News by Year

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced that effective December 17, William D. Bettenberg, a 26-year Department employee, has been appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs.

Bettenberg served for almost five years as Director of Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) and as MMS associate director for Offshore Minerals Management. In March of 1990, he was named as a special assistant to Lujan.

Extensive investigations by the Bureau of Indian ·Affairs (BIA) have exonerated Kenneth Whitehorn, former BIA agency superintendent for education on the Tohono O'odham reservation, of allegations he had prior knowledge that an employee he hired had been involved in a child abuse case in Arizona.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced his intention to appoint Joel Matthew Frank, Sr., a Seminole from Hollywood, Florida, to serve on the newly-created National Indian Gaming Commission.

"Joel Frank is extremely well-qualified for the demanding tasks involved in establishing the National Indian Gaming Commission," Lujan said. "His experience as Vice Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association will be an especially important asset in helping build a framework for successful operation of the Commission."

David J. Matheson, an enrolled member of the Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe of Plummer, Idaho, and its former chairman, has been named Director of the Office of Construction Management in the Department of the Interior.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced that a National Tribal Leaders Conference will be held September 28, 1990, in Albuquerque, N.M.

Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown today announced the appointment of Niles c. Cesar as Area Director, Juneau Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Juneau, Alaska. "I am particularly pleased that Niles Cesar has joined us to manage the Juneau Area Office," Brown said. "Alaska issues are critically important, and Mr. Cesar's stature and experience will be of immense help to us." Cesar's appointment as Area Director begins September 23, 1990.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown today announced the appointment of L. W. (Bill) Collier as Area Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) Anadarko Area Office in Anadarko, Okla. "We are fortunate to have someone with the talents and field experiences of a Bill Collier to take over this important position," Brown said. "His 13 years of experience at the agency and area level of working directly with tribal governments is most important in a time when BIA is moving from a direct service provider to one of technical assistance.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today met with leaders of six Indian tribes to recognize "a new chapter giving form and substance to the concept of tribal self-determination." Lujan welcomed the tribal leaders to his office for a ceremony recognizing agreements that give them greatly increased authority in the budgeting and spending of federal funds for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) programs.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan and Secretary of Energy James D. Watkins have signed an agreement committing their departments to a cooperative program to improve the teaching of science, mathematics computer science and other technical subjects in American Indian elementary and secondary schools in New Mexico and Arizona.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown today announced a national line officers meeting of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to discuss the future role of the Bureau in working with Indian tribal governments. The meeting of BIA line officers, the first since 1988, will be held July 23-25 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced proposed guidelines to govern future decisions on the granting of trust status for off-reservation lands acquired by Indian tribes

11 Many tribes are seeking to acquire land outside of their historic reservations to improve their prospects for economic development, and Interior has proposed a new policy to guide the acquisition process," Lujan said in remarks prepared for the Western Governors' Association in Fargo, North Dakota.

The Secretary said proposed new acquisition rules include the following:

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan announced today that he is directing the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) to issue a renewable 5-year permit for the Kayenta coal mine on Indian land in northeastern Arizona Lujan will defer a permit decision on the adjoining Black Mesa mine pending the analysis of additional information on water resource impacts In addition Lujan has ordered a study of alternatives to the use of the existing slurry-pipeline to transport coal

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Eddie F. Brown today announced approval of historic agreements giving five Indian Tribes greatly increased authority in the budgeting and spending of federal funds for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) programs. "This is a major step toward giving tribal governments full authority and responsibility for governing their reservations," according to Brown, assistant secretary for Indian Affairs. "These agreements are historic for these tribes and for the BIA."

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today approved a proposed settlement of Indian water rights for the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho "This agreement is significant in that it is the first Indian water rights settlement for the State and the Bush Administration," Lujan said "It also can serve as a model for other Indian water rights negotiations in progress across the country. The 1990 Fort Hall Water Rights Agreement, achieved after five years of negotiations, is a victory for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, local non-Indian water users and the State of Idaho.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan said today the confirmation of Carl J. Kunasek of Arizona as Commissioner of the Office of Navajo &Hopi Relocation signals the beginning of the final phase in settling the century-old land dispute between the two Indian tribes. President Bush nominated Kunasek and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on May 22, 1990, after a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown will keynote the fourth in a series of regional economic development conferences with Indian tribal leaders May 21-22 in Seattle, Washington. The conference will include tribal representatives from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and California and business and industry leaders from the private sector.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan said today that Anthony J. Hope will provide the strong leadership needed to organize and begin operations of a new National Indian Gaming Commission. President Bush nominated Hope and the Senate confirmed the appointment on May 16, 1990, following hearings before the Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Hope will serve as first chairman of the commission established by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (Public Law 100-497). The commission is to regulate, establish standards for, and monitor gaming on Indian lands and reservations.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown will keynote the third in a series of regional economic development conferences with Indian tribal leaders May 14-15 in Oklahoma City. The meeting is being held in conjunction with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce's third annual Indian economic development conference on May 14.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown will keynote the third in a series of regional economic development conferences with Indian tribal leaders May 14-15 in Oklahoma City. The meeting is being held in conjunction with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce's third annual Indian economic development conference on May 14.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced that he has directed Interior officials to develop "better and stronger" policies to govern the protection and treatment of sacred objects and human remains on Federal lands.

Lujan told Interior bureau heads that the new policies should be based on four areas of special emphasis:

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie Brown will open the second in a series of regional economic development conferences with Indian tribal leaders March 15-16 in Hollywood, Florida. The conference will include tribal representatives from Florida, Louisiana, Maine, New York, North Carolina, Mississippi, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin and business and industry leaders from the private sector.

Interior Under Secretary Frank Bracken will open the second in a series of mini-summits on education with Indian tribal leaders and educators aimed at improving the quality of Indian education in Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funded schools. The meeting is scheduled for March 12-13, 1990, in Rapid City, South Dakota, and will include tribal and state representatives from North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Interior Under Secretary Frank Bracken will open the first in a series of regional conferences with Indian tribal leaders designed to increase economic development on Indian reservations. The first conference, scheduled March 1-2 in Scottsdale, Arizona, will include tribal representatives from Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada and Colorado and business and industry leaders from the private sector. Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced that he will hold a series of mini-summit meetings around the country with tribal chairmen and educators aimed at improving the quality of Indian education in America. The first of these meetings is scheduled for February 12 - 13, 1990, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and will include representatives from Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown today announced the appointment of Edward F. Parisian as Deputy to the Assistant Secretary and Director of Indian Education Programs in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Parisian, an enrolled member of the Chippewa-Cree tribe of Montana, has served as Superintendent of Schools of the Rocky Boy Indian reservation in Box Elder, Montana, since July 1983. His new appointment is effective Feb. 1.

Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown said today the President's fiscal year 1991 budget request of $1.7 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will reverse a decade-long trend of reducing resources available to carry out the Bureau's responsibilities to the Indian people of this country.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan said today his Department looks forward to a major role in implementing the America the Beautiful initiative in President Bush's fiscal year 1991 budget. "With increased funding for land acquisition, recreation enhancement and resource protection, the President shows his strong commitment to meeting the diverse Federal land management challenges of the 1990s," Lujan said.