News by Year

Richmond, Virginia’s Junior ROTC Unit of John F. Kennedy High School presented $200 to the Navajo Indians at the U.S. Department of the Interior Building in Washington, D.C. December 27. Accepting the cheek was Interior's Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget Richard S. Bodman. He presently has administrative control of all Indian operations for the Department of the Interior.

In accepting the donation Assistant Secretary Bodman commended the ROTC Unit for their deep interest in helping their fellow Americans who may be less fortunate.

Regulations have been issued to govern distribution of $9.2 million for the Delaware Tribe of Indians and the Absentee Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma, the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs announced
today. The regulations will be published in the Federal Register on Dec. 27.

The new regulations specify procedures to followed by eligible persons in order for them to share in the distribution of judgment funds.

Assistant Secretary of the' Interior Richard S. Bodman announced today that Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters personnel are now all back at work. Interior Secretary Rogers C. B. Morton vested authority for administrative control of all Indian operations in Bodman, Assistant secretary for Management
and Budget, on December 2.

The resignation of Louis R. Bruce as Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was announced today President Nixon. The resignation is effective January 20,1973.

Bruce. 66 has served as Commissioner since August 1969. A member of the Ogala Sioux tribe of South Dakota, Bruce was born on the Onondaga Indian Reservation in New York and grew up on the State's St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.

The first 14, Indian athletes named to the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame at Lawrence, Kansas, will be formally inducted November 25, according to the Board, which includes representatives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Nine of the Athletes will be inducted posthumously.

Ceremonies marking the occasion will be held in the Student Union Building of Haskell Indian Junior College, Lawrence, Kansas. A display room has been set aside to house the memorabilia on Indian sports heroes until the Hall of Fame Building can be erected on the famed Haskell campus.

Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior, today lauded the Salt River Indian Community of Arizona for receiving the Meritorious Program Award of the American

Institute of Planners. The award was presented at the Institute's 52nd annual convention in Boston.

In a letter addressed to the President of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Council, Commissioner Bruce said this was the first time that the Nation's leading professional planning organization has honored an Indian community.

James J. Thomas, 27, Winnebago Indian, has been named special assistant to the Department of the Interior's Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Louis R. Bruce, the Commissioner announced today.

Thomas, horn and reared on the Winnebago I Indian Reservation, Nebraska, recently completed an Indian administrator development program of the Bureau.

Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, has forwarded for publication in, the Federal Register, proposed changes in the Code of Federal Regulati6ns recommended by the Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina.

Commissioner Louis R. Bruce of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, today announced the approval of a 1965 claims judgment for more than $4.9 million to the Creek Nation of Oklahoma.

The judgment represents more than $1 million in Indian Claims Commission docket 276 and $3.9 million in docket 276. Decision to begin payment was recommended by Claude Cox, Principal Chief of the Creeks; Ed Johnson, Chairman of the Creek Indian Council; and Virgil Harrington, Area Director of the Bureau's Muskogee, Okla. Area Office.

Final regulations to establish officially the Reservation Acceleration Program (RAP) are being published in the Federal Register, the Commissioner of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, Louis R. Bruce, announced today. Publication of the-new regulations in the Federal Register officially establishes the Bureau program which has been in operation since January.

Washington, D.C. -- Hazel E. Elbert, a Creek Indian and Legislative Specialist for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has been named a Fellow for the 1972-73 Congressional Operations program, Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, announced today.

The objective of the program is to give promising young Federal executives, journalists, political scientists and educators a thorough understanding of congressional operations. It is administered jointly by the Civil Service Commission and the American Political Science Foundation.

Washington, D.C. -- Commissioner Louis R. Bruce of the U. S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs has been presented a copy of the Southern Ute A Tribal History" by members of the Southern Ute Tribe of Colorado, the group responsible for the writing of this unique book. The presentation took place last week in the Commissioner's Office.

"Self-Determination or disguised termination: let’s be certain,” This theme you have chosen for your 1972 convention is indeed an interesting one. Your choice reflects the uncertainty and skepticism that have disturbed people throughout history when changes have been proposed to alter the status quo.

It is only human that we should be reluctant to accept without question every new idea that comes our way. For as Indian people, our caution to discard the familiar and accept the new is particularly understandable when we look at our own past Federal-Indian history.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sixteen Crow Indians were greeted by newsmen Embassy officials at Dulles Airport here Tuesday as they changed from the airplane that brought them from Billings, Mont., to one that would take them to London, England on an European tour may rival those staged by Buffalo Bill Cody.

The Salt River Indian Community, near Phoenix, Ariz., was awarded the Meritorious Program Award of the American Institute of Planners Sunday, October 8 during the annual conference of the Institute at the Sheraton-Boston Hotel in Boston, Mass. The award is for the social planning the Indian community has developed over a five year period. This will be the first time in the history of the Institute's award program that the award has gone to an Indian community.

Good morning - distinguished members of the press, Representatives of the Indian desks, ladies and gentlemen.

During a return visit to England King Charles I asked William Penn how he was going to gain possession of the Indian lands. Penn replied, "I will buy them."

"But how can you," asked the king, "When you have already bought them from me?"

Penn answered simply, "I bought them from you, but not because they were yours.... "

Today, almost two centuries later we are celebrating the extension of Penn's insight and belief that the land and heritage of the new world belonged to the Indians -- the first Americans.

Senator Henry M. Jackson (D. Wash.), chairman the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs announced today following an executive session of the full committee that he has appointed an ad hoc subcommittee to make a thorough study of a long-standing dispute between the Navajo and Hopi tribes over reservation boundary lines. The subcommittee is composed of Senator Frank Church (Idaho) as chairman and Senator Frank. E. Moss of Utah and Paul J. Fannin, Arizona.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today the award of a $1. 9 million contract with Broce G6nstruction Co. of New Mexico, Inc., of Tucumcari, N. M., for the bituminous surfacing of 20.582 miles of highway and the widening of a bridge on the Navajo ‘Reservation. When the surfacing is completed it will provide an all-weather highway from Crownpoint, N. M. to within approximately three miles of Whitehorse, N. M.

MACON. GA. -- Ben Chekotah, 21, a Creek Indian, had never left Oklahoma before last May when he came to Ocmulgee National Monument, at Macon, Georgia, to work for the National Park Service as a park technician.

Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, announced today that two 26 inch by 36 inch maps of Indian country are now available to the public through the Superintendent of Documents. The maps are: "Indian Land Areas: General” and “Indian Land Areas: Industrial".

“We believe these maps will be invaluable to tourists that are interested in visiting Indian reservations and Indian communities, and to business people with an eye to enlarging their operations to encompass Indian reservations," said the Commissioner.

secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton announced today that he is setting aside nearly 79 million acres in Alaska which will be studied for possible additions to the National Park, Forest, wildlife Refuge, and Wild and Scenic Rivers Systems.

The so-called "Four Systems" lands thus withdrawn fire almost half the size of Texas. Put another way, they are as large as New York State and New Jersey, plus .a11 six of the New England States combined.

Leroy W. Chief, 35, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux. Tribe from: Pine Ridge, S. D., has been named Superintendent of the bureaus of Indian Affairs Wahpeton Indian School, Wahpeton, N. D., Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs announced today. Chief replaces Joseph Wellington, who retired after 17 as superintendent at Wahpeton School.

Francis E. Briscoe, 54, an enrolled member of the Caddo Indian Tribe from Anadarko, Okla., has been named Area Director for Administration in the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Area Office, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. Briscoe replaces Doyce Waldrip, who has been named Assistant Area Director for Economic Development in the Portland Area.

Jerome F. Tomhave, 42, an enrolled member of the Gros Ventre Indian Tribe from Elbowoods, N. D., has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Southern California Agency in River side, Calif., Louis R. Bruce, and Commissioner of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, announced today. Tomhave replaces Stephen Lozar, who transferred from Riverside to the Colorado River Agency in Arizona.

It is a great pleasure to be with you today. I bring greetings from Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce.

The Department of the Interior, on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, accepts with great pride the contract for the first Army Junior ROTC unit ever installed at an all-Indian high school.

Fort Sill Indian School, I am sure, is justly proud of this achievement and honor. The staff of this fine institution is aware of the importance ROTC can play in the life of this country.

Commissioner Louis R. Bruce of the Department of the Interiors Bureau of Indian Affairs today announced that the United States Army has installed the first Army Junior ROTC unit at an all-Indian school at Fort Sill Indian School, Lawton, Oklahoma. The ceremony was held in the gymnasium of the Fort Sill School at 10 a. m., CDT.

Fort Sill Indian School has an enrollment of about 300 students, of whom about 125 are boys. Indian tribes represented include the Fort Sill Apache, Kiowa, Comanche, Caddo, Delaware, and Wichita, all southern Oklahoma groups.

Commissioner Louis R. Bruce of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today that two highway construction contracts totaling nearly $7.6 million have been let by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for projects on the Arizona portion of the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Regulations have been issued to govern distribution of I $5,199,660.20 for the Miami Indians of Oklahoma and Indiana, Louis R. Bruce Commissioner of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, announced today. The new regulations establish qualifications for enrollment and the deadline for filing applications to update the roll of Miami Indians prepared pursuant to a 1966 Act of Congress.

Three major exhibitions of Indian arts now being shown by museums administered by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the Department of the Interior were described today by Secretary Rogers C.B. Morton as “demonstrating the vitality of contemporary contributions to the arts by modern Indian people”

The Southern Plains Indian Museum in Anadarko, Oklahoma, is presenting through September 14 the first historic survey to feature 43 paintings created during the past four decades by 42 outstanding Indian artists of the Southern Plains region.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton today announced that the Department of the Interior has entered into a use agreement with the Department of the Air Force to preserve Wildwood-Air Force Station near Kenai, Alaska, in good condition until arrangements can be made to transfer title to the base to the Kenai Native Association. Interim uses planned for the 'facility include a program for boarding high school students and Indian Action Team activities.

Reaffirming the administration's commitment to what President Nixon described as "a new era in which the future for American Indians is determined by Indian acts and Indian decisions," Secretary of the'" Interior Rogers C. B. Morton highlighted recent accomplishments in achieving Indian self-determination before the National Tribal Chairmen's Association at Eugene, Oregon Monday.

He applauded the efforts of the emerging Indian leadership. "They are leading the American Indian into a self-determined age. America's Indian tribes are awakening and on the move," he said.

For many of the years leading up to Alaska's statehood the Federal Government had periodic interest in converting Alaska into a penal colony. The idea seems to have started during Andrew Johnson's Administration and ran out sometime in the 1940's when Harold Ickes was Secretary of the Interior.

It's my impression that a lot of Alaskans suspect that the penal colony view, is still prevalent in Washington. The fact is that this couldn't be farther from the truth. We think of Alaska as you do, not as America’s “last frontier,” but as America’s "great frontier."

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton declared today that "God and the courts willing, there will be a trans-Alaska pipeline."

In remarks prepared for delivery in Alaska to the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, Secretary Morton emphasized, "We at Interior and in President Nixon IS administration are proud of the conscientious fashion in which the pipeline decision was made.”

The proposed 789 mile hot oil pipeline linking the North Slope oil fields to a tanker terminal at Valdez "will mean- unprecedented social and economic change for your State,” he said, adding:

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton is in Alaska for an 8-day inspection of areas upon which he soon will make far-reaching decisions.

His itinerary includes visits to the Wrangell Mountains in the southeast; Mount McKinley in central Alaska; the Yukon Flats and Walker Lake areas to the north and west; and the King Sabnon area in Alaska's southwest before returning to the "lower 48."

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced that 11 American Indian and Alaska Native high school and college students who represent nearly as many tribes have been selected for scholarships enabling them to accompany some of the Nation's leading scientists this summer on worldwide expeditions.

The scholarships for the American Indians are funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They were arranged through two organizations -- the Explorers Club and Educational Expeditions International (in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution).

Dollar volume of contracts with Indian tribes and individuals for goods and services -- excluding construction -- by the bureau of Indian Affairs has reached $29.5 million in fiscal year 1972, Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton announced today.

Another $12 million in contracts for goods and services to Indian tribes and individuals is anticipated by the close of the current fiscal year.

A remote Eskimo village hugging the rim of the Arctic Ocean has become a proving ground for the Federal Government's national environmental policy.

The Village of Barrow, Alaska, located in the last reaches of civilization on the North American Continent, over the last half century has had tons of garbage laid on its doorstep - - much of it from government agencies.

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. It is a privilege to be here. Surely the presence of so much talent at the National Archives Conference on Research in the history of Indian-white relations underlines the importance of this event.

"The unique content and method of traditional Indian teachings, development of morality and will power in the formation of Indian character, the spiritual training of Indian children by kin .and medicine man. All will be discussed at '" I the Second Conference of American Indian Elders on Traditional Indian Education," Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. The Conference will be held at the Mather Training Center, Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, June 19-23.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today that he has offered the services and facilities of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs to South Dakota officials who are battling the ravages of last wEH9kend's disastrous flood at Rapid City. Approximately 2100 Indian people live in Rapid City.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Public Land Management Harrison Loesch today called for accelerated road construction on Indian reservations; stepped-up assistance to improve public land development roads and trails, improvement of national park roads, roadways, and trails; and highway development in the Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa. He testified before the Senate Public Works Subcommittee on Roads.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced that American Airlines will purchase 20,000 blankets manufactured from the wool of Navajo Indian sheep.

The blankets, made similar to the famed trade cloth imported from England, will bear three-inch square label showing their origin and will be attested to by both Commissioner Bruce, a Mohawk-Sioux Indian, and Peter MacDonald, Chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council.

Articles of incorporation for the first three Regional Corporations authorized by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, have been approved by the Department of the Interior.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced approval of revised regulations governing mining exploratory and development operations conducted on Federal and Indian lands under permits and leases issued by the Department of the Interior.

The regulations are not new, Secretary Morton pointed out, but rather are the existing reorganized and clarified regulations. (The revised regulations will be published June 1, 1972 in the Federal Register and will become effective 30 days thereafter.)

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce 'announced today J ' the creation of a new BIA agency in New Mexico for the Ramah-Navajo Indians. It will be called the Ramah-Navajo Agency. Located in the west central part of the State, the new Agency will be under the jurisdiction of the BIA area office in Albuquerque.

Donald Smouse, Program Officer for the Ramah office will be the Acting Superintendent of the Agency until a permanent Superintendent is appointed.

The proposed rule of the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians one of the three participant groups which will share a $15.7 million judgment awarded the tribe by the Indian Claims Commission and being distributed pursuant to the Act of December 18, 1971 was published in the Federal Register May 17, 1972. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce made the announcement today. Regulations to govern preparation of the roll were published April 21, 1972.

The proposedro11of the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians one of the three participant groups which will share a $15.7 million judgment awarded the tribe by the Indian Claims Commission and being distributed pursuant to the Act of December 18, 1971 was published in the Federal Register May 17, 1972. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce made the announcement today. Regulations to govern preparation of the roll were published April 21, 1972.

A Bureau of Indian Affairs Task Force" in Sacramento, Calif. processed more than 5,000 applications for Eskimo, Indian, and Aleut homesteads in Alaska in an eight week period ending April 21, approximately 20 times the number of homestead applications the Bureau handled in the previous 66 years.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced that he has decided to grant right-of-way permits for the proposed Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Because of injunctions issued in pending litigation, the actual permits for the pipeline cannot be issued at this time. Notice of the Secretary's intent to issue the permits is being given the plaintiffs, as required by court order, and the permits will be issued as soon as that can be done without violating any court order.

The text of the Secretary's statement is attached.

After great deliberation and reflection, I have determined that it is in the national interest of the United States to grant a right-of-way for the Trans -Alaska Pipeline which will transport crude petroleum from State lands in northern Alaska to the south coast port of Valdez.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today that Donald I. Morgan, 37, a member of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe, has been named Superintendent of the Crow Creek Agency, Bureau of India, at Fort Thompson, South Dakota.

The appointment will became effective on May 14. He will be become the first superintendent of the Crow Creek Agency. This agency was formed when what had been the Pierre Agency was split into the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Agencies.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today the award of an initial $36,000 contract to the United Southeastern Tribes, Inc. for the establishment of an Employment Assistance Destination Services Center at Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The awarding of this contract is in keeping with the Commissioner's new thrust to encourage tribal groups to undertake services normally rendered by BIA. The USET, headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, consists of representatives from the Seminole, Miccosukee, Choctaw and Cherokee Indian tribes.

A Northeast Region Advisory Committie appointed by Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton on April 24, is the first of the public advisory bodies to be named for each of the six regions of the National Park Service.

"This group of interested private citizens, and those to be appointed for five other National Park System regions, will provide for a free exchange of ideas between the National Park Service and the public on current problems and programs," Secretary Morton said.

Regulations for preparing a roll of the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians eligible to share in the distribution of $15.7 million were issued today by the Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced that he has requested the Justice Department to institute a suit to determine the rights of the Pyramid Lake Indians under the Winters Rights Doctrine with the priority date of 1859, and that the complaint to be filed set forth those rights on the Truckee River that have previously been decreed by the court.

In order to insure that the Tribes positions fully presented to the court. Secretary Morton also recommended that the Tribe be permitted to intervene as a party.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today that he has directed the establishment of a reconnaissance patrol along certain portions of the border between the Hopi reservation and the area that is jointly used by the Navajo and Hopi tribes.

A school for campground management for American Indians?

Isn't that like starting an aviation course for birds?

Not completely, said Secretary of the Interior Rogers, C. B. Morton, announcing a new training program by the National Palk service to teach the financial and technical aspects of tourist-oriented campground management to members of American Indian tribes. Graduates will return to their tribal homes to develop and manage public campgrounds on Indian lands.

Tribes of the Salt and Gila River Indian Reservations in Arizona will use satellite and high altitude aircraft photography to aid in the management of, reservation lands and resources, the Department of the Interior announced today.

The project linked to the Interior Department's EROS (Earth Resources Observation Systems) program, technically administered by the U. S. Geological Survey, is aimed at using conventional photography and other remote sensing data that will be relayed by a NASA earth resources survey satellite, which is scheduled for launching before summer.

Two Federal agencies today acted to restore the traditional if buffalo to the Crow Indians' sacred Big Horn Mountain and help stimulate the growth of tourism in Montana.

The Department of the Interior will provide 35 bison to the tribe, and the department of Commerce will provide a $300,000 grant for fencing a 10,000-acre buffalo range. The actions were announced jointly by Interior Secretary Rogers C. B. Morton and Commerce Secretary Peter G. Peterson.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton announced today that "following an intensive review of environmental protective measures," he approved document covering construction arrangements, transmission rights-of-way, and electrical interconnection for the Navajo steam electric generating power plant near Page, Arizona.

In his announcement Secretary Morton said:

The March 29, 1972, deadline for filing enrollment applications for members of the Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians has been extended to June 27, 1972, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today.

The roll is being established to determine Pembina Chippewa Indians eligible to share in awards totaling $237,127.82 in land claims funds pursuant to the Act of July 29, 1971 (85 Stat. 158).

Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior, today announced the names of 28 tribes that will initially participate in BIA’s Reservation Acceleration Program (RAP).

RAP is a process by which tribes negotiate changes in existing loca1BIA budgets to insure that these programs support the tribes t own priorities.

In announcing the first 28 tribes, Commissioner Bruce emphasized that funds will not be taken from non-participating tribes to finance the operation.

Final regulations for preparing aro11 ofA1askaNativeseligib1e to share in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of December 18, 1971, were issued today by the Assistant Secretary of the Interior Harrison Loesch.

(The regulations are scheduled to appear in the Federal Register March 17, 1972.)

The Native Claims Act provides for settlement of awards totaling $962.5 million and 40 million acres of land, and ends a struggle which has been pending since the United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, according to Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton said today that two sets of documents of major significance to Alaska and to all Americans will be made public within the next 10 days.

On Wednesday, March 15, at 2 p.m., Secretary Morf9n twill hold a general news conference, principally devoted to Interior's action on preliminary set asides of public lands. In Alaska, pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. The news conference will be held in the Interior Department Auditorium on the first floor of the building, at 18th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B.Morton, expressed "concern" today over recent events in Gordon, Nebraska, following the death of Mr. Raymond Yellow Thunder, an Oglala Sioux of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

The Secretary noted that five persons were arrested and charged under a State law by local officials in Gordon, Neb., with various counts of false, imprisonment and manslaughter following the death of Mr. Yellow Thunder.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced approval of two Land and Water Conservation Fund grants totaling nearly one-quarter of a million dollars to the Mescalero Apache Tribe of New Mexico for public recreation and campground developments on its Reservation.

"We are delighted to help the Mescalero Apache Tribe share with all Americans the superior hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation opportunities available on its beautiful Reservation Secretary Morton said.

The proposed increase of $4.8 million in welfare assistance funds reflects the continuous rise in caseload and a small increase in unit cost. An additional 500 employable assistance recipients be enrolled in the Tribal Work Experience program during fiscal year 1973.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce, today announced that Flore Lekanof, 45, an Aleut and Acting Director of Community Services of the Bureau of Indian Affairs will be Director of Alaska Native Affairs and assume the duties of that post immediately. In that capacity he will coordinate Bureau efforts that will result from enactment of Alaska Native land claims legislation.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced a fiscal year 1973 spending program $2.6 billion. Over $2.3 of this is included in the annual appropriation request to Congress, with the remainder coming from various permanent appropriations and trust funds.

Morton said: “We have revamped priorities for the coming fiscal year to enable us to use funds for those new missions and requirements that these times have bequeathed to the Department of the Interior.

The proposed regulations for preparing a roll of Alaska Natives eligible to share in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of December 18, 1971, were issued today by Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton.

Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, pointed out that the Native Claims Act provides for settlement of awards totaling $962.5 million and 40 million acres of land, and ends a struggle which had been pending since the United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867.

"Alaska Natives" who may be eligible for enrollment must be:

On November 23, 1971, President Richard M. Nixon announced proposed legislation to acquire over one-half million acres of this most unique of natural areas. The Big Cypress. But Big Cypress is more than beautiful ... it is essential. It is biologically one of the most unique ecosystems in the world and hydrologically the most important watershed in Florida.

For it is this great natural reservoir that quenches the thirst of the Everglades and provides South Florida with the universal natural resource ...water.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today that he has authorized Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Offices to enter into contract negotiations with 25 Indian tribes for the fiscal year 1972 Tribal Affairs Management Program. The Tribal affairs Management Program assists in the development of managerial skills for those tribes that cannot finance full-time effective tribal management.