Past News Items

The Department of the Interior announced today that it plans to distribute more than $14 million to the Absentee Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma and the Cherokee Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma on July 14, 1977.

The Department announced June 16 that it planned to make the distribution September 15, 1977, but that it would modify its plans for distribution of the funds in accord with any forthcoming court order. Last week the Oklahoma Delawares were given a writ of mandamus requiring the Department to make payment "forthwith."

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons today wired his and the Bureau's congratulations to the Southern Ute Tribe of Colorado as they prepared to sign a contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield to provide health protection for the Southern Ute Indians.

In his telegram to Tribal Council Chairman Sam Burch, Commissioner Emmons praised the Council for its far-sightedness and progressive attitude.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced Tribal Wildlife Grants awards to Native American tribes in 14 states to fund a wide range of conservation projects.

“The mindful stewardship of fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats is a value that tribal nations share with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” said Service Director Dan Ashe. “Tribal Wildlife Grants create opportunities for us to work together in a variety of ways, including species restoration, fish passage, protection of migratory birds, and coping with long-term effects of a changing climate.”

Alvin G. Picotte, a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, has been named Superintendent of the Flandreau Indian School, South Dakota, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

Picotte has been since 1973 an Assistant Principal in the Minneapolis Public Schools system.

The consolidation of two Choctaw Indian schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Oklahoma was announced today by Acting Commissioner W. Barton Greenwood. Wheelock Academy, established in Millerton in 1832, will be closed and its students will use dormitory facilities at Jones Academy and attend public schools in nearby Hartshorne.

The move will reduce operating costs per pupil to about half of the present figure and will provide better educational opportunities for the children.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn today announced that Charles Addington, associate director of field operations for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services, has been named a finalist by the Partnership for Public Service for its 2013 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals. Addington, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, is among 31 finalists, and the only Interior Department employee, in seven medal categories who were announced on May 7.

Stanley M. Speaks, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Agency at Anadarko, Oklahoma. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced that the appointment was effective June 22.

Speaks has been Acting Superintendent of the Intermountain Indian School at Brigham City, Utah, this past year. He has worked in Indian education programs with the Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1959. He was the Supervisory Guidance Counselor at Intermountain for five years.

Regulations for preparing a roll of the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians eligible to share in the distribution of $15.7 million were issued today by the Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced.

WASHINGTON – President Obama’s fiscal year (FY) 2014 budget request for Indian Affairs, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), is $2.6 billion – a $31.3 million increase above the FY 2012 enacted level. The proposed budget maintains the President’s commitment to meeting the government’s responsibilities to the 566 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, while exercising fiscal responsibility and improving government operations and efficiency.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson expressed his support of a national effort to protect the rights of foster children in a statement issued May 19.

In a ceremony in Washington, D. C., the Commissioner formally endorsed a Bill of Rights for Foster Children.

The week of May 18-24 had been designated as National Action for Foster Children Week by the committee which drafted the Bill of Rights in 1973. One of the objectives of the Week is to gain the support of Governors, Mayors and other governmental leaders.