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WASHINGTON, DC. – As a follow-up to the Tribal Conference held at the Department of the Interior this past November, today Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan met with prominent American Indian educators to discuss the educational challenges and opportunities facing tribal communities and share strategies that have helped to advance opportunities for American Indian students around the Nation.

“I asked these accomplished professionals, all of whom have exemplary records of educational service, to share their thoughts on the partnerships, projects and creative efforts that have proven successful in their schools and communities,” Salazar said. “It is essential that we continue to improve the delivery of educational services through our schools and programs while ensuring the concerns of Tribes and the best interests of American Indian students are addressed.”

“Today’s meeting was a critical first step in our partnership with the Department of Interior and tribal leaders to address the academic needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students,” said Duncan. “Our agenda is broad, our work is urgent, and we will collaborate to ensure that the unique educational and culturally related academic needs of these students are met.”

Improving Indian education was a major topic of discussion during President Obama’s historic meeting with tribal leaders at the Interior Department in November 2009. More than 400 members of federally recognized tribes participated in the event. “Following the White House Tribal Nations Conference, it was clear to me that we must do more to ensure that American Indian students receive an academically rigorous, culturally appropriate education that will prepare them to be productive citizens and leaders in their communities and help to build safer, stronger, healthier, and more prosperous Indian communities,” Salazar said.

Today’s discussion at Interior headquarters included a presentation on major concerns and challenges by Interior officials, including Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk, and a panel discussion by the experts, who described some of the experiences and education practices that have shown significant results in their states and tribal communities.

Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education educates more than 44,000 Indian students in 183 schools and two tribal colleges and the Obama Administration has made educational reform and improvements a focus of its assistance efforts in Indian Country. The goal of the Administration’s overall efforts, including the President’s $3 billion investment in Indian Country through the Recovery and reinvestment Act, is to help empower American Indian nations so they can build a future of their choosing.

The panelists included the following: Patricia Whitefoot, president of the National Indian Education Association; Sam Deloria, a nationally renowned Indian policy expert who was executive director of the American Indian Graduate Center; Denise Juneau, superintendant of Public Instruction for state of Montana (and the first American Indian to hold statewide office in Montana); Ryan Wilson, president of the National Alliance to Save Native Languages and former president of the National Indian Education Association; Keith Moore, former director of Indian Education for South Dakota’s Department of Education; Benny Shendo, former cabinet secretary of Indian Affairs for the state of New Mexico and director of the American Indian Program at Stanford University; Colin Kippen, former senior counsel to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee; Kara Bobroff, founder of the Native American Community Academy; Patrick Shannon, a former appointee of Michigan Gov. Granholm, overseeing more than 40 charter schools throughout Michigan, with more than 10,000 students; Robert Cook, former president of the National Indian Education Association; and Notah Begay: founder of the Notah Begay III Foundation which promotes the health, wellness and leadership development of Native American youth.

Image of participants at meeting is available on line at http://www.doi.gov/news/10_News_Releases/U.S.DepartmentoftheInterior-Bu…

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar discusses strategies for improving Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs educational programs and services with a panel of experts. To the left of the Secretary are Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (blue shirt) and Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. To the right of the Secretary are Kim Teehee, Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs at the White House Domestic Policy Council; and Keith Moore, former director of Indian Education for South Dakota’s Department of Education. Photo by Tami Heilemenn, DOI.

WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, December 5, President Obama will host the White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Department of the Interior. The conference will provide leaders from the 566 federally recognized tribes the opportunity to interact directly with the President and representatives from the highest levels of his Administration. Each federally recognized tribe will be invited to send one representative to the conference. This will be the fourth White House Tribal Nations Conference for the Obama Administration, and continues to build upon the President’s commitment to strengthen the government to government relationship with Indian Country. Additional details about the conference will be released at a later date.

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PAGE, Ariz. – On Monday, November 19, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will join Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Anne Castle, National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Mike Connor to trigger the first “high-flow experimental release” at Glen Canyon Dam since 2008. The release is part of a new experimental long-term protocol announced in May by Secretary Salazar to better distribute sediment to conserve downstream resources, while meeting water and power needs and allowing continued scientific experimentation, data collection, and monitoring to more fully address the important resources in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam.

For more information on the high flow experimental release, click here.

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ALBUQUERQUE, NM (January 12, 2010) – U.S. Department of the Interior officials today welcomed college football All-American and Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle to Isleta Elementary School at the Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico, American Indian Reservation to kick off the new Our Way to Health™ Program.

A public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education and the Myron L. Rolle Foundation, the initiative brings an innovative physical fitness and health program into Bureau of Indian Education-funded Native American schools, initially launched at five schools in New Mexico and Arizona.

“The Our Way to Health Program developed by the Myron L. Rolle Foundation is designed to inspire American Indian students to live healthier lifestyles through exercise, outdoor activity, and proper nutrition,” said Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk. “The program 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.”

Rolle met with 143 fifth and sixth graders from Isleta Elementary and San Felipe Pueblo Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon. He explained the Our Way to Health Program, his interest in First Americans, the importance of physical activity and leading a health lifestyle, and answered questions from students, teachers, parents and members of the community. Tomorrow Rolle will kick off the program in Tuba City, Arizona, with an additional 279 Navajo and Hopi Tribe fifth and sixth graders from Tuba City Boarding School, Hotevilla Bacavi Community School and Keams Canyon Elementary School.

“I am inspired by the way First American 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. I am excited to be here to launch the Our Way to Health Program, which we hope will encourage First American 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 while a student at Florida State University for Native American fifth graders at a Seminole Tribe charter school in Okeechobee, Florida. Rolle was an All-American safety for the FSU Seminoles football team in 2008-09. He delayed entering the National Football League Draft until 2010, however, to accept the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship at the University of Oxford. Rolle will earn a Master’s Degree in Medical Anthropology and, after playing in the NFL, plans to pursue a career as a brain surgeon.

Unique features of the six-week program include two in-person visits by Myron Rolle and a trip at the end of the semester for the winning teams to a professional 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 is being tailored to meet each school’s individual needs.

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) 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.”

The Myron L. Rolle Foundation is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to the support of health, wellness, educational and other charitable initiatives throughout the world that benefit children and families in need. The Foundation was established in 2009 by Rhodes Scholar and College Football All-American Myron L. Rolle and his family.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Obama’s proposed $2.6 billion budget request for Indian Affairs is a fiscally responsible plan that focuses strategic investments to empower tribal nations. Overall, the proposed budget is a net decrease of $3.6 million from the 2010 enacted level, when taking into account the elimination of the one-time increase in 2010 to forward fund the tribal colleges. The budget targets more than $70 million in program increases to strengthen tribal management of federally-funded programs and to enhance energy, education and public safety programs that will bring jobs to Indian Country. These programs are central to the mission of Indian Affairs and major priorities identified by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk.

“The Indian Affairs Fiscal Year 2011 budget request supports the Administration’s goals for developing the nation’s energy resources and addressing climate change, while making targeted investments in Indian Country that support tribal self-determination, improve education, protect tribal communities and fulfill the federal trust responsibility to federally recognized tribes and individual American Indians and Alaska Natives,” Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk said.

The request will fund three major Interior initiatives – Empowering Tribal Nations, the New Energy Frontier and Climate Change Adaptation – to support self-determination for the 564 federally recognized tribes, carry out the federal trust responsibility for tribal and individual Indian trust beneficiaries, and meet the Administration’s goals of developing domestic energy resources, understanding the effects of climate change and adding jobs to the nation’s economy.

The FY 2011 budget request for the Empowering Tribal Nations Initiative is a multi-faceted effort that will advance DOI’s nation-to-nation relationships with the tribes, improve Indian education, protect Indian communities and reform trust land management, in support of greater tribal self-determination. The initiative builds on the historic White House Tribal Nations Conference in 2009 and the President’s commitment to improving quality-of-life conditions throughout Indian Country. The request for the Empowering Tribal Nations Initiative includes:

• Program increases of $29.9 million for the Advancing Nation-to-Nation Relationships component to help tribes achieve the Administration’s vision of tribal self-determination. The increases include $21.5 million to strengthen tribal management of federal programs, $1.0 million to strengthen self-determination contract oversight, $2.0 million for additional social workers to address high unemployment and substance abuse in tribal communities, $3.0 million to support small tribes (those with populations under 1,700) in strengthening their government operations, $500,000 to support the development of a performance data management system that will help tribes meet annual audit and reporting requirements, and $450,000 to improve acquisition management. The increase also includes $1.5 million for the final payment that fulfills the Department’s portion of the Puget Sound Regional Shellfish Settlement (Pub. L. 109-479).
• An additional $20.0 million in program funding over the 2010 enacted level for the Protecting Indian Country component. The funding supports Indian Affairs’ trust obligations to uphold tribal sovereignty in the area of public safety and it strengthens collateral efforts with the U.S. Department of Justice to fight crime in tribal communities. The increase includes $19.0 million to fund additional law enforcement personnel within the Justice Department dedicated to investigating drug, gang and public corruption crimes on reservations and those affecting tribal gaming enterprises in Indian Country. An additional $1.0 million will fund operations and maintenance for new detention facilities built with Justice Department grants.
• Program increases of $9.1 million for the Improving Trust Land Management component to assist tribes in the management, development and protection of Indian trust lands and natural resources. The increases, which are part of the FY 2011 budget request of $318.3 million for continuing trust reform, include $1.9 million for enhanced probate management and oversight, $1.2 million for development efforts in the former Bennett Freeze area of the Navajo Nation reservation in northeastern Arizona, $659,000 for cadastral surveys on the Nez Perce Indian reservation in Idaho per the Nez Perce/Snake River Water Rights Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-477), $1.5 million for tribal water management and water rights programs, and $3.8 million for repairs and risk mitigation on high-risk and significant hazard dams.
• Increases of $8.9 million for the Advancing Indian Education component that enhances the Department’s ongoing commitment to improving Indian education for students in BIE-funded elementary and secondary schools and tribal colleges and universities. The increase includes $3.9 million to address safety and security issues identified by the Department’s Inspector General in the past year, $2.0 million to fund 13 full-time environmental professionals to conduct environmental audits at BIE schools and $3.0 million to cover tribal administrative and indirect costs at 124 tribally controlled schools and residential facilities.

The FY 2011 budget request for Operation of Indian Programs is $2.4 billion, which is $58.7 million or 2.5 percent above the 2010 enacted level. The request also includes $115.7 million for Construction, a program reduction of $51.6 million from the 2010 level.

The request takes into consideration the $285.0 million provided to Indian Affairs for school and detention center construction activities and the $225.0 million provided to the Justice Department for detention center construction under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which allowed the completion of a number of high priority projects.

Included in the $115.7 million request is $52.9 million for Education Construction, $11.4 million for Public Safety and Justice Construction, $42.2 million for Resource Management Construction, which includes an increase of $3.8 million for the Safety of Dams program, and $9.3 million for Other Program Construction. The request funds the Dennehotso Replacement School Phase II Project at the Dennehotso Boarding School located near Chinle, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation reservation, and the start of the Riverside Academic School Replacement Phase I Project for the Riverside Indian School located in Riverside, Okla.

The request also reflects a proposed transfer of $57.3 million in facilities operations and maintenance funding from the Construction account to the Operations of Indian Programs account. By consolidating all operations and maintenance funds in the Operations account, the transfer will increase transparency of those funds thereby improving the management of the maintenance and construction programs.

The budget proposes a net increase of $28.0 million in Tribal Priority Allocations, which is 3.4 percent above the 2010 enacted level. Collectively, the request includes program increases of $21.5 million for contract support and the Indian Self-Determination Fund, $3.0 million for Small and Needy Tribes, $2.0 million for additional social workers, $1.2 million to develop the former Bennett Freeze area and $1.5 million for energy development on the Fort Berthold reservation.

The 2011 budget request for the Department’s New Energy Frontier Initiative contains an increase of $2.5 million for Indian Affairs to assist those tribes whose lands hold active and potential energy resources with their exploration and development. The increase includes $1.0 million for grants to tribes to evaluate and develop renewable energy resources on their trust lands and $1.0 million for conventional energy development on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, the home of the Three Affiliated Tribes, under which sits the Bakken Basin, one of the most prolific gas and oil producing geographic areas in the U.S. The increase also includes $500,000 to support the “one-stop shop” established by the Department and the tribe last year to bring greater accountability and efficiency to energy development on the reservation.

The FY 2011 budget request for the Climate Change Adaptation Initiative reflects the essential role Indian Affairs will play in the Department’s response to the impacts of climate change given its special role in protecting tribal trust resources and Alaska Native subsistence harvests. The request includes $200,000 to support Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCC) to improve understanding of and address the impacts of climate change on Indian lands.

The FY 2011 budget request for Resolving Land and Water Claims is $46.5 million. It includes $15.5 million, the fifth of seven payments, for the Nez Perce/Snake River Water Rights Settlement; $6.5 million for the final year of funding for the Puget Sound Regional Shellfish Settlement and $5.5 million for the second and last payment for the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indian Water Settlement Act. The request also includes funds authorized by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 of $12.0 million, the second of five payments, for the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation Water Settlement and $6.0 million for the second payment to the Navajo Nation Water Resources Development Trust Fund.

In light of the proposed Cobell v. Salazar settlement agreement, which is awaiting Congressional action and final approval by the U.S. District Court, and the anticipated impact of the new $2 billion Trust Land Consolidation Fund, the budget includes $1.0 million for the current Indian Land Consolidation Program This is a reduction of $2.0 million from the 2010 level, but will allow for maintaining staff to assist beneficiaries with estate planning, family trust regulations, educational efforts and consolidation agreements.

Indian Affairs is participating in a Department-wide effort to produce savings and efficiencies and to improve government operations by implementing proposals submitted by federal employees to the President’s SAVE Award program in the areas of travel, information technology and strategic sourcing. Indian Affairs’ share of the projected $62.0 million in savings under this initiative includes $271,000 in reduced travel and relocation expenditures, $2.3 million from improved effectiveness and efficiencies in IT and $2.7 million by expanding the use of strategic sourcing. In addition, Indian Affairs is absorbing all of its employee pay and benefits cost increase this year, which totals over $19.4 million.

Other decreases reflected in the FY 2011 budget request are $1.1 million for Education Program Management to fund other priorities within the education program and $7.5 million for probate since the backlog has been eliminated.

PAGE, AZ–Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today triggered the first “high-flow experimental release” at Glen Canyon Dam since 2008, as part of a new experimental long-term protocol announced in May by the Secretary to better distribute sediment to conserve downstream resources, while meeting water and power needs and allowing continued scientific experimentation, data collection, and monitoring to more fully address the important resources in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam.

The new protocol calls for experimental releases from the dam through 2020 to send sediment downstream to rebuild sandbars, beaches, and backwaters. The rebuilt areas would provide key wildlife habitat, enhance the aquatic food base, protect archeological sites, and create additional camping opportunities in the canyon.

“This is truly an exciting day in the history of the Colorado River Basin, in the history of Grand Canyon National Park, and in the history of the Department of the Interior,” said Salazar. “It was an honor to open the river tubes as we opened the door to a new era for Glen Canyon Dam operations and the ecology of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park – a new era in which we realize that the goals of water storage, delivery and hydropower production are compatible with improving and protecting the resources of Glen Canyon and Grand Canyon.”

The new protocol is built on more than 16 years of scientific research and experimentation conducted under the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program. The Department translated the research into a flexible framework that enables scientists to determine, based on the best available science, when the conditions are right to conduct these releases to maximize the ecosystem benefits along the Colorado River corridor in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Canyon National Park.

With the Glen Canyon Powerplant running at full capacity, Secretary Salazar opened the river outlet tubes at noon, releasing additional flows that will increase throughout the day until a maximum release of approximately 42,300 cubic-feet-per-second is reached. These releases will continue for nearly five days based on the parameters specified in the protocol and the volume of sediment deposited by the Paria River since late July, which scientists estimate is approximately 500,000 metric tons, enough to fill a football field 230 feet deep.

Through the foundation laid by the protocol, annual experiments can be conducted through 2020 to evaluate the effectiveness of multiple high flow experimental (HFE) releases in rebuilding and conserving sandbars, beaches, and associated backwater habitats that have been lost or depleted since the dam’s construction and operation. The protocol identifies the conditions under which a high flow release will likely yield the greatest conservation and beneficial use of sediment deposited by inflows from Colorado River tributaries as a result of rainstorms, monsoons, and snowmelt.

“Favorable sediment conditions in the system only occur periodically, so the ability to respond quickly and make the best use of those deposits when the time is right is essential,” said Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science. “Today’s experimental release under the new protocol represents a significant milestone in our collective ability to be nimble and responsive to on-the-ground conditions for the benefit of respond quickly to change dam operations to improve downstream resources conditions.”

HFE releases simulate natural flood conditions that suspend and redeposit sand stored in the river channel to provide key wildlife habitat—including habitat for the endangered humpback chub, protect archaeological sites, enhance riparian vegetation, maintain or increase recreation opportunities, and improve the wilderness experience along the Colorado River in Glen and Grand canyons. Single experimental releases were conducted in 1996, 2004, and 2008, and included extensive scientific research, monitoring, and data collection by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center, the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service, and the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service.

"These high-flow releases, a new paradigm in water management, recognize that there are hugely beneficial impacts to river ecology from releasing the requisite water needed downstream in large pulses, rather than uniformly throughout the year," said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. "In the arid West, non-uniform flow better mimics the natural environment in which the plants and animals flourished."

This scientific process will continue and the knowledge gained from today’s experimental high flow will be used to make further refinements in determining the optimal timing, duration, frequency, and conditions for future releases as well as to inform other management actions on the river.

“As the 1992 Grand Canyon Protection Act emphasizes, the resources of the Grand Canyon are fragile, and conservation of those resources can only be achieved through wise management by today’s leaders,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “Today’s event marks the beginning of the next generation of wisdom for managing this special place. We have only one Grand Canyon. We want to thank the Secretary for his leadership and conservation of this special place now and into the future.”

The protocol represents one of two important milestones in the history of the Colorado River. The second, a program to control non-native fish species, provides a framework for actions and research to protect native endangered fish in the river downstream of the dam. The finalization of both efforts involved extensive government-to-government consultation with Native American tribes to ensure implementation of the programs in a manner that respects tribal perspectives.

“The Bureau of Indian Affairs supports the cooperating tribes’ active involvement in the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program,” said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn. “Many of their insights were incorporated into the process leading to the HFE event. Their strong connections to the Grand Canyon, including their cultural, historic and religious ties, give them a unique perspective on this national treasure. I want to thank the tribes for their long stewardship and their full participation in this important effort to conserve and protect the Colorado River ecosystem.”

The additional water released as part of the HFE is part of the annual water delivery to the Lake Mead. “The volume of water we are releasing during this high flow experiment does not change the overall volume of water delivery in the 2013 water year,” said Reclamation Commissioner Michael L. Connor. “The current operations plan based on forecast data calls for releasing 8.23 million acre-feet of water from the dam to meet delivery obligations to the Lower Colorado River Basin and Mexico. The experimental flows are included in that total annual volume and will be offset by adjustments to the monthly release volumes throughout the rest of the water year.”

“This new protocol developed by Reclamation will protect both the Grand Canyon and the delivery of water for communities, agriculture and industry,” Salazar noted. “We are taking a practical approach. If, for any reason, the new high-flow experiments do not yield the positive results we anticipate, we have the ability to change and adjust future flows.”

In addition to the opportunities for HFE releases made possible under the protocol, Secretary Salazar has initiated the first comprehensive analysis of Glen Canyon Dam operations since 1996. The Glen Canyon Dam Long-Term Experimental and Management Plan Environmental Impact Statement will build on information obtained through the Adaptive Management Program and activities conducted under the protocol to analyze a broad scope of dam operations and other related activities. The goal is to determine specific alternatives that could be implemented to improve and protect downstream resources while adhering to applicable laws. Reclamation and the National Park Service are jointly developing the LTEMP EIS, which will ultimately integrate and further refine actions conducted under the protocol.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that he has named Paula L. Hart as Director of the IA Office of Indian Gaming. Hart, an enrolled member of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe in New York, had been serving as the office’s acting director since May 2008. The appointment became effective on February 1, 2010.

“I am pleased that Ms. Hart has accepted this opportunity to continue leading the Office of Indian Gaming,” Echo Hawk said. “Her knowledge and experience in the field of tribal gaming make her a strong member of my team.”

“I am grateful to have been provided this leadership opportunity,” Hart said. “I am looking forward to working with Assistant Secretary Echo Hawk to meet the goal of empowering tribal nations.”

Hart’s federal career began in March 1993 when she joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ ranks as a Rights Protection Specialist in its Eastern Area Office (now Eastern Regional Office), then located in Fairfax, Va., where she assisted federally recognized tribes with boundary disputes, treaty issues and tax rights.

In June 1994, she joined the Interior Department’s newly established office on tribal gaming as a Management Analyst, where she was tasked with developing the initial national guidance for Indian Country on gaming matters – some of which is still being used today.

From July 1997 to May 2005, Hart served as a Paralegal Specialist under the Director of the Office of Indian Gaming Management (now the Office of Indian Gaming). As such, she assisted the Director and senior operating staff on all legal matters concerning tribal government operations and authorities relating to Indian gaming operations.

In May 2005, Hart was promoted to Deputy Director of the Office of Indian Gaming Management. In that post she held supervisory responsibilities and served in an advisory capacity to the Director, the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs and senior IA officials on the formulation and development of the BIA’s national gaming programs to ensure compliance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA) and DOI policies, regulations and guidelines.

In May 2008, Hart was named the Acting Director of the Office of Indian Gaming, where her responsibilities have included, in addition to budget, personnel and administrative matters, overseeing the development of policies and procedures used to implement the Secretary’s responsibilities under IGRA relating to land acquisition requests from federally recognized tribes for gaming purposes, tribal-state gaming compacts, tribal gaming per capita distribution plans, secretarial approvals of trust assets and gaming-related contracts and secretarial procedures for Class III casino-type gaming.

She also served from May 2008 to May 2009 as the acting Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs where she advised on matters relating to human resources, budget and administrative functions of IA offices and programs, and worked on special projects concerning a variety of issues including federal acknowledgment, economic development, finance and tribal governance.

Hart holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. (1984) and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland’s School of Law in Baltimore (1990). She has been a member of the State Bar of Maryland since 1992.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today announced that he has named Bartholomew “Bart” Stevens as Acting Director of the Bureau of Indian Education while the process for finding a permanent director continues. The temporary appointment became effective February 2. The vacancy announcement for the post opened last November and closed on February 1.

“This temporary move was necessary as we review and assess what we expect to be a talented slate of candidates for the critical position of Director of the Bureau of Indian Education,” Echo Hawk said. “I am pleased that Bart Stevens has assumed this leadership role to keep the Bureau on track in delivering quality education services to all BIE students.”

Stevens, an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona with ancestry from the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in Idaho and the Ute Indian Tribe in Utah, has been the Bureau’s Deputy Director for School Operations since January 4, 2009. He replaces Kevin Skenandore, who had been serving as the acting BIE director since August 2007.

“I want to express my deep appreciation to Kevin Skenandore for his diligence as acting BIE director over the past 29 months and his dedication to the improvement of our schools,” Echo Hawk said.

Following a long career in teaching, counseling and school administration positions in tribal and public schools in Utah, Stevens joined the BIE’s New Mexico South Education Line Office in Albuquerque in July 2006 as an Education Line Officer (ELO).

Starting in August 2007, he concurrently held two of three BIE associate deputy directorships – Acting Associate Deputy Director-East and Acting Associate Deputy Director-West – in which he was responsible for the line management, direction and supervision of 16 Education Line Offices overseeing BIE-funded schools in 25 states. He continued to serve in both posts until his promotion to Deputy Director for School Operations.

Stevens holds a Bachelor’s degree in Family and Human Development (2000) and a Master’s degree in School Administration and Supervision (2005) from Utah State University. He also holds a Master’s degree in Social Work (2003) from the University of Utah. In 2005, he received an administrative/supervisory education license from the Utah Office of Education.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs oversees the Bureau of Indian Education which operates the federal school system for American Indian and Alaska Native children from the federally recognized tribes. The BIE implements federal education laws, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, in and provides funding to 183 elementary and secondary day and boarding schools and peripheral dormitories located on 64 reservations in 23 states and serving approximately 42,000 students (School Year 2009-2010). The BIE also serves post secondary students through higher education scholarships and support funding to 26 tribal colleges and universities and two tribal technical colleges. It directly operates two post secondary institutions: Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kan., and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, N.M.

On Thanksgiving Day, Americans everywhere gather with family and friends to recount the joys and blessings of the past year. This day is a time to take stock of the fortune we have known and the kindnesses we have shared, grateful for the God-given bounty that enriches our lives. As many pause to lend a hand to those in need, we are also reminded of the indelible spirit of compassion and mutual responsibility that has distinguished our Nation since its earliest days.

Many Thanksgivings have offered opportunities to celebrate community during times of hardship. When the Pilgrims at Plymouth Colony gave thanks for a bountiful harvest nearly four centuries ago, they enjoyed the fruits of their labor with the Wampanoag tribe -- a people who had shared vital knowledge of the land in the difficult months before. When President George Washington marked our democracy's first Thanksgiving, he prayed to our Creator for peace, union, and plenty through the trials that would surely come. And when our Nation was torn by bitterness and civil war, President Abraham Lincoln reminded us that we were, at heart, one Nation, sharing a bond as Americans that could bend but would not break. Those expressions of unity still echo today, whether in the contributions that generations of Native Americans have made to our country, the Union our forebears fought so hard to preserve, or the providence that draws our families together this season.

As we reflect on our proud heritage, let us also give thanks to those who honor it by giving back. This Thanksgiving, thousands of our men and women in uniform will sit down for a meal far from their loved ones and the comforts of home. We honor their service and sacrifice. We also show our appreciation to Americans who are serving in their communities, ensuring their neighbors have a hot meal and a place to stay. Their actions reflect our age-old belief that we are our brothers' and sisters' keepers, and they affirm once more that we are a people who draw our deepest strength not from might or wealth, but from our bonds to each other.

On Thanksgiving Day, individuals from all walks of life come together to celebrate this most American tradition, grateful for the blessings of family, community, and country. Let us spend this day by lifting up those we love, mindful of the grace bestowed upon us by God and by all who have made our lives richer with their presence.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 22, 2012, as a National Day of Thanksgiving. I encourage the people of the United States to join together -- whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place of fellowship for friends and neighbors -- and give thanks for all we have received in the past year, express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own, and share our bounty with others.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh

BARACK OBAMA

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Washington, D.C. – Bureau of Indian Affairs Director Jerold L. “Jerry” Gidner today announced that he has named William Tandy “Bill” Walker as the Regional Director of the BIA’s Southwest Regional Office in Albuquerque, N.M. His appointment became effective on December 20, 2009. The Southwest Regional Office oversees nine BIA agencies serving the 25 federally recognized tribes located in the states of New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas.

“I am pleased that Bill Walker has joined the ranks of Bureau of Indian Affairs senior regional executives,” Gidner said. “His years of experience working with BIA field staff, tribal governments, and other federal and state agencies make him a great addition to my team.”

Walker, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, had been serving as the Acting Regional Director in the Southwest Regional Office in since September 2008. He is currently on a 120-day detail as the Acting Deputy Bureau Director of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services in Washington, D.C. The BIA OJS is responsible for managing the Bureau’s law enforcement, detention facilities and tribal courts programs, either directly in tribal communities or by funding tribally administered programs through contract and grants.

Prior to this detail, he had served as the Deputy Regional Director-Trust Services of the BIA’s Western Regional Office in Phoenix, Ariz.

Walker began his BIA career as a soil conservationist for the Land Operations Branch of the Fort Apache Agency in Whiteriver, Ariz., in 1992 and was named to the position of Environmental Protection Specialist for the agency in 1994. Walker completed the Criminal Investigator Training Program in 1999 and handled the Archaeological Resource Protection Act cases, wild land arson and environmental crime cases on the Fort Apache Reservation as the Environmental Protection Specialist. He served in that capacity until May of 2000 when he moved to the Regional Environmental Scientist position in the Southwest Regional Office. There he served on the EPA-New Mexico State Environmental Crime Task Force for two years representing the BIA.

In 2004 Walker was selected to be the Superintendent of the BIA’s Mescalero Agency in Mescalero, N.M., which he held until he was selected for the Deputy Regional Director-Trust Services post. A year later, he moved back to the Southwest Regional Office as the Deputy Regional Director-Trust Services and was detailed as the acting regional director until his appointment.