OPA

A series of public hearings on the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 have been scheduled throughout the United States in early March, Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard announced today.

The hearings will be conducted by the National American Indian Court Judges Association and the National Congress of American Indians, under contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The purpose of the hearings is to receive comments and views on draft regulations to implement provisions of the Act. Copies of the draft regulations were sent by Gerard to all tribal chairmen, with a note inviting them and members of their tribes to participi3.te in the hearings.

For further information about the hearings contact: Nancy Gale, NAICJA, 1000 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 (202-296-0685) or Marjorie Montgomery, NCAI, 1430 K Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 (202347-9520).

The hearings are scheduled as follows: March 1 -Indian School Auditorium, Phoenix, Arizona, 10: AM to 8: PM; March 5 -State Bank and Trust Building, 225 Franklin Street -, Forum Room -5th Floor, Boston, Massachusetts 9: AM to 7: PM; Hilton Airport Motel, 17620 Pacific Highway South, Seattle, Washington, 10: AM to 8: PM; and Window Rock Recreational Hall, Window Rock, Arizona 10: AM to 8: PM.

March 5 and 6 -William Mitchell College of Law, 875 Summit Avenue Auditorium Room Ill, St. Paul, Minnesota, 9: AM to 7: PM; March 6 -Eastern Montane. College, Billings, Montana 10:AM to 8 PM; March 7 -City Hall, 68 Mitchell Street S.W., Atlanta, Georgia, 9: AM to 7: PM.; Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th Street NW, Albuquerque, N.M., 9: AM to 7: PM; Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, Juneau, Alaska, 10: P.M to 8: PM; South Oklahoma City Junior College, 7777 South May Avenue, Room lG5" Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 8:30 AM to 7. PM.

March 8 -Sierra Inn, 2600 Auburn Boulevard, Sacramento, California, 2: PM to 8 PM; and March 9 -Sierra Inn, 2600 Auburn Boulevard, Sacramento California, 8: AM to 12 Noon.

New proposed regulations governing the preparation of a Yurok Indian voting list are being published in the Federal Register, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

The establishment of qualifications and standards for such a voting list is the first step toward the election of an interim governing committee and subsequent organization of the Yurok Tribe.

Proposed criteria were originally published December 28, 1918. Comments received in response to this publication, however indicated the need for further explanations about the use of the voting list and other modifications.

The Federal Register notice states that the qualifications here being considered are not standards for membership in the Yurok Tribe… such (tribal) membership, instead, will depend upon meeting the membership criteria set out on a duly adopted and approved Yurok tribal constitution."

The notice also describes as a "misunderstanding" any interpretation of the efforts to help organize a tribal government for the Yuroks as interference in the court case entitled Short. Et al. v. United States.

Written comments on the proposed regulations should be submitted within 30 days of publication to the Director of Indian Services. Bureau of Indian Affairs, 19th and G Streets, N.W., Washington, D"C. 20240.

Several public meetings for discussion of the regulft1ons will be scheduled on the Hoopa Valley Reservation and vicinity. Notices of these meetings will be published in local media and posted in public places at least five days before the meetings.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has scheduled public hearings on proposed regulations dealing with the acquisition of trust land, for Indians. Notice of the hearings is being published in the Federal Register.

The proposed regulations were published in the Federal Register July 26, 1978 for review and comment. A number of persons and organizations requested that hearings be held. They expressed concern about the potential removal of land from tax rolls and jurisdictional problems which might arise on lands placed in trust status for Indians.

Hearings are to be held in Seattle, Wash., on March 28; in Minneapolis, Minn., and Oklahoma City, Okla., on April 3; Spokane, Wash., April 4; Albuquerque, New Mex., and Pierre, So. Dak, April 5; and Billings, Mont., on April 11.

Persons desiring to make a statement at any of title hearings should give prior notice to be placed on the agenda.

For additional information contact Louis White, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 19th and E Sts., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240 (202-343-7574).

For information about time and location of hearings and scheduling of speakers contact the following:

Seattle, Washington -Jack Glasgow, Realty Specialist, Portland Area Office, BIA, P.O. Box 3765, Portland, Ore. 917208 Telephone (503) 251-6714

Oklahoma City, Okla. -William Pruner, Realty Officer, Shawnee Agency, BIA, Federal Building, Shawnee, Okla. 74801 Telephone: (405) 273-0317

Spokane, Wash. Jack Glasgow, Realty Specialist, Portland Area Office, BIA, P.O. Box 9765, Portland, Ore. 97208 Telephone: (503) 251-6714

Pierre, So. Dak. Joseph Brewer, Sr., Realty Officer, Aberdeen Area Office, BIA, 115 4th Avenue, S.E., Aberdeen, S.D. 57401 Telephone: (605) 225-0250 Ext. 393

Albuquerque, N.M. - Raymond W. Jackson, Realty Officer, Phoenix Area Office, BIA, P.O. Box 7007, Phoenix, Ariz. Telephone: (602) 261-4195

Billings, Mont. - Dorothy Vail, Realty Specialist, Billings, Area Office, BIA, 316 N. 26th St., Billings;, Mont. 59101 Telephone: (406) 657-6301

A plan for the distribution and use, of more than $9 million awarded by the Indian Claims Commission to the Lake Superior and Mississippi Bands of Chippewa Indians fs being published in the Federal Register, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today. The award is additional compensation for land in Wisconsin and Minnesota ceded by the Indians in 1837 and 1847.

According to the plan, approved by Congress and made effective February 1, Indians from 14 reservation groups in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan will share in the award. They are descendants of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Chippewas involved in the 1837 and 1847 treaties.

Division of the award among the various beneficiary groups will be based on a historic population formula, using census and annuity rolls for the period 1937 to 1941.

The reservation groups that have adopted plans for the use of their shares will distribute 80 percent to individuals on a per capita basis. The remaining 20 percent will be invested and programmed for tribal and community purposes.

The shares of those groups that have not adopted a utilization plan will be held and invested by the Secretary of the Interior until proposals are adopted.

Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard has announced that public hearings will be held at seven locations between March 28 and April 13 on proposed formulas for distributing Johnson-O'Malley Act funding to schools serving Indian students.

Six alternative proposed formulas were published in the Federal Register March 9 for review and comment. The formulas will be revised according to comments received by May 1 and submitted to a vote of the tribes. The formula chosen by the tribal vote will be published as a final rule.

The 1978 Education Amendments Act (P.L. 95-561) requires that the distribution formula be established as a regulation in this manner.

The Johnson-O'Malley funds are used to provide supplemental programs for Indian students in public schools and other non-Federal education programs. In fiscal year 1979 the appropriation for this purpose, serving approximately 171,000 students, was $31,675 1 000.

The current distribution formula is based on the number of eligible Indian students for whom funds are sought, multiplied by a national average per-pupil expenditure and a weighting factor which is intended to take into account the differences in education costs among the states.

The public hearings will be held in Anchorage, Alaska, March 28-29; Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 29; Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 6-7; Sulphur, Oklahoma, April 9-10; Fort Hall, Idaho, April 6-7; San Diego, California, April 9-10; and Nashville, Tennessee, April 12-13.

For additional information contact Judith Zundel, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior; 18th and C Streets, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240 (202 343-4576).

Written comments on the proposed formulas should be sent to the above address for the attention of Deputy Assistant Secretary Rick Lavis.

The Interior Department today published the 1979 regulations for fishery conservation on parts of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers in Northern California. The plan includes a ban on Indian commercial fishing on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, effective April 1, 1979. Non-Indian sale of fish taken from the Klamath River is already prohibited by State law.

The regulations allow for Indian subsistence and ceremonial fishing, while specifically disallowing commercial fishing. Biological data indicates that the 1979 plan will result in a significant harvest reduction, in comparison to the 1978 fishing seasons when commercial fishing was authorized.

Drift-net fishing below the Highway 101 Bridge is also disallowed because this method results in the greatest number of fish being caught by the smallest number of fishers. Subsistence fishing with set nets, as well as with drift nets above the Bridge, is authorized seven days per week, with the limitation that only two nets of a combined 100-feet length may be used. Hook-and-line and dip-net fishing are also allowed. Criminal penalties for violations of the regulations are also established, including the: optional use of non-compensatory enhancement work on the Reservation. Prosecutions will occur in the Court of Indian Offenses for the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation.

Under normal situations, Indian tribes regulate their own fishing on their reservations. On the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, however, this has not been possible because the two Tribes have not completed the organization process which is prerequisite to successful self-regulation, resource protection and fishery management. The Hoopa and Yurok Indians of the Reservation are continuing their efforts with Department representatives to overcome this problem. The majority of the Indian people share the Federal and State concern for the current fish-run crisis. The Department has actively encouraged Indian attempts to organize so that the two Tribes can implement a Reservation-wide management system and assume responsibility for future fishing regulations.

In developing the regulations, Department officials met with Indians of the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation to address commercial fishing and other resource issues surrounding this year's fishing seasons. Two public hearings were held and many written comments were received on the regulations, which were proposed on February 14, 1979. Many of the new provisions were adopted on the recommendation of Indians participating in the meetings held cover the past three months.

Acting Secretary of the Interior Elmer F. Bennett today asked Secretary of Defense Neil F. McElroy to help speed Army payments of money to Indians for land which the Federal Government took for reservoir projects.

The money is owed to three Indian groups in North Dakota and South Dakota. It totals $7,623,888 for 73,500 acres of land taken for two different projects.

One of the tribes involved is the Standing Rock Sioux whose reservation lies partly in South Dakota, partly in North Dakota. Under a law passed last September nearly 56,000 acres of land belonging to the tribe and to individual members was taken by the Government, exclusive of mineral rights, for the Oahe Dam and Reservoir Project. By terms of the law, the tribe and the individual Indian landowners are entitled to a total of $5,251,553. This includes $1,952,040 for the appraised value of the lands actually taken and $3,299,513 in settlement of all claims, rights and demands of the tribe and individuals from the taking. Up to $726,546 of the $3,299,513 will be available to cover the costs of relocating about 175 Indian families who must be moved from the taking area

In addition, Congress has authorized the use of $6,960,000 for general social and economic improvement of the tribe and its members. This money, however, has not yet been appropriated by the Congress. When appropriated it will be provided by the Department of the Interior and is not involved in the request made of the Department of Defense.

The two other tribes concerned are the Crow Creek and Lower Brule Sioux groups of South Dakota. Their lands were taken over three years ago for the Fort Randall Dam and Reservoir Project. However, the rate of compensation was established by Congress just last September.

The Crow Creek group and its members gave up about 9,500 acres and payment was fixed at $1,395,812 in settlement of all claims. Of this amount, almost $400,000 has already been deposited to the credit of the tribe in the United States Treasury and the balance is still due.

In the case of Lower Brule, the taking involved nearly 8,000 acres and the compensation was established at $976,523. The amount still due is $705,912.

In letters to Secretary McElroy, Acting Secretary Bennett pointed out that requests for payment to all three of the tribes were sent to the Corps of Engineers in September and October.

“Since that time," he continued, "we have been informally advised by representatives of the Corps of Engineers that money is not presently available” in funds provided for the two reservoir projects to make the payments to the tribal groups and their individual members.

In order to deal properly with the tribes and the affected individual Indian landowners, Acting Secretary Bennett said, it would seem to be in the best interests of the Government to make a re-analysis of the funds for the purpose of disposing of these obligations “as promptly as possible.”

The Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior today confirmed its agreement with leaders of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota on a major program of tribal land consolidation.

The program was announced by the tribal leaders in Washington on December 5.

To help finance the operation, the Bureau will extend the tribe a loan of $500,000 from its revolving loan fund.

Commissioner Glenn L. Emmons said that an unusually large loan is being made in this case for four main reasons. One is because the program developed by the Rosebud leaders is one of the soundest of its kind presented by any tribal organization in recent years. Secondly, the tribe has shown unusual managerial ability over the past four years. Thirdly, the prospects of repayment are excellent. Finally, the consolidation program will eventually decrease the Bureau's cost of administering trust lands on the reservation.

“The action we have taken on this tribally developed program," Mr. Emmons said, "should help to disprove unfounded statements recently circulated, that the B1~eau is seeking to break up tribal groups and separate them from their land resources.

"It has been our consistent purpose right along to help the tribes in making the most constructive and beneficial use of their available resources. As trustees, however, we have a responsibility to safeguard the tribes against unwise or rash plans that have little or no prospect of success. We are delighted to cooperate fully with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe on this particular program.”

A copy of the Tribe's press release describing the new land consolidation program is attached.

Leaders of the Rosebud Sioux Indian Tribe of South Dakota today announced that they have reached agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs on a major program of land consolidation which will more than double the possibilities for Indian families to make a living from livestock operations on the reservation.

The goal of the plan is to provide the resources so that 365 Indian families can earn a livelihood directly from the reservation lands. Only 141 are engaged in the cattle business on the reservation today.

In announcing the plan, Robert Burnette, President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council, called it "the culmination of four years of "careful tribal planning and hard work. II He emphasized the cooperation the tribal group has received throughout from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Under the new program the tribal organization will work toward a consolidation of its lands on the reservation. Today these holdings total 337,000 acres. In many cases, however, they are separated and broken apart by other holdings in a way that severely limits their usefulness.

To correct this, the tribe will take two major steps. It will buy up about 26,500 acres owned by individual Indians. It will also acquire full tile to an additional 800 tracts totaling about 117,000 acres in which it now has merely a fractional interest. Individual Indians hold most of the ownership of these lands.

To start the program off, the tribe is receiving a $500,000 loan from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In addition, it is hoping to realize about $800,000 by selling scattered tribal tracts, totaling about 16,000 acres, in the eastern part of the reservation Where comparatively few of the Indians live and consolidations are not feasible.

Congressional authorization is necessary before Indian tribal trust land can be sold. The tribal leaders are consulting with their members to get their views on asking next Congress for legislation authorizing sale of the 16,000 acres of tribal land in trust. Such legislation would reduce the over-all boundaries of the reservation and take it completely out of three South Dakota counties - Tripp, Gregory and Lyman. The remaining reservation lands would be in Mellette and Todd counties.

Apart from the land transactions, the tribal organization also plans to make cattle available to its individual members on a loan basis. An individual donor has agreed to supply the tribe with 200 head as a starter. Indications are that, if the program works out, additional cattle will be contributed.

"We realize,” Tribal President Burnette said, "that the lands of the Rosebud reservation cannot provide a decent living for all of the 5,500 people who now live there. However, we believe that this new program will enable us to make the fullest and most beneficial possible use of the resources that we have.

"About 50 percent of our population is under 2l years of age and another 20 percent is over 65. We are aiming primarily at the remaining 30 percent who are in the productive working age bracket.

“Our purpose is not to buy up lands so that they can be leased to non-Indians. In fact, many of the tracts we intend to buy are being leased today and are yielding only a few dollars a year of rental income for the owners. If properly consolidated and utilized the same lands can produce a decent livelihood for additional Indian families.

"For those who are not interested in actually operating the lands or not sufficiently skilled, we are hoping to provide employment in other ways. For one thing, we are planning to enlarge the irrigation projects on the reservation and this would provide wage work for many of our people. For another, we are hoping to attract, some industries into the general area.

“The long-range goal we have in mind is not only economic but educational. We expect that this new program will make it possible for many more of the Rosebud Sioux families to keep their children in school through the high-school level. Our experience has been that the young people who graduate from high school more often than not prefer to seek a living away from the reservation. So the net effect over a period of years should be to reduce the population on the reservation to a level which the lands can actually support.

"We have demonstrated over the past four years that the present tribal council can operate successfully a program of this type. During this period the income of the tribe from present resources has been steadily increased from $63,000 in 1954 to $229,000 in the most recent fiscal year. While this record would not have been possible without the substantial help we have received from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, we are deeply gratified at the confidence the Bureau has now shown in us by agreeing to cooperate on our new land consolidation program. We regard it as a major step forward for the Rosebud Sioux people.”

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus today applauded the decision announced March 21 by the State of Utah and the Ute Indian Tribe to return to the conference table to resolve the dispute which threatens the Central Utah Project.

"Both the State and the Tribe have too much at stake in the Central Utah Project to risk unwarranted delays in the Project at this stage," Secretary Andrus said, "Governor Matheson and the Ute Indian people are to be commended for the step they have taken."

Governor Scott M. Matheson and Ute Tribal Chairwoman Rudy Black jointly announced March 21 that negotiations will resume formally in Salt Lake City on March 28, centering on water, hunting and fishing rights, and other jurisdictional matters. The negotiations will be conducted by the Ad Hoc Legislative Committee, chaired by State Senator Glade M. Sowards.

"All parties have invested much time-and effort in the negotiations on Indian rights and claims and few areas of disagreement remain," Andrus said. "I believe the remaining areas of difference on a mutual consent agreement on Indian water, hunting and fishing, and tax claims can now be resolved by a good faith effort around the conference table.

"We've invested too much in the Project - Indians and non-Indians alike--to risk killing it now on basis of disagreements which are not directly connected Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest J. Gerard joined Secretary

Andrus in wishing the parties success in their negotiations. "By their agreement to renew frank and serious discussions, the State and the Tribe have demonstrated their commitment to finding a lasting solution to their longstanding problems, as well as their far-sighted thinking for the future of all the people of Utah and the Ute Indian Tribe."

The Ute Indian Tribe announced March 9 that, with the breakdown of negotiations, it would seriously consider terminating Ute participation in the Central Utah Project and seeking an immediate halt in funding for the Project.

The complex, multipurpose Central Utah Project First Phase consists of the completed Vernal Unit, the Bonneville and Jensen Units now under construction, and the Uintah and Upalco Units in the advanced planning stage. The Federal investment up to last September 30 was $202. 7 million and the estimated total cost of the authorized units when completed is over $1 billion. The Project for years has been referred to as "the key to development of Utah's resources for the next 100 years." It will provide for the beneficial use of most of Utah's remain undeveloped share of Colorado River water. with the Project itself."

Anson A. Baker, an enrolled member of the Mandan-Hidatsa Tribe, has been appointed Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Billings, Montana Area Office, Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Forrest J. Gerard announced today. The appointment was effective April 8, 1979.

Baker has been Superintendent of the Blackfeet Agency at Browning, Montana since 1976.

The Billings Area includes the seven reservations in Montana and the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. James Canan, who was the Billings Director since 1962, is now Field Project Manager for the BIA's Management Improvement Project.

Baker, 51, has also served as the Superintendents at the Fort Peck, Crow Agencies in Montana and the Fort Berthold Agency in North Dakota.

He began his career with BIA in 1951 as a property and supply clerk in the Aberdeen, South Dakota, Area Office. He later worked at the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Agencies in South Dakota and the Fort Belknap Agency in Montana. His first assignment as an agency superintendent was in 1967.