Past News Items

A report on current governmental problems on the Red Lake Indian Reservation, Minnesota:., prepared at the request of Interior's Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Sidney Mills, has been distributed to members of the Tribal Council of the Red Lake Band of Chippewas, Mills said today.

ANCHORAGE – U.S. Department of the Interior Deputy Secretary Michael L. Connor today signed an agreement with officials from the Ahtna Intertribal Resources Commission (AITRC) which coordinates natural resource management issues for the eight federally recognized tribes in the Ahtna region to create a cooperative wildlife management demonstration project on federal and Ahtna Corporation lands in Southcentral Alaska.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall will meet in Washington, D. C., May 24 with representatives of several major electronics companies to explore ways of expanding industrial job opportunities for American Indians.

Mr. Udall said the meeting is the first step in an all-out drive to spur large-scale commercial activity in Indian areas.

Warren W. Frebel, Vice President and Director of Purchasing for the Magnavox Company, will serve as chairman of the meeting.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest J. Gerard announced today Department approval of a coal mining and reclamation plan in the Navajo Nation Reservation in New Mexico.

The Restructured Mining and Reclamation Plan submitted by the Consolidation Coal Company and approved by the Navajo Nation calls for the mining of over 9,000 acres near the reservation's Burnham Chapter in New Mexico. The lease provides a royalty of 12~ percent of the value of each ton of coal. The company paid a bonus to the Navajo Nation of $5.6 million when the lease was approved in August 1977.

FARGO – A number of concerns have recently been raised about public safety and criminal investigations on the Fort Berthold Reservation. In response to these concerns, Christopher Myers, the U.S. Attorney for the District of North Dakota, and Charles Addington, the Director of the Office of Justice Services at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, met in Fargo earlier this month to discuss law enforcement resources and jurisdictional issues on the Fort Berthold Reservation.

One little, two little, three little Indians--and 206 more--are brightening the homes and lives of 172 American families, mostly non-Indians, who have taken the Indian waifs as their own.

A total of 209 Indian children have been adopted during the past seven years through the Indian Adoption Project, a cooperative effort of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Child Welfare League of America Adoptions are arranged through customary court procedures.

The rate of Indian adoptions is increasing. There were 49 in 1965, compared to 35 in 1964.

A $10,998,701 Bureau of Reclamation contract to provide, install and test 30 electric motors to drive pumps at three Central Arizona Project (CAP) pumping plants has been awarded to Siemens-Allis, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Commissioner Robert N Broadbent announced today.

WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, November 4, U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior Michael L. Connor and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn will hold a press conference call to discuss this year’s accomplishments and important new opportunities for engagement for the continued implementation of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program).

American Indian art--just now becoming widely recognized in the United States--has already found a solid niche abroad.

From the arts and crafts markets of the Southwest, the Plains, Oklahoma, and Alaska, a collection of these "cultural ambassadors" have been touring the world under the joint auspices of the Interior Department's Indian Arts And Crafts Board, the United States Information Agency, and the State Department.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has announced that a partial per capita payment of judgment funds awarded to the Mississippi Sioux Indians by the Indian Claims Commission will be made before the end of April. The award was for land taken in Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota in the early 1800's.