WASHINGTON – Following President Obama’s State of the Union address, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will travel to Indian Country with stops in Arizona and New Mexico. Secretary Jewell will mark continued progress in the transformation of the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) school process and make an historic announcement on the restoration of tribal homelands.
In Arizona on Thursday, January 14, Jewell will visit the BIE-funded Cove Day School on the Navajo Reservation to help highlight the President’s work to better serve Native youth and mark recent budget gains for the benefit of school construction and maintenance. Secretary Jewell will be joined by acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Lawrence S. Roberts and BIE Director Dr. Charles “Monty” Roessel. The visit is part of the President’s Generation Indigenous (“Gen I”) initiative to remove barriers standing between Native youth and opportunities to succeed. It also builds upon the White House Rural Council’s efforts to reduce rural child poverty.
On Friday, January 15, Jewell and Roberts, as well as Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Michael Black, will join tribal leaders of the Pueblo of Isleta in New Mexico to announce the largest number of acres accepted in trust in a single application. This is part of the Obama Administration’s goal of restoring tribal homelands and supporting economic development opportunities across Indian Country.
Cove Day School VisitWHO: Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Lawrence S. Roberts, Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Dr. Charles ‘Monty’ Roessel, Director, Bureau of Indian Education Dr. Leo Johnson, Principal, Cove Day School LoDonna Begay, Business Manager, Cove Day School
WHAT: Visit to Cove Day School
WHEN: Thursday, January 14, 2016 10:15 a.m. MST – Media check-in
10:30 a.m. MST – Cove Day School tour begins
WHERE: Cove Day School Highway 13 Red Valley, AZ 86544
MEDIA: Credentialed members of the media are encouraged to RSVP here.
Pueblo of Isleta Signing CeremonyWHO: Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Lawrence S. Roberts, Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs
Michael Black, Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs
Tom Udall, U.S. Senator, New Mexico
E. Paul Torres, Governor, Pueblo of Isleta
WHAT: Pueblo of Isleta land into trust announcement, signing ceremony
WHEN: Friday, January 15, 2016 11:15 a.m. MST – Media check-in 11:30 a.m. MST – Signing ceremony followed by a brief media availability
WHERE: Pueblo of Isleta Old Courthouse 51 Tribal Road 35 Isleta, NM 87022
MEDIA: Credentialed members of the media are encouraged to RSVP here.
