News by Year

WASHINGTON–Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney today announced final, updated regulations to simplify the process for Tribes to enter into Tribal Energy Resource Agreements (TERAs) with the Department of the Interior (DOI), so tribes can better take control of developing energy resources on their land. While the opportunity to enter into a TERA has been available since 2008, to date, no Tribe has requested a TERA due to overly burdensome requirements.

CATOOSA, Oklahoma, November 6, 2019 – The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve tribes’ and tribal members’ access to farm conservation programs to advance conservation in Indian Country. The MOU was signed in Catoosa, Oklahoma, where USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey was joined by BIA Director Darryl LaCounte at the Indian Nations Conservation Alliance - National Tribal Conservation Districts Conference.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney announced the appointment of two leadership posts within the Bureau of Indian Affairs: Johnna Blackhair, a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe in Montana, will serve as Deputy Bureau Director for Trust Services at the Bureau of Indian Affairs’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and Patricia Mattingly, of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in New Mexico and the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, will serve as Regional Director of the Bureau’s Southwest Regional Office in Albuquerque, N.M.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Tara Katuk Sweeney today hosted the fourth in a series of Reclaiming Our Native Communities roundtables in Rapid City, S.D. The purpose of the roundtables is to hear from tribal leaders, public safety and domestic violence prevention advocates, law enforcement, and health care providers on what the federal government in general and Indian Affairs, in particular, need to do to seriously address the issue of missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Native women, children and men.

ANADARKO, Okla. – Today, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Katuk Sweeney praised the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Anadarko Agency for deploying the first Tribal Access Program (TAP) biometric/biographic kiosk workstation. The TAP kiosk will help process finger and palm prints, take mugshots, and access data with the national crime information databases to better ensure the safety of children in foster care.

For San Carlos Agency, this was a fire year that just wouldn’t end. Fire activity not only required extensive operations and logistical coordination to respond to the wildfires, it also demanded a well-organized and highly functioning finance section to accurately track costs.

On July 23, 2019, lightning sparked the Moss Ranch Fire on the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) trust lands. Striking midway up a remote slope in a steep, rocky, portion of the Flathead River corridor, the wildfire grew faster in the cured grass and sagebrush than wildland firefighters could suppress it. Adding to this were safety complications firefighters experienced—bees were swarming, stinging the faces and necks of multiple firefighters which required emergency medical care for two of the firefighters that had allergic reactions.

Located along the Colorado River 13 miles south of Yuma, Arizona, and 15 miles north of San Luis, Mexico is the Cocopah Reservation. Its unique boundaries border Mexico, Arizona and California. Thriving along the banks is an invasive and dangerous plant called salt cedar. Its roots drink deeply, helping to lower the water table and adding large deposits of salt to the soil. As its roots and branches grow, its prolific and highly flammable branches threaten wetland ecosystems and create a significant fire hazard to neighboring communities when wildfires occur. It is also choking out the native willow, cottonwood, and mesquite trees the Cocopah people use for cultural and spiritual purposes.

WASHINGTON, DC – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney announced the appointment of Tammie Poitra to the position of the Midwest BIA Regional Director. The appointment is effective June 23, 2019.

“It is with great pride that I name Tammie Poitra as the Midwest BIA Regional Director,” said Assistant Secretary Sweeney. “I have the upmost confidence in her leadership capabilities to work with the 36 Tribes and the staff that comprises the regional office and the four BIA agencies. Congratulations, Ms. Poitra.”

WASHINGTON, DC – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney announced the appointment of Timothy LaPointe as the Great Plains Regional Director. The appointment is effective June 23, 2019.

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt highlighted the efforts made by the Department of the Interior (DOI) Opioid Reduction Task Force over the past year, resulting in the seizure of more than 3,200 pounds of illegal narcotics with an estimated value of $9.8 million dollars.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs wildland fire management programs work to protect lives, property and resources while restoring and maintaining healthy ecosystems. Produced in partnership with Injunuity the BIA is proud to release "Native Fire," a short educational video about native use of prescribed fire.

In June, the Governing Board at the National Interagency Fire Center selected the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Fort Apache Agency and the Coronado National Forest, Sierra Vista Ranger District to be recipients of the 2019 Pulaski Award. This marks the first time BIA has received this prestigious award.

The use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) has grown exponentially in recent years for all types of applications. BIA's use of UAS is no exception. 2018 was the first year BIA began using UAS for wildfire and resource management projects.

In December, 2018, the Department of the Interior (DOI) Medical Director, Office of Occupational Safety and Health, Kate Flanigan Sawyer, M.D. endorsed the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Wildland Fire First Aid Program. In so doing, the Office of Wildland Fire is now looking at BIA’s First Aid Program as a template other wildland fire land management agencies can adopt and expand on for all field-going DOI programs.

For the first time ever, recognizing a need to encourage more women in Indian Country to participate in prescribed fire, the Bureau of Indian Affairs sponsored women to attend the Fire Leadership for Women (FLFW) program at the National Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center (PFTC) in Tallahassee, Florida.

SELLS, Ariz. – Today, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Mac Lean Sweeney reopened the Santa Rosa Ranch School (SRRS), located on the Tohono O’odham Nation reservation. The school provides education for grades K-8 and serves approximately 66 students. The school had been closed since December 13, 2018, when the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) leadership and safety personnel identified several high priority deficiencies during a campus walk-through.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Branch of Wildland Fire Management is pleased to announce and welcome Rachael Larson to its team as the Branch Director for Budget and Planning.

The BIA, Branch of Wildland Fire Management has selected Juliette Jeanne to be the Deputy Director for BIA’s Post Wildfire Recovery Program, referred to as Burned Area Emergency Response or BAER.