Past News Items

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and Joann Sebastian Morris, Director, Office of Indian Education programs attended the inaugural meeting establishing the Arctic Council in Ottawa, Canada on September 19, 1996.

The accomplishments of Patrick A. Hayes, Esq., former Area Director of the Albuquerque Area Office will be recognized at the graduation ceremony of the Water Resource and Engineering Surveying Technical Training Programs on August 15, 1996, Hilda Manuel, Deputy Commissioner for Indian Affairs announced today. The Water Resource Technical Training is being held at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico in August 1996 through September 1996.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the United States Geological Survey have entered into a Memorandum of Agreement to provide support for science and environmental education at the elementary and secondary levels in the BIA school system.

The MOA was signed last week by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Ada E. Deer mid Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Patricia Beneke and was officially announced at the 27th., Annual National Indian Education Association convention held in Rapid City this week.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced that 177 federally-recognized tribes representing 18 tribal grantees are currently participating in a demonstration project that allows for the integration of the employment, training and related services provided by formula-funded programs from three federal agencies.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced that the United States Supreme Court granted the federal government's petition for writ of certiorari on October 15, 1996 (95-1956) to review a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The Eighth Circuit's decision entered on November 7, 1995 (69 F. 3d 878) concluded that Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.

President Clinton has signed an executive order that expands opportunities for federal assistance to tribal colleges and universities that serve approximately 25,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students. At the request of the White House, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt made the announcement in Phoenix, AZ, today before the opening session of the National Congress of American Indians.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, invites everyone to participate in a POW WOW sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Equal Employment Office and the Bureau's Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) in celebration of National American Indian Heritage Month. The POW WOW will be held outside (weather permitting) and open to the public. This event will feature music, traditional dance, storytelling, cultural displays, and Native American lore. The activity will also feature representatives from various Native American organizations.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, (the Service) within the Department of the Interior, carried out Federal search and arrest warrants in the four corners area (New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah) today. This federal action is a culmination of a two-year undercover investigation which has been conducted by the Service, into the killing and selling of eagles and other protected migratory birds.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announces the dedication of a new Jr/Sr High School at Fort Hall, Idaho for the Shoshone-Bannock. Federal, state and tribal agencies worked cooperatively to provide funding for the construction of this new school. The school is designed in traditional motif and is considered one of the most beautiful educational facilities in the State of Idaho. The facility will offer state-of-the-art equipment, resources, and instruction for the Fort Hall Indian Community.

The Department of the Interior has presented to Congress an initial report that outlines proposed legislative settlement options for resolving disputed balances in Tribal trust accounts. The report and recommendations are in response to a five-year study by a national accounting firm which examined billions of dollars in Tribal trust fund transactions handled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for a 20-year period beginning in 1972.