OPA

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton said today that the Administration will seek full funding of $80,000,000 for the Indian Financing Act approved by President Nixon April 12, 1974.

Secretary Morton said that although the Act was originally slated for only partial funding during this fiscal year, the President has determined that the Act's programs should be accorded a higher priority and be fully funded in Fiscal Year 1975.

"The Indian Financing Act has long been one of the Administration's II highest priorities and it was enacted in a form similar to the version proposed by the President in 1970," Secretary Morton said. "Therefore, at the direction of the President, full funding will be sought from Congress."

"I view the enactment of this proposal as the financial underpinning of the Administration's pledge to pursue a policy of Indian self-determination since the ability of the American Indian to shape his own future and to assume control of Federal programs created for his benefit bears a significant relationship to the strength of his economic base," Secretary Morton said.

The proposal for full funding is contained in an amendment to the fiscal year 1975 budget, which has been submitted by the President to the Congress for appropriation consideration. The amendment proposes appropriations of $50,000,000 for direct revolving fund loans to Indians, $20,000.000 for a loan guarantee and interest subsidy program, and $10,000,000 for Indian business development grants.

The legislation consolidates existing Indian revolving loan funds already administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and authorizes the appropriation of an additional $50,000,000 for the consolidated fund from which direct Federal loans will be made to Indian organizations and individuals.

The legislation also creates a new Indian Loan Guaranty and Insurance Fund under which loans made by private lenders to Indian tribes or tribal members can be guaranteed or insured for up to 90 percent of the unpaid principal and interest due.

In addition, the Act establishes the Indian Business Development Program which will stimulate and increase Indian entrepreneurship and employment by providing equity capital through non-reimbursable grants to Indians and Indian tribes to establish and expand profit marking Indian-owned economic enterprises benefiting Indian reservations and communities. The Act authorizes appropriations of up to $10 million for Indian Business Development grants for each of the next three years.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced an encompassing decision on the controversy involving leases and exploratory permits for coal development on the Northern Cheyenne Indian reservation in Montana.

The Northern Cheyenne Tribe petitioned the Secretary in January 1974 to withdraw the Department’s approval of leases and exploratory permits for strip mining of coal on about 214,000 acres of the 433,740-acre reservation.

The decision announced by the Secretary today grants the petition in part.; denies it in part; refers some questions to the Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals; and holds some decisions in abeyance.

As an alternative, the decision allows the Tribe to sue the coal companies involved with the support of the Secretary on any and all issues, or with the support of the Secretary to request the Justice Department to bring suit in the name of the Northern Cheyenne against the coal companies on the issues.

Secretary Morton said the decision was a necessarily complex resolution on the issues presented in the Tribe's petition.

"Although many of the allegations of invalidity were similar, each of the three coal sales and each of the leases and permits involved different circumstances and issues,” he said.

“My decision, therefore, does not grant or deny the petition LIS 8 whole, nor can it be the final disposition of all the issues raised by the Tribe. Rather, I believe it establishes the essential framework for an eventual determination which will be equitable.

Various requests by companies holding coal exploratory permits on the reservation to go to lease on some of these permits and to renew some permits are also pending before the Department. The decision announced today also deals with these requests.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today named Dr. Clennon E. Sockey, 48, a Choctaw Indian of Oklahoma, to be Director of Indian Education Programs of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"Indian education is the largest program in the Bureau," Commissioner Thompson said. "Almost one-third of the total Bureau budget and one-third of the Bureau's employees are involved in education or school-related activities. Dr. Sockey will bring to its direction a unique background in education, experience, and Indian heritage."

Sockey attended a public elementary school with a large Indian enrollment and Bacone High School, Bacone, Okla., a private school also with a large Indian enrollment. He earned a bachelors, masters, and doctorate degree from the University of Oklahoma - the latter in 1972.

Sockey began his career as classroom teacher at Spiro, Okla., in 1952. He became high school principal in 1956 at Keota, Okla., and teacher-advisor at Riverside School, Anadarko, Okla., a Bureau of Indian Affairs school, in 1956. In 1958 he became a department head (academic) at Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans., now Haskell Indian Junior College, also a Bureau school.

He left the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1961 to become secondary administrator of the unified School District of Fontana, Calif., a public school system.

In that capacity he is a member of the District committee established to negotiate contractual proposals with employees and one that designed a teacher evaluation system required by the state legislature. He has also been a member of the secondary curriculum committee that reviews curriculum offerings and makes recommendations for revisions. In addition, he served on the committee to devise and implement a budgeting plan for the Fontana District.

He served in the U. S. Marine Corps from 1943 to 1946.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of Jose A. Zuni, 53, full-blooded Isleta Pueblo Indian, and Superintendent of the Nevada Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, to be Director of Administration of the Bureau.

“The Director of Administration of the Bureau of Indian Affairs must be a proven expert administrator and manager in order to direct and fully utilize the manpower, appropriations, natural resources, and potential not only of the Bureau but of the Indian people," Thompson said. "We believe we have a man that has those qualifications in Jose Zuni."

Zuni is a graduate of the University of New Mexico who has had 27 years in the Bureau, the last dozen of those as an Agency Superintendent. The Agency Superintendent is the line official who more than any other single Bureau person, determines the success or failure of the Bureau mission which is to help the Indian people take control of their destinies, Thompson said.

Zuni has also been a lieutenant Governor and Tribal Judge for the lsleta Pueblo.

Zuni served as Superintendent of the Nevada Agency of the Bureau from 1966 to the present, and Superintendent of the Consolidated Ute Agency from 1961 to 1966. He became Assistant to the General Superintendent, United Pueblos Agency, in 1958.

He was Tribal Relations Officer for the United Pueblos beginning in 1958, and Administrative Assistant to the Area Director, Gallup Area Office, beginning in 1956. He entered the Bureau in 1949 as a management assistant for the United Pueblos and became a budget analyst for that same agency in 1951.

He has been a part of the Department of the Interior Management Training Program and attended the Federal Executive Seminar in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1971. He was a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force in World War II.

He is married to the former Christine Cata, a San Juan Pueblo Indian. They are the parents of four daughters and three sons.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced that a $1.1 million contract for grading and surfacing about 13.55 miles of road on the Yakima Indian Reservation, Washington State, has been let to Materne Bros. Company, Spokane.

The proposed work will take place about a mile southwest of White Swan, Washington, on Signal Peak Road. Thee road provides access to such popular recreational areas as Lincoln Plateau, Klikitat River, and Mount Adams.

"The project is to involve about 3.25 miles of grading and 13.55 miles of bituminous plant-mix surfacing," Thompson said.

In addition to improving access to recreational areas, the new road will be used by school busses and mail carriers and create better farm-to-market transportation. It will also improve the route to a railroad spur and to a Yakima tribal member summer youth camp.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the publication of "A History of Indian Policy" by Dr. S. Lyman Tyler, head of the American West Center, University of Utah, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The book is now available in paper cover from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 for $4.25.

"The relationship between the American Indians and newcomers to this continent is the oldest social issue the Nation has struggled to resolve," Thompson pointed out. "Various attempts to do so have made their mark on Indian fortunes and thinking; The point-of-view of today's American Indians can only be clearly understood when one understands their fate over a period of more than 300 years."

"We are accustomed to reading about the meeting of the European settlers and the Indians during this Nation's colonial period, then a bit about the Indian removal from the South, and next of the Indian Wars. But much went on in between these high points that has not been thoroughly researched and made available in written form to the public," Commissioner Thompson continued.

"Private publishing houses have yet to fill in these gaps – particularly those that concern the period since passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The Bureau of Indian Affairs therefore contracted with Dr. Tyler so that he would write a comprehensive history book that would touch but lightly upon those aspects of Indian background that have been thoroughly researched by other authors and concentrating on those aspects of Indian history that have been slighted. The book reports on the modern period up to June 30, 1972. We intend to use this book in Bureau of Indian Affairs schools and the Superintendent of Documents is making it available elsewhere."

Dr. Tyler received his B.S. in history and political science from the University of Utah, and his Ph.D. in history and public administration from the same university. He was a professor of history at Brigham Young University from 1952 to 1966 and chairman of the Indian Education Committee, Brigham Young University from 1954 to 1960. He was a consultant to the Commission on the Rights, Privileges and Responsibilities of the American Indian, supported by the Ford Foundation, Fund for the Republic, from 1958 to 1959,

From 1959 to 1964, he was Director of the Institute of American Indian Studies of Brigham Young University. He has been a Professor of History, University of Utah, Director, Bureau of Indian Services of that same university. He has been Director, American West Center of the University of Utah since 1971.

He has been a research consultant for the United States Government upon several occasions and served as an expert witness before the U.S. Indian Claims Commission in the field of ethno history and legal history.

He is the author of a number of other books, including "Indian Affairs: A Study of Termination" and "Indian Affairs: A Study of Changes in Policy of the United States Toward Indians," both published by Brigham Young University Press.

I have just returned from nearly a week in Alaska, and it has been a real eye-opener. Every time I go to Alaska I develop some new perspectives. This week I returned with an especially strong feeling of the urgent challenges which must be met in the near future.

Today, Alaska is America's last frontier. Its history, its distances and climate and natural resources, and the many human factors involved, all combine to make it a unique land indeed.

As a result of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the oil discoveries and construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and our growing need for natural resources, Alaska stands at the threshold of a new era.

Now, over 90 percent of Alaskan lands still are in Federal ownership. But, very shortly, the Natives will receive 40 million acres, the State will complete its selection of more than 103 million acres, the Congress will act on my recommendation to add more than 83 million acres to national forests, parks, refuges and wild and scenic rivers. Then we will begin to see intensive development. As a result, we can no longer wait for problems to solve themselves or can we afford to repeat all the mistakes made in the Lower 48.

It is time for a much higher degree of State, Federal and Native cooperation in Alaska in natural resource development, environmental control, and Native welfare. I intend to do all I can, to bring this about.

The vital need for this improved cooperation was underscored over and over again as I talked with people about studies of Native programs operated by the Federal Government, our administration of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and during conversations about development of mineral resources in Lower Cook Inlet and elsewhere.

The most dramatic evidence of change is visible along the route of the Trans-Alaska. Pipeline, as work crews and contractors try to beat the clock during this short summer season. The pace will pick up even more rapidly next yea I talked with our Authorized Officer for pipeline construction surveillance, General Andy Rollins, who reassured me that we will be able to meet our responsibilities for seeing that the job is done in accordance with the Interior Department stipulations.

Discussions with Native leaders about their land selections drove home the point again that we have no time to lose. As you know, the Native Claims Settlement Act requires the villages to complete their land selections by mid-December the regional corporations have one year longer to finish most of their selection process, but that will be a much bigger job because of all the mineral values involved.

Ownership and land-claim patterns are complex even now. An example is Lower Cook Inlet, where the submerged lands have substantial oil and gas potential, but are involved in a Federal-State ownership dispute which inevitably affects the Natives and the people of the lower 48. We are interested in an equitable interim agreement with the State so more development can proceed in orderly fashion. Obviously, this cannot be done overnight. But long delays can simply make us more susceptible to foreign embargoes in the years ahead.

So this is no time for complacency about Alaska on anyone’s part. The biggest and toughest part of our job still lies ahead.

While in Alaska, I was asked more than once how I felt about the two river routes for a natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay, one of which would cross Canada and the other one north to south through Alaska. I tried to convey the thought that I must remain absolutely impartial until enough facts are in to permit us to make a judgment. The Federal Power Commission is now working with us on a joint environmental impact study, so as to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort. The FPC has authority to certify pipelines; Interior would have to decide on right-of-way permits, because any such pipeline would -have to cross public lands which we manage. In addition, the President has asked me to give him my best thinking on which route would serve the best interests of the nation, over-all. It will take many months to sort this all out, but we will not let any grass grow beneath our feet meanwhile.

These meetings, and the things I saw, helped me to identify the issues affecting Alaska and the Nation, and to begin planning further action to resolve them. I took time once more to look over our proposals for national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges. Taking it all together, I think we've made a good beginning --one that will help Alaska grow with a balanced mix of resource development and preservation.

On the subject of energy, I hereby invite any of you who can come, to be present this noon in my ceremonial office at Interior when I sign an agreement with Great Britain for sharing technology on coal research, and exchanging our scientific personnel in this important field, during the next three years and hopefully longer.

Now I invite your questions.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson, today announced the appointment of Alton R. Nordwall, 47, a member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, to be Assistant Area Director of the Minneapolis Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Nordwall has a BS degree in business administration from Oklahoma State University, a commercial certificate from Haskell Institute --now Haskell Indian Junior College --and has just completed the Department of the Interior Manager Development Training Course.

His most recent post is that of BIA Muskogee Area budget officer at Muskogee, Oklahoma, which he held for nine years prior to taking the nine-month Departmental Training Course.

“The Indians of the Great Lakes are fortunate in having a man from one of their tribes who has proven capability to assume the important post of Assistant Area Director of the Minneapolis Area Office," Commissioner Thompson said.

Nordwall began his Bureau career in 1952, following nearly four years service in the U.S. Navy, at the Pawnee Agency in Oklahoma. After completing his college work he returned to the Bureau to serve at the Horton, Kansas, Agency. In 1957 he beC8nle an administrative assistant at the Portland Area Office of the Bureau and in 1958 real property assistant and officer at the Colville Agency, Washington. He became assistant to the superintendent of Rocky Boy's Agency, Montana, in 1959 and administrative manager of the Blackfeet Agency, also in Montana in 1962. He became budget officer of the Muskogee Area Office in 1964.

While in the Departmental Manager Development Training Course he worked with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Acting Deputy Commissioner.

He is married to the former Eva L. Fields, Pawnee, of Oklahoma, and they have two sons and two daughters.

Robert R. Nathan Associates, Inc., has been awarded a contract by the Department of the Interior to head up a team of independent consulting groups which will prepare a study and report on various characteristics of the Alaska Native community and on selected Federal programs, it was announced today.

The studies were mandated by Section 2 (c) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, signed into law by President Nixon December 18, 1971. It requires the Secretary of the Interior to study Federal programs primarily designed to benefit Alaska Native people and to report back to the Congress with his recommendations by December 18, 1974.

Eight firms submitted proposals to lead the studies for the Interior Department. The Nathan firm will serve as prime contractor in conjunction with James R. Leonard Associates, Inc., the Alaska Native Foundation, the University of Alaska, and Sidney Hollander Associates, Inc., at an overall cost of $531,547.

Award of the contract was based on four criteria, Department officials said: understanding of the problem and logic of the proposed approach, experience, resources and ability to deliver, and price. Interior's evaluation of the eight proposals it received, placed the Nathan proposal substantially ahead of all others, they said. The work to be done falls into three major categories:

1. A statistical analysis of demographic and socio-economic characteristics (population, size of households, vital statistics, migration, income, business development, employment and unemployment, educational levels and opportunities, health, housing, and such social indices as parental desertion, crime rates, and delinquency.)

2. A descriptive summary of major Federal programs designed to serve Alaska Natives --their objectives, histories, administration, financing, operations, performance, and program evaluations, and how these relate to data in the statistical analyses.

3. A survey and presentation of Native views regarding the services they need and how they are being delivered by these programs.

Sampling of Native views will cover various kinds of communities, from the urban areas of Alaska to small and remote villages --covering 50 or 60 in all.

Robert R. Nathan Associates is one of the oldest and largest economic consulting firms in the united States, with years of experience in Alaska. During the 1960's it conducted an in-depth social and economic study of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands for the Department of the Interior.

The Alaska Native Foundation was organized in 1968 to provide technical assistance to the Alaska Federation of Natives; it provides services to the 12 Native regional corporations. Its directors represent a cross-section of Native leadership across Alaska.

James R. Leonard Associates is a firm of economic management and social services consultants with many private and U. S. and foreign government contracts. Sidney Hollander Associates is one of the Nation's oldest marketing and opinion research firms.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson-today announced that applications for enrollment at Intermountain Boarding High School, Brigham City, Utah, will be accepted from members of all tribal groups served by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In the past, this Bureau school had been operated solely for Navajos.

Enrollment on an all-tribal basis was recommended by an all Indian Study Commission. Established by the Commissioner to assess possible uses of the large facility, it represents major Indian organizations. Intermountain Boarding High School is now being phased out as a Navajo learning center.

"All-tribal enrollment at Intermountain will be on an experimental basis for one year," Thompson said. "In addition to increasing educational options for Indian students, the experiment will provide firm indicators of the need, or lack of need on the part of Indians for such a program. The All Indian Study Commission will continue its review of other potential plans for the school facility."

The decision to close Intermountain as a Navajo boarding school was based on the availability of classroom space on the reservation. This came about when Grey Hill Boarding High School, Tuba City, Ariz. --in the heart of the Navajo Reservation was opened this fall. Intermountain is located some 500 miles from the Navajo Reservation.

Commissioner Thompson indicated that the all-tribal program at Intermountain would present some problems "because the new students will not be coming from other Bureau schools but will be youth not now in school or in public schools which are not adequately meeting their needs. We are trying to reach Indian students most in need of help --to give them a better chance," the Commissioner said.

Intermountain – a $50 million property – accepted no freshman students in 1973-1974, limiting its program to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. This same limitation will continue. Applications for admission to the school should be submitted to the Bureau’s agency office serving the tribal group to which the potential student belongs.