Past News Items

A six-month study of the school construction needs of public school districts serving Indian students is currently underway, Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced today.

The National Indian Training and Research Center (NITRC) of Tempe, Arizona, is conducting the study under a contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

W. Richard West, a Cheyenne artist, sculptor, and educator from Oklahoma, has been appointed a Commissioner of the Indian Arts-and Crafts Board, Secretary of the Interior Ceci1 D • Andrus announced today.

West's art work is in many major museum and private collections, and he has received numerous awards including the Waite Phillips Trophy presented by the Philbrook Art Center. From 1947 to 1970 he was director of the Art Department of' Bacone College, and then until 1978 he served as chairman or the Humanities Division at Haskell Indian Junior College. He

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk joined Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley and other Indian Affairs and Navajo tribal officials September 16 in a ceremonial groundbreaking event for Phase II of a major school replacement and improvement project at the historic Rough Rock Community School on the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona.

Distribution of Indian Claims Commission judgments totaling $2.7 million awarded to the Peoria Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, will be made beginning about September 6, Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced today.

Interior Solicitor Leo M. Krulitz announced today that a tentative agreement has been reached on a proposed legislative settlement which would give the Cayuga Indian Nation a 548l-acre reservation and an $8 million trust fund in return for extinguishment of the Nation's claim to 64,000 acres in Seneca and Cayuga Counties New York.

"I am delighted to report that all parties to the negotiations--the Cayuga Nation, the State of New York and the Departments of Agriculture and 1nterior--have worked out an agreement on the Cayuga claim," said Krulitz.

SALT LAKE CITY – An unprecedented two-year undercover operation led by agents from Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the FBI today began rounding up what prosecutors call a ring of archeological grave robbers who looted pristine sites in the Southwest, desecrated ancient American Indian burials and stole priceless artifacts, selling them to dealers and collectors who were associated with the network.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that a contract amounting to nearly $2.5 million has been let by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, for the construction of a 14 mile stretch of bituminous paved highway in the Glen Canyon Dam area of the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Successful bidder is Thorn Construction Co., Inc. of Provo, Utah.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs will establish a new Office of Technical Assistance and Training at Brigham City, Utah, on the campus of the BIA ­operated Intermountain Indian School.

WASHINGTON – Mr. George Skibine, Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, announced today that the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation of Pendleton Oregon have submitted a plan to participate in Indian Affairs’ Public Law 102-477 (477) initiative. The program is a comprehensive employment and training program for federally recognized tribes to address economic and workforce needs in their communities. Along with the plan, Antone C.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of Loren J, Farmer, 35, Blackfeet Indian, to be Superintendent of the Yankton Agency, the Bureau of Indian Affairs office that serves the Yankton Sioux Indian Tribe of South Dakota. His appointment was effective March 31.

Farmer replaces Charles James who transferred to the Aberdeen, South Dakota, Area Office of the Bureau.

Farmer assumes the new post after having served as Administrative Manager of the Cheyenne River Agency, which serves the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.