Interior Assistant Secretary Ross Swimmer announced today the appointment of three top officials for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
Named to direct the principal program offices of the Bureau are Henrietta Whiteman, a Cheyenne Indian on the faculty of the University of Montana, to be director of Indian education programs; Frank Ryan, a member of the Gros Ventre Tribe who was executive director of the President's Commission on Indian Reservation Economies, to be director of trust responsibilities, and Hazel Elbert, a Creek Indian who served as the acting head of the BIA prior to Swimmer's appointment, to be director of Indian services. Swimmer, who became assistant secretary for Indian affairs December 5, said he was pleased "to begin to get his management team on board. They are highly qualified, very competent people who share my determination to make the BIA a more effective agency in helping Indian tribes achieve self-sufficiency and self-government."
As director of Indian education programs for the Bureau, Whiteman is in charge of a federal Indian school system that includes 57 day schools; 46 on reservation boarding schools; seven off-reservation boarding high schools; 13 dormitory facilities for Indian students attending public schools; and three post-secondary schools -- a junior college, a fine arts institute and a technical training institute. She also has oversight responsibility for 58 schools operated by tribes under contracts with the BIA. The FY 1986 budget for Indian education programs is $269 million. Whiteman, who is a full professor and director of Native American Studies at the University of Montana, has accepted her appointment for two years under an Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement with the university. A native of Oklahoma, Whiteman has been on the Montana faculty since 1972. She was a visiting lecturer in the graduate school of education at Harvard in 1977. She has talked and taught about Indian education at various universities and be ore many education groups. She has published numerous articles in both professional and popular publications,
Whiteman, 51, graduated with a B.A. from the Southwestern Oklahoma State University, earned an M.A. in English from Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of New Mexico. She began her education career in 1955 as a seventh grade teacher, in 1982, she was named Cheyenne Indian of the Year for her achievements in education. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Indian Education Association.
Frank Ryan, in the Office of Trust Responsibilities, will work with the tribes in the development of their natural resources. He will be responsible for tribal rights protection and will function as trustee for more than 53 million acres of land held in trust by the United States for Indian tribes and individuals. The FY 1986 budget for these functions is $185 million. Since 1981, Ryan has been a member of the Department of Education's Senior Executive Service as director of the Indian education program, director of the organizational performance service and personnel resources management service. He served for approximately one year on loan to the Executive Office of the President to work with the President's Commission on Indian Reservation Economies. Born on the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana in 1948, Ryan graduated from Yale in 1971. While an undergraduate, he received a Carnegie Foundation grant to study economics in Japan and to work for a Japanese company. In 1970 he received a National Science Foundation grant to return to Japan where he studied paternalism in Japanese industry. Ryan graduated from the Harvard Law School in 1977, received a faculty appointment there and remained at Harvard until 1981. He did research, taught and did some consulting in the area of Indian rights protection and development. In the early 1970's he worked with the Fort Belknap Tribal Management team, spent some time in the office of the Montana Governor as an economic development specialist, and worked with a business management firm in Chicago.
The Office of Indian Services, which will be directed by Ra2el Elbert, includes social service programs, law enforcement, housing, economic development and employment programs and a number of other reservation governmental programs. 'The annual budget in FY 1986 is $328 million. Elbert has been the acting director of the office since June 1985, after serving as the deputy director of Indian services since July 1981. A 1957 graduate of the Haskell Indian Junior College, the Oklahoma native began her government career in Washington, D.C. as a clerk-stenographer and has worked through a series of increasingly responsible jobs. During 1957-67, Elbert worked with the Indian Health Service in the old Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1967, serving eight years as a legislative specialist. In 1975, Elbert began a four-year stint as the legislative assistant for Senator Dewey Bartlett of Oklahoma. In May 1979, she returned to the Bureau as a staff assistant to Forrest Gerard, Interior's first assistant secretary for Indian affairs.
DOI
INDIAN NEWS NOTES
A Publication of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Public Information Staff 202/343-7445
Interior Royalty Management Committee Includes Indian Representatives:
Interior Secretary Donald Hodel met January 10 in Denver with his recently appointed Royalty Management Advisory Committee. The 31-member committee includes seven Indian representatives. Hodel said the committee would "assure active and knowledgeable external oversight and continuing involvement in decision-making." It was selected from nominees submitted by state governors, Indian tribes, industry associations and other interested parties. Indian representatives include: Lester Chapoose, chairman, Uintah and Ouray Tribal Council; Louis Denetsosie, deputy attorney general, Navajo Nation; Judy Knight, vice chairman, Ute Mountain Tribal Council; Wes Martel, councilman, Shoshone Business Council; Ben Mathies, CPA/consultant to the Southern Ute Tribe; Thurman Velarde, administrator, Oil and Gas Administration, Jicarilla Apache Tribe; and Pressley Ware, chairman, Oklahoma Indian Mineral Association.
Indian People Share in Observance of Dr. King's National Holiday:
Indian people throughout the United States participated in the tribute paid to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this year, when his birthday -- like that of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln -- was celebrated as a national holiday. An editorial in the Navajo Times Today wrote of Dr. King's dream: "The United States has come a long way towards Dr. King's dream. Sure there is still hatred and still evil. But look at how much more good there is today than there was when Dr. King was marching for a better society. More kids, kids from every race, are educated and taking their rightful place in society. Society still has a long way to go. But it's important to keep sight of the dream. And, more important, when the dream is important enough, it's time for those who really believe to begin giving. The process of giving, of sharing and of choosing to die for a belief, is what make the human being human." In Washington, D. C, Indian Affairs Assistant Secretary Ross Swimmer told an Interior Department audience that the nation "owes a great debt to Dr. King. We need to make the principles he exemplified and taught a part of our lives. 11 Swimmer said "not being part of the problem as an active racist is not enough. 11 He added that the passive acceptance of racism and racist attitudes was a major cause of the continuing problems we .still have today.
Report on Indian Tribes of Washington Published by Seattle Times:
A lengthy report on the Indians of the State of Washington was published by the Seattle Times in December. The six-part series has been re-issued as a twenty-six page special section available by mail for $1.25 from the _Seattle Times, P.O. Box 1926, Seattle, Washington 98111. Reporter Bill Dietrich, who did the report, worked for more than a year researching and writing the articles. He visited most of the state's 26 reservations. Photographer Alan Berner visited nine of the tribes over a period of several months. 'The report includes statistical information, historical background and information on the problems and progress of the state's Indians. 'The report also gives considerable attention to the conflicts in the state between the Indians and anti-treaty rights organizations. 'The following is from the introductory article: "Washington is in the midst of an Indian renaissance. Thanks to legal decisions, a switch in federal policy and a new generation of sophisticated Indian leaders, there has been more change in the state's tribes in the past ten years than in the previous 10?,. Washington has also become the nation's leading state for Native American political activism, courtroom battles, congressional Indian legislation and an anti-Indian backlash. For today's Indian ' such positive and negative currents circle each other in a dizzying whirlpool. Also swirling are the old debates -- assimilation versus cultural survival, equal rights versus treaty rights, redneck racism versus bleeding-heart guilt, independence versus welfare."
New Mexico County Required to Change Voting Precincts for Indians:
The Justice Department recently ordered McKinley County, New Mexico to increase the number of voting precincts in Indian areas and reassign voters to their proper precincts. Justice officials said the county had violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by locating voting precincts and assigning voters to precincts so that Indians are required to travel great distances to vote. Officials also said many Indians are assigned to vote in precincts that do not follow the geographic terrain or respect Indian living patterns. County officials said the non-compliance with the Voting Rights Act was not done on purpose. The order requires the county to increase the number of voting precincts in rural areas from 19 to 23 and to create two polling places in two of the precincts. It also requires the county to reassign voters to their proper precincts. The county is required to make information about the changes available to the public written in English, Spanish and Navajo.
Supreme Court Agrees to Rule on Indian Land Consolidation Act:
The United States Supreme Court agreed December 13 to rule on the constitutionality of a 1983 amendment to the Indian Land Consolidation Act that required highly fractionated interests in reservation lands to revert to the tribe upon the owner's death. The amendment was passed to eliminate the administrative problems when a small parcel of trust land was held for as many as 100 heirs of the original owner. The amendment required that an undivided interest of no more than two percent in land that earned less than $100 the preceding year would revert to the tribe after the owner's death. The amendment was challenged in court by some potential heirs of land on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. The district court ruled the law was constitutional, but the circuit court of appeals held the law unconstitutional because it allowed tribes to reclaim land without compensating the estate of the deceased person,
Indian Woman Is Elected Mayor in Montana City:
Julene Kennerly, an Indian woman from Montana, was featured in the January 16 issue of USA Today as the first female, Indian mayor of a U.S. city. Kennerly, 45, wife of the late state Representative Leo Kennerly Jr., was elected to the non-paid position last fall. Her goal as mayor is to revive the Blackfeet Indian reservation city of Browning. Kennerly said of her new position, "I really want to restore the pride within Browning and the dignity that we all deserve."
Indian Business Woman Is Honored By President Reagan:
Peggy Shreves, A Chickasaw Indian woman from Oklahoma, was honored by President Reagan at a White House ceremony as "Female Entrepreneur of the Year" for 1985. Her accomplishments are featured in the January/February issue of the magazine Minorities and Women in Business. Shreves is president and founder of Frontier Engineering, Inc. (FEI), a computer products plant located in Norman, Oklahoma. Shreves and her husband left their positions at Oklahoma State University to gamble on their abilities as entrepreneurs. In just four short years their sales rose from $24,000 in 1981 to more than $5 million in 1985. Shreves said that the genetic engineering equipment FEI is working on has the potential for finding a cure for cancer. She also said FEI engineers designed equipment for the Federal Aviation Administration, which is expected to help reduce the potential for airline crashes. Shreves said credit for her success goes to the assistance she received from Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity (OIO), a Oklahoma based organization that provides business development assistance to Indian-owned firms, and the Small Business Administration for helping to smooth out some early problems. Shreves was named the "Indian Business Persons of the Year" by 010 in 1984 and won a similar honor from the Dallas Regional Office of the Minority Business Development Agency.
Ceremonies Celebrate Translation into Navajo of Complete Bible:
Dedication ceremonies were held December 19 on the Navajo Reservation for a new translation into Navajo of the complete Bible. A group called the Navajo Bible Translators had been working on the project for more than 40 years, a translation of the New Testament was completed and published in 1955. This New Testament translation underwent major revisions while work was completed on the Old Testament. According to Mrs. Geronimo Martin, whose husband was one of the first Navajos to join the translators, the only other complete Bible published in an Indian language is in Chol, a Mexican Indian dialect. The New York Times, reporting on the event, said the translators had "to struggle to convert the English of the King James into the language of the country’s largest tribe, and they kept a keen eye out for cultural pitfalls." One of the translators, Faith Hill, said, "The easiest parts were anything about sheep and lambs. Navajo people know everything about sheep."
