Past News Items

Cuts in federal funding for Indian education programs cannot be allowed to affect the quality of education being provided to young people, Kenneth L. Smith, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, said today.

Addressing the National Indian Education Association conference in Portland, Oregon, Smith said budget reductions are coming and Indian education would have to shoulder its share.

Regulations governing the preparation of a roll of lineal descendants of the Saginaw, Swan Creek and Black River Bands of Chippewa Indians to share in the distribution of funds awarded by the Indian Claims Commission is being published in the Federal Register, Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard announced today. The regulations establish the requirements for enrollment and a decid1ine of December 1, 1978 for filing applications.

Department of Interior Funds the Expansion of DOJ Tribal Access Program at 31 BIA Social Services and Law Enforcement Locations by 2020

Department of Justice Expands Tribal Access Program to Additional 25 Tribes This Year

Interior Secretary James Watt announced today that the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) at Santa Fe, New Mexico will be moved for the 1981-82 school year to the nearby campus of the College of Santa Fe.

Watt said he approved a one-year Bureau of Indian Affairs contract with the College of Santa Fe to allow IAIA to use facilities on the campus of the 1,200-student liberal arts college.

Indian leaders of the National Tribal Chairmen's Association (NTCA) had a "productive" meeting with Vice President Walter Mondale at the White House July 24, according to Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard.

Gerard said that the Indian, in an hour-long meeting, discussed various Indian programs and trust-related issues but "stressed the need for Government consultation with the elected leaders of Indian tribes before making Indian policy decisions."

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – As part of President Obama’s commitment to help Alaska Native leaders build strong, prosperous and resilient communities, Deputy Secretary of the Interior Mike Connor today announced that Interior is launching initiatives to streamline Native land conveyances, improve rural energy development and provide greater local participation in the management of subsistence fish and wildlife resources on federal lands.

Wyman J. McDonald, a member of the Flathead Tribe, has been appointed superintendent of the BIA's Northern Idaho Agency at Lapwai, Idaho. He succeeds Jerry Jaeger who is now the BIA area director at Aberdeen, South Dakota.

McDonald was superintendent of the Fort Hall Agency, Idaho since 1976 and had earlier been superintendent of the Mescalero Apache Agency in New Mexico.

A former Marine, McDonald, 42, is a graduate of the University of Montana.

Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest J. Gerard today announced the appointment of James L. Sansaver as Special Assistant in the area of trust services.

Sansaver, a member of the Assiniboine-Sioux Tribes of the Ft. Peck Reservation, will work on the Assistant Secretary's immediate staff in matters involving natural resource programs and the strengthening of tribal governments.

WASHINGTON, DC- On Wednesday, November 13, President Obama will host the White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Department of the Interior. The conference will provide leaders from the 566 federally recognized tribes the opportunity to interact directly with the President and members of the White House Council on Native American Affairs. Each federally recognized tribe will be invited to send one representative to the conference.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons will leave Washington, September 30 for a. trip of approximately five weeks which will take him into the major Indian areas of 11 western States, it was announced today.

This will complete the assignment given to Commissioner Emmons by President Eisenhower in a letter of September 2 directing him to "meet with each of the major tribal groups of the country" in the near future.