Past News Items

A legal brief strongly supporting Navajo Indian voting rights was filed March 10 by Secretary Stewart L. Udall in the New Mexico election contest between Joseph A. Montoya and seated Lt. Governor Tom Bolack, the Department of the Interior announced today.

Secretary Udall’s brief relied heavily upon the words of his late father, Chief Justice Levi S. Udall of the Arizona Supreme Court, whose 1948 decision confirmed the Indians' right to vote in that State.

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.

An exclusive two year permit to prospect for minerals other than oil and gas on 19,200 acres of tribal land on the Gila River Indian Community near Phoenix, Ariz., together with an option to lease, has been granted to Bear Creek Mining Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, the Department of the Interior announced today.

Rising enrollment at Bureau of Indian Affairs schools and a decline in federal funds per student mean that American Indian children will experience such serious problems as fewer teachers and less time in the classroom next fall.

"American Indian children deserve a decent education in accredited classrooms and safe, uncrowded dormitories to prepare them for the challenges of the 21st Century. These outrageous cuts are especially egregious because our schools already are drastically underfunded; says Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Ada Deer.

The Department of the Interior announced today approval of a final membership roll of 631 persons who will be entitled to share in division of the assets of the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina that have been held in Federal trusteeship.

The U. S. Supreme Court rendered its decision on the Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida et al., case on March 27, 1996. The 5 to 4 decision held that the "Eleventh Amendment prevents Congress from authorizing suits in federal court by Indian tribes against States to enforce" the provision in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) requiring States to "negotiate in good faith."

Award of a $1,998,581 contract for the construction of school facilities to provide for 360 additional pupils at Aneth, Utah, on the Navajo Indian Reservation was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for the construction of two 192-pupil dormitories, a 14-classroom instruction building, a kitchen and dining hall, a storage and maintenance building, employees living quarters and garages.

Interior's Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer said today the President's fiscal year 1995 budget request of $2.24 billion for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) continues the shift of resources from the BIA to Indian tribes and strengthens the foundation established last year by President Clinton and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to fulfill the federal Indian trust responsibility and the creation of a government-to-government partnership.

A complete do-it-yourself house planning service has been packaged by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs to accelerate "mutual help" housing projects on Indian reservations, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown today told a U.S. Senate committee that the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is moving to implement a plan to resolve problems in management of the $2 billion Indian trust fund. "The plan will guide BIA to high levels of service excellence for our customers, the tribal and individual Indian trust account owners," Brown said in testimony prepared for the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs.