Past News Items

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- The First Lady’s, Let’s Move! in Indian Country initiative is partnering with the United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) council, and the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute at the 2011 UNITY National Conference. Let’s Move! in Indian Country (LMIC) is an initiative dedicated to ending childhood obesity among Indian youth, a group which is twice as likely to be overweight when compared to the general U.S. population.

WASHINGTON – In a keynote address to tribal leaders attending the National Congress of American Indians 2011 Mid-Year Conference in Milwaukee, Wis., Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today described the progress being made in a comprehensive agenda to restore integrity in U.S. government relations with American Indian and Alaska Native leaders, fulfill trust responsibilities to tribal members, and to work cooperatively to build stronger economies and safer tribal communities.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will deliver a keynote address at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Mid-Year Conference on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, in Milwaukee, Wis. Echo Hawk will be speaking on the accomplishments and progress made by Indian Affairs over the last 24 months. He will address such topics as: federal Indian policy, economic development, restoration of homelands, Indian energy development, safe communities, education, Indian gaming, and Indian Affairs leadership.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Director Keith Moore has selected Chris Redman as president of Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU), the 127-year old, BIE Education administered post secondary institution for American Indian and Alaska Natives from the nation’s 565 federally recognized tribes. Redman, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, was an education specialist with the BIE who had served as Haskell’s acting president in times of need.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today joined First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House kitchen garden for the planting of the Three Sisters—corn, beans, and squash—a traditional indigenous agricultural method of planting. This activity comes a week after the launch of Let’s Move! in Indian Country (LMIC) and continues to push the message of leading active and healthy lifestyles in Indian Country.

WASHINGTON – A federal judge, in response to a motion on behalf of the Department of the Interior, has granted permission for Interior officials to begin communicating with class members on land trust consolidation provisions of the Cobell Settlement agreement. The Department will soon publish a Federal Register notice announcing its intent to begin formal government-to-government consultations with tribal leaders. Interior expects the land consolidation consultations to begin by late-summer.

Rollins Fleet Leasing Inc. of Rehoboth Beach, Del., was the lowest bidder for two contracts by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for leasing of 39 passenger cars and station wagons for two field installations, the Department of the Interior announced today.

Nine bids from six bidders were received by the Bureau for the rental contracts for the vehicles for use at its offices in Cherokee, N. C., and Albuquerque, N. Mex.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will be joined by Office of the First Lady, Executive Director of Let’s Move! Initiative Robin Schepper, USDA Deputy Administrator for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Lisa Pino, IHS Director for Improving Patient Care Program Lyle A. Ignace M.D., M.P.H., and Menominee Tribal Chairman Randal Chevalier to launch Let’s Move! in Indian Country (LMIC). This event marks the First Lady’s launch of Let’s Move! in Indian Country hosted by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.

NEW YORK, NY—Donald “Del” Laverdure, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, today addressed the United Nations on U.S. support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He emphasized that President Obama holds his Administration to a high standard of action on Native American issues.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) Challenge was given to the KinLani Bordertown Dormitory in Flagstaff, Ariz., a Bureau of Indian Education-funded facility. BIE Director Keith Moore, NFL player Levi Horn of the Chicago Bears, who is the ambassador for Nike N7, Nike, Inc.’s program to bring access to sports to Native American and Aboriginal communities in the United States and Canada, were in attendance to present the award.