Past News Items

Ada E. Deer announced today that a settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma (the Nation) by the federal government. "This settlement will bring to a conclusion almost five (5) decades of dispute over the issue of pollution, caused by oil and gas drilling, of groundwater used by the Nation," Ms. Deer said.

Appointment of John H. Artichoker, former director of Indian education for the state of South Dakota, as superintendent of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Agency, Lame Deer, Mont., effective September 8, 1963, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer signed a preliminary decision in which she proposes to deny Federal recognition of the Duwamish Tribal Organization of Renton, WA, a petitioner for Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe.

"The petitioner failed to meet three of the fundamental criteria contained in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 25, Section 83.7," Ms. Deer said.

The Department of the Interior has asked Congress to increase the authorized amount of annual appropriations for vocational training of adult Indians from $7.5 million to $12 million.

In its request, the Department said the number of Indians who are qualified and wish to participate in the training program greatly exceeds the number for whom funds are available. If the present limitation is retained, some of those who have applied in the past six months cannot expect to enroll in vocational training courses before June 30, 1964.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover today announced that $16.5 million will be distributed this month to 310 small and needy American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes to provide adequate funding for tribal governments and operations. Small and needy tribes are those that have less than $160,000 in annual funding and have 1,500 or fewer members enrolled. Tribes in Alaska must have less than $200,000 in annual funding to qualify.

An increase in the "standard" royalty rate for oil and gas leases on Indian lands from 12.5 to 16-2/3 percent was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

On May 20, 1997 Ms. Deer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs called an all employees meeting at BIA Headquarters, Washington, DC. The purpose of this meeting was to provide information relative to current matters taking place within the Bureau of lndian Affairs and to present a Summer Action Plan. "I would like to see the Bureau become a dynamic entity accomplishing positive things at the end of this Summer," Ms. Deer said.

The Summer Action Plan

Award of a $5,597,900 contract for construction of a high school plant to accommodate 1,200 Navajo Indian students at Fort Wingate, N. Mex., was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

It will be the first high school of the Bureau of Indian Affairs located in the near vicinity of the Navajo Reservation.

Interior Assistant Secretary Eddie Brown has ordered the Bureau of Indian Affairs to tighten the procedures for leasing of Indian lands in the Palm Springs, California, area and to put in place regulations specifically designed to fit long-term business leasing needs of the Agua Caliente Indian landowners.

"We have seen evidence of leases negotiated many years ago that do not meet today's market value. Future leases must contain provisions for escalation when land values skyrocket," Brown said.

The National Community Christmas Tree for 1965 which will be erected in the Ellipse, just south of the White House in Washington, is being donated by the White Mountain Apache Indians from the Fort Apache Reservation near White River, Arizona, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.

Secretary Udall added that this marks the first time an American Indian Tribal Council has provided a Christmas Tree for the Pageant of Peace ceremony, and the first tree from the state of Arizona tor this pageant.