Past News Items

The Adoption Resource Exchange of North America (ARENA), placed 89 Indian children out of 119 registered with it in 1968, reports the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior. The BIA works closely with the national organization.

Placement was pending at the end of 1968 for most of the remaining 30 Indian children.

Forty-three Indian tribal leaders and officials of the Department of the Interior (DOI) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will meet December 16-18 in Tampa, Florida, to discuss the reorganization of the BIA.

Under a $177,849 contract awarded December 2 to RCA Service Co. of Camden, N.J., the Bureau of Indian Affairs will commence at once a program of occupational training, basic literacy education, counseling and job placement for the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi.

Robert L. Bennett, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, said today in announcing major features of the contract:

The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has officially cleared Kenneth Whitehorn, former BIA agency superintendent for education on the Tohono O'odham reservation in Arizona, of any knowledge or involvement in a child abuse case that occurred on the Hopi Indian Reservation in 1987.

Timber harvest and sales on Indian reservations set records in the fiscal year which ended June 30, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

Annual receipts from stumpage sales totaled $14.3 million, nearly $2 million over the previous fiscal year. The volume harvested was approximately 848 million board-feet, an increase of 100 million board-feet over fiscal 1965, the Bureau said.

An additional 100 million board-feet was cut by Indians under free permits for fuel and home and farm use.

Under Secretary Frank A. Bracken said today the Department of the Interior already has begun correcting problems identified in a just released Senate report on Indian Affairs, and will continue cooperative efforts with the Congress and the Tribes to improve programs

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett warned today that measures are being taken to prevent further damage and destruction of prehistoric ruins on the Navajo Reservation.

The 24,000 square mile Navajo Reservation extends into the states of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

“We have been informed that certain ruins on the Navajo Reservation have been souvenir-hunted and damaged, reportedly by both Indians and non-Indians,” said Bennett. “Timbers are being taken from these ruins, and artifacts stolen and sold to traders in the area.

The Department of the Interior today announced the resignation of Ross Swimmer, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. Last November he tendered his resignation to then President Reagan and in a recent letter to Secretary Don Hodel made it official as of January 29.

"I believe we have moved the agenda forward for a real change in Indian country," he wrote Hodel. "Certainly, there is a new awareness of what the problems are and the solutions to those problems. This is a convenient time for me to leave and rejoin my family in Tulsa, (Oklahoma)," he said.

Although credit is more and more essential for the Indian individual or tribe as emerging economic units, the Bureau of Indian Affairs revolving fund for Indian loans was $18.5 million short of demands upon it during fiscal 1967, Robert L. Bennett, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, reported today.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs William E. Hallett announced today the appointment of Gene R. Powers as Assistant Area Director for administration in the Juneau Area Office.