Past News Items

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson on February 8, 1974 issued the following statement in connection with Feb, 7’s tribal election at the Oglala Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge, South Dakota:

Following yesterday's election in which the uncertified results indicate that Richard Wilson won by a plurality of about 200 votes over Russell Means, a number of allegations of "massive election fraud" have been made, and the Department of the Interior has been asked by Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee to send a large investigation team to the reservation.

The Reflector City portion of the Badlands Air Force Gunnery Range, South Dakota --some 5,280 acres of land --is now available for sale to its former owners, mostly Oglala Sioux Indians, Morris Thompson, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, said today.

The lands have been declared excess to the needs of the Air Force and administrative jurisdiction has been transferred to the Department of the Interior. Notice was published in the Federal Register of January 3.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced a streamlined system for the use or distribution of judgments made to American Indian tribes and groups by the Indian Claims Commission or the United States Court of Claims.

In implementing a 180-day time schedule in accord with the Act of October 19, 1973, new Regulations published in the Federal Register January 15, 1974 include these provisions:

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the award of a contract amounting to nearly $1.33 million to construct a Bureau of Indian Affairs elementary school at Casa Blanca, Arizona, on the Gila River Indian reservation. The school will serve young Pima Indians.

Successful bidder is J. R. Youngdale Construction, Inc., San Diego, California.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced his first two executive appointments since he took office December 3 --both Indian, one a woman. The woman is Mrs. Shirley Plume, an Oglala Sioux, who will be Superintendent of the Standing Rock Agency, Fort Yates, North Dakota. She is the first Indian woman appointed to such a post. The second executive appointment is Frank Self, Choctaw, who will be Superintendent of the Phoenix Indian School, Phoenix, Arizona.

Other similar appointments to key Bureau of Indian Affairs posts will be forthcoming soon, Thompson said.

More authority for the Johnson-O' Malley program -- by which American Indians in public schools get special help from the Bureau of Indian Affairs -- may be placed in the hands of Johnson-O' Malley parent committees that must approve special need programs for eligible Indians submitted by public school districts, Morris Thompson, Commissioner of Indian Affairs indicated today.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that the Minnesota Sioux Indian Tribes presented a Peace Pipe to the United States in a recent White House Ceremony.

Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller accepted the pipe June 25 from Glynn A. Crooks, tribal councilman of the Shakopee-Mdewakanton Sioux Tribe. Crooks called the pipe a symbol of "trust, unity, friendship and peace."

The following statement was issued today by Ralph E. Erickson, Special Assistant to the Attorney General:

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Tara Mac Lean Sweeney announced today that the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) has awarded business development grants totaling $400,000 to 12 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.

The awards from IEED’s Native American Business Development Institute (NABDI) Feasibility Study Program will enable tribal leaders to better evaluate and identify viable economic opportunities for their communities.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, July 9, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will deliver opening remarks at the first-ever White House Tribal Youth Gathering, part of the Obama Administration's Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative to remove barriers standing between Native youth and opportunities to succeed. The Gathering provides Native youth from across the country the opportunity to interact directly with senior Administration officials and the White House Council on Native American Affairs, chaired by Secretary Jewell.