News by Year

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan and Barron Collier today signed agreements on the terms and conditions for closing on the Phoenix Indian School land exchange by December 18, 1996. "This exchange will provide substantial benefits for Indian tribes, the City of Phoenix, and our national parks and refuge systems, Lujan said. “These agreements represent long and arduous negotiations and a great deal of work by Congress, the city of Phoenix, the Interior Department and officials of the Arron Collier Company.

Interior Assistant Secretary Eddie F. Brown today said the recently established Indian Gaming Management Office has developed an action plan and oversight process to provide assistance to Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) field staff and Indian tribes on gaming management issues and problems.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan and Secretary of Agriculture Edward Madigan today announced approval of a historic agreement in principle to resolve a century-old land dispute between the Navajo and Hopi Indian tribes in Arizona. "For the first time we have an agreement in principle between the two tribes," Lujan said. "We cannot pass up this Once-in-a-century opportunity to settle this bitter dispute." The agreement in principle, approved earlier this week by the Hopi and Navajo tribal councils, was achieved after 17 months of intense negotiations conducted by U.S.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced he approved a cooperative agreement to activate the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program for the recovery of endangered squawfish "Although the actual effort to bring about recovery of the squawfish in the San Juan Basin has been underway for nearly two years, the completion of this document provides us with the blueprint for future," Lujan said.

A national conference of area directors of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS) culminated here October 20 with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that updates a 1988 agreement and spells out the management framework for implementation of a national strategy the two federal agencies are undertaking to prevent and treat alcohol and substance abuse among American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today signed a contract with the Gila River Indian Community, completing the allocation of Central Arizona Project water to 11 tribes within the state "Central Arizona Project water will be instrumental in the future development of Arizona, and it will be especially beneficial to the Gila River Indian Community and other tribes sharing in it," Lujan said. "The signing of this contract is an important milestone, completing a process that has taken 16 years." Governor Thomas R.

A meeting of area directors of the two principal federal agencies providing services to American Indians and Alaska Natives will take place October 19-20 at the Sheraton Premiere Hotel in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

Interior Assistant Secretary Eddie Brown has ordered the Bureau of Indian Affairs to tighten the procedures for leasing of Indian lands in the Palm Springs, California, area and to put in place regulations specifically designed to fit long-term business leasing needs of the Agua Caliente Indian landowners.

"We have seen evidence of leases negotiated many years ago that do not meet today's market value. Future leases must contain provisions for escalation when land values skyrocket," Brown said.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan met today with South Carolina Governor Carroll Campbell, Senator Strom Thurmond and representatives from the offices of Senator Ernest Hollings and Congressman John Spratt to discuss the terms of the Catawba \ Indian land settlement.

"This appears to be an excellent settlement proposal, and I will do whatever I can to gain the support of the Administration for it," Lujan said. "All parties to this historic agreement are to be congratulated for their hard work."

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan met today with South Carolina Governor Carroll Campbell, Senator Strom Thurmond and representatives from the offices of Senator Ernest Hollings and Congressman John Spratt to discuss the terms of the Catawba \ Indian land settlement.

"This appears to be an excellent settlement proposal, and I will do whatever I can to gain the support of the Administration for it," Lujan said. "All parties to this historic agreement are to be congratulated for their hard work."

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Eddie Brown today ordered the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to revise procedures and to focus attention on increased monitoring and inspections to curtail abuses and mismanagement in federal programs to improve housing for American Indians.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced the establishment of a special Indian Minerals Service Office devoted exclusively to serving Native Americans in the Four corners area of New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona.

The new office, located in Farmington, New Mexico, will be operated cooperatively by three Interior Department agencies: the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Minerals Management Service (MMS), and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Department of the Interior Solicitor Thomas L. Sansonetti today announced that an office will be opened in Palm Springs, California, and that Daniel G. Shillito has been appointed to new post as Field Solicitor

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown today told a U.S. Senate committee that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is moving to implement a plan to resolve problems in management of the $2 billion Indian trust fund. "The plan will guide BIA to high levels of service excellence for our customers, the tribal and individual Indian trust account owners," Brown said in testimony prepared for the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan announced today that an agreement in principal has been reached with Barron Collier Company on the terms and conditions for closing on the Phoenix Indian School land exchange. In exchange for approximately 88 acres of the former Phoenix Indian School site in Phoenix, Arizona, the Federal Government acquire about 108,000 acres of Florida wetlands important to protection of the Everglades and fish and wildlife resources in that area.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced the appointment of Dr. Jonathan Haas as the seventh member of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee. Haas is Vice President for Collections and Research at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. He joins Rachel Craig, Dan Monroe, Tessie Naranjo, Dr. Martin Sullivan, William Tallbull and Dr. Philip Walker as members of the committee. Lujan selected Haas from a list of nominees developed by members of the committee at their first meeting April 29-May 1 1992, in Washington, D.C

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan and Chairman Merlyn Dixon of the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribes of Nevada today signed agreements settling water disputes dating back to the early years of this century.

Assistant Interior Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F Brown today announced the appointment of John W. Tippeconnic as Director of the Office of Indian Education Programs in Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

Two posters proclaiming 1992 as the Year of the American Indian will be unveiled in Green Bay, Wisconsin, June 23 at a reception in the Radisson Inn on the Oneida Indian Reservation.

The four-color posters are the first two of a series of four posters that will be issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in conjunction with a proclamation issued in March by President Bush designating 1992 as the Year of the American Indian. It is the first time in history that such a proclamation has honored the American Indian people.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced the appointment of Philip N. Hogen, former U.S. Attorney in South Dakota, as Director of the Department's new Office of American Indian Trust.

"I am pleased that Phil Hogen has agreed to fill this important post that was created to expand the oversight of the trust responsibility this Department has for American Indians and Alaska Natives,” Lujan said. "He brings a wealth of experience in protecting the rights of people in his previous jobs and I feel certain he will do the same in this new position."

Notices to vacate the premises within 10 days will be sent on April 15, 1992, to persons without valid leases on spaces in the Havasu Landing Mobile home Park on the Chemehuevi Indian reservation in California

The Department of the Interior's Field Solicitor in Phoenix reported today that approximately 400 people have not signed valid leases. Those who do not reach agreement with the tribe before April 15 will receive the notices.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today directed implementation of short-term and long-range plans-to improve regulation of gaming on Indian reservations

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced the appointment of six private citizens as members of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee "The committee faces a challenging set or tasks," Lujan said in making the appointments. "Among their duties, they must advise me on regulations needed to implement the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, and they will assist in the resolution of disputes caused by its requirements. This will require careful reading of the law and a willingness to listen to each side of an issue."

Half a millennium ago, when European explorers amazed their compatriots with stories of a New World, what they actually described was a land that had long been home to America's native peoples. In the Northeast part of this country and along the Northwest coast, generations of tribes fished and hunted; others farmed the rich soils of the Southeast and Great Plains, while nomadic tribes roamed and foraged across the Great Basin. In the arid Southwest, native peoples irrigated the desert, cultivating what land they could.

Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown said today the President's fiscal year 1993 Budget of $1.88 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will continue to strengthen the foundation established last year by President Bush and Interior Secretary Lujan to reform the delivery of key social, financial, and natural resource programs to American Indians.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced that the Department's Fiscal Year 1993 $8.6 billion budget continues the President's commitment to enhancing our Nation's human, natural, historical and cultural resources while generating employment and economic opportunities.

Forty-three Indian tribal leaders and officials of the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will meet January 27-29 at Washington, D.C.'s Dulles Airport to finalize a report to the Secretary of the Interior on the reorganization of the BIA.

Eddie F. Brown, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, today approved an amended constitution adopted in a 139-70 vote by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska in November.

The White House Conference on Indian Education will take place January 22-24 at the Ramada Renaissance at Techworld, 999 9th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.