was based on the determination that the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe did not meet one of the mandatory criteria in the Code of Regulations (25 CFR 83.7(e)).

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs signed a final decision recognizing a separate government-to-government relationship between the Delaware Tribe of Eastern Oklahoma and the federal government.

Thanks to a newly developed process that streamlines the planning, design, and construction of Indian schools, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will be able to complete new schools in half the time or less. This means that the current seven to eight years that it has taken to build or renovate a school 'will now require only three years or less.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and Joann Sebastian Morris, Director, Office of Indian Education programs attended the inaugural meeting establishing the Arctic Council in Ottawa, Canada on September 19, 1996.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs will represent the Department of the Interior at the signing ceremony of Truckee River Water Quality Settlement Agreement, in Reno, Nevada. The execution of this agreement ends a long standing emotionally charged lawsuit initiated by The Pyramid Lake Tribe against the Cities of Reno, Sparks, the State of Nevada, and the EPA This agreement establishes a joint program to improve water quality in the Truckee River through purchase and dedication of water rights and to use treatment plant effluent in place of fresh water for certain uses.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the United States Geological Survey have entered into a Memorandum of Agreement to provide support for science and environmental education at the elementary and secondary levels in the BIA school system.

The MOA was signed last week by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Ada E. Deer mid Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Patricia Beneke and was officially announced at the 27th., Annual National Indian Education Association convention held in Rapid City this week.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced that 177 federally-recognized tribes representing 18 tribal grantees are currently participating in a demonstration project that allows for the integration of the employment, training and related services provided by formula-funded programs from three federal agencies.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced that the United States Supreme Court granted the federal government's petition for writ of certiorari on October 15, 1996 (95-1956) to review a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The Eighth Circuit's decision entered on November 7, 1995 (69 F. 3d 878) concluded that Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.