Past News Items

WASHINGTON - Today, November 28, 2011, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk will hold a media teleconference to announce a sweeping reform of federal leasing regulations for American Indian lands that will help to expedite economic development and spur renewable energy development in Indian Country.

Media wishing to participate in the 12:00 pm noon (Eastern Time) conference call should dial 1- 888-606-7043; the passcode is LAND LEASE.

Anthony Whirlwind Horse, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs agency
on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Whirlwind Horse has been the Education Program Administrator at the agency. He succeeds Albert Trimble who is now Tribal Chairman of
the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton today announced the signing of a public land order which makes available for oil and gas leasing approximately 5,300 acres of tribally owned land on the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation in Utah.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk issued the following statement today on the election of the new Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation:

The Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Pine Ridge Agency, Anthony Whirlwind Horse, is being transferred to the Aberdeen, South Dakota area office to avoid real or apparent conflict of interest situations on the Pine Ridge Reservation where his brother, Elijah, was recently elected President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard said that "the decision to reassign Mr. Whirlwind Horse was based on the opinions and advice of the Solicitor and the Department's Ethics Counselor."

Successful bidders for oil and gas leases on Indian lands will be required to deposit 25 percent of the bonus bid and will be given 30 days to complete the lease under new regulations announced today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons.

The amended rules also require the successful bidder to remit, within the 30-day period, the balance due on the bonus bid, the first year’s rental, and his share of the costs of advertising. In the event of failure to meet these requirements, the deposit will be forfeited."

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Associate Deputy Secretary Meghan Conklin, Principal Deputy Special Trustee Ray Joseph today were in Albuquerque, N.M., for the fourth of six regional government-to-government tribal consultations regarding the Trust Land Consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement. The meetings with tribal leaders are a part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to reinvigorating nation-to-nation relationships with tribes.

New regulation providing extra sockeye salmon fishing time under long standing treaty rights to members of eight Washington State Indian Tribes were published June 23 in the Federal Register, Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard announced today.

The new regulations will be effective June 25, in time for the salmon season beginning June 26. They replace similar regulations published in June of 1977 in the Federal Register.

Only guardians appointed under State law will be entitled to receive the property of enrolled members of the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon who are minors under the laws of the State where they reside or otherwise incompetent to manage their own affairs, Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay said today.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to fulfilling this nation’s trust responsibilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives, the Office of the Secretary of the Interior will have the Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform hold a public Webinar meeting on Monday, August 13, 2012.