News by Year

The Government has extended for another five years the trust restrictions on allotted Indian lands, scheduled to expire in calendar year 1962, the Department of the Interior reported today.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior John A. Carver, Jr., said the action underscores the Department's policy of taking all precautions against prematurely ending Federal trust protection of the property of individual Indians.

Selection of Hans Mork Jensen, a fish biologist with 13 years' experience in the Washington State Department of Fisheries, to fill the newly established position of fisheries management specialist in the Portland area office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Award of a $1,085,400 contract for the construction of new school facilities at Nenahnezad School on the Navajo Indian Reservation near Fruitland, New Mexico, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Facilities to be constructed include two 160-pupil dormitories, a kitchen-dining building, a multipurpose building, a storage and utility building, employees' quarters, and a 9-stall garage. In addition, the existing school building will be remodeled, the streets and parking areas paved, and all utility systems will be replaced or expanded.

The Navajo Indian Tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior are working closely together to meet all emergency needs resulting from the recent heavy snows and extremely cold weather on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash reported today.

Award of a $1,313,550 contract for the construction of complete new school facilities to accommodate 244 additional Indian pupils on the Navajo Reservation at Shonto, Arizona, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The new facilities will b, built at a site approximately 3/4 of a mile from an existing Indian Bureau school.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall reported. today that an agreement has been reached between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Harry Winston, Inc." of New York City, for the establishment early next year of a diamond processing plant at Chandler, Arizona, which will provide new job opportunities for the State's Indian population.

All title source documents and records pertaining to trust or restricted lands on 21 Indian reservations have now been transferred from Washington, D. C. , to area offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Aberdeen, S. Dak.; Billings, Mont. j Gallup, N. Mex.; and Portland, Oreg., the Department of the Interior announced today.

The transfer, Commissioner Philleo Nash emphasized, has involved only the land records formerly maintained in Washington and not those kept at the Bureau's agency offices.

Appointment of Robert L. Bennett, a veteran of nearly 25 years' service with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as Area Director for the Bureau at Juneau, Alaska, was reported today by the Department of the Interior.

An Oneida Indian and native of Wisconsin, Bennett has been serving as Assistant Area Director at the Bureau's area office at Aberdeen, South Dakota, since 1958. At Juneau he succeeds James E. Hawkins who has been Area Director there for the past five years and who will be given another assignment in the Bureau.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today that Paul Jones, Tribal Chairman of the Navajo Indians, has agreed to enter into negotiation looking toward the exchange of nearly 300,000 acres of tribal land surrounding Rainbow Bridge National Monument in Utah for public domain lands.

Secretary Udall said: “The acreage lying south and west of Navajo Mountain comprises one of the magnificent scenic areas outside the National Park System." Rainbow Bridge has long been the focal point of interest in this fantastically eroded red sandstone country.

Appointment of Lloyd New Kiva, Cherokee Indian artist and owner-manager of an Indian arts and crafts shop at Scottsdale, Ariz., as a member of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

A native of Fairland, Okla., Kiva was named to fill out the unexpired term of Willard W. Beatty, who died September 29 shortly after being elected chairman of the Board. The term expires July 6, 1964.

Award of a $868,653 contract for construction of school facilities to accommodate 188 Indian children not now in school at Dilcon, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation was reported today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for construction of a 7-classroom structure with a multipurpose room, a 128-pupil dormitory, a kitchen and dining room, employees' quarters, a bus garage, and a storage and utility building.

Promotion of Jose A. Zuni, an Indian career employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to the position of superintendent of the Consolidated Ute Agency, Ignacio, Colorado, was reported today by the Department of the Interior.

Appointment of Kenneth L. Payton as superintendent of the Mescalero Indian Agency, Mescalero, N. Mex., effective November 12 was reported today by the Department of the Interior.

He succeeds Hobart Johnson who transferred from Mescalero in September to be superintendent of the Indian Bureau's Intermountain School at Brigham, Utah.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today that from November 14 through 19 he will consult on outstanding Indian problems in Phoenix, Ariz., with five Indian leaders and eight prominent non-Indians interested in Indian affairs.

One of the consultants invited to the meeting is W. W. Keeler of Bartlesville, Okla., oil company executive and principal chief of Oklahoma's Cherokees, who served as chairman of Secretary Udall's Task Force on Indian Affairs earlier this year. The 12 other consultants are:

Barry DeRose, Globe, Ariz., attorney for Indian tribes;

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced the reappointment of Floyd E. Maytubby, Oklahoma City, as Governor of the Chickasaw Indian Tribe and the appointment of Waldo E McIntosh of Tulsa as Principal Chief of the Oklahoma Creek Indian Tribe.

Under a 1906 law the President was empowered to appoint a Principal Chief periodically for each of the so-called "Five Civilized Tribes" of Oklahoma-- Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Creek. In 1951 this appointing authority was delegated to the Secretary of the Interior.

Development of both human and natural resources on Indian reservations will be the prime objective for the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Kennedy Administration, Commissioner Philleo Nash told an audience in Denver, Colorado, Tuesday evening.

Visiting in Denver for a nationwide conference on Indian Bureau superintendents, the new Commissioner, woe entered on duty September 26, spoke on “The New Trail for American Indians” before a meeting of the Indian Visitors of the American Friends Service Committee.

Enrollment of American Indians for education beyond high school has more than doubled in the past six years and Indian tribes are now spending over half a million dollars annually from their own funds on scholarship aids for their young people, the Department of the Interior reported today.

In the 1954-55 academic year approximately 2,300 Indian boys and girls attended college or advanced vocational school. In the 1960-61 academic year, which ended last June, reports from the reservations indicate that the number was almost 4900, or more than twice as many as six years before.

The Department of the Interior today announced the appointment of E. Reeseman Fryer, Chantilly, Va., as Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in charge of resource programs.

A native of Mesa, Arizona, and career civil servant, Fryer formerly served with the Bureau from 1936 to 1942 and from 1948 to 1950. In his new post he will have nationwide supervision of the Bureau's realty, land operations, forestry and roads programs. He succeeds E. J. Utz who retired in August.

Award of a $2,988,988 contract for construction of a complete new Navajo Indian boarding school for 672 pupils at Crownpoint, New Mexico, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for the construction of a 23-clsssroom school with library and multipurpose room, four 168-pupil dormitories, a 672-pupil kitchen and dining room; 68 employees’ quarters, a storage and maintenance shop, a fire station, and the development of a complete utility system.

Appointment of Dr. James E. Officer of Tucson, Arizona, as Associate Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

Dr. Officer, who was instructor in sociology and anthropology and assistant director of the Bureau of Ethnic Research at the University of Arizona from 1955 to early 1961, served as a member of the task force which was appointed by the Secretary to survey the operations and programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The appointment of a new Commissioner provides a special opportunity to talk to you about the administration's policies with respect to American Indians. I have asked all of the Bureau's employees here in Washington to come to this meeting because I want you to know what these policies are. I have asked you because I know that almost everyone of you has some share in carrying out policies, or in applying the policies to particular cases or situations. Whatever you may be doing, even if you do not realize it at the moment, is sure to involve or affect policy.

Philleo Nash, former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, today took the oath of office as Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior auditorium. He succeeds Glenn L. Emmons who resigned effective January 20.

Nash, 51, has had a career in government service, private business and higher education.

Words are inadequate to express the pleasure with which I come to Lewiston to talk to my friends in the National Congress of American Indians.

I congratulate the Oglala Sioux Housing Authority and Mrs. McGuire, the Public Housing Commissioner, and Housing Administrator Robert Weaver, in working out this project to enable Federal assistance to be used for the decent housing of our Indian families as it has been used for so many others.

This is the first use of public housing aid to meet the needs of our Indians and it is long overdue. It expresses our determination to extend the benefits of Federal Housing aids to all Americans. And certainly these Indian families are the first who can claim their rights as Americans.

The Oglala Sioux of Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, will be the first Indian Tribe to develop low-rent public housing since the local- federal program began nearly 25 years ago, Public Housing Commissioner Marie C. McGuire announced today.

Interest expressed by this tribe in the early weeks of the Kennedy Administration will shortly lead to the signing of a preliminary loan contract with PHA and the Local Housing Authority established by the Indians.

Assignment of an Indian Bureau economic development officer to work with the Miccosukee Seminole Indians living along the Tamiami Trail in Florida on plans for improving their economic and social status was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

The man chosen for the assignment is Reginald C. Miller, a veteran of 23 years' service with the Bureau, who recently completed a survey of the Miccosukees' situation and prospects at Secretary Udall's request.

The unparalleled development of human end natural resources that has taken place on the Navajo Indian Reservation since the end of World War II is "only a prologue:" to the further development that must be accomplished over the coming decade, the Commissioner-designate of Indian Affairs, Philleo Nash, told a predominantly Navajo audience today.

Award of a $962,754 contract that will double the enrollment capacity of the Wide Ruins Boarding School on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Justifiable pride in the many historic accomplishments of Oklahoma Cherokee Indians must not be permitted to divert attention from the problems of present-day Cherokees struggling to make a livelihood on unproductive lands, Philleo Nash, Commissioner-designate of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior said today.

Dear Friends:

We are sending the attached Philatelic Release from the Post Office Department as an item which may be of interest to you. We understand that this is the first commemorative stamp to feature an Indian motif.

Black-and-white photographs of the stamp design may be obtained without charge by writing to Mr. J. F. Kelleher, Special Assistant to the Postmaster General, Washington 25, D. C.

M.M. Tozier

Information Officer

The Department of the Interior favors proposed legislation to provide that judgment funds on claims against the United States awarded to any of the constituent Indian tribes on the Colville Reservation in Washington shall be deposited in the United States Treasury to the credit of the confederated tribal group on the reservation, Assistant Secretary John A. Carver, Jr., announced today.

The final act ending federal supervision over Klamath Indian tribal property has been completed in Washington, D. C. with signing of the Klamath Termination Proclamation by the Acting Secretary of the Interior, James K. Carr.

Robert D. Holtz, director of the Portland area, Bureau of Indian Affairs, said today that Under Secretary Carr signed the proclamation on behalf of Secretary Stewart Udall who was away from the capital.

The proclamation is effective Sunday, August 13.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced plans for converting the 480-pupil Federal Indian boarding school at Santa Fe, New Mexico, into an Institute of American Indian Arts by the fall of 1962.

Planned to accommodate eventually as many as 500 students, the new Institute will provide a full high school course and two post-high school years. It will enroll youths of one-fourth or more Indian blood from all parts of the country who show special aptitudes in a wide variety of creative arts.

Prospects for full development of the mineral resources of the Papago Indian Reservation in southern Arizona are now better than ever, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall reported today.

A substantial reduction in interest rates charged on loans from the revolving fund of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, in line with recommendations of the Task Force on Indian Affairs for economic development on Indian reservations, was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

President Kennedy today nominated Philleo Nash, former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and simultaneously, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced appointment of John O. Crow, Cherokee Indian and 28-year veteran of the Indian Bureau, as Deputy Commissioner.

For the past six months Nash has been a member of the Indian Affairs Task Force, named by Secretary Udall, and has been a special assistant to Assistant Secretary John A. Carver, Jr., and Crow has been Acting Commissioner of the Bureau.

The Department of the Interior today announced the completion of property distribution plans on six additional Indian rancherias of California under terms of a 1958 law.

The rancherias involved are Alexander Valley (54 acres, 11 members) and Lytton (50 acres, 33 members) in Sonoma County, Chicken Ranch (40 acres, 16 members) in Tuolumne County, Mooretown (80 acres, 4 members) in Butte County, and Potter Valley (96 acres, 11 members) and Redwood Valley (80 acres, 27 members) in Mendocino County.

Appointment of George A. Boyce, superintendent of the 2,000-pupil Intermountain Indian boarding school at Brigham, Utah, to develop a new instruction program in Indian arts and crafts at Santa Fe, New Mexico, was announced today by the Department of the Interior. The appointment will be effective August 6.

Award of a $770,300 contract for the construction of a new elementary school for Indian students at Cherokee, North Carolina, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for the construction of a 24-classroom building with a multipurpose room, office, kitchen and library. It will have a total floor area of approximately 65,000 square feet.

The contract also includes grading and utility connections.

Promotion of Otto K, Weaver, an II-year veteran of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to superintendent of the Crow Agency in Montana, effective August 6, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

He succeeds Clyde W. Hobbs who was recently transferred as superintendent to the Wind River Agency, Fort Washakie, Wyoming.

In line with a recommendation recently made by his task Force on Indian Affairs, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L, Udall has proposed to Congress the enactment of legislation to establish an Advisory Board on Indian Affairs.

Thomas H. St. Clair, industrial development specialist with the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Portland, Oregon, has been appointed superintendent of the Papago Indian Agency, Sells, Ariz., the Department of the Interior announced today.

The new superintendent will take office July 23. He succeeds Harry W. Gilmore who has been in charge at Papago since 1955 and now moves into a position as program officer in the Indian Bureau's area office at Phoenix.

A "new trail" for Indians leading to equal citizenship, maximum self-sufficiency, and full participation in American life was endorsed today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

Secretary Udall endorsed the "new trail" approach in announcing the completion of a 77-page report by a Task Force on Indian Affairs which he appointed earlier in February.

"Preparing the new trail will require the collaboration of the Indians, State and local governments, and the American people," Secretary Udall said.

Appointment of Martin P. Mangan, Alexandria, Va., as Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in charge of legislative work was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

In his new post, Mangan will have prime responsibility for planning and coordinating the legislative program and legislative recommendations of the Bureau.

Mangan, 40, has been with the central office of the Bureau in Washington, D.C., since 1951, and is assuming the duties of H. Rex Lee, recently appointed as Governor of American Samoa.

Award of a $777,777 Bureau of Reclamation contract for the clearing of approximately 15,600 acres of land along the border of New Mexico and Colorado, to be inundated by the waters of Navajo Reservoir, was announced by the Department of the Interior today.

The contract went to Universal Grading Company, Incorporated, of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced he has instructed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to examine into the rights of approximately 35 Indian groups in western Washington who have complained to him about asserted encroachments.

He took note of tribal apprehensions generated by Congressional proposals in past years for the termination of Federal protection and services for Indians, and the transfer of criminal and civil jurisdiction over Indian land to State and local governments.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has awarded the first negotiated contract for the supplying of equipment which had been earmarked for an area of substantial labor surplus, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.

The contract is for three motor graders which will be used by the Bureau's Branch of Roads in the Aberdeen, South Dakota and Phoenix, Arizona areas. It was awarded to The Galion Iron Works and Mfg. Co., Galion, Ohio, for the sum of $36,033.

Award of a $59,405.54 contract for the clearing and leveling of 240 acres of land and the construction of the main lateral and waste way to serve these lands on the Hogback Project of the Navajo Reservation near Shiprock, New Mexico, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

This construction work will bring under irrigation two new farm units. When completed, the project works will serve an ultimate area of 11,500 acres of land benefiting 500 Navajo Indian families.

Appointment of Leonard O. Lay, relocation specialist of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Minneapolis, Minn., as superintendent of the Bureau's Turtle Mountain Agency at Belcourt, North Dakota, effective July 9, was announced today by the Department of the Interior. He succeeds Herman P. Mittelholtz who was recently named superintendent of the Minnesota Indian Agency, Bemidji, Minn.

Secretary of the Interior, Stewart L. Udall announced his support today of legislation that would make it possible to revive and strengthen the program of Federal loans to Indian tribes to help finance job-creating enterprises and greater development of human and natural resources on Indian reservations.

The Secretary's position was set forth in a favorable report on S. 1540, a bill that would remove the present $10 million legal limit on appropriations for the revolving loan fund of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

HHFA-OA-No. 61-240

(00 2-4433)

Housing Administrator Robert C. Weaver today announced approval of a loan of $166,600 to build a housing-for-the-elderly project in the middle of the 2,000,000-acre Pine Ridge Indian reservation in southwest South Dakota.

The project was initiated by leaders of the Oglala-Sioux Tribe of Indians most of whose 12,000 members live on the reservation.

Award of four contracts totaling $269,949.50 for surfacing work on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservation roads in South Dakota was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The Department of the Interior today announced the selection of Clyde W. Hobbs, superintendent of the Crow Indian Agency in Montana for the past four years, to head the Wind River Agency, Fort Washakie, Wyoming, effective June 4.

He succeeds Arthur N. Arnston who has been superintendent at Wind River since 1954 and is being assigned to complete the wind-up of Indian Bureau responsibilities on the Catawba Reservation in South Carolina as provided by a 1959 law.

The Department of the Interior today announced the selection of three new superintendents for Indian agencies in Minnesota, Montana and Washington.

At the Minnesota Agency in Bemidji, Herman P. Mittelholz, superintendent of the Turtle Mountain Agency in North Dakota since 1957, will succeed W. Wendell Palmer who retired May 13. No successor has been designated for Turtle Mountain.

Secretary of Agriculture Orville L, Freeman and Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced adoption of 8 study and recommendations made by the two Departments to bring timber sale practices by the two agencies into closer uniformity.

The Department of the Interior today announced the revocation of a provision in Federal regulations which for many years has limited the appearance of professional attorneys before courts of Indian offenses on Indian reservations.

Courts of Indian offenses are organized and staffed by Indian tribal groups under regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior. Fifteen such courts are now in operation.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced he has appointed H. Rex Lee, veteran career specialist on American Indians and dependent peoples, as Governor of American Samoa.

Secretary Udall also announced that Air Force Maj. Eric J. Scanlan, whose family has lived in American Samoa for three generations, is returning to his home islands to be Government Secretary. The post is similar to that of a lieutenant governor.

The Department of the Interior today announced award of a $693,122 contract for 16 miles of road construction on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona.

Upon completion, the project will provide an all-weather route from State primary road systems to Round Rock and Lukachukai which will serve the needs of the communities in the Chinle Valley area of the reservation.

The successful bidder was Daniels Construction Company of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Six other bids were submitted, ranging to a high of $1,057,960.20.

Award of five contracts totaling $878,597 for road and bridge construction on three Indian reservations in South Dakota was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contracts are for road and bridge construction work on the Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations.

Award of a $69,451.06 contract for construction of additional irrigation works that will bring water to about 750 acres now unirrigated on the Pine River Project of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Colorado was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Transfer of Charles S. Spencer, superintendent of the Flathead Indian Agency in Montana, to head the Fort Hall Agency in Idaho, effective May 15, 1961 was announced today by the Department of the Interior. He replaces Frell M. Owl who has been superintendent at Fort Hall since 1954 and is now joining the branch of tribal programs in the Bureau's central office at Washington, D. C.

A successor to Spencer at the Flathead Agency has not yet been selected.

The Department of the Interior today announced the selection of Robert D. Holtz, Indian Bureau area director at Minneapolis since 1955, to head the Bureau's area office at Portland, Oregon, effective May 1. He replaces Don C. Foster who retires April 14 after 26 years with the Bureau and seven years as area director at Portland.

In his new post Holtz will supervise all Indian Bureau operations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. His successor at Minneapolis has not yet been named.

The Department of the Interior today announced the award of a $976,677.84 contract for construction of 18 miles of roadway on Navajo Route 1, starting approximately 38 miles west of Shiprock, New Mexico, and running westerly to Walker Creek, Arizona.

The Department of the Interior today announced completion of plans developed by Indians on seven rancherias in California for distributing group property among themselves and taking it out of Federal trust supervision, under a 1958 law. The Indians accepted the plans at referendums at each rancheria.

Award of a $1,138,400 contract for the construction of two 300-pupil dormitories on the campus of the Flandreau Indian School, Flandreau, South Dakota, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Each of the dormitories will be two stories high and will be constructed of insulated brick and concrete block masonry. Each will have an insulated built-up roof, reinforced concrete beams, floors and roof deck, and aluminum windows. The two together will have a total gross floor area of approximately 97,000 square feet.

The Department of the Interior today announced its opposition to legislation now pending in Congress (S. 381) which would provide for Federal subsidies to States to finance the costs of law enforcement on Indian reservations.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall stated today that the revised budget estimate for fiscal year 1962 which President Kennedy submitted to the Congress is a great step forward in the Administration's programs in conserving and developing our Nation's natural and human resources.

"The request for additional appropriation of $40,668,000 over the amount submitted by the previous administration", he said, “will launch a vigorous resources program.”

Award of a $139,235 contract for the improvement of utility systems at Haskell Indian Institute, Lawrence, Kansas, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract provides for the replacement, enlargement and extension of the water, sewer and steam distribution systems. These improvements are necessary not only for adequate service to existing buildings but to provide service to the new school building and two new dormitories being constructed under another contract.

The Department of the Interior today announced the establishment of a fishing tackle assembly plant that will provide immediate employment for about 120 Indian workers on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

The new plant, located in the town of Fine Ridge, represents an expansion of the assembly operations of the Wright and McGill Company, Denver, Colorado, one of the largest manufacturers of fishing tackle in the United States.

The Department of the Interior today announced the results of a recent sale of oil and gas leases on the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, New Mexico, that brought in high bids totaling over $2,400,000. It was the first public sale of such leases on Navajo tribal lands since 1959.

After considering bonus bids submitted on 36 tracts comprising 66,623 acres, the tribal organization decided within the past few days to accept offerings that totaled $2,395,147.97 on 32 of the tracts with a combined area of 57,063 acres.

Award of a $288,588 contract for enlargement and improvement of Federal Indian school facilities at Tuba City, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract provides for construction of a new six-classroom building and 10 two-bedroom houses as well 8S for rehabilitation of an existing dining room kitchen structure.

The Department of the Interior today announced a change in the schedule of meetings to be held in March and April by the five-man task force on Indian affairs at key western points.

The locale of the March 24 and 25 meetings has been shifted from Prescott, Ariz., to Phoenix. Otherwise the schedule remain3 as announced in the Department's press release of March 10.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today expressed gratification over the selection of Mrs. Clara B. Gonzales, a school principal on the Zuni Indian Reservation in New Mexico, as one of the recipients of Seventh Annual Career Service Awards which are being presented by the National Civil Service League at a Washington banquet ceremony on March 21.

A legal brief strongly supporting Navajo Indian voting rights was filed March 10 by Secretary Stewart L. Udall in the New Mexico election contest between Joseph A. Montoya and seated Lt. Governor Tom Bolack, the Department of the Interior announced today.

Secretary Udall’s brief relied heavily upon the words of his late father, Chief Justice Levi S. Udall of the Arizona Supreme Court, whose 1948 decision confirmed the Indians' right to vote in that State.

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 Bureau of Indian Affairs has already assigned staff to prepare plans that will provide 5,000 additional school seats for Indian and Eskimo pupils and correct unsafe and obsolete Federal Indian school facilities in line with yesterday’s mandate from President Kennedy, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.

Swift action was possible, Secretary Udall added, because the Bureau has for some time been formulating long-range plans for expanding and modernizing its nationwide school system for Indian youngsters.

The Department of the Interior today invited the submission of proposals for leasing and development of three separate parcels of undeveloped Indian land comprising nearly 13,000 acres with a frontage of about 10 miles along the Colorado River in the States of Arizona, California and Nevada.

Upon notice that an order had been entered granting leave to appear in a New Mexico court action involving Navajo Indian voting rights, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today designated Max N. Edwards, Assistant to the Secretary and Legislative Counsel, to represent him at a hearing in the Bernalillo County District Court at Albuquerque, N. Mex., on March 14 in a suit brought there last December 23 by Joseph A. Montoya, defeated Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in last November1s general election.

An increase in the "standard" royalty rate for oil and gas leases on Indian lands from 12.5 to 16-2/3 percent was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced an agreement between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Radio Corporation of America which will provide young natives of Alaska and American Indians with broad opportunities for electronics training and for jobs in the worldwide RCA communications and defense warning systems.

The agreement, Secretary Udall said, not only opens new doors of economic advancement to Indians and Alaska natives but also will assist the defense of the United States.

The Department of the Interior today announced award of a $963,560 contract for construction of 8.1-miles of roadway on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona from Marsh Pass, approximately 58 miles northeast of Tuba City, running northeasterly towards Kayenta.

This section of road is part of Navajo Route 1, which was authorized by the Anderson-Udall legislation of 1959.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today the appointment by President Kennedy of John O. Crow, a Cherokee Indian and 28-year veteran employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as Acting Commissioner of the Bureau and a member of a newly constituted expert group, charged with recommending plans for reorganizing the Bureau, and development of improved policies and programs.

The Department of the Interior announced today approval of a final membership roll of 631 persons who will be entitled to share in division of the assets of the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina that have been held in Federal trusteeship.

Award of a $34,193 contract for improvement to the water supply system at Shiprock, New Mexico, on the Navajo Indian Reservation was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract provides for approximately 2,000 feet of water main, and for the construction of a water treatment plant with a capacity of 750,000 gallons per day. This work is the second phase of a project to provide adequate water supply at Shiprock for a recently completed Indian hospital, a 1,000-pupil Indian boarding school and a sub-agency headquarters of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

High bonus bids totaling nearly one and a third million dollars for oil and gas leases on Indian-owned lands of the Fort Peck Reservation in northeastern Montana were announced today by the Department of the Interior.

At an opening of bids on January 17 at Poplar, Mont., offers were received for leases on 149 tracts covering approximately 32,500 acres. For 97 tracts comprising 24,046 acres owned by individual tribal members the high bonus bids totaled $943,771. For 52 tracts of tribally owned land with a combined area of 8,458 acres, the high bonus offerings added up to $375,310.

The first leasing of California Indian-owned land for oil and gas development in about a decade was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

On January 18, bids were opened at the Sacramento area office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the oil 8nd gas leasing of two tracts of tribally owned land which comprise the entire acreage of the Colusa Indian Reservation in Colusa County. One tract is 214.5 acres, the other 54.53 acres.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced he has instructed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to take every possible action to assure that needy Indians benefit from the expanded distribution of surplus food ordered January 21 by President Kennedy.

The Secretary pointed out that the program is aimed at helping all underprivileged Americans, and stressed that a number of Indian reservations are among the hardest-hit economic areas of the Nation.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today the appointment of W. W. Keeler, Bartlesville, Okla., as consultant on planning policy and reorganization of functions of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Mr. Keeler, executive vice president of the Phillips Petroleum Company and principal chief of the Cherokee Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, has agreed to serve without compensation for a period of 90 days starting February 5.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior George W. Abbott today announced approval of a public land order restoring to tribal ownership about 1,161 acres of scattered tracts on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.

The lands being restored were ceded to the United States by the Indians many years ago and were opened to settlement and entry under the homestead laws in 1911. These particular tracts, however, have not been sold or disposed of over the 50-year period.