News

Deputy Secretary Michael L. Connor announced today that the Interior Department has signed agreements with three tribes – the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington, the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, and the Pala Band of Mission Indians in California – to guide implementation of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program).

The U.S. Department of the Interior today announced that this quarter’s transfer of nearly $500,000 to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund (Scholarship Fund) brings the total amount contributed so far close to $40 million. The Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance through scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary and graduate education and training.

As momentum continues with the success of Interior Department’s Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), Deputy Secretary Michael L. Connor announced today that the Department has signed agreements with three additional tribes to guide implementation – the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin; the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska; and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation in Washington state.

Following extensive outreach with tribal leaders and American Indian landowners, Interior Deputy Secretary Michael L. Connor today announced an expanded schedule for implementing the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Program) at 63 additional locations from 2018 through mid-2021.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today traveled to the Blackfeet Nation in Browning, Montana with U.S. Senator Jon Tester for a signing ceremony commemorating a new agreement with the Blackfeet Nation to implement the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program).