Past News Items

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the settlement of lawsuits filed by 41 federally-recognized tribes against the United States, in which the tribes alleged that the Department of the Interior and the Department of the Treasury had mismanaged monetary assets and natural resources held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the tribes.

Plans for the use and distribution of $4.9 million awarded by Indian Claims Commission to the Western Apache Indians are being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The award, for lands taken by the United States without compensation between 1873 and 1902, will be divided equally between the White Mountain Apache Tribe and the San Carlos Apache Tribe as present-day successors of the Western Apaches.

Award of a contract for grading, draining and crushed-gravel surfacing of 13.4 miles of road on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation in Lyman County, S. Dak., to R. C. Van Houten and Sons, Rapid City, . S. Dak., was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Van Houten's bid of $112,882.94 was the lowest of eight received. The others ranged from $115,985.94 to $168,140.82.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools can now apply for the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon School program (ED-GRS), which provides national recognition for schools using outstanding environmental programs and techniques, BIE Director Keith Moore announced today.

A meeting of the general council of the Cherokee Delaware Tribe, scheduled to be held September 11 in Dewey, Okla., has been cancelled, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has established a new agency at Siletz, Oregon to serve the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Acting Deputy Commissioner Sidney Mills announced today.

The federally recognized status of the Siletz Tribes, ended under the Termination Act of 1954, was restored by an Act of November 18, 1977.

The BIA has had a field office at Siletz under the direction of a field representative, Bernard Topash. He will continue as the officer in charge until further notice. Steps are now being taken to fill the position of agency superintendent, Mills said.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Michael S. Black today announced that he has named Eugene R. Virden as Regional Director of the BIA’s Alaska Regional Office in Juneau. Virden, an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, had been serving as the acting regional director since December 21, 2009. The Alaska Regional Office oversees two agencies serving 229 federally recognized Alaska Native tribes and villages. His appointment will become effective on January 30, 2011.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INDIAN AFFAIRS

Acting Bureau of Indian Affairs Deputy Commissioner Sidney L. Mills has announced that the Minneapolis Area Office reorganization task force is working on the implementation of the reorganization of the Minneapolis office. The final restructuring of the office is scheduled to be completed by April, 1980.

The change is a continuation of Assistant Secretary of Interior for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard's commitment to provide better service to the tribes in the five states covered by the Minneapolis area office.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that a Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) college professor from the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in Albuquerque, N.M., was named New Mexico Professor of the Year for 2009. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) selected Dr. Nader Vadiee from more than 300 top professors in the United States.