OPA

WINDOW ROCK, Arizona -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar told Navajo Nation officials today that President Obama’s major goals for working with Indian Country include improving educational opportunities for American Indian children, strengthening law enforcement and advancing self-sustaining economic development for tribal communities.

The Secretary, who conferred with Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley and other Nation officials, was accompanied by two of Interior’s highest ranking policymakers -- Solicitor Hilary Tompkins, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and Stanford University-trained attorney and law professor who was chief counsel to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson; and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk, a law professor and former Idaho Attorney General and state legislator, who grew up near the Navajo Reservation.

“As we engage with Navajo leaders on these priorities, I will rely heavily on the wise council of Hilary and Larry and the advice of President Shirley and other Nation officials to build better schools and educational programs, make the Navajo Reservation a safer place for this and future generations and expand the economic base of Navajo communities,” Salazar said. “We will encourage dialogue with tribal officials and work in partnership to develop solutions to the critical challenges facing Indian Country.”

Nearly half of the Department’s Bureau of Indian Education schools are on the Navajo Reservation, which has more than 255,000 enrolled members. The median age of the nation’s population is 22.5 years. President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is providing $55 million for the Rough Rock Replacement School Project. Earlier this year President Obama signed a law authorizing the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, which will provide clean, safe and reliable water to a quarter of a million people in the eastern portion of the Navajo Reservation, the City of Gallup and the Jicarilla Apache Nation. About 70,000 Navajo people are without access to running water and residents in parts of the Navajo Nation have had to haul water for generations.

The Secretary’s visit was highlighted by the return of Interior Solicitor Tompkins, who received a warm welcome from Navajo Nation officials. “Because of her valuable experience and extensive legal expertise, Hilary is a major asset to Interior,” Salazar said. “For the first time in the 160-year history of the Department, the Interior Solicitor is a Native American.”

“The Navajo people could not be more proud of one of our daughters,” said Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley. “Hilary has worked, studied, struggled, and now is in one of the highest offices in the land. She came back to help her people with the Navajo Nation Department of Justice, went on to work for New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and now she’s been called to serve the nation and all Native Americans by the President of the United States.”

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk issued the following statement today on the passing of Senator Edward M. Kennedy:

“Indian Country, as indeed all Americans, has lost a great friend in the passing of Senator Kennedy. His dedication to ensuring the well-being of every member of our great nation remains the hallmark of the legislation he championed for over 40 years in the Congress. His support for improving the lives and futures of the American Indian and Alaska Native people, particularly through education and health care, will be remembered warmly by all who knew him. He will be sorely missed, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the Kennedy family.”

Bismarck, N.D. – Surrounded by fourth through eighth grade students at the Theodore Jamerson Elementary School, who joined him in viewing President Obama’s address on the importance of learning to their future, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk underscored the President’s message by relating to them the importance of education in his own life.

“I come from a family that places a high value on education,” Echo Hawk said. “The path through the school door led me on a journey of learning and experience that I enjoyed. It has led me to being here with you today as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. I know that same path leads through every school door. With hard work and dedication, it, too, can take you on a journey as rewarding as mine has been.”

The Theodore Jamerson Elementary School is a K-8 day school funded by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Education. It is located on the campus of the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, where for 35 years it has served to educate the children of UTTC students.

“Theodore Jamerson is complementary to and a critical part of UTTC’s education mission,” said Principal F. Sam Azure. “We support UTTC students as they pursue their academic goals by ensuring that their children have the same opportunity for a better life through education.”

The school, which is comprised of six buildings on approximately one and a half acres within the campus grounds, follows the North Dakota standards of learning for instruction and assessing student performance. The current school year enrolled student population of 175 represents 20 tribes from Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Since taking office, the President has repeatedly focused on education and his belief in its critical role in building a new foundation for the American economy and in improving the lives of all Americans. He has challenged the nation’s students to work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning.

He also has called for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible – one that will bolster America’s competitiveness in the global economy and prepare individuals to become productive members of their communities and the nation.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs oversees the Bureau of Indian Education, which operates one of two federal school systems (the other belongs to the Department of Defense). The Bureau funds 183 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools located on 64 federal Indian reservations in 23 states serving approximately 42,000 American Indian and Alaska Native students. The Bureau also services American Indian and Alaska Native post secondary students through higher education scholarships and support funding to 26 tribal colleges and universities, including UTTC, and directly operates two institutions: Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwest Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, N.M.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that he will visit the Theodore Jamerson Elementary School (TJES) in Bismarck, N.D., to join students and teachers in viewing President Obama’s address “My Education, My Future.” The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) funded school is located on the campus of the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC), and provides educational services for American Indian students in grades K-8.

On September 8, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. (EDT), President Obama will deliver the national address directly to students on the importance of education. The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning.

Afterwards, Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk will discuss the President’s message with students, and share his own educational experiences along with his vision and initiative for BIE schools throughout Indian Country. The Assistant Secretary is responsible for the BIE, which oversees or directly operates 184 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools serving 48,000 students living on or near 64 federal Indian reservations in 23 states. Approximately two-thirds of the schools are tribally operated under BIE contracts or grants. The BIE school system is one of two federally operated school systems.

Who: Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior

What: The Assistant Secretary will join students and teachers at the Theodore Jamerson Elementary School to view President Obama’s national address “My Education, My Future.” When: Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 12:00 p.m. (EDT)

Where: Theodore Jamerson Elementary School, United Tribes Technical College, 3315 University Drive, Bismarck, N.D., 58504

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to this event. Please arrive thirty minutes before the event.

WASHINGTON–Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that he will visit the Rough Rock Community School on Wednesday, Sept. 16, where he will be joined by Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley to attend a ceremonial groundbreaking for the Phase II portion of the Rough Rock Community School Replacement Project.

Rough Rock Community School is a Bureau of Indian Education funded grant school located 35 miles from Chinle, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation Reservation. First named the Rough Rock Demonstration School, it opened in 1966 as the first American Indian operated school within what was then the Bureau of Indian Affairs school system. Rough Rock Community School provides educational services for students in grades K-12.

The school is listed on the Replacement Construction Priorities List published on March 24, 2004, in the Federal Register. The project is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

Who: Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior The Honorable Joe Shirley, President, Navajo Nation John “Jack” Rever, Director, Office of Facilities, Environmental and Cultural Resources, Office of Indian Affairs Dr. Monty Roessel, Superintendent, Rough Rock Community School, Bureau of Indian Education Richie Nez, President, Rough Rock School Board

What: The Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk and Navajo Nation President Shirley will attend a ceremonial groundbreaking for Phase II of the Rough Rock Community School Replacement Project funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

When: Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 10:00 a.m. (M.D.T.)

Where: Rough Rock Community School. Driving Directions: Starting Point- Chinle, Ariz. 86503 1) Take HWY 191 North towards Many Farms approx. 13 miles 2) Take HWY 59 West approx. 13 miles to HC-61 3) Turn left onto HC-61 follow signs to Rough Rock Community School.

CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to this event. Please arrive thirty minutes before the event.

WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced a competition for students attending high schools and tribal colleges funded by the Bureau of Indian Education that will promote careers in the fields of green and renewable energy. The Indian Education Renewable Energy Challenge is being sponsored by the BIE in partnership with the Indian Affairs Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory (ANL).

“The Indian Education Renewable Energy Challenge is an opportunity for students and teachers to learn about green and renewable energy technology that tribes can use to promote economic self-sufficiency and energy independence while providing futures for youth – all goals supported by the Obama administration,” Echo Hawk said. “I am pleased to see the partnership between the Bureau of Indian Education, the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development and Argonne National Laboratory result in such an innovative approach to learning for our schools.”

“This competition is a great opportunity to create interest among students and teachers in the renewable energy and green professions,” said interim BIE Director Kevin Skenandore. “I encourage all of our high schools and tribal colleges to participate in what will be an exciting educational experience that will benefit all participants.”

The challenge is designed as a two-part competition. During Phase I, each school and college will establish a team of students to design a small wind turbine that will harness wind energy, store it mechanically or electrically, and use it to power an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Five high school and five college design teams with the best submissions will receive $1,300 apiece to construct prototypes of their inventions. In Phase II, the teams will conduct performance data collections to submit, along with detailed reports and videos of their prototypes in operation, to ANL for evaluation by a team of judges.

The ANL’s educational programs division will develop the turbine’s design specifications and rules for the competition.

“Argonne National Laboratory is proud to be a sponsor of the Indian Education Renewable Energy Challenge,” said ANL’s Director of Educational Programs Harold Myron. “Competitions such as this can inspire creativity and a love of learning in the sciences, which we believe are qualities that all students can develop within themselves if given the chance. We are glad to join with the BIE and IEED in providing BIE high school and tribal college students, and their teachers, with this exciting opportunity to further their science education.”

One top project will be selected from the high school teams and one from the college teams. The two winning teams will see their turbines prominently displayed in Washington, D.C., where they also will have the opportunity to meet with senior Interior Department officials and attend a reception to be held in their honor.

According to IEED Director Bob Middleton, projects developed by the BIE-IEED-ANL partnership like the student challenge look to benefit tribes in the future: “We are continually seeking ways to use education and technology to assist tribes in building sustainable tribal economies as well as providing their members with the skills for life-long employment.”

Design proposals for the Indian Education Renewable Energy Challenge must be submitted to the ANL by October 31, 2009. The 10 teams whose projects have been selected will be notified by November 20, 2009. The submission deadline for projects is January 31, 2010. Winners will be announced by February 28, 2010.

For further information and application forms visit the BIE website at www.enan.bia.edu or the Argonne National Laboratory’s website at http://www.dep.anl.gov/indianed_energychallenge/.

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Indian Affairs Larry Echohawk will join Myron L. Rolle to announce an innovative health program for Indian schools.

The 1:00 p.m. EDT event in the Main Interior Building’s South Penthouse will be followed by a news media availability. Media can also participate via a moderated teleconference by dialing 1-888-603-9712 and entering the access code 3561667.

The Myron L. Rolle Foundation was founded by Rolle, a 2008-09 All-American safety at Florida State University and Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, who designed and implemented the health program last year for American Indian fifth-graders at a charter school in Okeechobee, Florida.

Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education funds and operates 184 schools across the country, on 64 reservations in 23 states and serves 48,000 students. The goal of the bureau is to educate the “whole person by taking into account the spiritual, mental, physical, and cultural aspects of the individual.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today was joined by college football All-American and Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle to announce a new partnership that will introduce an innovative physical fitness and health program into Interior-funded American Indian schools.

“Our objective in this initiative is to inspire American Indian and Native Alaskan students to live healthier lifestyles through exercise, outdoor activity, and proper nutrition,” Secretary Salazar said. “The program developed by the Myron Rolle Foundation will celebrate the uniqueness of their heritage and identity in curriculum, develop trust amongst peers, train leaders and involve the community to ensure their needs are met.”

“The Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools are excited to participate in this initiative,” said Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. “They look forward to implementing the innovative features of this program that encourages children and their families to incorporate physical fitness and healthy choices into their daily lives.”

“I am inspired by the way American Indian tribes have persevered and thrived, while retaining their cultural heritage and identity,” Rolle said. “There are, however, significant health concerns that challenge this population -- in particular diabetes and obesity. Through the Our Way to Health Program, our goal is to encourage and help American Indian children in middle school to begin managing not only their own diet and exercise but, hopefully by extension, influence the adults in their lives to also begin adopting healthy life style changes.”

Our Way to Health provides incentive-based learning experiences, team-building physical activities in the outdoors, health education and diabetes awareness sessions. Rolle initially developed the curriculum for American Indian fifth-graders at a charter school in Okeechobee, Florida, when he was working with the Seminole Tribe. Rolle was an All-American safety for Florida State University in 2008-2009, but has delayed entering the National Football League to pursue studies as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford.

Initially, Interior will expand the Our Way to Health program to five Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools in New Mexico and Arizona beginning in the fall of 2009. Three of the schools are in Arizona and two are in New Mexico. The schools are:

1. San Felipe Pueblo Elementary School (San Felipe Pueblo, New Mexico)
2. Isleta Elementary School (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
3. Hotevilla Bacavi Community School (Hotevilla, Arizona)
4. Tuba City Boarding School (Tuba City, Arizona)
5. Keams Canyon Elementary School (Kearns Canyon, Arizona)

Features of the program include two visits to each school by Myron Rolle and a visit at the end of the semester to a National Football League or collegiate sporting event . The curriculum will allow the Bureau of Indian Education to reach students in a new and direct way. The program is competitive, fun, rewarding and will be tailored to meet each school’s individual needs.

Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education serves 42,000 students in 183 schools and dormitories across the country on 64 reservations in 23 states. The mission statement of BIE reflects its commitment to “manifest consideration of the whole person by taking into account the spiritual, mental, physical, and cultural aspects of the individual.”

Washington, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that he has approved a realignment of his office’s organizational and reporting structure. The realignment is contained in an order he signed on September 11, 2009, effective immediately. The action to reorganize the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs (OAS-IA) was taken in order to strengthen the management and administration for Indian Affairs’ bureaus, offices and programs.

“The structure of the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs is one that supports the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education so that they can focus on their core missions,” Echo Hawk said. “This realignment will ensure that all Indian Affairs employees are able to carry out their duties and responsibilities to those we serve in the most efficient and effective way possible.”

The Assistant Secretary’s order describes the reporting structure for existing offices, as well as for new positions, titles and offices, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs. Highlights include:

• The Deputy Assistant Secretary-Policy and Economic Development (DAS-PED) has become the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS).
• The PDAS is responsible for the Office of Indian Gaming, the Office of Self Governance, the Office of Federal Acknowledgment and the Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action.
• The new post of Deputy Assistant Secretary-Programs (DAS-PRO) has been added to oversee the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (formerly under the DASPED), the Office of Facilities, Environmental and Cultural Resources (formerly under the DAS-M) and the Office of Trust Policy and Rights Protection, which oversees Indian Affairs’ trust resources programs and assists tribes in the management, development and protection of Indian trust land and natural resource assets.
• The Office of External Affairs (formerly under the PDAS) has been divided into the Office of Public Affairs and the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.
• The new Chief of Staff post oversees the Assistant Secretary’s immediate staff, the Office of Public Affairs and the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.
• The Deputy Assistant Secretary-Management (DAS-M) continues to be responsible for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), the Office of Human Capital Management and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).

The order also makes realignment and other changes to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education including: •

• The Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Director of the Bureau of Indian Education now report directly to the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs rather than through the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, as was the case under the previous reporting structure.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs has responsibility for helping the Secretary of the Interior to fulfill his trust responsibilities to tribal and individual trust beneficiaries and promoting self-determination and self-governance for the nation’s 564 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The Assistant Secretary oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), which administers one of two federal school systems.