The five-man task force now studying the organization and programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs will hold a series of meetings with Indian tribal representatives at seven key points throughout the western half of the country starting March 20, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.
The meetings will be held at Oklahoma City on March 20 and 21; at Albuquerque, N. Mex., on March 22 and 23; at Prescott, Ariz., on March 24 and 25; at Pierre, S. Dak., on March 27 and 28; at Duluth, Minn., on March 29 and 30; at Spokane, Wash., on April 10 and 11; and at Reno, Nev., on April 13 and lit.
Indian tribal representatives in the regions around each of these cities are being invited by Secretary Udall to take part in the sessions.
The task force was appointed by Secretary Udall in early February and has been meeting continuously over the past several weeks in Washington, D. C. The chairman is W. W. Keeler, executive vice president of Phillips Petroleum Co. Other members are Philleo Nash, former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin; James Officer, Arizona anthropologist; William Zimmerman, Jr., former Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs; and John O. Crow, present Acting Commissioner of the Indian Bureau.
The task force has been charged with recommending plans for reorganizing the Bureau and for improving its policies and programs.
