News by Year

An application for 160 acres of grazing land near Craig, Colo., filed by Kiowa Indian Amos A. Hopkins-Dukes, has been rejected by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall on the grounds that the land cannot qualify for allotment under an 1887 act providing l60-acre allotments for Indians.

The Department of the Interior has asked Congress for legislation that would make Indian tribes eligible to receive planning help under the Urban Planning Assistance Program of the Housing and Home Finance Agency.

The program is administered under Section 701 of the Housing Act of 1954 which authorizes grants to State planning agencies for the provision of planning assistance to smaller cities, counties and other local units of government.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart Lo Udall and Vernon Smith, Council President for the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community near Scottsdale, Arizona, discussed the industrial development potential of the 46,000-acre reservation on November 20.

Mr. Udall promised his support for a proposal to construct a million dollar electronic plant on the reservation. Area Redevelopment Administration financial support for the Dickson Electronic Corporation project is also being sought, Mr. Smith said. Employment for more than 200 Indians is forecast.

Promotion of Alfred Dubray, a career employee of the Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1938, to the position of superintendent of the Winnebago Agency, Winnebago, Nebraska, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall has approved an order extending until January 1, 1969, the period of trust on Indian lands, both tribal and individually owned, in cases where the trusteeship or restrictions would otherwise expire in the years from 1964 through 1968.

A number of outstanding events in the field of Indian Affairs occurred in the 1963 fiscal year as the Bureau of Indian Affairs continued its emphasis of greater development of human and natural resources on Indian reservations in line with policies recommended by the 1961 Task Force on Indian Affairs, the Department of the Interior reported today.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced approval of 35 Accelerated Public Works projects in 18 States and the Virgin Islands totaling $1,988,000 and simultaneously reported that these allotments have committed the total of APW funds for all Federal projects by the Department of the Interior.

Canadian administrators of Indian affairs will be guests of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs at a three-day joint meeting starting October 7 in Phoenix, Ariz., the Department of the Interior announced today.

The conference is an outgrowth of a visit made to the University of Toronto last December by United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash. Its major purpose is to provide for an interchange of information between the administrators of Indian affairs in the two countries on a wide array of topics of mutual interest.

The Department of the Interior today announced adoption of regulations providing for the government of three Indian villages in Osage County, Oklahoma, which in the past have not had an effective form of local government.

The Department of the Interior today released $1,871,000 in Accelerated Public Works funds to stimulate employment through 28 projects. The allocation increases funds already approved for 14 of the projects. The new allocation will be invested in 12 States on a variety of forestry improvements. Most of the work will begin within 30 days, the Department said.

Approximately 2,100 man-months of on-site employment will be created by the newly approved projects. An equivalent amount is expected to be generated elsewhere in supplying materials and equipment.

Reappointment of Waldo E. McIntosh, Tulsa, Okla., as principal chief of the Creek Indian Tribe of Oklahoma for a two-year term starting October 6, 1963, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

A former lumber dealer and descendant of a long line of prominent Creek leaders, Mr. McIntosh has been principal chief the past two years. His reappointment was recommended by a recent unanimous vote of the Creek Indian Council.

Transfer of Llewellyn Kingsley, superintendent of the Winnebago Indian Agency in Nebraska for the past three years, to the comparable position at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, effective September 15, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

At Pine Ridge, Kingsley replaces Leslie P. Towle, who was recently appointed area director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Anadarko, Oklahoma successor at the Winnebago Agency has not yet been selected.

Approval of $1,852,000 in additional Accelerated Public Works projects was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall. The funds will be invested in a wide range of forest conservation activities in 19 States. Most of the work is scheduled to begin within 30 days.

Secretary Udall said the projects will provide approximately 4,200 man months of on-site employment and generate additional jobs by creating a demand for goods and services.

The Department of the Interior has asked Congress for legislation declaring the Colorado River Indian Reservation, which lies mainly in Arizona and partly in California, to be the property of the Mohave and Chemehuevi Indians now occupying the reservation.

Enactment of a bill proposed by the Department would settle a long-standing controversy which has seriously retarded effective development of the 1,300,000- acre reservation, the Department said.

Appointment of John H. Artichoker, former director of Indian education for the state of South Dakota, as superintendent of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Agency, Lame Deer, Mont., effective September 8, 1963, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Ten young men from Alaska--five Indians and five Eskimos--will soon move into technical jobs in the space exploration program as a result of training received under auspices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of the Interior reported today.

The Department of the Interior has asked Congress for legislation to authorize disposition of funds arising from a $567,000 judgment in favor of the Snake or Paiute Indians (in this case, the names are synonymous) of the former Malheur Reservation in Oregon.

A study of ways to enhance the tourist attractiveness of the tribally owned and operated Hot Springs Enterprise at Hot Springs, Mont., on the Flathead Indian Reservation, is being undertaken by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research of Montana State University, the Department of the Interior has announced.

Purpose of the study is to accumulate market data which will enable the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation to participate are fully in the growing tourist business of the Northwest.

Transfer of Will J. Pitner, area director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Anadarko, Okla., for the past nine years, to the national office of the Bureau at Washington, D. C., and appointment of Leslie P. Towle, superintendent of the Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota, to succeed him, were announced today by the Department of the Interior.

On August 18, Pitner will become chief of the branch of land operations, Succeeding Evan L. Flory, who recently retired. Towle's transfer will be effective August 26. His successor at Pine Ridge has not yet been named.

Mr. Toastmaster, ladies and gentlemen:

It gives me great pleasure to come back to Oregon as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. This is the State where I began professional interest in the American Indian almost 30 years ago. I was a graduate student in anthropology at that time and did field work on the Klamath Reservation in the summer of 1934 and through the fall, winter and spring of 1935 and 1936. The learning process is still going on--seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Mr. Toastmaster, ladies and gentlemen:

It gives me great pleasure to come back to Oregon as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. This is the State where I began my professional interest in- the American Indian almost JO years ago. I was a graduate student in anthropology at that time and did my field work on the Klamath Reservation in the summer of 1934 and through the fall, winter and spring of 1935 and 19J6. The learning process is still going on--seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Award of a $5,597,900 contract for construction of a high school plant to accommodate 1,200 Navajo Indian students at Fort Wingate, N. Mex., was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

It will be the first high school of the Bureau of Indian Affairs located in the near vicinity of the Navajo Reservation.

Appointment of Don Y. Jensen to the post of superintendent of the Cherokee Indian Agency, Cherokee, North Carolina, effective August 3, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Jensen, superintendent of the Northern Cheyenne Agency, Lame Deer, Mont., for the past six years, succeeds Darrell T. Fleming, who is transferring to the Gallup area office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as assistant area director. A successor for Jensen at Lame Deer has not yet been selected.

Appointment of James P. Howell, assistant personnel officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Aberdeen, South Dakota, as superintendent at the Fort Berthold Indian Agency in New Town, effective July 14, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Howell succeeds Homer M. Gilliland, who has been appointed head of the Colorado River Agency, Parker, and Arizona.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced the reappointment of Vincent Price, the actor and art connoisseur, for an additional four-year term as a member of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board.

Mr. Price, of Los Angeles, Calif., was first appointed to the Board in 1957 to fill the unexpired term of William J. Lippincott. In light of his distinguished service in the advancement of Indian arts and crafts, he was reappointed to the board again in 1959. His current term started July 6 and expires July 6, 1967.

Award of a $283,675 contract for the construction of a community recreation building on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation at Fort Hall, Idaho, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for the construction of a multipurpose building with a total floor area of 20,660 square feet. The main floor will consist of a full-sized basketball court and stage. The basement will contain a kitchen-dining room, a library and reading room, hobby rooms and toilet and shower rooms.

Awards of contracts totaling $6,950,700 for the construction of school facilities at Teec Nos Pos, Arizona, and Chuska, New Mexico, on the Navajo Indian Reservation, were announced today by the Department of the Interior. In both cases, the successful low bidder was Bateson-Cheves Construction Company of Mesa, Arizona.

The Department of the Interior has asked Congress to increase the authorized amount of annual appropriations for vocational training of adult Indians from $7.5 million to $12 million.

In its request, the Department said the number of Indians who are qualified and wish to participate in the training program greatly exceeds the number for whom funds are available. If the present limitation is retained, some of those who have applied in the past six months cannot expect to enroll in vocational training courses before June 30, 1964.

Responding to tribal requests, the Department of the Interior announced today it is restoring to the San Carlos Apache Indian Tribe ownership of the subsurface interest in approximately 225,000 acres of land in a portion of eastern Arizona known as the "San Carlos Mineral Strip."

The Department of the Interior has announced it favors proposed Federal legislation that would permit the leasing of Indian lands for terms up to a maximum of 55 years for purposes other than farming or grazing.

Award of a $398,800 contract for the construction of a dormitory and related facilities at Aztec 1 New Mexico that will make it possible for 128 additional Navajo Indian pupils to attend the public schools at nearby Farmington was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for the construction of one 128-pupil dormitory; a 256- pupil kitchen-dining-multipurpose building; and a utility building. Sidewalks utility connections and other site improvements are also included in the contract.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced the appointment of E. B. Maytubby, Muskogee, Okla., to fill out the unexpired term of his late nephew, Floyd Maytubby, as Governor of the Chickasaw Indian Nation and the designation of Overton James, Oklahoma City, to serve a two-year term as Governor starting with expiration of the Maytubby term on October 18, 1963.

Award of a $1,543,500 contract for the construction of school facilities that will provide for 150 additional students at Lukachukai, Arizona on the Navajo Indian Reservation was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Award of a $12,500 contract to study the economic feasibility of manufacturing a wide variety of building materials on or near the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Adoption of regulations for preparing a membership roll of the Ponca Indian Tribe of Nebraska was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The roll is to be compiled under a 1962 law giving enrolled tribal members an opportunity to express themselves for or against division of the tribal assets among themselves. Those on the roll would be the beneficiaries if division of the assets is approved.

The Department of the Interior today announced cffi1cellation of an April ) sale of oil and gas leases on the 27,000-acre Tyonek Reserve (Moquawkie Reservation) near Cook Inlet, Alaska, coupled with the beginning of negotiations for an alternative method of leasing that will be more favorable to the native village of Tyonek.

The Tyonek Reserve was withdrawn from the public domain by executive orders in 1908 and 1915 for the use and benefit of the Alaska natives of Tyonek Village.

An offering of oil and gas leases on Indian lands of the Uintah-Ouray Reservation in Utah has brought high bonus bids totaling nearly $650,000 to the Indian landowners, the Department of the Interior reported today.

Award of a $1,998,581 contract for the construction of school facilities to provide for 360 additional pupils at Aneth, Utah, on the Navajo Indian Reservation was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for the construction of two 192-pupil dormitories, a 14-classroom instruction building, a kitchen and dining hall, a storage and maintenance building, employees living quarters and garages.

The Department of the Interior announced today the transfer of Homer M. Gilliland, superintendent of the Fort Berthold Indian Agency at New Town, N. Dak., for the past two and a half years, to the post of superintendent at the Colorado River Agency, Parker, Ariz.

Gilliland succeeds John C. Dibbern, who has headed the Colorado River Agency for the past six years and is now moving to the Indian Bureau's area office at a11up, N. Mex., as assistant area director for economic development.

Award of a $126,550 contract for the construction of a municipal center at Lame Deer, Montana, on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The new center, when complete, will provide space for tribal meetings and activities. It will also furnish a replacement for the old tribal jail building.

The successful bidder was Thrif-T Const. Co., Miles City, Montana. Seven higher bids, ranging from $126,600 to $199,000, were received.

Three Oklahomans will take on new responsibilities April 1 in the Bureau of Indian Affairs in a series of related personnel transfers announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Graham E. Holmes, area director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Muskogee, Okla., for the past year, has been named Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau in charge of legislative activities.

An exclusive two year permit to prospect for minerals other than oil and gas on 19,200 acres of tribal land on the Gila River Indian Community near Phoenix, Ariz., together with an option to lease, has been granted to Bear Creek Mining Co., Salt Lake City, Utah, the Department of the Interior announced today.

Hailing it a "landmark study II Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today made public the report of a three-man task force which last year studied the problems of the 43,000 Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts of Alaska.

The study group, which was headed by William W. Keeler, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Indian Nation, and chairman of the executive committee of the Phillips Petroleum Company, traveled more than 5,000 miles throughout Alaska, visiting many of the native villages and holding conferences with native leaders.

The Department of the Interior today announced its endorsement of proposed Federal legislation that would permit the leasing of Indian lands on the Fort Mojave Reservation in Arizona, California, and Nevada for periods up to a maximum of 99 years.

Under present law the maximum term permitted for such leases is 25 years, with an option to renew for an additional 25 years.

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It was almost a year ago, in the spring of 1962, that your director, Mrs. Mary Jeffries Burt, asked me to be one of the speakers at the Sunday Evening Forum for the current season. When I look over your roster of speakers for the 1961-62 season I realize why some of my good friends have called this the outstanding community forum in the Nation. I am honored to join such distinguished company.

The Department of the Interior today announced proposed regulations governing the preparation of a membership roll of the Ponca Indian Tribe of Nebraska.

The roll is to be compiled under provisions of a law approved by the President in September 1962 which gives enrolled tribal members an opportunity to express themselves for or against division of the tribal assets among themselves. Those on the roll would be the beneficiaries if division of the assets is approved.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash today announced the completion of an agreement between the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, and a Pelham, N.Y., electronics company which will lead to the establishment of I a new branch plant providing jobs for at least 200 workers on the Laguna Indian Pueblo west of Albuquerque, N. Mex.

The firm involved is Burnell & Co., Inc., which manufactures electronic filters and related components.

Promotion of Floyd E. Stayton from principal to superintendent of the Haskell Institute for Indian students at Lawrence, Kansas, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

He succeeds Solon G. Ayers who is also being promoted. Ayers has moved from Haskell to the position of director of schools in the Indian Bureau's area office at Portland, Oreg.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall said today that ten more conservation projects totaling $927,400 and assuring more than 100 man-years of employment have just been approved under the Accelerated Public Works Program for administration by the Department of the Interior.

The projects are in addition to the $4,970,000 in public works allotments announced January 30 by Secretary Udall for 49 projects in 18 States.

Forty-nine additional conservation projects under the Accelerated Public Works Program which will involve a total investment of $4,970,000 among 18 States were announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

The projects will generate nearly 500 man-years of work in localities certified by the Area Redevelopment Administration as having a high rate of unemployment.

New high levels of conservation accomplishment designed to meet the unprecedented and still increasing demands being placed on America’s basic natural resources by the Nation’s rapid growth were outlined today in the Department of the Interior’s annual report entitled “New Horizons in Natural Resource Conservation.”

Approval of a coal-mining lease to the El Paso Natural Gas Company covering 8,762 acres of tribally owned land on the New Mexico portion of the Navajo Indian Reservation was announced today by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior.

The Texas Company has indicated its intention to use the strip-mined coal in a conversion plant, to be located on the reservation that would produce motor-fuel components and gaseous hydrocarbons. If the plan proves feasible, up to 200 jobs would be provided, mainly for Navajos.

Conservation projects totaling $20,102,500 which will create thousands of new jobs and extend into virtually every State were announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall following approval by President Kennedy of additional allotments under the Accelerated Public Works Program.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash will make his first official visit to Indian Bureau installations and native villages in the State of Alaska January 20 through 29, the Department of the Interior announced today.

Mr. Nash will dedicate new school buildings constructed by the Bureau at Kotzebue on January 21 and at Barrow on January 23, attend the inauguration of Governor William Egan in Juneau on January 26, and visit the Bureau's Mount Edgecumbe boarding school near Sitka on January 28.

The Department of the Interior announced today the award of a $1,149,000 contract for construction of high school facilities at the Phoenix Indian School in Phoenix, Arizona.

The contract calls for the construction of a seven-building complex, approximately 61,500 square feet in enclosed area, arranged around an open court. Included in the project are 28 standard classrooms, home economics and science laboratories, a library and instructional materials center, and administrative and guidance areas.

The Department of the Interior announced today that the Bureau of Reclamation will undertake the planning and construction of the $135 million Navajo Indian Irrigation Project in New Mexico, which will then be operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Congressional legislation authorizing the project was signed by President Kennedy on June 13, 1962.