OPA

The Department of the Interior today announced the selection of Clyde W. Hobbs, superintendent of the Crow Indian Agency in Montana for the past four years, to head the Wind River Agency, Fort Washakie, Wyoming, effective June 4.

He succeeds Arthur N. Arnston who has been superintendent at Wind River since 1954 and is being assigned to complete the wind-up of Indian Bureau responsibilities on the Catawba Reservation in South Carolina as provided by a 1959 law.

A native of Schaberg, Arkansas in 1917, Hobbs grew up on a farm in Oklahoma and graduated from Oklahoma A &M College with a degree in agronomy in 1942. After four years of military service in World War II, which brought him to the rank of captain, he joined the Indian Bureau as a soil conservationist at Anadarko, Okla., in 1946 and was transferred later that same year to Eufaula, Okla. In 1948 he moved to the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana and six years later was promoted to soil conservationist in the Billings area office. He was named superintendent of the Crow Agency in early 1957.

A new superintendent at Crow has not yet been named.

Award of four contracts totaling $269,949.50 for surfacing work on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservation roads in South Dakota was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Three of the contracts are for construction of crushed-gravel base course with bituminous surface treatment on Pine Ridge Reservation arterial roads extending from Sharps easterly 15.4 miles to Kyle, from Kyle northeasterly 18.4 miles via Potato Creek to the Interior-Allen Road, and 9.5 miles of road from Wanblee easterly to State Highway 73. The fourth contract is for construction of a· bituminous seal coat on 7.2 miles of paved road running northeasterly from Rosebud to U. S. Highway 18 on the Rosebud Reservation. The contracts provide for improvement of reservation roads which serve for inter-community travel, school bus and mail routes, and as farm-to-market outlet roads.

Summit Construction Company of Rapid City, South Dakota was the successful bidder on the Sharps-Kyle and Wanblee East road projects with bids in the amounts of $93,835 and $68,190 respectively. Six bids were received on each of these projects ranging to a high of $130,372.50 on the Sharps-Kyle Road and $87,275 on the Wanblee East Road.

J. H. Beckman Construction Company of Sioux Falls, South Dakota submitted the low bid on the Kyle-Potato Creek project in the amount of $100,158.50. Six bids ranging to $133,252 were received on this project. J. H. Beckman Construction Company was also the low bidder on the Rosebud to U. S. Highway 18 project on which four bids were received ranging from $7,766 to $16,299.70.

HHFA-OA-No. 61-240

(00 2-4433)

Housing Administrator Robert C. Weaver today announced approval of a loan of $166,600 to build a housing-for-the-elderly project in the middle of the 2,000,000-acre Pine Ridge Indian reservation in southwest South Dakota.

The project was initiated by leaders of the Oglala-Sioux Tribe of Indians most of whose 12,000 members live on the reservation.

The sponsoring organization, the Pine Ridge Settlement House, is composed of both Indians and white men and is both non-denominational and non-racial. Housing in the group will be open to persons 62 years of age and over and will not be limited to members of the sponsoring group. However, it is expected that most of them will be members of the Tribe since they constitute the greater part of the population in, the area to be served by the home.

The project will be called the Felix S. Cohen Memorial Home in tribute to the former Associate Solicitor of the Interior Department, who later served until his death as attorney for the Oglala-Sioux Tribe.

The home will consist of a one-story rectangular building which will contain 23 living units to accommodate 38 persons, a central dining room, and lounge and recreation rooms. It will be located across the highway from the Pine Ridge Indian Hospital, which is operated by the U.S. Public Health service.

A monthly charge of about $75 per person will be made, including room, board, utilities, laundry, and social and recreational activities.

The sponsoring organization consists of a seven-man board, as follows: Father John Bryde of the Holy Rosary Mission, Chairman; Johnson Holy Rock; president of the Oglala-Sioux Tribe, Vice-Chairman; Alfreda Janis, Tribe member, secretary; Alvin Hemingway, filling station owner, Treasurer; and Board members: Moses Two Bulls, former Chief Judge of the Oglala-Sioux Tribe; Lawrence Redwing;, restaurant owner; and Ira L. Wood, farmer.

Secretary of the Interior, Stewart L. Udall announced his support today of legislation that would make it possible to revive and strengthen the program of Federal loans to Indian tribes to help finance job-creating enterprises and greater development of human and natural resources on Indian reservations.

The Secretary's position was set forth in a favorable report on S. 1540, a bill that would remove the present $10 million legal limit on appropriations for the revolving loan fund of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"Removal of the limitation," Secretary Udall said, “would be most desirable. It would permit the Department to present and the Congress to consider appropriation requests for the revolving loan fund not in terms of an arbitrary dollar limit but on the basis of the actual justifiable needs that the Indians have for financing which they cannot obtain from other sources. We believe there are many opportunities for greater economic development and resources development on Indian reservations that are being held in abeyance today for lack of adequate financing.”

The repayment record of Indians on loans from the revolving fund, Secretary Udall added, has been excellent. As of last June 30, a total of $34,478,860 had been loaned from the fund. Of the $25,619,973 due through that date, over 96 percent had been paid, only 2.25 percent was delinquent, about three-quarters of one percent had been cancelled and approximately half of one percent had been extended.

The revolving loan fund, authorized in 1934, is used chiefly for lending to Indian tribal groups unable to obtain the financing they need from customary sources principally because of the trust status of their land and the lack of adequate bankable security. Loans are made to the tribal groups for financing tribal enterprises and cooperative enterprises, to encourage industry and for relending to individual members.

Many types of tribal enterprises have been financed from the revolving fund over the years since 1934. They include farming and livestock enterprises, recreational developments such as motels, land acquisition and management enterprises, arts and crafts developments, salmon canneries and fishing enterprises, and Eskimo trading posts in Alaska.

In addition to the loans received from the revolving fund, Indian tribes also use funds of their own for financing enterprises and relending to individual members. On June 30, 1960, the tribes were using nearly $24 million of their own funds for these purposes in comparison with $10,572,318 in loans receivable on that date from the revolving credit fund.

During the same fiscal year Indian tribes and individual Indians received over $75 million of financing from customary sources such as banks and production credit associations.

Appointment of Leonard O. Lay, relocation specialist of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Minneapolis, Minn., as superintendent of the Bureau's Turtle Mountain Agency at Belcourt, North Dakota, effective July 9, was announced today by the Department of the Interior. He succeeds Herman P. Mittelholtz who was recently named superintendent of the Minnesota Indian Agency, Bemidji, Minn.

Born at Greentop, Mo., in 1911, Lay joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1952 as relocation officer at the Standing Rock Agency, Fort Yates, North Dakota. Three years later he moved to the comparable position at Turtle Mountain and in 1956 was promoted to his present post at the Bureau's Minneapolis area office. Before coming with the Bureau, he held a number of positions in South Dakota both in private business and with the State government which involved extensive contacts with Indian people.

Award of a $59,405.54 contract for the clearing and leveling of 240 acres of land and the construction of the main lateral and waste way to serve these lands on the Hogback Project of the Navajo Reservation near Shiprock, New Mexico, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

This construction work will bring under irrigation two new farm units. When completed, the project works will serve an ultimate area of 11,500 acres of land benefiting 500 Navajo Indian families.

The firm of Goodman and Sons of Farmington, New Mexico, was the successful bidder for the contract. Four higher bids, ranging from $60,794.20 to $97,977.50, were received.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has awarded the first negotiated contract for the supplying of equipment which had been earmarked for an area of substantial labor surplus, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.

The contract is for three motor graders which will be used by the Bureau's Branch of Roads in the Aberdeen, South Dakota and Phoenix, Arizona areas. It was awarded to The Galion Iron Works and Mfg. Co., Galion, Ohio, for the sum of $36,033.

The set-aside procedure was ordered by Secretary Udall as a means of assisting the economy of areas having a substantial labor surplus, in accordance with existing regulations which allow set-asides for negotiated awards to firms in depressed areas. The motor graders to be supplied by The Galion Iron Works and Mfg. Co. will come from Galion, Ohio.

The Galion Iron Works and Mfg. Co. had previously submitted a low bid of $36,033 for the advertised portion, and was awarded the contract for three motor graders for the Billings, Montana and Portland, Oregon areas. Under the procedures adopted, the unit prices on the negotiated and competitive contracts are the same.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced he has instructed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to examine into the rights of approximately 35 Indian groups in western Washington who have complained to him about asserted encroachments.

He took note of tribal apprehensions generated by Congressional proposals in past years for the termination of Federal protection and services for Indians, and the transfer of criminal and civil jurisdiction over Indian land to State and local governments.

Secretary Udall asked the Bureau to identify the Indians’ legal and treaty rights, and how they can be protected. Subject matters of the controversy include hunting and fishing rights, rights to tidelands, clarification of Indian title to various properties, resource development, and tribal government and law and order questions.

Beginning in late July, each of the Indian groups in the western portion of the State will be consulted.

The staff assigned to the study includes: Robert Holtz, Portland, Oregon, area director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs; James Officer, assistant to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs; Rex Quinn, the Bureau’s Tribal Relations Officer; William Benge, head of the Bureau's Branch of Law and Order; and Newton Edwards, staff assistant to Assistant Secretary John A. Carver, Jr.

Appointment of Martin P. Mangan, Alexandria, Va., as Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in charge of legislative work was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

In his new post, Mangan will have prime responsibility for planning and coordinating the legislative program and legislative recommendations of the Bureau.

Mangan, 40, has been with the central office of the Bureau in Washington, D.C., since 1951, and is assuming the duties of H. Rex Lee, recently appointed as Governor of American Samoa.

He joined the staff as an analyst in the Branch of Economic Development and two years later was appointed program officer in the Program Division. In 1957 he was promoted to chief of the program planning and coordination section in the Branch of Tribal Programs. Since February of this year, he has been on special and roving assignments for Acting Commissioner John O. Crow.

A native of Binghamton, N. Y., he was graduated from public schools there and held several industrial jobs in that city. He was awarded a State legislative scholarship in political science at the University of Wisconsin where, following World War II, combat service in the Marine Corps, he received his A.B. degree with honors in 1947. He also did graduate work at Harvard University.

In 1949, he was appointed to the staff of the War Claims Commission and served with that agency until he joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

A "new trail" for Indians leading to equal citizenship, maximum self-sufficiency, and full participation in American life was endorsed today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

Secretary Udall endorsed the "new trail" approach in announcing the completion of a 77-page report by a Task Force on Indian Affairs which he appointed earlier in February.

"Preparing the new trail will require the collaboration of the Indians, State and local governments, and the American people," Secretary Udall said.

"We plan to place emphasis on Indian development rather than on termination in the belief that this approach will win the cooperative response from our Indian citizens which is the keystone of a successful program," he said.

The Task Force report which Secretary Udall released today states that "placing greater emphasis on termination than on Indian development impairs Indian morale and produces a hostile or apathetic response which greatly limits the effectiveness of the Federal Indian program."

The report cites, however, the beneficial nature of Federal programs which treat Indians and other Americans the same, such as the Social Security Act, the Area Redevelopment Act, and Public Laws 815 and 874 of the 81st Congress, which provide Federal aid to public school districts in federally-impacted areas.

The Task Force report also urges that eligibility for special Federal service be withdrawn from "Indians with substantial incomes and superior educational experience, who are as competent as most non-Indians to look after their own affairs."

Calling attention to the serious shortage of employment opportunities for Indians, the report recommends development of Indian-owned resources, more vigorous efforts to attract industries to reservation areas, and an expanded program of vocational training and placement. It also calls for the creation of a special Reservation Development loan Fund and expansion of the present Revolving Loan Fund maintained by "The Bureau of Indian Affairs".

The Task Force notes that in some areas, reservation development is complicated by the fact that Indian land allotments have many owners who either cannot be located or will not agree on how the property is to be used. It recommends transferring these fractionated holdings to the tribe and permitting the latter to compensate the owners through some system of deferred payment. In cases where such lands can produce income through timber leasing, the Task Force recommends that the Secretary of the Interior seek authority from Congress to negotiate leases and distribute the proceeds among the Indian owners, without having first to obtain their consent.

The report emphasizes the need for securing the aid of Indian communities in connection with reservation development and comments that "Indians can retain their tribal identities and much of their culture while working toward a greater adjustment."

“lt is in our best interest to encourage them to do so," the report adds.

The Task Force asks the Federal Government to accelerate its negotiations with States and counties, and resort to the courts where necessary, to make certain that off-reservation Indians are accorded the same rights and privileges as other citizens of their areas. With respect to the complex problem of legal jurisdiction over reservation Indians, the Task Force recommends negotiation among the states, the Indians and the Federal Government to make certain that the interests of all are protected. It advocates piecemeal, rather than total, transfer of jurisdiction to the States and comments that such transfer might be effected immediately in such areas as juvenile affairs, institutional commitments and domestic relations.

The report urges the Bureau to work with the States and the tribes toward the end of bringing tribal law and order codes into conformity with those of the various States and counties in which reservations are located. However, it calls attention to the serious differences which exist between Indians and a number of States over such matters as water rights and hunting and fishing rights. These, the report says, must be adjudicated before a complete transfer of law and order responsibility is feasible.

Citing the continuing need for more classroom space for Indian children, the Task Force recommends that consideration be given to keeping schools in operation the year round. Also suggested is the use of school facilities for summertime programs which will help Indian youngsters make constructive use of their leisure time.

As a step toward transferring the responsibility for Indian education to local school districts, the report urges the renovation of present buildings, the construction of new school plants, and improvements in reservation roads so that children can be bussed to school, rather than housed in dormitories. "The Bureau must make a greater effort to involve Indian parents in school planning,” the report continues, “and wherever parent-teacher groups have not been formed, they should be established as rapidly as possible."

The Task Force places great emphasis on the public relations responsibilities of the Bureau. These are described as crucial for informing the general public of the role it must play in Indian development. Field personnel of the Bureau are encouraged to create opportunities for discussing their programs with non-Indians in .the areas where they work, and the Bureau Information Office is urged to build up a reservoir of materials which depict "the modern Indian, the history and present status of his problems, and the programs which the Federal Government and other agencies have instituted in his behalf."

The Department is asked to consider requesting Congress for a statute authorizing the creation of an Advisory Board on Indian Affairs to include persons conversant with Indian problems and interested in finding solutions for them. Members of the board would be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior and would serve him directly.

Included in the Task Force report are a number of suggestions for the reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Among these, is listed the need for establishing a Division of Economic Development, which would be concerned with resource surveys, tribal enterprises, attracting industry to Indian country, and the promotion of tourism on Indian reservations. Also recommended is the maximum delegation of authority from Washington to the area offices and the superintendencies.

The Task Force urges the Bureau of Indian Affairs to work with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to develop eligibility criteria which will be consistent for the programs of both agencies. It suggests that those Indians who can afford to pay for health services be required to do so, and calls upon the Secretary of the Interior to lend his support to H.E.W.'s request for an increased appropriation to provide water and sewage disposal systems on Indian reservations.

The Chairman of the Indian Affairs Task Force is W. W. Keeler of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, who is the Executive Vice-President of the Phillips Petroleum Company and Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Other members are Philleo Nash, former Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin; William Zimmerman, Jr., former Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs; and James E. Officer, University of Arizona anthropologist. Acting Commissioner John O. Crow consulted with the Task Force and accompanied it on field trips.

The group began its study in late February. In the succeeding months, it traveled throughout Indian country conferring with tribal leaders, and held discussions in Washington with representatives of Indian organizations, personnel from the Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and other Government agencies, and with members of Congress.