Arts & Entertainment
Budget includes money for DOI Indian museums


The Bush administration's fiscal year 2007 budget includes money for three Interior Department Indian museums.

The Indian Arts and Crafts Board's budget will actually be increased under the proposal. The request is for $1.16 million, up from $1.14 million.

The board has suggested closing the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, Montana; the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City, South Dakota; and the Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Officials say more money can be used to fight fake Indian arts and crafts.

Tribes and key members of Congress are opposing the idea.

Get the Story:
Federal budget includes another year for Museum of the Plains Indian (The Great Falls Tribune 2/9)

FY2007 Budget Request:
Bureau of Indian Affairs Budget | Departmental Offices [includes Office of Special Trustee]

FY2007 Budget Documents:
Fulfilling Trust Responsibilities | Serving Tribal Communities | Protecting Lives, Resources, and Property [includes Safety in Indian Country] | Budget in Brief | Interior Department [from the White House]

Relevant Links:
Indian Arts and Crafts Board - http://www.doi.gov/iacb

Related Stories:
Rehberg leads fight to save Indian museum funds (01/23)
Opinion: Saving Indian art by killing the museum (1/18)
Tribes want DOI to continue funding Sioux museum (1/10)
DOI museums set to close but tribes may benefit (1/6)
Jana McKeag: DOI to transfer three Indian museums (12/16)
Firm awarded contract to track fake Native arts (10/17)
Indian artists dealt setback by federal appeals court (03/03)
FTC investigates fake Alaska Native art (11/04)
Alaska Native art campaign a success (10/09)
Fake arts suits owe survival to strengthened law (3/28)
New arts act clears Congress (10/25)
Tribe works to protect art (10/10)
Fake arts still an issue (08/17)
Fighting forgeries in Indian Country (05/18)