Past News Items

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has issued a final determination to acknowledge the Duwamish Tribal Organization, hereafter referred to as the Duwamish of Renton, Washington, as existing as an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. The Duwamish first filed a letter of intent to petition for Federal acknowledgement on June 7, 1977.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Branch of Wildland Fire Management is pleased to announce and welcome Rachael Larson to its team as the Branch Director for Budget and Planning.

It gives me special pleasure to announce, on behalf of the President, the nomination of Mr. Louis R. Bruce of New York State to be the new Commissioner of Indian Affairs. His biography is being passed out to you. As an enrolled member of the Sioux Tribe, Mr. Bruce has continually demonstrated his leadership among American Indians during a long and distinguished career.

Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs, Kevin Gover announces that there is currently $59 million dollars available in loan guaranty authority to assist tribal and individual economic development projects and business ventures through the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Indian Loan Guaranty Program.

During the first week in October, the BIA, Branch of Wildland Fire Management, hosted Fire 101 Training. The training is the first of its kind and is designed to introduce payment team members and regional budget staff to business authorities, agreements, and procurement methods that bind the interagency incident business community together.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has awarded the first negotiated contract for the supplying of equipment which had been earmarked for an area of substantial labor surplus, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.

The contract is for three motor graders which will be used by the Bureau's Branch of Roads in the Aberdeen, South Dakota and Phoenix, Arizona areas. It was awarded to The Galion Iron Works and Mfg. Co., Galion, Ohio, for the sum of $36,033.

Charles Chi bitty of Tulsa Oklahoma, the last surviving member of the Comanche Code Talkers, will receive the Citizen's Award for Exceptional Service from the Department of the Interior in a ceremony that will take place in the Hall of Heroes at the Pentagon on November 30, 1999. The. Ceremony is to honor his role as a Comanche Code Talker during World War II where he and his fellow Comanche Indians were instrumental in saving many lives during the Normandy Invasion.

The Branch of Wildland Fire Management will be hosting its first annual Student Intern Orientation and Training June 7 and 8th. Twenty-three students studying Forestry, Wildfire and Range Management from across Indian Country will come to the National Interagency Fire Center to kick off their student internships under the Bureau of Indian Affairs Pathways, Student Internship Program.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced he has appointed H. Rex Lee, veteran career specialist on American Indians and dependent peoples, as Governor of American Samoa.

Secretary Udall also announced that Air Force Maj. Eric J. Scanlan, whose family has lived in American Samoa for three generations, is returning to his home islands to be Government Secretary. The post is similar to that of a lieutenant governor.

The U.S. Department of the Interior will hold a public panel discussion to gather comments on the proposed amendment to the Federal Regulations governing the Department's decisions about whether to take land into trust on behalf of Indian tribes. The amendment of these regulations is an important step in providing tribes and their non-Indian neighbors with a clearer understanding of how the Department reviews requests to take land into trust.