Past News Items

Department of the Interior Solicitor Thomas L. Sansonetti today issued a long-awaited legal opinion that explores the extent of Alaska Native village jurisdiction over land and non-village members.

The opinion concludes that Native village jurisdiction was significantly limited by Congress in 1971. The opinion, however, also reaffirms longstanding Departmental and Congressional actions which include Native villages as tribes for purposes of many programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other federal agencies.

Award of a $491,000 contract for the construction of a dormitory and related facilities at the Wahpeton Indian School, Wahpeton, North Dakota, was announced today by the Department of the Interior. The successful bidder was Meide and Son, Inc., of Wahpeton. Eight higher bids ranging to $588,400 were received.

Secretary of the Interior Don Hodel said today he has sent letters to the Pueblo of Santa Ana and to the New Mexico Attorney General rejecting the Pueblo's proposal to conduct parimutuel wagering on greyhound dog races on reservation land.

An agreement between the Public Housing Administration and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs was signed today by Housing Commissioner Marie C. McGuire and Indian Commissioner Philleo Nash, calling for joint efforts in bringing low-rent housing to thousands of American Indian families.

More than 700 Indian tribes, organizations and individuals have been invited to nominate individuals to serve as voting members on the Board of Trustees of the newly-established Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development, a successor to the current Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The award of a $659,850 contract for the construction of new vocational training facilities at Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kansas, was announced today by Philleo Nash, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

The project marks the first major step toward conversion of the 80-year-old high school for Indians into a post-secondary technical institute.

In announcing the construction contract award Nash said:

Interior Assistant Secretary Ken Smith announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) at Santa Fe, New Mexico would be funded and would continue operations for at least the next two years.

Federal supervision over the Indians of Greenville Rancheria in Plumas County, Calif., has been terminated with their consent, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today. Notice is being published in the Federal Register.

Greenville is the 31st rancheria in California to be removed from Federal trust supervision in accordance with the 1958 Rancheria Act (72 Stat. 619, as amended). More than 100 Indian rancherias -- small tracts of land under Federal trust -- are affected by the law.

Although have not seen the draft report from the Department's Inspector General, I am well aware of the deplorable conditions at some of the Indian Schools.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has prepared a 13-booklet series suitable for use by classroom teachers, youth groups and others interested in the story of the American Indian.

The illustrated publications describe the culture and eventful history of tribes whose past is linked with various States or regions of the country. The reader is brought up to date with facts about Indian life today and the Federal programs that serve reservation dwellers.