Past News Items

A special three-day Polar Plan Conference on Arctic problems ended today with direction from Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel that future plans for the area should be viewed from an international standpoint.

"Knowledge of the world's polar regions will change not only the countries bordering on the Arctic -- it will change economic, social and cultural conditions throughout the world," Secretary Hickel said.

"I urge you to think of the Arctic as a single entity, so that all nations can contribute to its conservation and the wise use of its resources," he said.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform will hold its next public meeting on Sept. 13-14, 2012, in Bismarck, N.D. It will be preceded by a public facilitated discussion hosted by Commissioner Tex Hall in the afternoon of Sept. 12 in New Town, N.D., for members of the public to share their perspectives about trust management and administration. In addition, a youth-outreach session will be held the evening of Sept. 13 at the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) in Bismarck.

Secretary Cecil D. Andrus announced today that he will visit the Pacific Northwest in September to review the status of salmon and steelhead runs and to make an official visit to the Quinault Indian Reservation

"There is a growing concern for the condition of the fishery and I want to take the opportunity not only to review its current status but also to obtain first-hand reports about the future of the runs from Federal, State and Tribal representatives," Andrus said.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs office of education has become part of a network of 19 innovative school systems across the Nation.

Called ES' 70 (Educational Systems for the 70's), the group consists of school systems that have developed specialties in a variety of fields, above and beyond the standard curricula.

Some systems have set up new ways to teach mathematics; others have developed unique social studies programs, and still others are conducting experimental projects in bi-lingual education.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs for Policy and Economic Development Jodi Gillette and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Director Michael Black met with tribal leaders in Oklahoma City, Okla., today in the sixth regional government-to-government tribal consultation meeting on the Trust Land Consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement. The consultations are part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to re-invigorating nation-to-nation relationships with tribes.

Interior Solicitor Leo M. Krulitz announced today the working groups formed to help work out negotiated settlements of the New York land claims of the Cayuga Nation and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe will resume meetings soon.

Regulations to govern the leasing of unassigned land on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in western Arizona until August 14, 1957, were announced today by Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs for Policy and Economic Development Jodi Gillette and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Director Michael Black today were in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the second of six regional government-to-government tribal consultations regarding the Trust Land Consolidation component of the Cobell Settlement. The meetings with tribal leaders represent part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to reinvigorating nation-to-nation relationships with tribes.

Twenty Alaska Natives from villages in the Kuskokwim Delta area came to Washington, D.C., in mid-May to tell United States Congressmen how pending legislation, H.R. 39, involving millions of acres of Alaska land could affect their lives.

The Eskimo group raised funds for the trip through tribal activities in 56 villages. For most of the group it was a first visit to the Nation’s Capital.

Award of a $648,685.59 contract for construction of 24.0909 miles of road on the Hopi and Navajo Indian Reservations, Navajo County, Arizona, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The project is part of the Indian Bureau's long-range program to improve roads on the two reservations. This is the final section of the road from Keams Canyon to U. S. Highway 66, about six miles east of Holbrook, and makes an all-weather road over this route.