SALT RIVER SPONSORS TRADE FAIR -- The first National All-Indian Trade Fair sponsored by the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indians will be held May 4-7 on the Salt River Reservation near Scottsdale, Ariz.
More than 40 Indian tribes have been invited to participate in the program, which will feature products of nationally-known industrial firms employing Indian workers.
Special events will include: "An Evening of Indian Culture)" presented by the Institute of American Indian Arts of Santa Fe, N. M.; a two-day all-Indian Championship Rodeo; a barbecue; and a sky-diving show by a U.S. Army team from Yuma, Ariz.
SIXTY-FOUR NEW PROJECTS TO BENEFIT INDIAN SCHOOLS -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Office of Education have approved more than $4.7 million for a total of 64 projects to benefit Indian children in schools operated by the Bureau. The projects are made possible under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-10) which was amended by the 89th Congress to include educationally deprived Indian children.
Sixty-one of the projects will aid Indian and Eskimo children in Alaska; Arizona; California; Florida; Iowa; Mississippi; Montana; Nevada; New Mexico; North Carolina; North Dakota; Oklahoma; Oregon; South Dakota and Utah.
The remaining three projects are designed to provide planning and consultative services and to evaluate and disseminate information about all Title I projects carried on by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
UNITED SCHOLARSHIP SERVICE GETS CARNEGIE GRANT -- United Scholarship Service, Inc. (USS) of Denver, Colo., has been awarded a grant by the Carnegie Corporation of $50,000 a year for the next three years to expand a program of graduate school aid for Indians.
A national voluntary agency directly concerned with educational needs of Indian and Mexican youths, USS was formed in 1960. It is sponsored by the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church and, since 1966, by the National Indian Youth Council.
Its graduate school assistance hitherto has been limited to the fields of medicine and law, but will extend to all professions under the Carnegie grant.
BIA CONTRACTS FOR ON-THE-JOB TRAINING -- Recent contracts signed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs with manufacturers will provide job training opportunities for Indians in Florida, New Mexico and Washington.
An $18,844 contract with White Swan Industries, Inc., of South El Monte, Calif., will provide on-the-job training for 50 Washington Yakimas in the furniture industry.
A $13,972 contract with Holiday Garment Co. of Tacoma, Wash., will make available on-the-job training in the garment industry for 61 Yakima Indians at Toppenish, Wash.
An $8,400 contract signed with Amphenol Corp., which recently opened a new plant on the Hollywood Reservation in Florida, will provide training in electronic industry jobs for 75 Seminole Indians.
An $8,260 contract signed with Aspen Wood Products Corp. of Algodones, N. M., will enable 20 Indians, mainly Pueblos, to receive on-the-job training in the hardwood core manufacturing industry.
LONG-TERM LEASING PROPOSED FOR GILA RIVER -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs has recommended passage of H.R. 2154, a measure now before Congress which would permit long-term leasing of Gila River Indian Reservation lands in Arizona. The Reservation is in the greater Phoenix, Ariz., area and has potential for industrial, commercial, recreational and residential development. Under present law, however, no leases can run more than 50 years. The measure under consideration by Congress would permit leases for terms not to exceed 99 years, including any renewal options. Hearings on the proposal began in April.
INDIAN CLAIMS COMMISSION EXTENDED -- President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law April 10 a measure (Public Law 90-9) which extends the life of the Indian Claims Commission for another five years -- until April 10, 1972. The Commission was scheduled to expire April 10, 1967 under the 1946 Act which created it. The new law calls for increasing membership of the Commission from three to five members. It also provides for a trial calendar and limits the time for continuance of cases to expedite the work of the Commission. More than 850 Indian claims against the United States have been placed before the Commission, and 347 are pending.
INDIAN CLAIMS -- The Indian Claims Commission issued three Interlocutory orders in Docket No. 279-A on March 31. It found that:
- The Blackfeet and Gros Ventre Tribes are entitled to recover the gross sum of $11,125,606 for 13,907,000 acres of land in Montana, ceded under the Act of May 1, 1888.
- The Assiniboine Tribes residing on the Fort Belknap and Fort Peck Reservations in Montana are entitled to recover the gross sum of $3,108,506 for 3,885,633 acres, their share of a larger tract in Montana ceded under the May 1, 1888 Act.
- The Sioux Tribe of Montana's Fort Peck Reservation is entitled to recover the gross sum of $2,364,216 for 2,955,271 acres, its share of a larger tract in Montana ceded under the May 1, 1888 Act.
All three awards are subject to deductions of the amounts already paid for the land and of allowable offsets.
The Indian Claims Commission also approved a proposed compromise settlement of claims in Docket No. 125 on March 30 and granted an award of $136,165 to the Snohomish Tribe of Washington. The award represents additional payment for 164,265 acres of land ceded by the tribe under a treaty of January, 1855.
BILL TO PAY CHEHALIS JUDGMENT -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs has recommended passage of a bill (H.R. 678) before Congress to pay $754,380 in judgment funds, appropriated by Act of June, 1964, to the Upper and Lower Chehalis Indians of Washington. The award represents a compromise settlement of an Indian claim for compensation for lands in Washington acquired by the United States in March, 1855 without Chehalis consent and without compensation.
The proposed bill provides for a per capita payment to the widely scattered descendants of the original land owners.
