News by Year

William H. Crowe, a Cherokee designer-craftsman of international repute, has been named to a four-year term as Commissioner on the five-man Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Secretary of the Interior Robert C. B. Morton announced today.

Crowe succeeds Vincent Price, actor and patron of the arts, whose Commissionership on the Arts and Crafts Board expired last July. The Board was established in 1935 to encourage the preservation and development of American Indian and Eskimo artistry.

I am highly gratified to see the enactment of legislation that provides funds for construction of facilities for the Navajo Community College. Of This school is unique as a community development aide. The new construction will culminate a long-time dream of many Navajo leaders.

The development of the Navajo Community College is a truly significant achievement for the Navajo people. What has been done in planning and implementing this unique educational program is illustrative of self-determination working at its best.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton announced today his approval of organizational changes in the Bureau of Indian Affairs that have 'been developed since Secretary Morton himself took the first step last July 23rd in naming John O. Crow to the re-activated position of Deputy Commissioner.

"The organization plan is one designed to tighten administrative management of the Bureau's operations in order to get the most mileage from the Federal dollars being spent for Indian programs," the Secretary said.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced the appointment of Orville N. Hicks, 44, a graduate of Colorado State University in range management and a veteran of 20 years of Bureau of Indian Affairs service as Superintendent of the new Lower Brule Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, with headquarters at Lower Brule, S. Dak.

He will assume the duties of his post January 9.

“The machinery we now have for carrying out our trusteeship responsibilities to Indians is inadequate," Interior Secretary Rogers C. B. Morton told a Senate subcommittee today. He urged prompt action on a bill that would establish an Indian Trust Counsel Authority.

Hans Walker, a Mandan Indian, was named today by Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton to head the new Indian Water Rights Office.

Secretary Morton had previously announced, in a press conference, October 4, that he intended to create the Indian Water Rights Office to direct all aspects of Interior's trusteeship responsibility for protecting-the water rights of American Indians.

He also stated: "The Indian Water Rights Office will report directly to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and the Commissioner will in turn report directly to me in Indian water matters."

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton, acting on requests by the Pauma and Pala Bands of California Mission Indians, has instructed the Director of the Bureau of Land Management to issue trust patents to those Bands for certain public lands in California.

A roll to determine the members of the Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians eligible to share in awards totaling $237,127.82 in land claims funds is being prepared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Office in Aberdeen, S. D., according to Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

The money comes from awards in settlement of Indian Claims Commission Dockets Nos. 18-A, 113 and 191 for the Pembina Band's one third interest in 7,488,280 acres of land in northwest Minnesota and northeast North Dakota, ceded under the treaty of October 2, 1863 (13 Stat. 667).

(Following is a statement delivered by Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton during a visit to the Uintah-Ouray Indian preservation in Utah Tuesday evening, October 5, 1971.)

I am very pleased to report to you that before I left Washington, a Secretarial Order was signed that revokes a 1930 oil shale withdrawal order as it pertained to your Indian lands.

Thus, we have erased any doubt that might have existed as to the Tribe1s ownership of lands and minerals affected by the 1930 order.

I have called this news conference today to announce a series of actions relating to Indian water rights, contracts, roads, self-government, and legislative programs.

My purpose in taking these initiatives towards Indian self-government is setting a course for the Bureau of Indian Affairs designed to protect Indian Resources and effectively with the roads of Indian dissatisfaction poverty unemployment and inadequate educational background in my opinion to advance the cause of the Indian people of this nation.

First, water rights.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced the award of an $808,000 contract for construction of a graphic arts building at Haskell Indian Junior College, Lawrence, Kans., to Constant Construction Co., Inc., of Lawrence, Kans.

Haskell Indian Junior College, a Bureau of Indian Affairs school, has an enrollment of about 200 American Indian students in its college program an 1,000 in its trade-technical and business training program.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced the appointment of William L. Benjamin, 54, an enrolled member of the Wisconsin Band of Chippewa Indians, to the post of Superintendent of the Fort Peck, Montana, and Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He assumed his duties October 31.

Benjamin replaces Anson A. Baker who has been transferred to the position of Superintendent of the Crow, Montana, and Agency of the Bureau. He comes to the Fort Peck Agency from the Wind River, Wyoming, and Agency of the Bureau where he was supervisory civil engineer.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced the award of a $1,040,677 contract to Skousen Corporation, Albuquerque, N. M. to build 10.838 miles of road on the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation. It 'will open up a recreation complex at stone Lake that is to include a 20 room lodge, trailer camp, boat docks, and wild game park.

The contract is for grading, draining, plant-mix bituminous base and seal coat surfacing of a road beginning at New Mexico state Road 537 and going to stone Lake. It is scheduled for completion late in 1972.

Stanley D. Lyman, 58, former Superintendent of the Fort Peck, Montana and Uintah and Ouray, Utah, Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies was today named Superintendent of the Bureau's Pine Ridge Agency in South Dakota, borne of the Oglala Sioux Indians, by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce, himself a member of the Oglala Sioux as well as the Mohawk Indian tribe.

Lyman will assume his post October 17.

He replaces Brice L. Lay, who recently became Chief of the Bureau’s Division of Public School relations in Albuquerque.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced that Richard S. McDermott is Sacramento Area Field Representative for the Bureau of Indian Affairs with offices in Palm Springs, California. In this position he will work closely with the Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians. He has served in the acting capacity since the fall of 1971.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton and Civil Service Commission Chairman Robert E. Hampton announced today the creation of a National Indian Training Center to be located at Brigham City, Utah.

The Center will provide in-service and preparatory training for Indian men and women seeking employment and advancement in Federal, State and tribal government jobs.

Secretary Morton made the announcement while visiting Salt Lake City today on a leg of his month-long tour of Western States. He said:

Alonzo T. Spang, 38, director of Indian Studies Program and assistant professor at the University of Montana and a member of r the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe has been named superintendent of the Northern Cheyenne Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquartered at Lame Deer, Mont. He will assume the post within the coming month.

Spang replaces John White, who has taken the position of Commonly Development Officer in the Billings Area Office of the Bureau.

The 1971 “American Indian Calendar” listing everts from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Hollywood, Florida, hosted by Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut groups, is now available from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 20402. The price is 30 cents.

Dates and locations of observances are given. Among the annual activities of the various tribes that are included in the 1971 calendar are Alaskan sled dog races, Eskimo blanket-tosses, pow-wows, potlatches, rodeos, fairs, snake and crown dances, and arts and crafts exhibits.

Jess T. Town, 39, Choctaw Indian from Talihina, Okla., was today named Superintendent of the Rosebud Agency, Rosebud, His appointment is effective August 8. Town will move to this post from one as Area Field Representative of the Bureau in Riverside, Calif.

Town was graduated from Chilocco Indian School in Oklahoma in May 1950, and attended Phoenix College, Phoenix, Ariz. He began his Federal service in the Phoenix Indian School in 1954.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton today announced the appointment of John O. Crow as Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Since 1966, Crow has served as Associate Director of Interior's Bureau of Land Management. Previously, he had lengthy and varied experience in the Indian Bureau.

Secretary Morton said: The appointment of John O. Crow will be a key factor in strengthening management of the Bureau and, most important, improving the lot of the American Indian."

David L. Baldwin, 38, an Osage Indian and Superintendent of the Yankton Agency, Wagner, S. Dak.., Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1969, was today named Superintendent of the Osage Agency of the Bureau 'whose headquarters are at Pawhuska, Okla. His appointment will take effect July 25.

He replaces John Pappan, Superintendent for three years, who passed away this spring.

Baldwin, Born in Ponca City, Okla., received his B.A. from Washburn University, Topeka, Kans., in 1956. Before joining the Bureau he taught in Kansas Public Schools for three years.

Since July 1970, American Indians started 241 new businesses and expanded 143 Indian-owned businesses through the Indian Business Development Fund program of the Bureau of Indian !Affairs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today.

New businesses and expansions made possible by the Fund will create an estimated 2,900 Indian jobs and produce an annual payroll of nearly $11,900,000.

The U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today reaffirmed a commitment to improve housing conditions for Indians with the signing of an Agreement of Cooperation. It calls for development of a manual of Federal housing and related programs to spur Indian use of Federal housing aid.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and HUD are operating jointly under a five-year plan to provide 6,000 dwellings a year for Indians.

John H. Artichoker, 41, Superintendent of the Colorado River Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, is the new Area Director of the Phoenix Area Office of the Bureau, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today.

He replaces W. Wade Head. Head retired after 37 years of government service and a career in which he served successively as Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Director in Anadarko, Okla., Gallup, N. M., and Phoenix.

The Federal Government has moved to protect Indian-owned livestock in Indian grazing areas of the southwest through joint action by Secretary of the· Interior Rogers C.B. Morton and Agriculture Secretary Clifford M. Hardin for the release of feed grain by the Commodity Credit Corporation.

The livestock affected are in numerous counties of Arizona and New Mexico that have been declared drought disaster areas, and in San Juan County, Utah. The CCC today authorized feed grain distributions to tribes owning the livestock.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced the appointment of William. L. Rogers of San Marine, Calif., as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, a new position created to bring operations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs closer to the Secretariat of the Department of the Interior.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is proposing a reV1S10n in Federal regulations in order to tighten environmental protection stipulations in f leases for the surface use of Indian-owned lands under Federal trusteeship.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce said today the proposed change is being published in the Federal Register. It relates to section 11, part 131, Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Interested persons have 30 days from the date of publication to submit comments.

Indian students at the Bureau of Indian Affairs new Gray Hill High School will have the opportunity to become environmentalists, homemakers, and carpenters, all under the same roof. The school is now under construction on the Navajo Indian Reservation just outside of Tuba City, Ariz.

The $7.7 million federal installation is expected to be ready for youngsters from the 9th through the 12th grade by September 1972. Completion of an adjoining public school building is expected to follow. Construction on it will start during the 1971-72 school year.

Doyee L. Waldrip, 47, Superintendent, Warm Springs Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Warm Springs, Ore, will become assistant area director for administration of the Portland Area office of the Bureau June 27, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. He will replace James E. Sayers, who was retired.

John A. Moore, 43, previously Superintendent of the southeast Alaska Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, with headquarters in Juneau, was appointed Assistant Area Director of the Juneau Area office today, effective June 13, by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. He is the first Negro to achieve this post in the Bureau.

Albert L. Lerner, 38, Field Employment Assistance Officer, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Chicago, has been reassigned to the same post in Los Angeles, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. He will replace Daryl L. Mahoney, who has been reassigned to the position of Area Employment Assistance Officer in the Anadarko Area Office.

Tim C. Dye, 47, Acting Superintendent of the Fort Apache Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, has been given the post of Superintendent, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. He succeeds Robert Robinson, who was transferred to the Sacramento Area Office of the Bureau in February.

Duane C. Moxon, 51, has named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Seminole Agency, Hollywood, Florida, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. He moves to that post from & similar one at Turtle Mountain Agency, Belcourt, North Dakota, when he served for nearly two and a half years. Moxon re-places Eugene Barrett, who retired at the end of May.

Charles W. Swallow, 41, an Oglala Sioux "Indian, was today named J" Chief of the Branch of Credit and Financing of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D. C. Announcement was made by Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Swallow succeed Albert Huber, who retired.

Frank X. Morin, 54, an economic development representative with the Economic Development Administration, Department of Commerce, Chicago, has been named Superintendent of the Turtle Mountain Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Belcourt, North Dakota, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. Morin is an enrolled member of' the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.

Carl J. Cornelius, 57, an Oneida Indian from Green Bay, Wisc. and a Bureau of Indian Affairs employee for 36 years has been named Deputy Director of Management Services of the Bureau by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. He replaces Harold Bassett, who transferred to the Office of Management and Budget.

Fifty American Indian students in Bureau of Indian Affairs high schools carne to Washington, D. C. last week and discussed "What is being done to preserve nature?", "How can smoke from sawmills and paper mills be prevented?" and "How can natural resources be used without creating pollution?"

The deadline has been extended to June 4, 1971, for filing applications by descendants of Kansas and Wisconsin Munsees for enrollment to, share in a $1,627,244.64 judgment awarded to the Delaware Nation of Indians by the ! Indian Claims Commission, according to Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

The money comes from an award in settlement of an Indian claim against the United States Government for additional payment for approximately 3,859,000 acres of Indian land ceded by the Delaware Nation pursuant to the Treaty of October 3, 1818 (7 Stat. 188).

Fleming Begaye, Sr., 47, Chinle, Arizona, a Navajo Indian, was presented the Indian Small Businessman of the Year award May 17, by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. The ceremony took place in the auditorium of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. as a part of Small Business Week, May 17 - 21.

Four Navajo Indian tribal officials are in the lobby of the U. S. Department of the Interior building in Washington, D. C., this week to exhibit crafts produced under the Navajo Work Experience Program -- a tribal effort which provides constructive jobs and a pay envelope to people who, would otherwise have to depend upon welfare checks.

Begun nine months ago, the program has already provided 1,700 Navajos with jobs, a number expected to double within the next year. It operates across the reservation from the rim of the Grand Canyon eastward to Shiprock, New Mexico.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today addressed a group of 21 teachers of Indians from 14 states who were attending a workshop in environmental education at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington D. C., and Catoctin National Park Maryland.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today launched his Earth Week activities with an address to Indian educators attending a workshop on environmental education sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park Service.

During the fiscal year 1970, estimated financing for Indian individuals and enterprises jumped from $382.9 million to $437.7 million -- a $54.8 million increase over the previous year, according to a report released today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce.

The borrowed monies financed construction of thousands of new homes and rebuilding or repair of existing homes; provided funds for Indian education in technical schools and colleges; and stimulated Indian small business and development of cooperative enterprises such as cattle ranching.

During the many years I have worked in the Bureau of Indian Affairs I have witnessed many phases and much progress in service to Indian people. I believe that no era is as exciting or potentially beneficial to Indians as that of the "70's".

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced his support of the Iroquois League and the Onondaga Nation of New York State in their efforts to have the sacred wampum belts returned to their proper place and preserved in the tribes' possession.

The Commissioner pledged his support following a meeting in his office with a 12-member delegation of Iroquois tribal leaders. The wampums, sacred belts of historic religious importance to the Iroquois League of New York, have been kept in the New York State Museum at Albany since they were taken from the tribes in 1898.

Secretary of Agriculture Clifford M. Hardin and Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton announced plans today to operate 56,Youth Conservation Corps camps this summer for eight weeks, starting late in June.

Camp sites have been selected in 36 States, the District of Columbia and American Samoa on lands administered by agencies in the two Departments.

James E. Hawkins, a former teacher and administrator in Indian and Eskimo schools, was named today to fill the long vacant key post of Director of Education for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today the appointment of Morris Thompson, an Alaska Native, as the new Alaska Area Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Thompson's appointment was effective February 7, 1971.

"I am most happy to be announcing this appointment, “Commissioner Bruce said, “because Thompson is the first Alaska Native to be Alaska Area Director. The Alaska Natives have long wanted this. “

At 31, Thompson is also the youngest man in BIA history to be named as an area director.

A new environmental awareness award program for Indian schools and communities was announced today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. The program is an outgrowth of new emphases upon environment and conservation in Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. It is designed to encourage environmental awareness throughout a11a'spects of daily life in the community.

A new environmental awareness award program for Indian schools and communities was announced today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. The program is an outgrowth of new emphases upon environment and conservation in Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. It is designed to encourage environmental awareness throughout all aspects of daily life in the community.

Administration of all the far-flung hydroelectric power and water resource activities in the Department of the Interior hereafter will be centered under James R. Smith with the new title of Assistant Secretary for Water and Power Resources, Acting Secretary of the Interior Fred J. Russell announced today.

Russell said the change will assure more effective management since all seven agencies now reporting to Smith “are deeply concerned with optimum use and conservation of one of our most vital basic resources - water."

Acting Secretary of the Interior Fred J. Russell today announced that former South Dakota Congressman Ben Reifel, an American Indian, will serve without compensation as an assistant for Indian Affairs to the Director of the National Park Service.

Representative Reifel voluntarily retired at the close of the 91st congress after serving five consecutive terms.

Celestine P. Mau., 49, loan specialist, Branch of Credit, Red Lake Agency, Bureau of Indian Affair, Redlake, Minn., was named, Superintendent of the Red Lake Agency today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. Maus, who replaces P. Miller in the post, has been Acting Superintendent since October.

Thomas R. Hardin, 35, was named Superintendent of the Rooky Boy's Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Box Elder, Mont. today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. Hardin replaces Albert W Trimble, recently elected to become Field Employment Assistance Officer for the Bureau at Alameda, Calif.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today the appointment of Curtis Geiogamah, 44, a Kiowa Indian from Mountain View, Okla., as Assistant Area Director (Administration) of the Phoenix Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs. He replaces Albert Lassiter who is retiring.

Geiogamah has served as the Administrative Officer of the Navajo Area Office for the past six years and prior to that time he was Budget Officer in another Area Office that also served the Navajo Tribe.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced the appointment of William F. Streitz, 44" to be Superintendent of the Uintah and Ouray Agency, Fort Duchesne, Utah. Now Superintendent of the Sisseton Agency; S. Dak., Streitz will assume the Utah post January 2.

Raymond Lightfoot, 54, Assistant Area Director for the Minneapolis Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, was named Area Director for the Minneapolis Area Office today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce.

An enrolled member of the Michigan Band of Chippewa Indians, Lightfoot replaces Owen D. Morken, who retired in January 1971.

Lightfoot was born at Fort Thompson, S. Dak. After he completed a course in Business Administration at Nettleton College, Sioux Falls, S. Dak., Lightfoot, joined the Bureau in 1937.

About thirty American Indians are being provided a course in co-operative management and leadership training that will enable them to successfully operate enterprises that vary from arts and crafts through campground, credit, farming, fishing, livestock, marketing, paddy rice, and tourism.

It began in mid-July at the University of Wisconsin and is funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.