Past News Items

Where can a vacationer enjoy camping facilities, excellent hunting and fishing, while witnessing the pageant of a colorful and ancient pattern of life?

Indian reservations are the answer. Today, many tribes include recreational facilities in their plans for the economic development of their lands. Tourists are warmly welcomed to such areas, and, each year, the tribes play host to increasing number of visitors of all ages.

WASHINGTON - Assistant Secretary -Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn issued a Record of Decision this week to approve an application submitted by the Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians to lease up to 720 acres of reservation land to Tule Wind, LLC, for a portion of the Tule Wind Energy Project located near San Diego, California.

The lease approval will allow the Ewiiaapaayp Band, which is located in Alpine, California, to move forward with the construction, maintenance, and operation of up to 20 wind turbines and related facilities on the tribe’s trust lands.

Completion of a preliminary membership roll of the Ponca Indian Tribe of Nebraska, a step toward withdrawal of special Federal services to tribal members, was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Interior announced today a proposal to create an administrative procedure and criteria that the Secretary of the Interior would apply if the Native Hawaiian community forms a unified government that then seeks a formal government-to-government relationship with the United States.

In response to recent inquiries from the press and from individuals, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett today issued the following statement concerning the distribution to Creeks of the award from their case based on an 1814 treaty:

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn today announced that DOI University will pilot an interactive training course for Federal employees and tribal representatives engaged in tribal consultation, and will launch the course at the National Indian Programs Training Center in Albuquerque, N.M., on August 25-27, 2015.

Commissioner Robert L. Bennett of the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today plans for a series of regional meetings with Indian tribal leaders to discuss proposals for legislation and other matters of general interest to the Indian people.

Commissioner Bennett said the nine meetings would "help us to prepare and present to the Congress proposals that represent the best of Indian thinking on how to attack Indian problems.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In furthering President Obama’s efforts to support American Indian and Alaska Native families and protect tribal communities, Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn and Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Administrator Robert L.

Federal supervision has been terminated for three more rancherias in California the Department of the Interior announced. The affected Indian lands are Elk Valley in Del Norte County; Rohnerville in Humboldt County; and El Dorado in El Dorado County.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Deputy Secretary of the Interior Michael Connor today announced that the Department has signed two additional agreements with tribal nations in Washington State through the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program).