A plan for the use of $7 million awarded to the Jicarilla Apache Indian Tribe by the Indian Claims Commission is being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.
The award represents payment for claims of the Jicarilla Apache Tribe against the United States for the general accounting of tribal funds and properties which the Federal Government controlled and managed since the last century.
According to the plan, approved by Congress and made effective July 8, 1975, all of the funds, after the deduction of legal expenses, will be used for programs benefitting the tribe as a whole.
Four million dollars will be utilized to establish a Jicarilla Tribal investment program. Other uses will be $235,000 for community development and improvements; $1,031,000 for capital development and investments; $1,000,000 for land acquisitions and $34,000 for contingency costs. Accrued interest and investment income will be added to these principal amounts.
The reservation is located in Rio Arriba and Sandoval Counties in New Mexico. Tribal headquarters are at Dulce, New Mexico.
