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FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2002

The Department of Interior will hold at least four more consultation sessions on a proposal to create a new Indian trust agency, Assistant Secretary Neal McCaleb said on Thursday.

One has been scheduled on February 14 in Portland, Oregon, McCaleb said. Future sessions are planned for Billings, Montana, and Arizona, he added, but the dates have not yet been set.

McCaleb's announcement was welcomed by tribal leaders in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, yesterday as a means of getting more input into the creation of the Bureau of Indian Trust Assets Management. Approximately 40 tribal representatives, mostly from Oklahoma and Kansas but also from the Pacific Northwest and the Navajo Nation, attended the session, the third the Interior has held since announcing its plan in mid-November.

The Montana and Arizona meetings would occur in late February, said McCaleb. One would be held on the Navajo Reservation at request of Navajo leaders, he said.

Erwin Keeswood, one of six Navajo representatives who made the trip to Oklahoma, said the tribe wants to host a session in Window Rock.

The next meeting will be held in Rapid City, South Dakota, on January 10.

Today on Indianz.Com:
Little hope for trust fund payments (1/4)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://www.doi.gov/indiantrust
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com

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