OPA

The Bureau of Indian Affairs jurisdiction for ten Alaskan villages has been transferred from one Bureau agency to another so that the areas served by the agencies will more closely correspond to those of Regional Corporations established under the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act, Marvin L Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, announced today.

The Bureau's jurisdiction for nine villages --Anvik, Grayling, Shageluk, Holy Cross, McGrath, Nikolai, Medfra, Telida, Takotna --will be transferred from the Bethel Agency to the Fairbanks Agency. The jurisdiction for Mentasta will be transferred from the Fairbanks Agency Each Agency reports to the Juneau Area Office to the Anchorage Agency.

"The transfer will simplify administration and improve services to the villages, “ Franklin indicated, in announcing the change.

Each of the villages has submitted a resolution asking that the only two of the villages --Grayling and Shageluk transfer take place. -have Bureau of Indian Affairs day schools.

Cam1issioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the awarding of two contracts accounting to nearly $9 million in Federal money for Bureau of Indian Affairs day schools at Acomita, New Mexico, and Wanblee, South Dakota.

"These two schools, when completed, will serve a need that has existed for many years," Thompson said.

About 500 children of kindergarten through high school age in Wanblee have been attending class in rented buildings within the town in mobile units, and in old rammed-earth buildings. They are now slated to get a $5,121,600 building that will be of frame construction with brick veneer and have 95,518 square feet of floor area.

Acoma Pueblo has had an elementary school serving about 200 children in kindergarten through sixth grade. Its new $3,563,869 school is expected to enroll about 400 children and serve as a center of Community life as well as a modern educational facility. The building will be of concrete block construction and have 87,945 feet of floor space. It will have a flat roof and blend architecturally with the traditional Pueblo.

“American Indian children have unique learning needs,” Commissioner Thompson said. “They need school facilities that take this into account and that enable Indian children to bridge tile Indian and non-Indian worlds.”

In each instance, a planning committee made up of local citizens and education specialists from the bureau of Indian Affairs was formed. It developed a pr

Each school will include a new gymnasium and the school at Wanblee will have a swimming pool.

Successful bidder for the Wanblee School is R&S Construction Co., Rapid City, South Dakota. Successful bidder for the Acoma School is Lembke Construction Co., Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Indian Education for Health Committee of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare will meet July 19 and 20 between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. in the Indian Health Area conference room, 388 Old Post Office and Court House Building, Oklahoma City, Okla., Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs announced today.

"The meeting is to continue to develop ways and means of coordinating and improving education and health programs for Indians throughout the United States, Franklin indicated.

The proposed agenda includes presentations by representatives of organizations interested in Indian education and health programs. The meeting is open to the public.

Assistant Attorney General J. Stanley Pottinger announced today the creation of an Office of Indian Rights within the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

Carl Stoiber, senior trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division and head of the special task force on Indian rights, has been named Director of the new Office. R. Dennis Ickes will serve as Deputy Director.

Mr. Pottinger, head of the Civil Rights Division, said, “The Department of Justice has a special statutory mandate to protect the civil rights of American Indian citizens, and, therefore, the Office of Indian Rights will have both a litigative and coordinative function to carry out this mandate. “

Mr. Pottinger said the new Indian Rights Section is amount growth of a special Division task force that has been actively engaged in studying the legal problems of Native American Indians since last January.

Mr. Pottinger said after a careful review of this task force's findings, he recommended to Attorney General Elliott L. Richardson the need to establish a permanent Office of Indian Rights.

The Office of Indian Rights will have the responsibility of enforcing federal statutes regarding the civil rights of American Indians, primarily Title II of the 1968 Civil Rights Act, commonly known as the lndian Bill of Rights,

Under this Title, individual Indian citizens are protected from violations of Constitutional rights by their own tribal council.

The Office of Indian Rights will also have the responsibility of conducting litigation in appropriate cases and recommending intervention or friend of the court participation. The new section also will coordinate Civil Rights Division activities regarding Indians.

Mr. Pottinger said he eventually hopes the office will have six attorneys and appropriate support personnel.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs ship North Star III sidled up to craggy Little Diomede in the Bering Strait between Siberia and Alaska last month and the, skilled crew worked for 43 straight hours --helped by the fact that there are now only about four hours of darkness a day on the tiny island to upload more than 400 tons of building material under conditions that would have challenged the Navy Seabees.

The material is now being assembled so that nineteen Eskimo families will light their seal oil lamps in snug new homes when the daylight there narrows to a few hours in the- Artic winter, Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, announced today.

This is a unique building project so difficult to get underway that many said it couldn't be done," Franklin pointed out.

Eskimos on a sister island to Little Diomede --about three miles away that were a part of Russia --were moved off by the Soviet government some time ago. But the United States Eskimos told Bureau of Indian Affairs officials that they wished to remain on their island. The housing, however, was as dilapidated as to approximate packing cases in poor repair. Could something be done about it, they asked the Bureau.

Little Diomede is about a mile and a half long and perhaps three quarters of a mile wide. It is entirely granite rock that slopes in a 45 degree angle to the ocean's surface.

The Eskimos said they wanted improved housing, but they still wanted to live in it in an Eskimo way. So the Bureau of Indian Affairs housing people went to work to give them a one-room dwelling, open-space, with p1'ovisions for a bathroom. The design takes into account that seal oil will be used for both fuel and light, again at the request of the future inhabitants.

When the North Star III was at anchor alongside Little Diomede, the stevedores unloaded polyurethane panels that have a core sandwiched by two plastic walls. These have the high insulating ability needed to stave off the Arctic cold. They are to be the basic building material for the new houses.

They also unloaded lumber for piers and pilings, since there is no wood on the island. Wood is set on top of the solid boulders that are the island, as the foundations for the new Eskimo houses. Some houses have a corner or side on pilings ten to 15 feet high because of the severe slope.

Then they also unloaded cable -- since lengths of it, from three to 6,000 feet: will help keep the houses in place on their rocky perches.

Materials for water and waste disposal that were supplied by the Indian Health Service of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare also came off the North Star III in the hazardous landing operation,

Eighteen Eskimo men, the entire labor force of Little Diomede, are now building the homes that will shelter nearly 100 under a Bureau Housing Improvement Program. (HIP). The cost of each unit will be $16, 500.

Two technical people that represent the supplier of the basic building material are instructing them, and the housing officer of the Nome office of the Bureau of Indian .Affairs acts as the construction superintendent.

These non-Eskimos will leave Little Diomede via Umiat -- the walrus skin boat of the island inhabitants -- when their work is done. The North Star III can reach the island only a few months of the year.

Then the Eskimos will resume their daily activities -- hunting walrus, seal, and duck eggs on their island and on an uninhabited neighboring is land, and carving ivory --- their only source of cash income. They will frequent their handful of public buildings -- school, church, store, public health center, and armory -- and perhaps hark back to the day when each person on the island got a new home.

American Indians who work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., are offering three multi-colored travel posters for sale as unusual Christmas gifts.

The posters, designed by American Indian art students, are based on the theme, "Discover America with the First Americans," an invitation to visit Indian reservations at vacation time.

The posters sell for $1.75 each with all proceeds going directly into college scholarships for Indian youngsters

Included among the subjects are a classic Kachina figure; a black and white rendition of an Indian on a horse against a brilliant yellow and orange background; and a psychedelic design

Creators of the posters were Delbert Honanie, a Hopi; Joe Powskey, Hualapai-Hopi; and Ben Martinez, Navajo

The general public may order the posters from the American Indian Society, of Washington, 519 5th Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003. Add 35 cents to cover postage and handling for one poster, 50 cents for all three.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced that on the basis of a vote count made on November 6, a Thirteenth Regional Corporation will not be established for Non-Resident Alaska Natives.

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act provides that if a majority of all eligible non-resident Alaska Natives, 18 years of age or older, voted for the establishment of a Thirteenth Regional Corporation the Secretary would establish that corporation. The necessary majority was not obtained.

A tabulation made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs' data center in Albuquerque, N.M., on November 6 indicates that of the 5,774 Natives eligible to vote for a 13th region, only 2,375 elected to be so enrolled.

In telegrams sent today to the 12 regional corporations and to representatives of Native associations outside of Alaska, Under Secretary John C. Whitaker said: IIA final tabulation will be made on or about November 30 to include additional applications now on appeal or subject to appeal, but there does not appear to be a sufficient number of such applications to obtain the majority necessary for establishment of a thirteenth region.

"Therefore, and unless a contrary result is indicated by such final tabulation, all those who elected to be enrolled in a thirteenth region, if established, and the dependent members of their households who are less than 18 years of age, will be enrolled in one of the twelve Alaska regions in accordance with the priorities provided in section 5 (b)."

The Native Claims Act of December 18, 1971, provides for settlement of awards totaling $962.5 million and 40 million acres of land. It is expected that the first payments under the Act after the completion of the enrollment in December will amount to about $130 million, which will go in the first instance to the Regional Corporations.

Interior Secretary Rogers C. B. Morton has assured representatives of the Indian tribe that the Interior Department is committed to finding “a practicable way'' to deliver which the tribe is entitled as recognized in a 1965 agreement, involving construction of the Central Utah Project.

In a statement released in Washington today, Secretary Morton said the Department intends to carry out terms of the water agreement "with all possible dispatch," and that he has ordered the Bureau of Reclamation to expedite its feasibility report on phases of the Central Utah Project.

The statement came after a meeting Monday in Washington between Secretary Morton, other Interior officials, and representatives of the Ute Tribe including Homey J. Secakuku, Tribal Chairman; Francis Wyasket, member of the Tribal Council and former Chairman, and John Boyden of Salt Lake City, attorney.

The Indians had requested Secretary Morton to assure them that their water rights would be protected during the various phases of construction of the Central Utah Project, a multi-unit diversion project to supply water to growing population centers in Utah.

"I have conferred with the representatives of the Ute Indian Tribe in Washington, D.C., today," Secretary Morton said after the meeting in his office. "I want to confirm that the Department of the Interior is fully committed to finding a practicable way to deliver to the Ute Indian Tribe the water to which it is entitled under the Winters Doctrine as recognized in the Indian Deferral Agreement of 1965. We are going forward with this program with all possible dispatch.

"Without intending to modify my previous announcement concerning the Central Utah Project, I have directed the Bureau of Reclamation to complete on an expedited basis the Uintah Unit feasibility report, which includes an analysis of the Uintah and White Rocks reservoirs. Further, we shall continue the investigations of the ultimate phase of the Central Utah Project."

The statement today followed an announcement by the Department on November 8 that the Bureau of Reclamation will soon call for bids for construction of the Currant Creek Dam and Reservoir, features of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project. Secretary Morton promised then that the Department would refine and resolve issues dealing with the streamflows in the Uintah Basin and irrigation of Ute Tribe lands.

The Ute Tribe entered into a four-party agreement in 1965 with the

Central Utah Conservancy District, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Under that agreement the Ute Indians agreed to the deferment of the use of a certain amount of Indian water in return for recognition of rights to that water. The deferment continues until 2005, when either the ultimate phase of the Central Utah Project will be completed and the deferred water replaced, or "equitable adjustment" will be made.

In resolution October 2, 1973, the Indians called upon the Secretary "to reaffirm the commitments of the United States, or to inform the Tribe as to how the United States could feasibly discharge its additional trust responsi­bility to assist the tribe in applying to beneficial use the water rights of the Tribe without the Central Utah Project as contemplated by said agreement."

This week's meeting was an outgrowth of the October 2 request and the November 8 Interior Department announcement.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson praised volunteer activity in behalf of Indian foster children April 2, as he bestowed the Indian Leadership Award of the Bureau of Indian Affairs upon an individual and a committee as part of National Action for Foster Children Week March 31 -April 6. The ceremony was held in the Department of the Interior Auditorium Washington, D.C.

"Indian Children --like all children --are the hope of their own communities,” Thompson said. The Bureau of Indian Affairs provides for the care of many Indian children in foster homes, in specialized institutions, and in its own boarding schools. This gives us a special interest in enlightened work with the special problems of children who are away from their own families over long periods of time."

The awards went to the Cherokee Action for Foster Children Committee, of the Eastern Band of Cherokees of North Carolina, and to Mrs. James M. (Marie) Cox of the Comanche Tribe, Oklahoma.

The Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina is one of six demonstration sites in the Nation for volunteer effort concerning foster children. The committee financed, produced, wrote, and acted in the film “Foster Care Among the Cherokees.”

Mrs. Cox is chairman of the National Action for Foster Children Committee which developed a bill of rights for foster children. She was also volunteer director of the first Bureau-wide study by Indian volunteers of the Bureau's programs for the care of children away from their parents that have resulted in recommendations for the improvement of these programs.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of George A. Laverdure, 58, enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Indian Tribe, to the post of Superintendent of the Crow Agency, Mont., of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He has been serving in that post in an acting capacity since June 1973. His appointment was effective March 31.

Anson Baker, former Crow Agency Superintendent, has been transferred to the Fort Berthold Agency, New Town, N. Dak., as Superintendent.

Laverdure was graduated from Haskell Institute, now Haskell Indian Junior College, Lawrence, Kansas in 1939.

He received a superior performance award from the Department of the Interior in 1957 and again in 1964. The 1957 award was for his work in furthering the Aberdeen Area (S.Dak.) credit program. The 1964 award was for administrative and coordinative efforts in implementation of the BIA housing program in the Billings, Mont., Area.

Laverdure began his BIA service in 1939 with the Winnebago Agency in Nebraska. He remained there until 1951 when he became a farm agent --first with the Standing Rock Agency, S. Dak., and then with the Cheyenne River Agency, S. Dak. He became Assistant Area Credit Officer in the Aberdeen Area Office in 1954 and the Area Credit Officer of the Billings Area Office in 1959.

He was acting Superintendent of the Northern Cheyenne Agency, Lame Deer, Mont., from June 1971 to August 1971 and has been acting Superintendent of the Crow Agency since June 1973.

He served in the U.S Navy 3 years --completed training at the Armed Forces Institute in 1944.

Laverdure's wife, Lillian, is a Winnebago. They have one son, Doyle, Field Representative in the Indian program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Minneapolis, Minn.