Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus has asked the Congress to extend the January 31 deadline for completion of projects authorized under the 1977 Emergency Drought Act to keep them eligible for Federal funding.

Interior Secretary Cecil D. Andrus and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard today announced a policy decision governing the procedures for planning Indian water projects.

The new policy will provide for a more appropriate analysis of water development projects on Indian lands as part of the implementation of the Principles and Standards for Planning Water and Related Land Resources of the Water Resources Council.

LINCOLN, CALIF. — The sixth government-to-government tribal consultation regarding the draft report on Indian Affairs Administrative Organizational Assessment and Bureau of Indian Affairs/Bureau of Indian Education streamlining plans starts Thursday, May 17, 2012, at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, Calif. The two-day consultation is the sixth of seven that will take place around the country in Arizona, Florida, South Dakota, Washington, Oklahoma and Alaska. The first was held in Miami on April 12 and 13, 2012.

Casimir L. LeBeau, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, has been named Assistant Area Director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Minneapolis Area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

LeBeau has been the Tribal Operations Officer in the Minneapolis Area since 1967. The office serves Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan.

American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages have completed balloting on a distribution formula as required by the 1978 Education Amendments Act (P.L. 95-561). After a year long effort, the Indians and Alaska Natives voted to keep the Johnson-O'Malley Act funding formula used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the last four years.

The Johnson-O'Malley Act provides funding assistance for supplemental programs in non-Federal schools serving Indian students. In fiscal year 1979 the appropriation for this purpose, serving approximately 171,000 students, was $31,675,000.

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — The second government-to-government tribal consultation regarding the Indian Affairs Administrative Organizational Assessment Draft Report and Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education streamlining plans starts Thursday, April 19, 2012 at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort Hotel in Fountain Hills, Ariz. The two-day consultation is the second of seven that will take place around the country in Arizona, Florida, Washington, South Dakota, Oklahoma, California and Alaska. The first was held in Miami on April 12 and 13, 2012.

The Potawatomi Indians of Kansas now have a tribal constitution. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson gave formal approval February 19 to the document ratified in an election by the tribe on February 2.

The tribe has been without any form of tribal government since 1972 - and without an effective government for even longer. The new constitution provides for the prompt election of a tribal council and officers and is expected to meet the needs of the tribe for a sound governmental system.

The Department of the Interior announced today award of a $430,258 construction contract for a major expansion and remodeling of the Indian Bureau's boarding school plant at Seba Dalkai, Arizona.

The Anchor Construction Company of Roswell, New Mexico was awarded the contract. Six contractors from Arizona and New Mexico submitted higher bids ranging from $457,750 to $498,553.

WASHINGTON –The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) today released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposed 350-megawatt solar energy project on tribal trust land of the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians in Clark County, Nevada.

The publication in the Federal Register tomorrow of a notice of availability begins the 30-day public comment period. Access to the Final EIS document can be viewed at:

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that proposed regulations for the implementation of the Indian Financing Act are being published in the Federal Register September 3, 1974.

Thompson said that full funding of $80 million is being sought for the Act, which was approved by President Nixon April 12, 1974.

The Indian Financing Act of 1974 itself: