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WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today joined First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House kitchen garden for the planting of the Three Sisters—corn, beans, and squash—a traditional indigenous agricultural method of planting. This activity comes a week after the launch of Let’s Move! in Indian Country (LMIC) and continues to push the message of leading active and healthy lifestyles in Indian Country.

“Today’s a big day for us in the garden because it’s the first time we’re going to use native seeds of corn, beans and squash in the way they’ve been planted for thousands of years,” Mrs. Obama said. “We’re all pretty excited to continue this tradition. This is another example of a fun, easy way that we all can work together to be healthier. And that’s what we’re trying to accomplish with Let’s Move!”

“I am always very pleased when history acknowledges the wonderful achievements of our nation’s first Americans,” Echo Hawk said. “The agricultural contributions of the ancestors to contemporary American Indian and Alaska Natives are significant, and today’s event is a great testament to their lasting legacy.”

Corn, beans, and squash, when planted together, are referred to as the Three Sisters—stemming from tribal stories that weave the three agricultural staples into traditional narratives. This method is also known as companion planting. The science behind such planting techniques involves the mutually beneficial effects of their simultaneous growth. The corn provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants utilize and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight, which helps prevent weeds. This method of planting and agriculture differs greatly from the more common methods of plowing. The First Lady’s Three Sisters planting today acknowledges the amazing contributions and skills of our nation’s first Americans.

The numerous contributions of the ancestors to today’s American Indian and Alaska Native people are continually being recognized by modern science. Europeans, whose farming relied on extensive plowing, often dismissed the Three Sisters mound system as primitive. Early settlers had a strong ideological interest in denying that the Natives here had any agriculture. There were apologists from noted and influential people, like the political theorist John Locke, who justified European right to take Native lands because it was not being utilized. Modern science has come to realize the method behind planting these three staples together is based upon sound scientific evidence and principles.

Mrs. Obama was joined by numerous American Indian children from a variety of tribes including Jemez Pueblo, Skokomish, Cherokee, Sault Ste. Marie, Navajo, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, St. Regis Mohawk, Tlingit, Oglala Sioux, Standing Rock Sioux, and the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation. Together, they planted Cherokee White Eagle corn, Rattlesnake pole beans, and Seminole squash seeds that were provided by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

“We harvested some crops for the First Lady and planted some squash, beans, and corn,” said Jayce Archambault of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. “It was a real fun experience; to get outside and be active and plant these things to help people get healthy is something we will remember.”

The planting of the Three Sisters is intertwined with the LMIC initiative to end childhood obesity in Indian Country. In 2009, American Indian and Alaska Native children aged two to four had a higher prevalence of obesity (20.7%) than any other racial or ethnic group. In Indian Country, one in three children are overweight or obese before their fifth birthday and a national survey found that 18.9 percent of high school aged students are obese. LMIC brings together federal agencies, communities, non-profits, corporate partners, schools and tribes to focus on four areas: (1) early childhood development, (2) healthy learning communities, (3) physical activity, and (4) increasing access to affordable, healthy foods. For more information on this initiative, please visit: www.letsmove.gov/indiancountry.

Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk was also joined by other leaders in the American Indian and Alaska Native community, including Indian Health Service Director Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service Director Kevin Concannon, Bureau of Indian Education Director Keith Moore, President of the National Congress of American Indian Jefferson Keel, National Museum of the American Indian Director Kevin Gover, NFL quarterback Sam Bradford and basketball player Tahnee Robinson.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs has responsibility for helping the Secretary of the Interior to fulfill his trust responsibilities to tribal and individual trust beneficiaries and promoting self-determination and self-governance for the nation’s 565 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The Assistant Secretary oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which supports tribal agriculture, and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), which administers one of two federal school systems and funding to tribal colleges and universities.

Note to Editors: A photo of the event may be viewed via the Indian Affairs website at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62695826@N03

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Director Keith Moore has selected Chris Redman as president of Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU), the 127-year old, BIE Education administered post secondary institution for American Indian and Alaska Natives from the nation’s 565 federally recognized tribes. Redman, an enrolled member of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, was an education specialist with the BIE who had served as Haskell’s acting president in times of need. His appointment will become effective on July 3, 2011.

“I am pleased to announce Chris Redman’s appointment as the new president of Haskell,” Echo Hawk said. “Redman’s proven leadership will make a great addition to our team as we work to improve the delivery of quality education to Haskell students and help prepare them to further their goals, dreams and the prosperity of Indian Country.”

“Chris Redman is a dedicated public servant whose commitment to Haskell and to American Indian higher education is unquestioned,” Moore said. “I am pleased that he has joined our management team, bringing his talent, dedication and leadership.”

Prior to his appointment, Redman served as acting president from September to December 2009 and from May 2010 until March 2011.

Redman began his federal career in 2005 with the predecessor to the BIE, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP) in Washington, D.C., where he worked in the Division of Budget and Planning administering grants to tribal colleges and universities (TCUs). He continued there until April 2007, when he became a Human Resources Specialist with the OIEP in Anadarko, Okla.

In September 2008, Redman was promoted to the position of Education Program Specialist for Post Secondary Education with the OIEP in Oklahoma City, where he performed oversight and support duties for the TCUs. He first began working with Haskell in late 2008.

Between 1998 and 2005, Redman worked for his tribe, holding various positions including as manager of a vocational rehabilitation and chemical dependency program, as a special assistant to the lieutenant governor of the Chickasaw Nation, as director of the Carter Seminary, a BIA funded boarding school, and as administrator of the tribe’s education division.

“I want to express my appreciation to Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk and BIE Director Moore for this tremendous opportunity and for their confidence in me,” Redman said. “I am looking forward to working with them and with the students, faculty and staff to address issues that are important for Haskell’s long-term success.”

Redman holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa (1993), and a master’s degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma (1998).

Redman lives with his wife and family in Ardmore, Okla.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs oversees the Bureau of Indian Education which operates the federal school system for American Indian and Alaska Native children from the federally recognized tribes. The BIE implements federal education laws, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, in and provides funding to 183 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools and peripheral dormitories located on 64 reservations in 23 states and serving approximately 42,000 students (School Year 2009-2010). The BIE also serves post secondary students through higher education scholarships and support funding to 26 tribal colleges and universities and two tribal technical colleges. It also directly operates two post secondary institutions: Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque.

Haskell Indian Nations University has served the educational needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students for well over a century. Opened on September 1, 1884 as the United States Industrial Training School, with a focus on agricultural education in grades one through five, the school was known as Haskell Institute throughout Indian Country until 1970 when it was transformed into a two-year higher education institution and renamed Haskell Indian Junior College. In 1993, the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs approved changing the school’s name to its current form.

Haskell has grown from its original 22 students in 1884 to an average enrollment today of over 1,000 students each semester from federally recognized tribes across the U.S. It offers baccalaureate programs in elementary teacher education, American Indian studies, business administration and environmental science, and integrates American Indian/Alaska Native culture into all of its curricula. Students may transfer to another baccalaureate degree-granting institution or go directly into the workforce. For more information, visit www.haskell.edu.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will deliver a keynote address at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) Mid-Year Conference on Tuesday, June 14, 2011, in Milwaukee, Wis. Echo Hawk will be speaking on the accomplishments and progress made by Indian Affairs over the last 24 months. He will address such topics as: federal Indian policy, economic development, restoration of homelands, Indian energy development, safe communities, education, Indian gaming, and Indian Affairs leadership.

He will be joined by Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Del Laverdure who will participate in the NCAI’s Tribal Lands Forum on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the Administration’s ongoing efforts and accomplishments relating to Indian lands.

Established in 1944, NCAI (www.ncai.org) is the country’s oldest national association of American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, and holds one of the largest annual gatherings of tribal representatives.

WHO:

• Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.
• Del Laverdure, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.

WHAT: Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk will deliver a keynote address at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) 2011 Mid-Year Conference. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Del Laverdure will participate in the meeting’s Tribal Lands Forum.

WHEN: 10:00 a.m. (CDT), Tuesday, June 14, 2011.

WHERE: Frontier Airlines Center 400 W. Wisconsin Avenue (4th & Wisconsin), Ballroom A/B Milwaukee, Wisconsin

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives, who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to the event.

WASHINGTON – In a keynote address to tribal leaders attending the National Congress of American Indians 2011 Mid-Year Conference in Milwaukee, Wis., Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today described the progress being made in a comprehensive agenda to restore integrity in U.S. government relations with American Indian and Alaska Native leaders, fulfill trust responsibilities to tribal members, and to work cooperatively to build stronger economies and safer tribal communities.

“It is always an honor to work with the NCAI in shaping meaningful action for the future of Indian Country,” Echo Hawk said. “Over the past two years, Indian Affairs has listened to tribal leaders and to Indian Country about implementing real change, and we will work to carry the positive momentum forward as we reform, restructure and rebuild federal relations with Indian Country.”

Through his extensive travels to numerous tribal communities across Indian Country, the Assistant Secretary and his team have seen firsthand the positive results from, and the continued need for, the government-to-government relationship between the federal government and tribal nations. One of the most prominent features of the Echo Hawk’s tenure has been a commitment to restoring tribal homelands, economies and tribal self-determination.

For a document on AS-IA initiatives to date, please click: http://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/ASIA/index.htm.

In terms of federal policy, the Assistant Secretary was involved from the beginning of President Obama’s decision to review the United States’ position on the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and was instrumental in the review process. This effort led to the President’s decision to endorse the Declaration in December 2010. The Interior Department and Indian Affairs have worked to fulfill Executive Order 13175 on tribal consultation. The DOI is currently consulting with tribal leaders on its department-wide tribal consultation policy.

In addition to these accomplishments, there are other policy areas that the Assistant Secretary feels are essential to restoring tribal self-governance that need further attention. These would be areas that impact consultation with the tribes, the unique needs of Alaska Natives, improvements in federal recognition, restrictive state-tribal relationships, and a Carcieri-fix that articulates the full scope of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs has responsibility for helping the Secretary of the Interior to fulfill his trust responsibilities to tribal and individual trust beneficiaries and promoting self-determination and self-governance for the nation’s 565 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The Assistant Secretary oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), which supports tribal agriculture, and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), which administers one of two federal school systems and funding to tribal colleges and universities.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- The First Lady’s, Let’s Move! in Indian Country initiative is partnering with the United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) council, and the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute at the 2011 UNITY National Conference. Let’s Move! in Indian Country (LMIC) is an initiative dedicated to ending childhood obesity among Indian youth, a group which is twice as likely to be overweight when compared to the general U.S. population. The initiative was developed by First Lady Michelle Obama and officially kicked off in Indian Country in May of 2011. Let’s Move! in Indian Country has four main Goals: (1) create a healthy start on life for children, (2) create healthy learning communities, (3) ensure families access to healthy, affordable, traditional foods, and (4) increase opportunities for physical activity.

By attending the 2011 UNITY Conference, LMIC will have a further opportunity to present information on ways Indian youth can lead more active and healthy lives, receive input from Indian youth, and dance and exercise along with them. Amongst government representatives in attendance will be Charles Galbraith, a member of the Navajo Nation, Associate Director, White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, who will be speaking on Sunday, July 10th, 2011.

WHO: Charles Galbraith, Associate Director, White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement

WHAT: The First Lady’s, Let’s Move! in Indian Country is partnering with the United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY) council and the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute at the 2011 UNITY National Conference to promote ending childhood obesity within a generation to approximately 1,000 American Indian and Alaska Native youth from around the nation. The UNITY event consists of the nation’s largest youth roundtable where youth will be brainstorming solutions to improving health and wellness in Indian communities. In addition, there will be engaged in Let’s Move! in Indian Country activities over a two day period.

WHEN: Sunday, July 10th, 2011- Associate Director, White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement Charlie Galbraith will be addressing the students on behalf of the First Lady’s office and Let’s Move! in Indian Country.

WHERE: Sheraton Bloomington Hotel 7800 Normandale Blvd., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55439 Phone: (952) 835-7800 sheraton.bloomington@twincities-hotel.com

NOTE: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) and valid media credentials.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Deputy Secretary of the Interior David J. Hayes today announced Billings, Montana as the location for the first of six regional government-to-government tribal consultations regarding the Trust Land Consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement.

“These regional consultations will provide valuable input in developing an implementation strategy that will benefit tribal communities and help free up trust lands,” said Deputy Secretary Hayes. “The consultation process is fundamental to respecting our government-to-government relationship with the tribes and I look forward to meeting with Tribal Leaders from the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions.”

On May 27, 2011, U.S. Senior District Judge Thomas F. Hogan granted communication between representatives of the United States and Cobell class members only in regards to the Trust Land Consolidation component of the Settlement. The dates and locations for the remaining five regional tribal consultations will be announced in the coming weeks. For additional information on the First Tribal Consultation, please click here.

BACKGROUND:

The Cobell settlement was approved by Congress on November 30, 2010 (Claims Resolution Act of 2010) and signed by President Obama on December 8, 2010. The $3.4 billion Cobell Settlement will address the Federal Government’s responsibility for trust accounts and trust assets maintained by the United States on behalf of more than 300,000 individual Indians. A fund of $1.5 billion will be used to compensate class members for their historical accounting, trust fund and asset mismanagement claims.

In addition, to address the continued proliferation of thousands of new trust accounts caused by the "fractionation" of land interests through succeeding generations, the Settlement establishes a $1.9 billion fund for the voluntary buy-back and consolidation of fractionated land interests. The land consolidation program will provide individual American Indians with an opportunity to obtain cash payments for divided land interests and free up the land for the benefit of tribal communities.

Furthermore, up to $60 million will be set aside to provide scholarships for higher education for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

More information can be found at www.doi.gov/cobell

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will offer remarks at the Society of American Indian Government Employees (SAIGE) 8th Annual National Training Conference being held June 13-17, 2011, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa in Catoosa, Okla. He will speak during the lunch period on Wednesday, June 15.

SAIGE is a national not-for-profit organization of American Indian and Alaska Native government employees that promotes recruitment, retention, development and advancement of American Indians and Alaska Natives in government; provides a forum for issues that affect them; educates federal agencies about the federal Indian trust responsibility; and aids government agencies in honoring the federal-tribal relationship.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Service, Honor, Respect: Strengthening Our Cultures and Communities.” Training tracks will be offered on culture and diversity, equal employment opportunity and human resources, Indian Country, natural resources, professional development, and wellness.

WHO: Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.

WHAT: Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk will be the June 15 luncheon speaker at the SAIGE 8th Annual National Training Conference.

WHEN: 12:15 p.m.-1:00 p.m. CDT, Wednesday, June 15, 2011.

WHERE: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, Room: Sequoyah I, II, V & VI, 777 West Cherokee Street, Catoosa, Okla. 74015. Phone: 800-760-6700.

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to credentialed media representatives, who must display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to the event.

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today affirmed that the Department of the Interior will continue to pursue a balanced course on off-reservation gaming policy, taking into account the views and concerns of tribes, Federal, State and local elected officials and affected citizens. Echo Hawk spoke at a gathering of the National Congress of American Indians in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Echo Hawk announced to the audience of tribal leaders that on June 13, following extensive tribal consultations, he rescinded an 2008 memorandum that provided guidance on acquiring land in trust for gaming, Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk confirmed that the Department will move forward to process pending off-reservation gaming applications pursuant to current federal law and the Department’s existing regulations, which set forth a number of criteria that must be met before off-reservation gaming can be approved.

“Our balanced and considered approach to reviewing off-reservation gaming applications was affirmed during deliberate consultation with tribal leaders,” Echo Hawk said. “The 2008 guidance memorandum was unnecessary and was issued without the benefit of tribal consultation. We will proceed to process off-reservation gaming applications in a transparent manner, consistent with existing law.”

On June 18, 2010, Secretary Salazar issued a memorandum to Echo Hawk recommending that he undertake a thorough review of issues, guidance, and regulatory standards relating to off-reservation gaming, and in consultation with tribal leaders.

The Assistant Secretary held six consultation sessions with tribal leaders from around the United States, from September through December 2010. The Department received hundreds written and oral comments from tribal leaders on the off reservation gaming policy. Following the consultation sessions, Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk conducted a thorough review of the comments received, as well as of existing policies and regulations.

In his June 13th memorandum, the Assistant Secretary stated, “I find that the Department’s regulations governing off-reservation gaming acquisitions adequately provide standards for evaluating such acquisitions and, consequently, that the 2008 Guidance Memorandum’s interpretation of our fee-to-trust regulations is unnecessary.” Under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and the Department’s existing regulations, Indian tribes must satisfy three independent and distinct requirements in order to operate an off-reservation gaming facility.

One requirement is the tribe generally must have land acquired in trust by the Department for the benefit of the tribe. In addition, the tribe must receive a positive determination from the Department that off-reservation gaming is in the best interest of the tribe and is not detrimental to the surrounding community. The tribe also must have the concurrence from the Governor of the state in which the gaming facility would be located (the "two-part" test). Public comment is sought and considered during this process, and local communities have several meaningful opportunities to provide input on a tribe’s application for off-reservation gaming, as well as for the acquisition of land into trust on behalf of a tribe. Finally, the tribe must enter into a tribal-state gaming compact to govern the conduct of gaming at the proposed facility. Many states require gaming compacts to be approved by the state legislature.

In the twenty-three years since IGRA's enactment, only five tribes have gained approval to undertake off-reservation gaming.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) has submitted the featured entry in the 2011 Indian Education Renewable Energy Challenge targeting college age students and the Oneida Nation High School has submitted the featured entry in the high school-age challenge category.

The Challenge is sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) in partnership with the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. SIPI is a BIE post secondary school in Albuquerque, NM., and the Oneida Nation High School is a BIE funded school in Oneida, Wis.

“I am very pleased that this contest allowed the creativity of our BIE students to shine,” Echo Hawk said. “Both SIPI and the Oneida Nation High School student’s bio-diesel fuel teams were able to meet the challenge of designing an innovative process for converting biomass into diesel fuel. Projects like this demonstrate that our students can take on real world challenges with successes they can someday use to help promote tribal self-sufficiency.”

This is the second year in a row that both the SIPI team and the Oneida Nation High School team have been the featured entries in the national competition. The SIPI wind turbine team was one of the top two national winners at the 2010 college level competition. Last year’s competition ended in a tie with both SIPI and the College of the Menominee Nation from Keshena, Wis., sharing first place. In the high school level category, this is the second year in a row that the Oneida Nation High School has received an award in the renewable energy challenge.

This year the SIPI bio-diesel fuel team took first place for their process design to convert raw biomass material to diesel fuel. The team members are students Monique Mousseaux (Oglala Sioux), Felipa DeLeon (Oglala Sioux), John David (Laguna Pueblo), Josh Begay (Navajo), and Vernetta Long (Navajo), SIPI faculty members Dr. Nader Vadiee and Dr. Massoud Ahghar, and the teams’ mentor from the University of New Mexico, Ralph Kelly.

“We had an excellent team of students working on this challenge,” said Dr. Vadiee. “I am very pleased with their efforts and creativity in this endeavor. All of the students worked very hard and are extremely deserving of this recognition.”

The Oneida Nation High School team used cooking grease to produce a usable bio-diesel fuel. Their project design, like SIPI’s, was chosen as the best for the 2011 Challenge. The students working on the project included Devan Little, Larissa Lucus, Charles Cook, Alexi Silva, Danny McKinney, Bradley Grandquist, Jade Doxtator, and Brandon White. The eight-person group spent about 20 hours over three weeks building and developing the project before it was submitted for judgment. “It did feel good to get out of the classroom and come here to work on it,” said White, a senior.

The focus of the contest was to promote renewable energy development for Indian Country among students and teachers at the high school and college level. Preparing a proposal, feasibility studies, background research and team work, time management, budget management, communications, and partnering with other research and development entities were some of the activities students practiced and learned.

“This is a great way for students to translate what they are learning in the classroom to real world applications for developing renewable energy sources," said Andrew Skipor, who leads Argonne’s educational programs. “We are thrilled to be a part of such an important program that provides the hands-on training and experience that will help increase the use of clean energy technologies and promote energy independence.”

Both the SIPI and Oneida Nation High School bio-diesel fuel teams attended a BIE-IEED Argonne Award Ceremony at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois on July 14-15, 2011. They will have their project results prominently displayed at Argonne, which is located near Chicago.

Background:

SIPI is a National Indian Community College established in 1971 at the request of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico and other federally recognized tribes in the U.S. to help train American Indians and Alaska Natives for employment. It is advised by a national, tribally appointed Board of Regents. SIPI provides career technical training and transfer degree programs to students from the nation’s 565 federally recognized tribes. It offers competitive job training programs; granting of Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees; and opportunities to transfer into four-year degree programs. SIPI’s fall 2009 enrollment was 657 students from over 80 tribes.

The Oneida Nation High School was established in 1995 as an expansion of the pre-existing Oneida Nation Elementary School. Enrollment is non-compulsory, and as a school of choice draws students from five adjacent school districts including Green Bay, West DePere, Pulaski, Seymour, and Freedom. It has a current enrollment of 84 students, most of whom are members of the Oneida Nation, a federally recognized tribe. The school also draws students from approximately four other tribes, however, and has some non-member students as well. Oneida Nation High School adheres to the same standards as Wisconsin public schools, but offers the advantage of training in Oneida language and culture. It is funded through BIE grants and tribal contributions. ,.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs (ASIA) oversees the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED), whose mission is to foster stronger American Indian and Alaska Native communities by helping federally recognized tribes with employment and workforce training programs; helping tribes develop their renewable and non-renewable energy and mineral resources; and increasing access to capital for tribal and individual American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses. ASIA also oversees the Bureau of Indian Education which operates the federal school system for American Indian and Alaska Native children from the federally recognized tribes. The BIE is responsible for ensuring the implementation of federal education laws, including the No Child Left Behind Act, in 183 BIE-funded elementary and secondary schools and residential programs located on 64 reservations in 23 states serving approximately 42,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students and employing over 5,000 teachers, administrators and support personnel. The BIE also provides resources and technical assistance to 124 tribally administered BIE-funded schools, 26 tribal colleges and universities and two technical colleges. It directly operates two post-secondary institutions: Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, N.M. For more information, visit the BIE website at: http://www.bie.edu/.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the Departments of Interior and Justice applauded the final approval by U.S. Senior District Judge Thomas F. Hogan of the settlement of Cobell v. Salazar, a long-running and contentious individual American Indian trust class-action lawsuit. The court’s approval of the $3.4 billion settlement paves the way for payments to be made to as many as a half-million individual American Indians who had Individual Indian Money accounts or an interest in trust or restricted land managed by the Department of the Interior. The suit has been pending for 15 years.

Reaching a final settlement of Cobell has been a priority of the Obama administration.

“Judge Hogan’s decision is another milestone in empowerment and reconciliation for the American Indians,” Secretary Salazar said, noting in particular the contributions of Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes and Interior’s Solicitor Hilary Tompkins in reaching the settlement. “The Cobell settlement not only resolves the contentious 15-year litigation, but also honorably and responsibly turns the page on an unfortunate chapter in the Department’s history, demonstrating President Obama's commitment to reconciliation and empowerment for American Indian nations.”

“The judge’s finding that the settlement is fair and reasonable is a major milestone in the Administration’s effort to reach a resolution of litigation that has cast a cloud over the government’s relationship with American Indians,” said Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli, who has twice testified before Congress on the settlement.

“The Cobell settlement is the beginning of true trust reform,” said Interior Deputy Secretary David J. Hayes, noting that Interior is establishing a Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform. The commission will undertake a forward-looking, comprehensive evaluation of how the Interior Department manages and administers its trust responsibilities. "Interior needs to be more transparent and customer-friendly," said Hayes. "The status quo is not acceptable."

Following an earlier ruling by Judge Hogan, Hayes began scheduling consultation meetings with tribal leaders to begin discussions on the land consolidation component of the settlement.

Interior Department officials will hold six regional government-to-government tribal consultations which will provide valuable input in developing an implementation strategy that will benefit tribal communities and help free up trust lands. The consultation process is fundamental to respecting the government-to-government relationship with the tribes.

Additional information is available at www.cobellsettlement.com and the Office of Special Trustee website at www.doi.gov/ost. More information on the Cobell settlement, including resources for Indian Trust Beneficiaries, is available at http://www.doi.gov/ost/cobell/index.html or http://www.indiantrust.com