News by Year

A plan for the use and distribution of $3.9 million awarded by the Indian Claims Commission to the Cherokee Nation is being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The award is additional payment for land in Northern Oklahoma acquired by the United States from the Cherokees from 1872 to 1893.

A plan for the use of approximately $500,000 awarded to the Navajo Tribe by the Indian Claims Commission was published in the Federal Register, December 23, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The award represents additional payment for certain reserves of helium-bearing gas.

According to the plan, approved by Congress and made effective November 17, 1975, the funds will be used for scholarship grants and other educational purposes as designated by the Navajo Tribal Council.

A plan for the use and distribution of $4.6 million awarded to the Winnebago Indians by the Indian Claims Commission is being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The award represents payment for lands in Wisconsin and Illinois ceded by the Winnebago Tribe to the United States between 1829 and 1837.

The plan, approved by Congress and made effective October 30, 1975, divides the award between the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and the Winnebago Tribe of Wisconsin on the basis of current tribal rolls.

A plan for the use of $450,000 awarded by the Indian Claims Commission to the Creek Nation of Oklahoma was published in the Federal Register December 23, 1975, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The award represents payment for land in Oklahoma taken without payment by the United States between 1881 and 1924 and additional payment for land sold under the Creek Agreement of March 8, 1900.

George V. Goodwin, Jr., a member of the White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians, has been appointed Minneapolis Area Director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The area includes the states of Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin.

A swearing-in ceremony for Goodwin will be held December 18 at 1 p.m. in the Leamington Hotel, Minneapolis.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has urged members of the Kickapoo Tribal Council to take action to resolve factional issues which have paralyzed the tribal government and interfered with the funding of needed tribal programs.

Headquarters for the 900-member tribe are at Horton, Kansas.

In a letter sent to each of the tribal council members, Commissioner Thompson expressed concern "about the unfortunate situation of the Kickapoo Tribe."

Proposed regulations to better protect the per capita shares of minors, legal incompetents and deceased beneficiaries of Indian judgment funds were published in the Federal Register on November 1975, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The Department of the Interior today announced the election of five incorporators of the thirteenth region established for the benefit of Alaska Natives who are not permanent residents of Alaska and who elected to be enrolled in such a region under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

The incorporators were elected in a mail ballot of adult thirteenth region enrollees. The enrollees voted on a list of 24 nominees submitted to the Department by organizations representing non-resident Alaska Natives.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that Indian tribal groups would be receiving this fiscal year almost $10 million for projects to provide additional job opportunities on reservations.

Commissioner Thompson said that 39 tribal projects submitted through the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the Department of Commerce have been approved for funding under Title X of the Public Works and Economic Development Act. The purpose of this Title of the Act is to create job opportunities in areas of high unemployment.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said today that key staff people from Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Offices have participated in intensive training this month in preparation for the implementation of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

Final regulations for the Act, published in the Federal Register November 4, will become effective December 4.

A full-blooded Navajo Indian, Wilson Barber, Jr., has been appointed Superintendent of the BIA Cheyenne River Agency at Eagle Butte, South Dakota, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. His appointment will be effective December 7.

Barber, 34, has been Realty Officer at the Eastern Navajo Agency in New Mexico. He succeeds Thomas Claymore who has retired.

Barber worked for the Navajo Tribe as a Department Supervisor before taking a position with the BIA Navajo Area Office in 1967.

Marcellus M. Chouteau, a member of the Kaw Indian Tribe, has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs agency at Pawnee, Oklahoma, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Chouteau, who has been Program Officer for the Anadarko Area (Western Oklahoma and Kansas), succeeds James Hale who has retired. A World War II Army veteran, Chouteau has worked for the Bureau since 1964. He has held increasingly responsible positions, mostly in accounting and fiscal fields, in Washington, D.C., Muskogee, Oklahoma, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that a meeting for Alaska Natives residing outside of Alaska will be held in Seattle, November 19.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss matters pertaining to the establishment of the 13th Regional Corporation by Alaska Natives under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Legislation to add some 370,000 acres of land to Indian tribal holdings was described by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson as "a needed step toward better management and use of the land."

Public Law 94-114, signed by President Ford October 17, transfers certain tracts of "submarginal" land purchased by the United States in the 1930's for tribal uses.

The 17 Indian tribes involved have had the use of the land but have been limited in its development and use because of the lack of clear title.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has announced the appointment of a new Deputy Area Director for the BIA's Aberdeen Area. He is Richard D. Drapeaux, a member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe Drapeaux has been the Housing Development Officer for the Area, which includes North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska.

A graduate of South Dakota State University, Drapeaux began his career with the Bureau as a high school teacher on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1952.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that the Oglala Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota has been given approximately 1,600 acres of excess Government land within the reservation boundaries. Notice of the transfer, under the Federal Property and Administration Services Act as amended earlier this year, is being published in the Federal Register.

Title to the land will be held by the Secretary of the Interior in trust for the tribe.

Dr. Noah Allen, a Creek Indian, has been named Superintendent of the Phoenix Indian High School, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Allen, who is currently serving as the Acting Director of Indian Education Programs for the Bureau of Indian Affairs is expected to assume his duties in Phoenix in early November. Before coming to Washington, D.C. for his present assignment, Allen was Executive Director of the National Indian Education Association.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that a plan for the use and distribution of more than $600,000 awarded by the Indian Claims Commission to the Northern Tonto Apache Indians is being published in the Federal Register.

The award represents payment for lands taken by the United States in 1873 and 1875.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that proposed regulations governing the administration and use of more million for education or socio-economic programs benefitting the Osage Indian Tribe of Oklahoma have been published in the Federal Register.

The funds are part of a $13,250,000 award made to the tribe by the Indian Claims Commission for lands ceded by the tribe under treaties made more than 150 years ago. The balance of the award was distributed, as directed by Congress, on a per capita basis to tribal members.

Leaders of Indian-owned-and-operated manufacturing firms will have the opportunity to meet and talk business with representatives of some of America's corporate giants in Chicago, October 15-16.

Host firms for the two-day session, designed to assist the Indian manufacturers develop new markets, will include the Quaker Oats Company, Zenith Corporation, Illinois Tool Company, the Brunswick Corporation and Standard Oil of Indiana. Representatives from the Santa Fe Railroad, Sears, Montgomery Wards and other companies will participate in the program.

Acting Secretary of the Interior Kent Frizzell today announced establishment of a thirteenth region for the benefit of Alaska Natives who are not permanent residents of Alaska and who elected to be enrolled in such a region under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Frizzell said the action, which is effective as of October 1, 1975, would result in the transfer of about 4,500 non-resident Alaska Natives from the twelve regional corporations to the thirteenth corporation.

New regulations governing retail business and credit transactions at trading posts on the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni Reservations have been published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The purpose of the new regulations is to protect Indian consumers against excessive interest rates, high prices and other abuses.

Proposed regulations for removing persons erroneously included on the roll of Native Alaskans eligible for benefits under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act are being published in the Federal Register, Acting Secretary of the Interior Kent Frizzell announced today.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that the Douglas Construction Company of Topeka, Kansas, has been awarded a $3.5 million contract to build new facilities at the Haskell Indian Junior College, Lawrence, Kansas.

The contract calls for the construction of a new learning resource center and a kitchen-dining building.

The learning resource center, with approximately 34,800 square feet of floor area, will house a library and provide facilities for media production and distribution, photography processing, TV studio, offices and classrooms.

Proposed regulations to implement the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (P.L. 93-638) are being published September 4 in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

There will be 30 days after publication for comments from interested parties.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that Rebecca H. Dotson, a Navajo woman, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' agency at Chinle, Arizona.

Ms. Dotson is the second Indian woman to hold an agency superintendent's position. She had been the education program administrator at the agency, one of five on the Navajo Reservation.

Ms. Dotson, 45, is a graduate of the Northern Arizona University and has a Master's degree from Arizona State University. Much of her career has been spent as a classroom teacher.

Final regulations governing the preparation of a roster of those persons eligible to share on a $1.2 million judgment fund awarded by the Indian Claims Commission to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon are being published on the Federal Register Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The award, to be distributed on a per capita basis represents additional compensation for the accession of and under an 1855 treaty.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs sub agency office, serving the Cocopah and Quechan Indian Tribes, has been made an agency office.

The office was formerly under the Colorado River Agency at Parker, Ariz., some 125 miles north of Yuma Ariz. The Fort Yuma Office is located three miles northwest of Yuma on the California portion of the reservation.

The Colorado River Agency will continue to serve the Chemehuevi, the Fort Mojave and the Colorado River Indian Tribes.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the establishment of a new Bureau of Indian Affairs agency office to serve Indians in the state of Michigan.

The new agency, to be located at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, will have in its jurisdiction the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Original Band of Sault Ste. Marie Chippewas at Sault Ste. Marie; the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community at L'Anse; the Hannaville Indian Community at Escanaba and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe at Mt. Pleasant.

The administration of the Intermountain Indian School at Brigham City, Utah, has been transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Phoenix Area Office, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The school, a residential high school, was formerly under the jurisdiction of the Navajo Area Office.

The administrative transfer reflects a change in the nature of the school, Commissioner Thompson said.

Kent Frizzell, Acting Secretary of the Interior, today ordered acceleration of the Central Utah Project and Department action on specific related requests submitted August 13 in a resolution by the Ute Indian Tribe

Frizzell directed:

--award by the Bureau of Reclamation of a $26.9 million contract for construction of Vat Tunnel--the largest contract awarded to date for the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project;

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that John Buffalohorn, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Tribe has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Fort Totten Agency in North Dakota.

The agency serves the Devils Lake Sioux Tribe.

Buffalohorn has been the Administrative Manager of the Fort Peck Agency, Poplar, and Montana.

A plan for the use of $7 million awarded to the Jicarilla Apache Indian Tribe by the Indian Claims Commission is being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The award represents payment for claims of the Jicarilla Apache Tribe against the United States for the general accounting of tribal funds and properties which the Federal Government controlled and managed since the last century.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that two contracts totaling more than $6.2 million for the construction of roads serving members of the Navajo Indian Tribe were awarded July 22.

A contract with Nielsons, Inc., of Dolores, Colo., calls for the construction of 16.24 miles of hot bituminous concrete surfacing on a previously constructed roadbed between Rough Rock, Ariz., and the Arizona State Highway 63 at Many Farms, Ariz.

The Rough Rock Community has now only a dirt road connection with the highway.

Edward McCabe, Jr., a member of the Navajo Tribe, has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Shiprock Agency in northwestern New Mexico. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced that the appointment is effective immediately.

McCabe, 54, has been Senior Program Director for the School of Business at the University of New Mexico. He has in the past served as Treasurer, Acting General Manager of the Utility Division and Director of Administration for the Navajo Tribe.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that a plan for the use of approximately $750,000 awarded by the Indian Claims Commission to the Zia, Jemez and Santa Ana Pueblos is being published in the Federal Register. The award represents payment for land in central New Mexico taken from the Pueblos from 1905 to 1936.

According to the plan, approved by Congress and made effective June 17, 1975, the funds will be equally divided between the three Pueblos.

A plan for the distribution of more than $260,000 awarded by the Indian Claims Commission to the Ottawa Indians of Oklahoma is being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

This award represents additional payment for six tracts of land in Northwestern Ohio that were ceded to the United States by four bands of Ottawa Indians under treaties of 1833 and 1831.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Van A. Peters as Superintendent of the Stewart Indian School, Stewart, Nevada.

Peters, a member of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada, has been a school principal in Elko County, Nevada since 1972. He was previously a teacher and athletic director in Reedsport, Oregon.

A United States Army veteran, Peters earned both his B.A. and M.Ed. degrees from the University of Nevada.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that the lists of all adult persons (18 and over) of Osage Indian descent are being prepared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. One will contain the names and known addresses of persons of at least 1/4 degree Osage blood; the other will list Osage descendant persons possessing less than 1/4 degree of Osage blood and their known addresses.

The lists will be used to conduct a poll among the Osage Indians to determine whether a change in the present structure of the Osage tribal government is desired.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said today that many of the recommendations made in a recently released report on the troubled conditions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation were being implemented.

The report was prepared by a special commission appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. It dealt with problems in law enforcement and judicial services, tribal government, trust management functions, and provision of services to outlying areas of the reservation.

Thank you, President Tonasket. Senator Jackson, Senator Nelson, Congressman Udall, Congressman Meeds, ladies and gentlemen.

Mrs. Hathaway and I are grateful for the opportunity to join the National Congress of American Indians in paying tribute to Senator Jackson and Congressman Udall. On behalf of the Interior Department, I want to express our appreciation for their significant efforts in securing passage of legislation settling the Havasupai boundary issue.

Nine American Indian high school students met their Congressmen, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and other Washington luminaries last week.

They were participants in the Washington Workshops Congressional Seminar June 15-22.

This week they are in New York City studying the operations of a large corporation as guests of the Union Carbide Corporation the Company also picked up the tab for the Washington seminar.

Demonstrations of two newly established career development programs on the Navajo Reservation will be opened to visitors July 9 and 10.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said that the programs at Tuba City, Arizona, and Shiprock, New Mexico, have been proposed as models for other reservations. BIA officials from all regions of the country, as well as congressional, state and tribal representatives have been invited to see demonstrations of the program operations.

Stanley M. Speaks, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Agency at Anadarko, Oklahoma. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced that the appointment was effective June 22.

Speaks has been Acting Superintendent of the Intermountain Indian School at Brigham City, Utah, this past year. He has worked in Indian education programs with the Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1959. He was the Supervisory Guidance Counselor at Intermountain for five years.

The tribal plan for the use and distribution of $4.5 million awarded to the Yankton Sioux Tribe by the Indian Claims Commission is being published in the Federal Register.

The plan has been approved by Congress and is effective February 7, 1975.

It calls for a per capita distribution of 80 percent of the award to tribal members as of the effective date. It is expected that the tribal roll will have been brought current within 60 days of that date.

Acting Under Secretary of the Interior Kent Frizzell has approved an amendment to an existing water service contract relating to the use by Utah International, Inc. of water stored in the Navajo Reservoir for a proposed commercial coal gasification project near Farmington, New Mexico.

Stanley K. Hathaway, former two-term Governor of Wyoming, was sworn into office today as the 40th Secretary of the Interior.

Hathaway, 50, was confirmed by the United States Senate as Secretary of the Interior June 11, 1975.

Hathaway was born in Osceola, Nebraska, July 19, 1924, and moved with his family in 1928 to Goshen County, Wyoming. The family homesteaded near Huntley, Wyoming, and he graduated from Huntley High School in 1941.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that new regulations governing the fishing rights of the Metlakatla Indian Community within the Annette Islands Reserve in Alaska were published in the Federal Register June 5.

The purpose of the new regulations is to give the Metlakatla Indians the opportunity to catch their fair share of the annual salmon run.

Salmon canning is the chief industry of the community and the Reserve includes the waters within 3,000 feet of the shoreline of the islands.

A preliminary injunction has been issued which prevents non-Indians from interfering with the Omaha Tribe's possession of valuable farm land in the Blackbird Bend area of the Omaha Indian Reservation in Iowa, the Department of the Interior said today.

The action was taken by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa on June 5, 1975, in response to a request by the United States as trustee for the tribe.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of a three-member Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation Commission.

The members of the Commission are Hawley Atkinson, Sun City, Arizona; Robert E. Lewis, Zuni, New Mexico; and the Reverend Paul Urbano, Phoenix, Arizona.

Legislation passed December 22, 1974 to bring about a settlement of a long standing land dispute between the Navajo and Hopi Tribes established the Commission and its functions.

A plan for the distribution and use of more than $16 million awarded to the Chiricahua Apache Indians by the Indian Claims Commission is being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. The plan, approved by Congress, has an effective date of March 16.

The award represents payment for more than 15 million acres of land in New Mexico and Arizona taken without compensation on September 4, 1886, when Apache Chief Geronimo and his followers surrendered to the United States forces.

Harley D. Zephier has been appointed Area Director in the Bureau of Indian Affairs Aberdeen Area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. The area includes South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska.

Zephier, who has been the Acting Director since last fall, was previously the Tribal Government and Indian Rights Officer and Tribal Operations Officer in the Area.

A member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, Zephier is a 1962 graduate of Yankton State College in South Dakota. He majored in secondary and physical education.

A second series of regional meetings with Indians to discuss implementation of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act will begin May 28, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Draft regulations for the Act, mailed to leaders of Indian tribes and organizations May 16, will be reviewed at these sessions, conducted jointly by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service.

The first series of meetings was held in March prior to the drafting of regulations.

The former Secretary of Interior, Rogers C. B. Morton, has commended Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson for recent accomplishments in Indian Affairs.

In an April 30 letter to the Commissioner, Morton noted major legislative achievements, the increased involvement of Indian people in BIA programs and the predominantly Indian leadership established within the Bureau.

Carl J. Cornelius, a 40-year veteran with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has been named Field Administrator for the Bureau, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. In his new position in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Cornelius will be responsible for administrative and management services for Bureau field units.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson expressed his support of a national effort to protect the rights of foster children in a statement issued May 19.

In a ceremony in Washington, D. C., the Commissioner formally endorsed a Bill of Rights for Foster Children.

The week of May 18-24 had been designated as National Action for Foster Children Week by the committee which drafted the Bill of Rights in 1973. One of the objectives of the Week is to gain the support of Governors, Mayors and other governmental leaders.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is going to take a long, hard look at the educational needs of Indian, pre-school-age children. And what can or should be done to improve the development of infants, toddlers and youngsters up through the age of eight.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has announced that a $325,000 contract has been awarded to the Bank Street College of Education New York City, to make the study.

Final regulations governing the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Housing Improvement Program (HIP) published in the Federal Register May 2 become effective June 1, the Bureau said today.

The program is primarily aimed at helping Indians make needed repairs, renovations and enlargements of their hares.

Acting Secretary of the Interior, Kent Frizzell today announced approval of new procedures on appeals from administrative decisions of the Commissioner and the Area Directors of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Under the new procedures, review authority is given to the Board of Indian Appeals of the Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals on all appeals except those requiring the exercise of the Secretary's discretion and appeals from decisions concerning tribal enrollments.

An April 24 White House announcement that a supplemental appropriation of $10.9 million for law enforcement on Indian reservations was being requested from the Congress by the Administration was welcomed by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson.

"The Indian community will be pleased to know that this request is being submitted to the Congress," he said. "The upgrading of law enforcement services, including the operations of the tribal courts, is badly needed."

Final regulations governing the administration of the Indian Loan Guaranty and Insurance fund have been published in the Federal Register by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Approximately 800 acres of federally-owned land, adjoining the Fort Sill Indian School at Lawton, Okla., has been added to the land held in trust for the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Indians of Oklahoma.

The land was administratively transferred to the Secretary of the Interior, as trustee, by Arthur F. Sampson, Administrator of the General Services Administration on March 17, 1975. Notice of the transfer has been published in the Federal Register.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Santa Fe, New Mexico, will be chartered as a junior college.

The school, established in 1962, has had for many years a post­secondary program in the fine arts and has many distinguished Indian artists among its alumni. It has not been, however, a degree granting institution.

The tribal land of the Menominee Indians of Wisconsin once again became a reservation today when Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton in a ceremony in his office formally accepted the deed conveying it to the United States in for the tribe.

Ada Deer, Chairperson of the Menominee Restoration Committee, the tribe's interim governing body, described the transfer plan as "the epitome of Indian self-determination." She said, "It gives the tribe Federal protection without Federal domination.”

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has appointed Phyllis Cross, a Mandan-Hidatsa, and Intergovernmental Relations Officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Her appointment was effective March 30.

Ms. Cross has been Special Assistant to the Regional Director for Indian Affairs, Region VIII, in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She had previously served as Special Assistant to the Regional Director for the Regional Council.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has appointed Alton R. Nordwall Deputy Director of the BIA's Muskogee Area.

Nordwall, a member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, worked in the Muskogee office for nine years, 1964-73, as the Area Budget Officer. He left Muskogee to complete a Department of Interior nine-month Manager Development Training Program. Since June of 1974 he has been Assistant Area Director for the Minneapolis Area.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that 112 tribes have qualified for participation in the BIA's Tribal Government Development Program for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1975. These tribes may receive up to $50,000 under contracts for programs to strengthen and make more effective their tribal governments.

Richard Romero, a member of the Taos Pueblo Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Winnebago, Nebraska Agency. Commissioner Morris Thompson announced today that the appointment would be effective May 4.

Romero has been the Tribal Operations Officer for the Northern Pueblos Agency in New Mexico since 1971.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has appointed Billie D. Ott, a member of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma, Assistant Director, Support Services, in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Administration.

Ott, a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, had been Vice President and General Manager of Eastern Operations for the General Telephone and Electronics, Information Systems in Stamford, Conn. He has held other top management positions with Electronic Associates, Inc., and with General Electric.

The need for families in Hooper Bay, Alaska, to send their children away from home to get a high school education will be ended, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. A contract to construct a new, $3.2 million high school complex has been awarded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the Walsh Construction Company of Anchorage, Alaska.

The new school is designed to serve 100 students in the 9th through 12th grades. The BIA now operates an elementary school with an enrollment of more than 200 in the area.

Distribution plans for judgment funds awarded to three western Washington Indian tribal groups are being published in the Federal Register. The awards, made by the Indian Claims Commission, are for additional compensation for land taken as a result of the point Elliot Treaty of 1885.

The tribes involved are the Lummi, Lower Skagit, and Kikiallus.

A public hearing to receive comments on the environmental impact of proposed uranium mining on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation in Montezuma County, Colorado, has been scheduled for April 30. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' agency conference room in Towaoc, Colorado.

Notice of the availability of a draft environmental impact statement, prepared by the Department of the Interior, was published in the Federal Register March 28. Notice of the hearing was published March 31.

A 1975 calendar of Indian celebrations, ceremonials and other special events open to the public has been published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Included in the 60 page booklet is information on a variety of Indian arts and crafts fairs, native dances, rodeos, pow-wows, religious observances, historical commemorations, Indian athletic events and other tourist attractions.

In Alaska, for example, one is informed of events such as the World Eskimo Olympics, Native Foods Day -- offering fare such as Muktuk and caribou, shee fish, and snow shoe and dog sled races.

Proposed new regulations for HEW's programs of assistance for college students have been described as a "major breakthrough in Indian education" by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson.

In a letter to HEW Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, Thompson expressed his "strong support" for the new rules published in the Federal Register in March. They set forth provisions for coordinating the HEW programs with BIA's higher education assistance program.

Regulations governing the preparation of the membership roll for the per capita distribution of more than $20 million awarded to Northern Paiute Indians by the Indian Claims Commission (Docket 87) are being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The proposed regulations state that all persons who meet the following requirements shall be entitled to be enrolled to share in the distribution of the fund:

1) Persons who were born on or prior to and living on October 10, 1974;

Final regulations governing the revision of the membership roll of the Menominee Indian Tribe were published in the Federal Register, April 2, 1975, it was announced today. The regulations will become effective on May 1.

Updating of the roll is required by the Menominee Restoration Act which re-established the tribe's Federal status and eligibility for special Federal services and programs. The tribal roll was closed as of June 17, 1954, when legislation terminated the tribe's special relationship with the Federal Government.

Nominations for members of a special committee to advise the Secretary of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs on administration of Indian trust responsibilities are now being accepted, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

The Advisory Committee on Trust Responsibilities will render advice with respect to water rights, real property rights of every kind and nature, and personal property rights wherein the United States has a trust responsibility to an Indian tribe, band, or community.

Elsie A. Begaii, a Bureau of Indian Affairs' employee at Window Rock, Arizona, has been chosen to receive the Department of Interior's "Woman of the Month" award. Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs Harley Frankel will present Mrs. Begaii with a commemorative plaque and certificate on March 21 in Washington, DC.

Mrs. Begaii, a member of the Navajo Tribe, has worked 27 years with the Bureau. She is the Assistant Employment Assistance Officer for the Navajo Area Office.

Wyman J. McDonald, a member of the Flathead Indian Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Mescalero Agency in New Mexico. His appointment will be effective March 30.

He has been since 1971 executive director of Tri-State Tribes, Inc., in Billings Montana. This organization has been involved in training and other work with Indian Community Action Programs in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

A 15-year employee at the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Turtle Mountain Agency, Belcourt, North Dakota, has been named Agency Superintendent. He is Fred E. Gillis, a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe.

Gillis, who has been acting superintendent the past five months, has held a variety of positions at the agency since his first employment there in 1959. He has been the administrative manager, realty officer and legal clerk. He started as a clerk-steno.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Juanita Cata as Assistant Area Director (Education) for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Albuquerque Area. She has held this position in an acting capacity since the retirement of Henry Wall.

Cata, a member of the San Juan Pueblo, has completed Ph. D. course requirements at the University of Albuquerque. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1961 and earned a Master's in elementary education from the same university in 1967.

The tribal plan for the distribution and use of more than $1.8 million awarded to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians by the Indian Claims Commission was published in the Federal Register March 13.

The award represents payment for two tracts of land that were lost to the Band as a result of erroneous surveys of boundaries of the Red Lake Reservation in the periods 1883 to 1903 and 1885 to 1907.

Before payment of any judgment funds can be made, it is required that a plan for distribution and use of the funds be prepared and submitted to Congress for approval.

William J. Lawrence has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Colorado River Agency at Parker, Arizona.

Lawrence, a Red Lake Chippewa, graduated from the University Of North Dakota School Of Law in 1972 and had been working for the Terry C. Holter Law Firm in Bemidji, Minnesota. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962 from the Bemidji State College.

Because of increasing reports of violence and the alleged breakdown of law and order on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Morris Thompson, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, today said he was taking several steps to alleviate the situation there and to help the Oglala Sioux Tribe find solutions to the causes which are disrupting the quality of life on the reservation.

Thompson said he was detailing a Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Officer and an assistant, along with 10, members of the Special Operations Service, to Pine Ridge immediately.

Joseph E. Kahklen, a member of the Tlingit Indian Tribe, has been appointed Assistant Area Director (Administration), in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Juneau, Alaska, office. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced the appointment would be effective March 16, 1975.

Kahklen's previous position was Area Personnel Officer, but he has been Acting Assistant Director since his predecessor, Clarence Antioquia, was named Area Director.

The Juneau office serves approximately 61,000 Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts in Alaska.

Answers to 101 commonly asked questions about American Indians are provided in a newly published booklet prepared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

In 60 attractively illustrated pages, the booklet deals with questions about the legal status of Indians, reservations, religious ceremonials, languages, tribal governments, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and a variety of other topics.

The booklet also contains information about sources for additional information about Indians, brief bibliographies for both adults and children and a listing of museums with Indian collections.

Indian leaders throughout the country will be meeting with representatives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service to plan the implementation of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (P.L. 93-638).

The Act is considered by many as the most important legislation for Indians since the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. Signed January 4 of this year by President Ford, it is designed to promote maximum Indian participation in the government and education of Indian people.

The Department of the Interior today extended until March 18 the period for public comment on proposed revisions of regulations governing mining operations under coal leases on Federal and Indian lands.

Notice of the extension will be published in the Federal Register this week.

The revised regulations would require the reclamation of surface mined coal land to an extent equal to the standards recommended by the Administration for inclusion into Federal legislation on surface or strip mining.

The greening of 9,320 acres of arid land in northwest New Mexico will be a part of the Navajo Indian Tribe's celebration of the American Bicentennial Year. Federal funds totaling $2 million have been made immediately available to assist with on-farm development costs to make possible a March 1976 beginning of operations for the Navajo Irrigation Project. The project will ultimately include more than 110,000 acres.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has requested a substantial increase in funding for the operation of Indian programs in fiscal year 1976. Its budget request of $526.9 million for these programs is approximately $48 million greater than the appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today issued a policy statement concerning Indian cultural and religious use of migratory bird feathers and parts. Following is the text of the statement.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has appointed William Lynn Engles as Public Information Officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C.

Engles, an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, has been the Public Affairs Officer for ACTION in Seattle, Wash. since May, 1972. His experience before that included almost seven years with United Press as a state broadcast editor, news bureau manager and political reporter in Oregon and Montana.

Burton A. Rider, a Gros Ventre/Cree Indian, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Fort Peck Agency in Northern Montana. Since 1971 he has been the Employment assistance Officer for the Minneapolis Area, which includes Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

A native of Harlem, Montana, Burton has more than 20 years’ experience with the Bureau. Since 1959 he has held various positions in relocation and employment assistance work in Arizona, Utah, South Dakota, Nebraska, and New Mexico.

Regulations governing loans to Indians from the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Revolving Loan Fund are being published in the Federal Register. The regulations have been revised to reflect the provisions of the Indian Financing Act of 1974.

The Indian Financing Act consolidated existing revolving loan funds administered by the Bureau and authorized the appropriation of an additional $50 million for the consolidated fund. Loans from the fund can be made to Indian organizations or individuals for purposes which will improve and promote economic development on Indian reservations.

Proposed regulations governing the preparation of the membership roll for the per capita distribution of more than $20 million awarded to Northern Paiute Indians by the Indian Claims Commission (Docket 87) are being published in the Federal Register.

The proposed regulations state that all persons who meet the following requirements shall be entitled to be enrolled to share in the distribution of the fund:

1) Persons who were born on or prior to and living on October 10, 1974;

2) Who are lineal descendants of Northern Paiute Indians and;

The Havasupai Indian Tribe can now move out of the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon National Park Enlargement Act signed by President Ford early this month gave the tribe 185,000 acres of land on the rim of the canyon and adjacent to the park. It is land that the Havasupais had occupied for about 1,000 years, until it was taken away from them about a century ago.

Funeral services were held January 9 for the last full-blooded member of the Mandan Indian Tribe, Mrs. Mattie Grinnell, who lived to be 108 years old. Mrs. Grinnell died January 6 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Rose Fournier, in Twin Buttes, North Dakota.

Living through more than a century of tremendous changes for her people and her land, Mrs. Grinnell retained to the end an amazing vitality, charm and spirit.

The selection of Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson as one of America's ten outstanding young men was described today as "symbolic of the achievements and progress of all American Indians," by Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton.

"One of the reasons Morrie was given this honor was because he overcame the odds against a poor Athabascan Indian from the fish camps of the Yukon River. Today there are thousands of Indians overcoming similar odds and moving towards greatness in various fields," Morton said.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13--A group of Native American leaders, brought together through the National American Indian Council, today announced their plans to purchase the historic Willard Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue from its New York owners for $7 million.

The building will become national headquarters for NAIC an umbrella organization representing 800,000 American Indians through 1,500 local and regional groups. Other Native American groups also will have offices there.

Regulations for the implementation of the Indian Business Development Program were published in the Federal Register and made effective on December 27, 1974, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson made the effective date simultaneous with publication to avoid any loss of opportunity caused by delay.