Past News Items

WASHINGTON – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development – Indian Affairs George T. Skibine today announced a new effort to recruit and train American Indian and Alaska Native post-secondary students to become Indian Country’s next generation of tribal energy and natural resource management professionals. The Energy Resource Development Tribal Internship Program has been developed through a partnership between the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED), the Council of Energy Resource Tribes (CERT) and the U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will hold a media roundtable tomorrow – Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 -- to discuss how the department will swiftly and responsibly implement President Obama’s economic recovery plan in order to help create jobs, generate economic activity in local communities, and renew our national parks, national wildlife refuges and other public lands and resources.

DENVER, CO – Today, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar made the following statement in honor of Crow Tribal Chairman Carl Venne, who died this weekend in Montana:

WASHINGTON – Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development – Indian Affairs George T. Skibine today announced the names of three individuals who have received career appointments to Senior Executive Service (SES) positions within the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). They are Stephanie E. Birdwell as the Deputy Director for Policy, Evaluation and Post Secondary Education, Bartholomew “Bart” Stevens as the Deputy Director for School Operations and David Talayumptewa as the Assistant Deputy Director for Administration. The appointments became effective on January 4, 2009.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today pledged to restore integrity in government relations with Indian tribes, fulfill the United States' trust responsibilities to Native Americans, and work cooperatively to build stronger economies and safer American Indian communities.

On Thursday, February 12, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will testify before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on his views and priorities on American Indian issues. The full committee hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room SD 628.

Who: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar

What: Secretary Salazar’s testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee

When: 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009

WASHINGTON – The latest class to graduate from an Indian Affairs-supported pilot project to train American Indians in the commercial building trade will hold its commencement ceremony on January 16, 2009, in Phoenix, Ariz. The current class has 12 trainees, all of whom are from the Navajo Nation, the largest federally recognized tribe in the state. The ceremony will take place at the Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen in Phoenix immediately following a luncheon for graduates and guests that starts at 11:30 a.m. (local time).

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.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman will appear on the afternoon of Monday, November 12, 2007, at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) 64th Annual Convention, where he will address delegates at the Second General Assembly and attend NCAI’s session for tribal leaders on the Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative scheduled for that evening. The event will take place in Denver, Colo., at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman joined Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Bureau of Indian Education Acting Director Kevin Skenandore and students and faculty from 20 BIE-funded schools for the launching of “BIE READS” at the Department’s kick-off event for National American Indian Heritage Month. BIE READS is the Bureau’s plan to help BIE school students improve their proficiency in reading and math.