News

As part of President Obama's commitment to help strengthen Native American communities, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced the latest step in the implementation of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), as the Department signed its next cooperative agreement, this time with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation located in northeastern South Dakota and in southeastern North Dakota.

The Department of the Interior today announced that quarterly transfers of funds to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund are set to begin this week with a first transfer of nearly $580,000 to the American Indian College Fund. The Scholarship Fund was authorized by the historic Cobell Settlement, approved in November 2012, to provide financial assistance through annual scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary education and training.

In another step to fulfill President Obama's commitment to strengthen Indian communities, the U.S. Department of the Interior today announced that the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program) has sent purchase offers to nearly 16,000 individual landowners with fractionated interests in parcels on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Totaling more than $100 million, these offers will provide landowners the opportunity to voluntarily sell their fractionated interests, which would be consolidated and held in trust for the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation.

As part of President Obama's commitment to help strengthen Native American communities, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn announced cooperative agreements with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) of the Flathead Reservation and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, both located in Montana, for continued collaborative implementation of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program) on their reservations. The Buy-Back Program will purchase trust or restricted interests from willing sellers and transfer those interests to the tribes in order to unlock lands for tribal development and other priorities.

As part of President Obama's commitment to help strengthen Native American communities, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn today announced cooperative agreements with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) of the Flathead Reservation and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, both located in Montana, for continued collaborative implementation of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program) on their reservations. The Buy-Back Program will purchase trust or restricted interests from willing sellers and transfer those interests to the tribes in order to unlock lands for tribal development and other priorities.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced her selection of Dr. Jean O'Brien, of the University of Minnesota, and Pamela Agoyo, of the University of New Mexico, to serve as the Secretary's appointees to the Board of Trustees for the Cobell Education scholarship fund. The five-member board will oversee the scholarship fund, which was authorized by the Cobell Settlement to provide financial assistance to Native American students wishing to pursue post-secondary education and training.

Last year, the Department of the Interior established the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations to implement important land consolidation requirements set forth in the historic Cobell Settlement Agreement. That agreement provided for a $1.9 billion fund to consolidate lands that have become fractionated, over time, across Indian Country. By establishing the Buy-Back Program, the Department made a commitment to work together – with tribes and individual Indian land owners alike– to address the negative impacts of land fractionation in Indian Country.

In a major step toward fully implementing the historic Cobell settlement, the Department of the Interior announced today that it has sent initial purchase offers to consolidate ownership of highly fractionated trust lands. Working closely with the Oglala Sioux leadership to facilitate the tribe's priorities, owners of fractionated land interests at the Pine Ridge Reservation are the first to receive purchase offers under the Department's Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations. Purchase offers to individuals with interests at the Makah Indian Reservation will also be sent this week. Additional sets of offers will be sent to owners of interests at both locations in the coming weeks. Purchasing interests at fair market value from willing sellers will ultimately further strengthen tribal sovereignty by supporting the consolidation of tribal lands.