Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan said today that Anthony J. Hope will provide the strong leadership needed to organize and begin operations of a new National Indian Gaming Commission. President Bush nominated Hope and the Senate confirmed the appointment on May 16, 1990, following hearings before the Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Hope will serve as first chairman of the commission established by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (Public Law 100-497). The commission is to regulate, establish standards for, and monitor gaming on Indian lands and reservations.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown will keynote the fourth in a series of regional economic development conferences with Indian tribal leaders May 21-22 in Seattle, Washington. The conference will include tribal representatives from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and California and business and industry leaders from the private sector.

Acting Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Michael J. Anderson today announced that effective today Loretta Tuell, Director of Interior’s Office of American Indian Trust (OAIT), has been designated the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs until the end of the Clinton Administration. She will also continue as OAIT director where she is responsible for advising the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs on decisions, actions, and procedures relating to the Department’s trust responsibilities affecting American Indian trust assets. Ms.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today approved a proposed settlement of Indian water rights for the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho "This agreement is significant in that it is the first Indian water rights settlement for the State and the Bush Administration," Lujan said "It also can serve as a model for other Indian water rights negotiations in progress across the country. The 1990 Fort Hall Water Rights Agreement, achieved after five years of negotiations, is a victory for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, local non-Indian water users and the State of Idaho.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Eddie F. Brown today announced approval of historic agreements giving five Indian Tribes greatly increased authority in the budgeting and spending of federal funds for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) programs. "This is a major step toward giving tribal governments full authority and responsibility for governing their reservations," according to Brown, assistant secretary for Indian Affairs. "These agreements are historic for these tribes and for the BIA."

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan announced today that he is directing the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) to issue a renewable 5-year permit for the Kayenta coal mine on Indian land in northeastern Arizona Lujan will defer a permit decision on the adjoining Black Mesa mine pending the analysis of additional information on water resource impacts In addition Lujan has ordered a study of alternatives to the use of the existing slurry-pipeline to transport coal

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced proposed guidelines to govern future decisions on the granting of trust status for off-reservation lands acquired by Indian tribes

11 Many tribes are seeking to acquire land outside of their historic reservations to improve their prospects for economic development, and Interior has proposed a new policy to guide the acquisition process," Lujan said in remarks prepared for the Western Governors' Association in Fargo, North Dakota.

The Secretary said proposed new acquisition rules include the following:

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown today announced a national line officers meeting of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to discuss the future role of the Bureau in working with Indian tribal governments. The meeting of BIA line officers, the first since 1988, will be held July 23-25 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan and Secretary of Energy James D. Watkins have signed an agreement committing their departments to a cooperative program to improve the teaching of science, mathematics computer science and other technical subjects in American Indian elementary and secondary schools in New Mexico and Arizona.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today met with leaders of six Indian tribes to recognize "a new chapter giving form and substance to the concept of tribal self-determination." Lujan welcomed the tribal leaders to his office for a ceremony recognizing agreements that give them greatly increased authority in the budgeting and spending of federal funds for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) programs.