Past News Items

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman today issued a proposed finding not to acknowledge the petitioner known as the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation, (Petitioner #84A) as an Indian tribe. This petitioner, located in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, Calif., has 1,640 members.

The Federal regulations regarding Indians voting in tribal elections have been amended to conform with the 26th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified June 30, 1971, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced today.

The amendments are to Part 52 of Title 25 (Code of Federal Regulations). Four sections were changed to reflect the lower voting age.

Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard has announced that public hearings will be held at seven locations between March 28 and April 13 on proposed formulas for distributing Johnson-O'Malley Act funding to schools serving Indian students.

Six alternative proposed formulas were published in the Federal Register March 9 for review and comment. The formulas will be revised according to comments received by May 1 and submitted to a vote of the tribes. The formula chosen by the tribal vote will be published as a final rule.

PHOENIX – Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Carl Artman delivered the keynote address at the National Native American Economic Policy Summit, calling on tribal leaders to share ideas on economic development and follow the example of tribes who have become local or regional business leaders.

“We are exploring the reinvigoration of tribal governments nation building, and how one tribe’s success can spark the success of others,” said Artman. “Successful tribes must continue to expand their outreach to tribes that strive for success.”

DEAR CONGRESSMAN:

The President has recent­ly received a number of letters concerning the pro­posed Trans-Alaska pipe­line. He has asked me to share with you our view of some of the issues raised.

Award of a $68,257.15 contract for the construction or a road and bridge on the Bad River Indian Reservation, Ashland County, Wisconsin, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

WASHINGTON – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director W. Patrick Ragsdale today announced that he has named Omar C. Bradley as the Regional Director for the BIA’s Navajo Regional Office in Gallup, N.M., which serves the 16 million­ acre Navajo Reservation located in western New Mexico, northeastern Arizona and southern Utah. Mr. Bradley, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, had been serving as the acting regional director since May 2006. His appointment was effective February 4, 2007.

President Ford will meet with more than 200 leaders of the American Indian community at the White House Friday afternoon (July 16), Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

It will be the first time a President of the United States has met with such a broad representation of the Indian leadership.

Award of a $275,000 contract for the construction of school facilities at Jones Ranch, approximately 12 miles southwest of Gallup on the Navajo Indian Reservation in New Mexico, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced today that Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Carl Artman will be leaving the Department of the Interior effective May 23, 2008.

"Throughout your tenure, I have appreciated your able insight as we have worked to address important issues in Indian Country," Kempthorne said in a letter to Artman. "The Indian Modernization Initiative, developed and launched under Carl's leadership, has upgraded communications between tribal leaders and the Department on a number of priority issues."