News

The Department of the Interior today announced that an additional $10 million has been transferred to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund (the Fund), bringing the total amount contributed so far to nearly $30 million. Funded in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), and authorized by the Cobell Settlement, the Fund is designed to be a permanent endowment which provides financial assistance through scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary and graduate education and training.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior Michael Connor announced today that the Department has signed agreements with five additional tribal nations to implement the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), which facilitates the purchase of individual interests in fractionated trust lands and consolidates ownership for the tribe with jurisdiction. The tribal nations are the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians in California; the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Minnesota; the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Quinault Indian Nation in Washington; and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho.

As the White House Tribal Youth Gathering commences in Washington, the Department of the Interior today announced that an additional $2 million has been transferred to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund, bringing the total amount contributed so far to $19.5 million. The Scholarship Fund – funded in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program) and authorized by the Cobell Settlement – provides financial assistance through scholarships to American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing to pursue post-secondary and graduate education and training.

Interior Deputy Secretary Michael Connor announced today that the Department has signed a cooperative agreement with the Osage Nation to implement the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program). The Buy-Back Program facilitates the purchase of individual interests in fractionated trust lands and consolidates ownership for the tribe with jurisdiction.

Interior Deputy Secretary Michael Connor announced today that the Department has entered a cooperative agreement with the Navajo Nation to further implement the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program). The agreement outlines the strategy and resources to be provided to the tribe's leadership to facilitate education about the Buy-Back Program and reach out to owners with fractionated interests in reservation land that can be consolidated for the benefit of the tribal community.

The Department of the Interior today announced it has transferred more than $12 million to the Cobell Education Scholarship Fund, bringing the total amount transferred so far to $17 million. Authorized by the historic Cobell Settlement, and funded in part by the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (Buy-Back Program), 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.