Past News Items

On February 20, 2003, the Department of the Interior received amendments to a Class III gaming compact executed by the Forest County Potawatomi Community and the State of Wisconsin. Under the terms of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), the Secretary may approve or disapprove the compact before the date that is 45 days after receipt of the compact. If the Secretary does not approve or disapprove the compact by that date, the compact is considered to have been approved, but only to the extent that its terms comply with the requirements of IGRA.

Promotion of Robert E. Robinson to the post of superintendent of the Fort Apache Indian Agency, Whiteriver, Ariz., effective November 25, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Robinson has been land operations officer at the Fort Apache Agency since 1955. He succeeds Albert M. Hawley who is transferring to the staff of the Indian Bureau's area office at Phoenix as, projects development officer.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Acting Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Aurene M. Martin today approved gaming compacts between the State of Arizona and 17 of the state’s 22 Federally recognized tribes. “I congratulate the tribes and the State of Arizona for successfully completing the compacting process, and wish them much success in their economic venture,” Martin said. The compacts will take effect when notice of the BIA’s approval is published in the Federal Register. The compacts supersede and replace any existing compacts between the State and the tribes.

Award of a $1,121,000 contract for the construction of new school facilities on the Navajo Indian Reservation at Rock Point, Arizona was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for the construction of a 7-classroom academic building with multipurpose room and administrative unit, a 192-pupil dormitory, a kitchen and dining hall, and other related facilities. The construction, when completed, will replace the old stone 2-classroom school building and two temporary classrooms and will allow an additional 120 pupils to be enrolled.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – In remarks at the 2001 National Tribal Roads Conference held last week in Albuquerque, N.M, Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb reaffirmed the authority of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, otherwise known as the TEA-21 Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, to develop proposed regulations and a new funding formula for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Indian Reservation Roads Program, while acceding to the committee’s request for more time to complete its work.

The Department of the Interior announced today that a contract for sawmill equipment for the Red Lake Indian Mills, Redby, Minnesota will be awarded to the Mater Division of the Appleton Machine Company, Appleton, Wisconsin.

The decision to award the contract on the basis of installation of the equipment by the manufacturer was determined to be in the best interest of the Federal Government and the Red Lake Indians. The contractor becomes responsible for correcting any operating difficulties resulting from improper installation.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Interior Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb will complete the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ effort to connect its 185-school system to the Internet, known as Access Native America, when he brings Chichiltah/Jones Ranch Community School in Chichiltah, N.M., online this Thursday, August 23. Chichiltah/Jones Ranch Community School, located on the Navajo reservation, is a K-8 boarding and day school serving 206 students.

Promotion of Jose A. Zuni, an Indian career employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to the position of superintendent of the Consolidated Ute Agency, Ignacio, Colorado, was reported today by the Department of the Interior.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Interior Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Neal A. McCaleb today announced his approval of the reconsidered final determination in favor of Federal acknowledgment for the Cowlitz Indian Tribe of Washington. The reconsidered final determination, which McCaleb signed on December 31, 2001, affirms the final determination signed by his predecessor, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin Gover, on February 14, 2000 acknowledging that the Cowlitz Indian Tribe exists as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law.

The unparalleled development of human end natural resources that has taken place on the Navajo Indian Reservation since the end of World War II is "only a prologue:" to the further development that must be accomplished over the coming decade, the Commissioner-designate of Indian Affairs, Philleo Nash, told a predominantly Navajo audience today.