News by Year

WASHINGTON - Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles said today the Department is gratified by a ruling issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia - a ruling which largely reverses a U.S. District Court injunction issued more than one year ago in the long-running Indian Trust case. Today's ruling is now the third consecutive time that the circuit court has broadly reversed significant rulings by Judge Royce Lamberth in the case.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President George W. Bush has signed into law a measure championed by U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado and supported by Interior Secretary Gale Norton that will reform American Indian probate rules and will help facilitate the consolidation of Indian land ownership across the nation. The legislation introduced by Sen. Campbell, chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, was passed by both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate under 'unanimous consent' rules - meaning no member of Congress expressed opposition to the measure.

ALBUQUERQUE – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson says the planned construction of the new National Indian Programs Training Center here is part of an ongoing effort to improve the delivery of federal services to Indian country. Assistant Secretary Anderson joined New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility and a separate dedication of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) offices on the Albuquerque site as the Pete V. Domenici Indian Affairs Building.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will be in Albuquerque, N.M., on Wednesday, October 27, to lead a delegation in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new National Indian Programs Training Center. The delegation of the nation’s top Indian Affairs officials will also be joined by New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici, who will be honored in ceremonies dedicating Bureau of Indian Affairs offices on the Albuquerque site as the Pete V. Domenici Indian Affairs Building.

Washington - Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will speak at the Circle of Cultures: Time of Renewal and Exchange Opening Ceremony held at the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND on October 22, 2004.

"Lewis and Clark played a significant role in shaping the history of our nation," said the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs. "But without the involvement of the American Indians they met along the way, it would have never been possible for them to achieve their goals."

Washington - Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will address attendees at the 618t Annual National Congress of the American Indians Convention on Tuesday, October 12, 2004, in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The theme for this year's convention is "Renewing the Vision: Setting a New Course for Indian Country."

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has awarded $196,735 to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon for a due diligence study for the Warm Springs Biomass Demonstration Project, an effort by the tribes to enhance an existing biomass electrical generating plant located on the reservation.

WASHINGTON – Office of Indian Education Programs Director Edward Parisian will join students, parents and tribal officials on August 31, 2004, to celebrate the opening of First Mesa Elementary School, a newly-constructed Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) operated elementary school located in Polacca, Ariz., a Hopi community situated at the eastern base of First Mesa on the Hopi Reservation.

WASHINGTON – Secretary Gale Norton today announced that the foundation established by Congress to support Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) education programs has been renamed the National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education (NFEAIE) in a bill signed by President Bush on July 2, 2004. The foundation, designated the American Indian Education Foundation in its original legislation, felt the change was needed in order to avoid confusion with organizations having similar names.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced he has confirmed Clayton J. Gregory as regional director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Pacific Regional Office in Sacramento, Calif., effective July 11. Gregory, an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe of Montana with more than 20 years of government service, had been serving as the acting regional director since May 2003.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced he has named William F. Benjamin as regional director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Great Plains Regional Office in Aberdeen, S.D. The appointment was effective May 16, 2004. Benjamin, who is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana, comes to his appointment after having served as deputy regional director of the bureau’s Rocky Mountain Regional Office in Billings, Mont.

WASHINGTON – Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Dave Anderson today formally signed an agreement with leaders of the Zuni Tribe of New Mexico that will resolve the tribe’s water rights claims in the Little Colorado River Basin of Arizona without harming other water users.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will be joined on July 8 by representatives of the Zuni Tribe of New Mexico and other departmental officials at a signing ceremony at the Interior Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to formalize the Zuni Indian Tribe Water Rights Settlement Agreement.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will address the delegates to the United National Indian Tribal Youth, Inc. (UNITY) 2004 National Conference being held June 25-29 at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort on the Gila River Indian Reservation near Phoenix, Ariz. Anderson will speak just after 2:00 p.m. (local time) on the afternoon of June 25 following the conference’s official opening ceremonies.

WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today issued a Final Determination in which she declined to acknowledge as an Indian tribe a group known as the Webster/Dudley Band of Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Indians (CB) from Dudley, Mass.

WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today issued a Final Determination in which she declined to acknowledge a group known as “The Nipmuc Nation” from Sutton, Mass.

WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today issued a Final Determination in which she declined to acknowledge as an Indian tribe a group known as the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe of Indians headquartered in Trumbull, Conn. The Golden Hill Paugussett petitioning group did not demonstrate that it meets all seven mandatory criteria for Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe under Part 83 of Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations, “Procedures for Establishing that an American Indian Group Exists as an Indian Tribe.”

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will join Secretary Gale Norton, officials of the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management and other government and private-sector partners at the “Get Fit With US” kick-off event for Summer 2004 under President Bush’s HealthierUS Initiative that will be held June 5 at Harriet Island Regional Park in St. Paul, Minn., starting at 10:00 a.m. (CDT).

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will join Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and local inner-city youth as they participate in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 14th Annual Kids Fishing Day being held June 5 starting at 9:00 a.m. (CDT) at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Bloomington, Minn. The event at Minnesota Valley NWR, which has been extremely popular for 13 years, kicks off National Fishing Week and promotes outdoor recreation, national wildlife refuges and the sport of fishing.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced that he has named Brian J. Pogue as Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Pogue, who is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, had been serving as acting director of the agency since February 26, 2004. “I am pleased that Brian has accepted this new appointment,” said Anderson. “His extensive experience in Indian affairs and as a federal manager will make him a valuable member of my management team.” The appointment was effective starting May 27.

“The Department of the Interior has a zero tolerance policy regarding drinking and driving by its employees. In March 2004, the Bureau of Indian Affairs strengthened its policies and procedures that govern its employees’ use of government-owned vehicles and is committed to taking additional measures to ensure that this will not happen again. The Bureau of Indian Affairs extends its deepest condolences to the families of Larry and Rita Beller and Edward and Alice Ramaekers.”

LENEXA, Kan. – The dedication today of the American Indian Records Repository at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) records facility here marks a new chapter in the Interior Department’s undertaking to improve federal management of Indian records, said Interior Assistant Deputy Secretary Abraham E. Haspel.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will address the May 14 commencement ceremony for the 2003-2004 graduates of Haskell Indian Nations University, a Bureau of Indian Affairs operated post-secondary institution located in Lawrence, Kan. Anderson, himself the son of Haskell alumni, is very proud and honored to be with the students at this important event in their lives. For 120 years Haskell Indian Nations University has educated generations of Indian students from tribes around the country.

WASHINGTON – Interior Assistant Deputy Secretary Abraham E. Haspel, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson and Special Trustee for American Indians Ross O. Swimmer will join Thomas E. Mills of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on May 14 in a dedication ceremony to officially open the new American Indian Records Repository in Lenexa, Kan. The repository is part of NARA’s underground regional records service facility in Lenexa.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will give the main address at the May 8 commencement ceremony for graduates of Sitting Bull College, a tribally controlled community college in Fort Yates, N.D., located on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, an area bisected by the North Dakota-South Dakota border. The event will be held at the tribe’s Prairie Knight Casino and Lodge Pavillion located south of Mandan, N.D., starting at 2:00 p.m. (CDT). The 2003-2004 graduating class of 54 students will be the largest in the college’s history.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will give the keynote address at the United Tribes Technical College 2004 commencement ceremony scheduled for May 7. The event will be held at the UTTC campus in Bismarck, N.D., starting at 1:00 p.m. (CDT). This year’s graduating class of 89 students, representing 25 tribes from across the United States, is the largest in the college’s 35-year history. Over 10,000 students have graduated from UTTC since the school’s founding.

(Washington, D.C.) -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Law Enforcement Services (OLES) will hold its 13th Annual Memorial Service on Thursday May 6, 2004, to commemorate the sacrifice made by law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty while serving on Indian lands. The Memorial Service will start at 10:00 A.M. MDT on the BIA Indian Police Academy grounds in Artesia, New Mexico.

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – As part of his continuing visits to Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today regaled students, staff and faculty of Sequoyah High School, a BIA-funded facility for grades 9-12 operated by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, with his experiences and expertise that have ultimately led to both personal and business success for the highest-ranking American Indian at the Interior Department.

(Prewitt, N.M.) – In an Earth Day celebratory event on the Navajo Nation reservation, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today praised the Baca/Dlo’ay azhi Community School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs operated day school located in Prewitt, N.M., for being designated the first Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEEDTM) certified building in the state and the BIA school system by the U.S. Green Building Council.

WASHINGTON - Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will bring his message about the benefits of positive thinking and making healthy life choices to an assembly of students, parents, faculty and staff at Sequoyah High School, a contract school for grades 9-12 operated by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. It is the ninth school in a series of visits Anderson plans to make to BIA field offices and education facilities during his administration.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will speak on April 20, 2004 at the Baca/Dlo’ay azhi Community School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs operated day school located in Prewitt, N.M., on the Navajo Nation reservation, at a ceremony celebrating the school’s designation as both the first Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEEDTM) building in the state and the first BIA school to be a “green” certified building. The certification was issued by the U.S.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson and Office of Indian Education Programs Director Edward F. Parisian are traveling this week to North and South Dakota as part of their continuing tour of Bureau of Indian Affairs funded schools. Starting today, Anderson and Parisian will be attending an honor roll banquet at the Turtle Mountain High School in Belcourt, N.D., where the assistant secretary will stress the importance of encouraging and inspiring all BIA students to grow through learning.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced he has issued a Notice of Proposed Finding to decline to acknowledge that the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa, Inc. (BLB), from Brutus, Mich., a petitioner under the federal acknowledgment process, exists as an Indian tribe within the meaning of federal law. The proposed finding is based on a determination that the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa, Inc.

WASHINGTON – Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been awarded $32.4 million in three grants from the U.S. Department of Education to improve student reading, school performance and teacher quality in BIA-funded schools under President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

SALEM, Ore. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson shared his message of hope and the philosophies he credits for the personal and business successes in his life at a visit today with the students, faculty and staff of Chemawa Indian School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs-operated boarding school for grades 9-12 located just outside of the city of Salem. This was the new assistant secretary’s first visit to the school since his swearing-in last month.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson, in California for meetings with Bureau of Indian Affairs education line officers in San Diego, brought his message about the benefits of positive thinking and healthy choices in life to an assembly of students, parents, faculty and staff here at Sherman Indian High School, a BIA-operated off-reservation boarding school for grades 9-12. Today’s visit illustrated the new assistant secretary’s desire to visit BIA field offices and education facilities during his administration.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson will speak on March 18 at 10:00 a.m. (PST) at the Chemawa Indian School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs operated off-reservation boarding school for grades 9-12 in Salem, Ore., bringing his message about the benefits of healthy life choices and positive thinking to an assembly of students, parents, faculty and staff. This is the second in a series of visits the new assistant secretary will make to BIA field offices and education facilities during his administration.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson and Special Trustee for American Indians Ross O. Swimmer testified jointly today before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on the Interior Department’s trust initiatives for the 21st century and the successful implementation of Secretary Gale Norton’s Comprehensive Trust Management Plan.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs David W. Anderson today announced that the Bureau of Indian Affairs will publish the Replacement School Construction Priority List in the Federal Register. The current list, which was last published on July 9 and July 18, 2003, is revised by the addition of newly prioritized schools. The BIA uses the list to determine the order in which Congressional appropriations are requested to replace aging BIA-funded schools and dormitories.

WASHINGTON – Interior’s new Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, David W. Anderson, pledged to work with tribes for the betterment of Indian people and to put greater emphasis on supporting Bureau of Indian Affairs employees in the field during his public swearing-in ceremony today with Secretary Gale Norton. Accompanied by his sister in full tribal dress who held a bible for his swearing-in, Anderson took the oath of office administered by Secretary Norton in front of over 100 attendees comprised of tribal officials and departmental employees.

SELLS, Ariz. – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today announced that President Bush has requested $1.4 million for Fiscal Year 2005 to support border security efforts of the Tohono O’odham Nation, whose reservation in southern Arizona shares a 75-mile border with Mexico. The President’s request will help the tribe address law enforcement border issues on the Tohono O’Odham Nation reservation as part of the administration’s efforts to improve homeland security in Indian Country.

(SACATON, ARIZ.) – On a visit to the Gila River Indian Reservation in south-central Arizona, Interior Secretary Gale Norton, joined by Gila River Governor Richard Narcia, today announced that the Gila River Indian Community has been designated as an expansion site of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Indian Land Consolidation Program.

WASHINGTON – David W. Anderson, an enrolled member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Lake Superior Band of Ojibwa in Wisconsin, who also shares ancestry from the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma, and President Bush’s nominee for Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior, was sworn in today by Interior Secretary Gale Norton. “I am deeply honored by the confidence that President Bush and Secretary Norton have shown me through this appointment,” Anderson said.

WASHINGTON – President Bush has proposed a $2.3 billion budget for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for Fiscal Year 2005 that will ensure the continuation of the Interior Department’s Indian trust reorganization and management improvement efforts, maintain the commitment to implementing the No Child Left Behind Act in BIA-funded schools, continue school replacement construction projects, and support law enforcement. The request also includes payments for Indian water and land claims settlements.

WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene Martin today announced her final decision to acknowledge that the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation exists as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, as defined in the Assistant Secretary’s final determination, meets the regulatory requirements for a government-to-government relationship with the United States.