Past News Items

Award of a $1,138,400 contract for the construction of two 300-pupil dormitories on the campus of the Flandreau Indian School, Flandreau, South Dakota, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Each of the dormitories will be two stories high and will be constructed of insulated brick and concrete block masonry. Each will have an insulated built-up roof, reinforced concrete beams, floors and roof deck, and aluminum windows. The two together will have a total gross floor area of approximately 97,000 square feet.

Twenty-eight Bureau of Indian Affairs schools in four states will officially become on-ramps to the information superhighway this Saturday, May 16, 1998. Access Native America Net Day will officially move Indian schools in Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Mississippi on-line and provide the students of these schools with access to the Internet through the Department of the Interior's network.

To have the opportunity to address the group that represents so many of America's first citizens is indeed an honor for the Secretary of the Interior.

It is good to have the opportunity to get away from Washington, D. C. and out in the land, with you - America's first citizens. It is good to join you in celebrating this 25th anniversary of the NCAI.

Through your organization, America's Indians, individually and collectively have made great strides, unfortunately, the NCAI and all of the other Indian groups, for too long have been trying to carve out their niche alone.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs announced that the United States Supreme Court granted the federal government's petition for writ of certiorari on October 15, 1996 (95-1956) to review a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The Eighth Circuit's decision entered on November 7, 1995 (69 F. 3d 878) concluded that Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.

Hailing it a "landmark study II Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today made public the report of a three-man task force which last year studied the problems of the 43,000 Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts of Alaska.

The study group, which was headed by William W. Keeler, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Indian Nation, and chairman of the executive committee of the Phillips Petroleum Company, traveled more than 5,000 miles throughout Alaska, visiting many of the native villages and holding conferences with native leaders.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs expresses her approval that the United States Supreme Court decided Monday, May 13, 1996 not to hear the Katie John case which involves subsistence fishing rights in Alaska.

"This is a great victory for American Indians and Alaska Natives," said Ms. Deer. "Many of our people still depend on subsistence fishing and hunting as a means to provide food for their families. Subsistence living is a culturally based practice and I view it as a fundamental, aboriginal right."

Award of a $398,800 contract for the construction of a dormitory and related facilities at Aztec 1 New Mexico that will make it possible for 128 additional Navajo Indian pupils to attend the public schools at nearby Farmington was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for the construction of one 128-pupil dormitory; a 256- pupil kitchen-dining-multipurpose building; and a utility building. Sidewalks utility connections and other site improvements are also included in the contract.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, condemned a provision in the Department of the Interior's Appropriations bill reported out on Friday, July 18, by the Senate Appropriations' Subcommittee on Interior. Section 120 of the bill would require a tribal government to waive its sovereign immunity before the tribe could receive Tribal Priority Account (TP A) funds. TP A funds are used by tribal governments to provide services to Indian children, the elderly and families, such as child protection, education benefits, and family support services.

Award of a $12,500 contract to study the economic feasibility of manufacturing a wide variety of building materials on or near the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan and Barron Collier today signed agreements on the terms and conditions for closing on the Phoenix Indian School land exchange by December 18, 1996. "This exchange will provide substantial benefits for Indian tribes, the City of Phoenix, and our national parks and refuge systems, Lujan said. “These agreements represent long and arduous negotiations and a great deal of work by Congress, the city of Phoenix, the Interior Department and officials of the Arron Collier Company.