Past News Items

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of President Obama’s Generation Indigenous (“Gen-I”) and Tiwahe initiatives, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced he is calling for September 10 to be known as Hope for Life Day to raise awareness in Indian Country about suicide prevention during National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Suicide strikes Native youth especially hard. The suicide rate among American Indians ages 15 to 34 is more than two times higher than the national average.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs today announced the award of a $2,237,520 contract to construct new facilities at its Concho, Okla., elementary school. The school, originally established as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Boarding School in the late 1800's to serve two area tribes, now enrolls Indian students from a number of other tribes. Last year 162 students in grades 1-8 were enrolled.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today released a final rule to reform the regulatory process by which the Department of the Interior officially recognizes Indian tribes. The updated rule promotes a more transparent, timely and consistent process that is flexible enough to account for the unique histories of tribal communities, while maintaining the rigor and integrity of the criteria that have been in place for nearly 40 years.

A new company that began operating only a few months ago on the Crow Indian Reservation near Hardin, Mont., plans doubling its working force in a few months to capitalize on the exceptional skill of Indian employees, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs reports.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In keeping with President Obama’s commitment to supporting Indian families and building resilient, stable and thriving tribal communities, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has published a proposed rule to govern the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) by state courts and child welfare agencies. The proposed rule also includes changes to current regulations that govern notice to state agencies under ICWA.

“Indians of Arizona," latest in a current series of publications from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, turns the spotlight on the State with the largest Indian population.

Names that ring through the history of the American Southwest crowd the 24 pages of this profusely illustrated booklet. Here are the Apaches, whose very name once brought terror to westward bound settlers; the peaceful Hopis of the sky-reaching mesa villages; the Navajos, now the largest Indian tribe; the desert-dwelling Papagos; the agrarian Pimas; and the canyon-dwelling Havasupais and Hualapais.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk announced today that he has directed the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Michael S. Black, and the BIA’s Deputy Bureau Director for Justice Services, Darren A. Cruzan, to increase the training of BIA and tribal law enforcement officers to aid them as they respond to domestic violence incidents in the tribal communities they serve.

"SIPAPU" B. drama of authentic American Indian tales, dances and chants, will be presented at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre in Washington, D. C., June 1, 3, 4 and 5 at 8:30 each evening. The show will include a cast of 75 performers representing 31 Indian tribes from virtually all over the country. The drama is sponsored by the Center for Arts of Indian America.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk joined Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Rodney Bordeaux and a gathering of students and community members on September 27 at a groundbreaking ceremony for the Interior Department’s 4,000th project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) at the St. Francis Indian School, a Bureau of Indian Education funded school on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota.

Construction of a new elementary school at Cottonwood, Ariz., to accommodate upwards of 450 Indian children, is scheduled to begin soon, The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today the award of a building contract for $1,359,828.

Children in the area of Blue Gap, Tachee, Smoke Signal, Whippoorwill and Cottonwood, who have all been attending trailer schools, will use the new Cottonwood School when it is completed.