Past News Items

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Michael S. Black has named Weldon “Bruce” Loudermilk as Regional Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Alaska Regional Office in Anchorage. Loudermilk, an enrolled member of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana, had been serving as regional director of the Bureau’s Great Plains Regional Office in Aberdeen, S.D., since June 20, 2010.

A plan for the use of $450,000 awarded by the Indian Claims Commission to the Creek Nation of Oklahoma was published in the Federal Register December 23, 1975, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The award represents payment for land in Oklahoma taken without payment by the United States between 1881 and 1924 and additional payment for land sold under the Creek Agreement of March 8, 1900.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is a privilege to be here. Surely the presence of so much talent at the National Archives Conference on Research in the history of Indian-white relations underlines the importance of this event.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of President Obama’s commitment to empower tribal nations, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, on behalf of the United States, today signed an historic agreement at the Department of the Interior guaranteeing water rights for the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona. The agreement will also provide funding for infrastructure to deliver clean drinking water to the Reservation, as well as water security for the City of Phoenix and other downstream water users.

Interior Department officials have recommended that the United States oppose the June 1977 ruling of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) which has the effect of banning the subsistence hunting of bowhead whales by Alaskan Eskimos.

Interior under Secretary James A. Joseph proposed this position to Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance in an October 10 letter in which he said, "Our trust responsibility to this Native American population cannot be ignored or subjugated to other concerns."

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced that he has decided to grant right-of-way permits for the proposed Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Because of injunctions issued in pending litigation, the actual permits for the pipeline cannot be issued at this time. Notice of the Secretary's intent to issue the permits is being given the plaintiffs, as required by court order, and the permits will be issued as soon as that can be done without violating any court order.

The text of the Secretary's statement is attached.

DURANT, Okla. – As part of the Obama Administration's commitment to strengthen the government-to-government relationship with tribal nations and fulfill federal trust obligations, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will join Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby and Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton on Tuesday, October 6, to announce a historic settlement regarding the U.S. government's management of funds and resources it holds in trust for these tribal nations.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that proposed regulations governing the administration and use of more million for education or socio-economic programs benefitting the Osage Indian Tribe of Oklahoma have been published in the Federal Register.

The funds are part of a $13,250,000 award made to the tribe by the Indian Claims Commission for lands ceded by the tribe under treaties made more than 150 years ago. The balance of the award was distributed, as directed by Congress, on a per capita basis to tribal members.

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced that the Crow Creek Indian Agency, now located at Fort Thompson, S. Dak., will be moved to Chamberlain, S. Dak., in the near future. While the exact date of the move has not yet been determined, it will have to be made before summer when water backed up by the Fort Randall Dam will create serious problems at the present agency site.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services and the Tulalip Tribes of Washington will co-host a VAWA Tribal Trial Advocacy Skills Training session September 2-4, 2015, for tribal court judges, prosecutors and criminal defenders covering basic trial advocacy skills and the use of special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction (SDVCJ) authority granted federally recognized tribes by the Violence Against Women Act of 2013 (VAWA). The training will take place on the Tulalip Reservation.