Past News Items

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan and continued commitment to support Native American leaders in building strong, resilient communities, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn today announced the Administration has dedicated nearly $10 million this year to help tribes prepare for climate change through adaptation and mitigation.

The award of a $540,998 contract for remodeling and construction at the 200-man Job Corps Center at Poston, Arizona, on the Colorado River Reservation was announced today by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. The center is expected to be ready for activation within six months.

PHOENIX, Arizona – As part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution and create clean energy jobs, on Wednesday, May 7, 2014, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will make several major announcements related to energy development on tribal lands. The announcement will be held at the Heard Native American Museum at 1:00 pm MST.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash today announced the award of a $721,670 contract for further construction on the east-west road now being cut through the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona.

The construction will open up to tourist traffic the 1.5 mile stretch of the old Geronimo Trail which leads through rock-bound Barlow Pass into the pine flats. The flats are the site of the Tribe's projected Point of Pines recreational development.

WASHINGTON, DC – In another step to fulfill President Obama’s commitment to strengthen Indian communities, the U.S. Department of the Interior today announced that the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program) has sent purchase offers to nearly 16,000 individual landowners with fractionated interests in parcels on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

In line with President Johnson’s war on waste in Government administration, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs has consolidated responsibility for fiscal and management analysis under the Deputy Commissioner and a special assistant. The announcement was made today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn, speaking on behalf of the entire Department of the Interior, today issued the following statement on the passing of Forrest J. Gerard, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe in Montana and the first Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs who served from Oct. 13, 1977 to Jan. 19, 1980:

The first Job Corps Conservation Center in the Southwest--and the second in the entire country-·-will be dedicated at Winslow, Arizona, March 12 by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

On the periphery of Navajo lands in Arizona, Winslow Center formerly was an Air Force Radar Base. The property is now administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Another camp organized in cooperation with the Department of the Interior was dedicated at Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland, two weeks ago. It is administered by the Interior Department's National Park Service.

The award of a $659,850 contract for the construction of new vocational training facilities at Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kansas, was announced today by Philleo Nash, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

The project marks the first major step toward conversion of the 80-year-old high school for Indians into a post-secondary technical institute.

In announcing the construction contract award Nash said:

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) awarded over $5 million to 34 tribal projects that will assist in the development of energy and mineral resources on tribal lands. The awards include funding for renewable hydroelectric projects that will provide low-cost clean power to tribal members and other customers, and help to expand tribal economies by opening new business opportunities.