Past News Items

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that his office will hold the next set of Listening Sessions on the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ (BIA) Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Guidelines for State Courts on Tuesday, April 15, 2014, at the National Indian Child Welfare Association annual conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and on Thursday, April 24, via teleconference.

Interior Secretary Stewart L. Udall today congratulated the Zuni Indian Tribe of New Mexico for their initiative in passing one of the first Indian Sales Taxes collected primarily from Indians.

In placing a one percent tax upon themselves, Udall said, in a letter to Zuni Tribal Governor Robert E. Lewis, the Zuni Tribe has realized "that its local government cannot be a potent force for improvement unless it is able to carry its fair share of needed educational, industrial, social, health and community development program costs."

Regulations have been issued to govern distribution of I $5,199,660.20 for the Miami Indians of Oklahoma and Indiana, Louis R. Bruce Commissioner of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, announced today. The new regulations establish qualifications for enrollment and the deadline for filing applications to update the roll of Miami Indians prepared pursuant to a 1966 Act of Congress.

WASHINGTON, DC – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today approved a request by the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria to acquire 626 acres in trust in Butte County, California, near the City of Chico for gaming purposes.

Theodore S. Hoffman, president of Hoffman Information Systems, Inc., Hoffman Electronics, Corp., of El Monte, Calif., has accepted an appointment as a consultant on economic development with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, in Washington, D.C., Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.

Acting Secretary of the Interior Ralph A. Tudor today announced that investigation of the 10-year lease of 860.3 acres on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation by Arthur R. Hubbard, Pocatello, Idaho, reveals no grounds for cancellation.

SHAWNEE, Okla. – On Monday, November 25, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn will visit Oklahoma to participate in a signing ceremony with Chairman John Barrett of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, approving the tribe’s leasing regulations in accordance with the HEARTH Act. The law restores the authority of federally recognized American Indian tribes to control the leasing of their trust lands, thereby promoting self-determination and economic development.

George V. Goodwin, Jr., a member of the White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians, has been appointed Minneapolis Area Director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The area includes the states of Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin.

A swearing-in ceremony for Goodwin will be held December 18 at 1 p.m. in the Leamington Hotel, Minneapolis.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today that he has offered the services and facilities of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs to South Dakota officials who are battling the ravages of last wEH9kend's disastrous flood at Rapid City. Approximately 2100 Indian people live in Rapid City.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to empower tribal nations, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, on behalf of the United States, today signed an historic agreement at the Department of the Interior guaranteeing water rights for the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona. The agreement will also provide funding for infrastructure to deliver clean drinking water to the Reservation, as well as water security for the City of Phoenix and other downstream water users.