OPA

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton today announced he has ordered a thorough reexamination of the Department 1s favorable report on S. 332, a bill to validate existing land titles and liberalize future land sales on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana.

He directed Assistant Secretary Roger Ernst to proceed immediately with the review. Assistant Secretary Ernst supervises the Indian Bureau and three other bureaus in the Department.

Secretary Seaton said the review is needed, "in light of apparent inconsistencies between the department’s report on the currently pending legislation” and testimony at the House Indian Affairs Subcommittee's hearings October 18 and 19 at the Crow Agency in Montana.

He said he understood the Department’s information was furnished by the Indian Bureau through its Montana area and agency offices. "Above all, I expect a full and accurate report of the facts to be furnished me expeditiously so that I may, in turn, communicate them to the

Assistant Secretary Ernst was told to use every appropriate departmental facility he might need in the inquiry.

S.332 would repeal provisions in a 1920 law which impose acreage limitations on sales of crow Indian land. The Department’s March 11, 1957 report, urging enactment of the repeal, noted that violations of the acreage ceilings had been discovered. The report explained how Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons suspended all Crow Reservation sales late in 1955 when he learned of the violations, and later lifted the suspension but ordered strict observance of the 1920 limitations.

The Department’s report also said S. 332 was introduced at the request of the Crow Tribe, which passed a resolution on April 14, 1956, urging validation of earlier land conveyances made in violation of the 1920 law. The report related that one of the explanations given for the violations was a widespread local impression that the 1920 limitations had been repealed.

After the Department submitted its favorable report, the Crow Tribal Council reversed its position, and now opposes repeal, Secretary Seaton was told.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons today commended the Navajo Indian Tribe for its “statesmanship” in appropriating tribal funds for projects which the Federal Government would normally carry out.

The appropriations included $545,000 to build major law and order facilities at Tuba City and Chinle, Arizona, and Shiprock, New Mexico, and small detention facilities at Bitter Spring and Lupton, Arizona, and Tohatchi, New Mexico.

In ordinary circumstances, the Department of the Interior would pay for such projects, Commissioner Emmons' November 12 letter to Tribal Chairman Paul Jones applauded the tribe's recognition that the Department’s limited funds for construction work have had to be used almost entirely for expanding badly needed school facilities.

“Under these circumstances," he wrote, "it seems to me that the tribe deserves high credit for stepping into the breach and using its own funds to provide facilities that are required for a more effective law enforcement program."

The tribe appropriated the money under a September 18 resolution.

Mr. Emmons also praised the tribe for providing $30,700 to activate a department of farm and range management in the tribal government. He wrote that it showed "a commendable readiness on the part of tribal organizations to take on increasing responsibilities in the important field of resource development and utilization.”

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton today formally welcomed delegates to a Washington conference on Indian youth being held by Arrow, Incorporated, a nonprofit organization, and read to them a telegram of greeting from President Eisenhower.

The conference is being attended by about 50 delegates from Indian tribal groups and by representatives from many other public and private agencies concerned with youth matters and with Indian affairs. Its twofold purpose is (1) the exchange of ideas between Indian leaders, Indian youth, and non-Indians interested in youth problems; and (2) the development and approval of additional programs to benefit Indian young people.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Roger C. Ernst addressed a luncheon meeting of the conferees at the Roger Smith Hotel. The text of President Eisenhower’s message of greeting follows: "Please give my greetings to all-attending the National Conference on American Indian Youth.

"Every American has a stake in the fullest development of our National resources, physical and spiritual. As a prime resource, the youth of our land must be trained to make their finest contribution to the strength of the Nation and for the fulfillment of their own life purpose.

“Best wishes for a splendid conference and a most enjoyable visit to the Nation’s Capital." In his welcoming remarks, Secretary Seaton said:

“It is a pleasure to welcome you here. I applaud the purpose of your conference, which brings together representatives of Indian tribes, private organizations, and Federal agencies in an effort to assist young Indians toward better education and better citizenship.

“We can all be gratified at the progress in Indian education which has been made in recent years. Last year, 132,000 Indian children were in school--a record number. By far the greatest proportion of these, 76,000 were in public schools-almost twice as many as in Federal Indian service schools.

"In 1946, for every Navajo child inside a school, there were three outside. Today, on the Navajo Reservation, the ratio of students to nonstudents is nine to one.

"The same progress is evident in higher education. Back in 1935, there were only 800 American Indians in college. Last year there were 2,800, three and one-half times as many.

"The Federal Government, of course, helped to bring about some of these encouraging changes, as did many colleges, churches, foundations and other organizations which have helped young Indians get an education. But much of the credit is due to the Indians themselves. I understand that 24 tribes have set up scholarship funds for their boys and girls with tribal money. The Jicarilla Apache Tribe in New Mexico has a million dollar scholarship trust fund. The Navajos have one for $5 million, and in this current year the tribe has made scholarship grants amounting to $200,000.

"The fact that you are here today, however, indicates that there is much more work to do for young Indian - whether they seek higher education, vocational training, or assistance after they leave school. I therefore wish you the greatest success in this meeting. Indian boys and girls, like all American boys and girls, should have every possible opportunity and encouragement for education or training which fits their abilities. Particularly at this time, this need is both obvious and urgent."

Assistant Secretary Ernst told the conferees that one of their big jobs was to clear away the confusion that surrounds many aspects of Indian youth assistance.

"You and your parents,” he told the Indian delegates, "have been guided and misguided, abused, coddled, mistreated and spoiled over a long period of time.”

He said the deeper he delved into Indian affairs, the stronger is the impression of confusion. “Among Government groups and Indians, I assume each thinks the other is confused," he said. “It is the responsibility of all of us to do away with the actual or alleged confusion.”

Asst. Secy. Ernst stressed the need for educational improvements. "Education means not only academic matters, but also spiritual, moral, cultural, social education and other facets,” he said.

He noted the conflicting views on responsibility for Indian affairs. “Some say the Indian, some say the Government, some say the state, some say the county, some say society,” he said. “But it is everyone’s responsibility.”

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today addressed a group of 21 teachers of Indians from 14 states who were attending a workshop in environmental education at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington D. C., and Catoctin National Park Maryland.

The program, part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Earth week celebration, was designed in cooperation with the National Park Service. It climaxes a series of regional workshops for BIA teachers and students that concluded last month. The Earth week Workshop opened today in Washington, D.C. and will continue through Friday, April 23rd at Catoctin National Park.

Secretary Morton’s remarks were focused on the cultural tradition of American Indians who he said “viewed all living things as possessing the right thing to life.” he called on teachers of Indian children to help their pupils assume the role of “action people in our national effort to improve the environment.”

“I can think of no approach to modern education that will have more lasting meaning for school children then one which relates an examination of their environment to other spheres of human knowledge,” he said.

“It is appropriate and gratifying that Indians are among the first to relate ecologically concerns to their educational objectives,” he continued “their history, religion and philosophy all reflect within nature. In this sense one might call Indians the “first environmentalists.”

The teachers, he added are “Pioneers on a new frontier of learning.”

Director of the National Park Service George B. Hartzog, also addressed to the group during the opening session, pledging continuing National Park Service assistance in making National Park facilities are available for the Environmental Education effort.

The secretary was introduced by Miss Wilms Victor, Choctaw Indian and former BIA educator recently appointed to his Special Assistant for Indian Affairs

Also in attendance were Educators and environmentalists from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park Service.

The environmental approach to teaching being developed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs relies upon study materials developed in cooperation with the Park Service NEED (National Environmental Education development) program and the companion NESA (National Environmental study area) program. The Catoctin National Park provides such a study area, a setting for classes out of doors.

Bureau of Indian Affairs schools are among the first in the country to make use of the park study areas. About 53,000 descendants of the “first environmentalists” currently involved in environmental agent studies in their classrooms and outdoor study areas.

With the conclusion of the school year is series of environmental awards for noteworthy projects any Indian schools and communities will be presented incorporation with Indian tribal school board officials.

I have called this news conference today to announce a series of actions relating to Indian water rights, contracts, roads, self-government, and legislative programs.

My purpose in taking these initiatives towards Indian self-government is setting a course for the Bureau of Indian Affairs designed to protect Indian Resources and effectively with the roads of Indian dissatisfaction poverty unemployment and inadequate educational background in my opinion to advance the cause of the Indian people of this nation.

First, water rights.

Most reservations are in the arid West and depend for a development upon adequate water supplies. In the past, Indian rights have not been protected. I intend to change that I intend to do my best to see that Indians get their fair share of water.

To insure effective advocacy of Indian water rights, I am establishing an Indian water rights office. It will serve as an interim body until enactment of legislation proposed by the president which calls for creation of an Indian Trust Counsel Authority.

This office will include members of the solicitor's office, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Geological Survey. It will be the focal point for seeing that appropriate action is taken to protect Indian water rights including timely preparation of suits for submission to the justice department for filing in the courts.

This office will report to the commissioner of Indian Affairs, and he will report directly to me on water rights matters. In this way we can ensure that proper emphasis and priority continues to be given to this activity. I am also inviting the national tribal chairmen's Association to appoint an Advisory Board to work with the Indian water rights office.

After further consultation with Indian leadership reveal announce the director, deputy director and other appointees supplementing their work will be correspondingly constituted.

Two million dollars will be funded for the first years of operation of the Indian water rights office and its field team program.

I have recommended to the justice department that it file suit to protect underground water rights of the Lummi Indian Washington State Department is also intervening in the Escondido case now before the federal power commission and in a state of Idaho proceeding (Duck Valley) Moreover, the department also intends to intervene in another Federal power commission matter involving the Chippewa Dam.

Next, Contracting and Self- Government Programs.

The expressed desire of many Indian tribes and groups is to contract with the BIA so that they may provide services hitherto performed by the BIA. In addition to the 724 contractors with Indians that have been renewed since May 1st, 1971, I have approved 93 new contract with the total value of $2,435,000.

These numbers show that contacting has by no means come to your halt despite allegations from a few quarters that this is the case. Nevertheless there's much more to be done in this direction.

I feel confident that the House and Senate interior committees will soon provide us an opportunity to appear before them in support of the president's proposed new legislation providing for broader Contracting Authority.

In the meantime we will continue to work out self-governing agreement under the authority of the Snyder act the Johnson O'Malley Act and the Buy Indian Act to the greatest extent possible within budgetary restraint we will continue to issue contracts for the procurement of goods and services from Indians and Indian groups.

Moreover, we are establishing a full-time training program to train BIA employees and Prospective contractors in procedures and methods relating to the Contracting process, to insure that effective Arrangements will result. We will also work with Indian organizations, tribal or otherwise to help them equip themselves to qualify for contract. Existing training projects now handled under the office of Economic Opportunity will be expanded. Tribal and government Management training contacts will be set up in cooperation with the Department of Labor.

Next, Roads for Indian Reservations.

A modern network of Roads is the prime physical system upon which social and economic development depend. Indian Reservation communities live in the 1930s with respect to the adequacy of their surface Transportation roadways. This is an obstruction to Health Services, today schooling, to Industry, tourism, to housing and sanitation.

Until 1935, no roads were constructed on federally related Indian reservations. Since that time, the pace of construction has fallen far short of being commensurate with highway and road building in the US as a whole. The Indian areas are doomed to continuing in isolation and poverty until modern roads are built. The BIA has developed a comprehensive construction plan under the direction of Alexander McNabb. I'm working in the Office of Management and budget and the Department of Transportation to seek funding that will open up in Indian communities through modern roads systems.

Now, a few comments on legislation.

I am releasing the text of a letter of September 20th 1971 from assistant Secretary Loesch to senate interior committee chairman Henry Jackson clarifying the Department's position on the importance of items in the president's Indian legislation program. Certainly the creation of an Indian first Counsel Authority is of prime importance to implement the president's program for Indians.

I will be the leadoff witness for the Indian First Counsel and other presidential legislative proposals as soon as the Senate intelligence committee confirms its schedule of hearings on these bills.

I am delighted to see the House and Senate interior Committee Action on the Alaska Native Claims bill, a matter so important to Indians the bills reported out already close to the version proposed by the president. What this shows is that there is a consensus among executive and the lawmakers of both parties reflecting fairness and equity in matters affecting this nation's first Americans. I am sure the other Indian measures proposed by the president will receive equally favorable treatment in Congress.

Now to other actions I am taking.

On the recommendation of the board of directors of the national Tribal Chairman's Association I am creating Advisory Board to assure better Communications among the Bureau of Indian Affairs secretary's office in the national Indian Community. as the NTCA board suggested the group will be comprised of 15 members including representatives from the National Congress of American Indians the national tree tribal chairmen's Association and other Indian groups from reservation and otherwise.

I am instructing assistant secretary Loesch and Commissioner Bruce to have a special briefing prepared on the fiscal year 1973 budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. This briefing will be presented for information and advice to officers of the national tribal chairmen's Association and of the National Congress of American Indians prior to the secretary's final approval there off.

I feel that these measures will help move the BIA efficiency and successfully on its course of implementing President Nixon's program which he outlined in his July 1970 message to Congress.

But I do not suggest that these steps are the only ones necessary. As further need to become apparent or additional actions are needed we are committed to respond constructively to them.

Award of a $243,370.50 contract for construction of irrigation works on the Hogback Unit of the Navajo Indian Reservation near Shiprock, New Mexico, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The successful bidder is Daniels Construction Co. of Albuquerque, N. Mex. Two higher bids were also received.

The contract covers construction of 14,240 feet of main canal to bring additional lands under cultivation and a 72-inch diameter siphon and concrete wasteway to protect the banks from overtopping during flash floods. Quantities of materials involved include 142,000 cubic yards of excavation, 5,000 cubic yards of structural excavation, 50,000 cubic yards of compacted embankment, and 2,750 cubic yards of concrete.

The Hogback Unit was started in 1909. Large-scale development of the unit was initiated in 1951. The project now includes 5,570 acres under irrigation which are being used by 402 Navajo families.

The present extension of the main canal is only one phase of the work that remains to be done. When completed, the project will irrigate a total of about 15,000 acres and will provide farming units of more adequate size than the present ones for more than 500 Navajo families.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton today called attention to the final roll of the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon which is being published in the Federal Register dated November 2.

The roll, comprising 2,133 names, was compiled under the Klamath Termination Act of 1954 and represents the final listing of tribal members after disposition of all appeals that have been made to the Secretary. Only those people on the roll are entitled under the Termination Act to share in the benefits of tribal property.

Ever since I first heard several months ago that a conference on Indian youth was being organized under the auspices of Arrow, Incorporated, I have been looking forward to it with keen anticipation. Arrow is to be heartily commended, it seems to me, for taking the initiative in pulling this meeting together, giving it focus, and inviting the many distinguished Indian and non-Indian people who are taking part.

As I see it, a conference of this kind is almost certain to produce helpful and beneficial consequences. It provides a forum for the interchange of information and ideas among people representing many different facets of our national life. It throws the spotlight on an area of specific Indian need which urgently calls for national attention and constructive action. It will in all probability produce at least the beginning framework of a positive program which will undoubtedly expand out and grow in importance over the years to come.

From the standpoint of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, such a conference is particularly welcome. I say this because there is an unfortunate (though understandable) tendency on the part of many people not too well informed in Indian matters to look to the Indian Bureau as the only source of assistance for the Indian citizen, the solver of all Indian problems, and the fountainhead of all organized action in the field of Indian affairs. So it is a rather unusual and exhilarating experience for us when an organization like Arrow takes the lead, calls upon representatives from many other governmental agencies and nongovernmental groups, and merely invites us in as one of the participating agencies.

As all of you doubtless know, the actual scope of our functions in the Bureau is reasonably well delimited by the various laws and treaties under which we operate; and it by no means covers all areas of Indian need or all types of Indian problems. Consequently it seems to me that one of the most useful things I could do here this evening would be to outline the kinds of programs we do have that bear on the needs of Indian youth, how vie are shaping these programs up at the present time, and what we hope to accomplish in terms of lasting benefits for the younger Indian people.

The Bureau’s major program in the youth field, of course, is our educational work which now accounts for nearly one-half of our total budget and roughly the same proportion of all our personnel. This program is aimed primarily at Indian youngsters between the ages of 6 and 18 - from the beginning grades up through the high-school level. It is and always has been one of the most crucially important responsibilities we have in the Bureau.

In my remarks here this evening, I want to touch on three aspects of our regular school program which I believe are especially significant at the present time.

The first is the challenge that we face, in common with public school districts throughout the country, in keeping pace with the constantly increasing school-age population. Without going to detailed statistics, it seems clear to me that we face such a challenge and will continue to face it for some years to come. So we have no grounds for complacency or relaxation even though we do have thousands of Indian children attending school today who were being deprived of educational opportunities just a few years ago. We must keep moving ahead just to avoid falling behind.

The second point I want to mention is the increasing emphasis we are giving in our education program to enrollment of Indian children in the regular public schools of the Nation. Personally I have always felt that it is most desirable for Indian children to be mingling regularly with non-Indian youngsters not just at the high-school level but down in the elementary grades wherever possible and feasible. To my mind, it is an essentially wholesome and typically American kind of development which will increase interracial understanding and benefit both the Indian and the non-Indian children. So we are making public school enrollment one of the top objectives of our educational program and we have made tremendous progress on this in the past few years. In fact, last year - if we look just at the Indian children in the regular school ages between 6 and 18--we find almost exactly twice as many enrolled in the regular public schools as there were in all the federal schools operated by the Indian Bureau.

The third phase of our school program that I want to emphasize is also a challenge like the first. In my opinion, it is a challenge which all of us--not only Indian Bureau people but tribal leaders and Indian parents generally--must keep constantly in mind" The world of tomorrow, as all of us realize, is certainly to be vastly different from the world of yesterday or even the world of today. While none of us can predict the exact shape of the world to come, at least one trend seems unmistakably clear. This is the technological advancement of our whole society-the increasing emphasis on higher and higher skills - which is generally referred to under the forbidding name of automation.

What it means as a practical matter is that there will undoubtedly be fewer unskilled jobs available ten years from now than there are today and even less if we peer ahead two decades to the year 1977. This is the world in which the children now between 6 and 18 will be living their mature lives and it is obviously the part of wisdom for all of us to begin preparing them right now for productive and fruitful participation in it. We in the Indian Bureau face the task of adjusting our school programs and curriculums to upgrade the general level of knowledge and skills among the growing Indian generation.. Many other agencies and organizations should also plays part and will, I hope, be contributing to the tremendously urgent and demanding job of preparation and adjustment.

When we move beyond the sphere of formal schooling through the 12th grade, there are only a few regular Indian Bureau programs that have a direct bearing on the needs of the Indian young people, and I merely want to touch on them briefly. One of these, of course, is our new vocational education program which is aimed at the age group between 18 and 35 and specifically designed to provide this upgrading of skills which will be so increasingly important as we move further and further into the age of automation. Another activity which might be mentioned is the encouragement we give to Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and similar youth groups by making facilities available for meetings and providing other informal kinds of assistance. A third type of action, now being carried forward in most Indian areas by the State extension specialists under contracts with the Indian Bureau, is the fostering of 4-H clubs to give our Indian young people practical experience in farm and livestock and homemaking techniques. A fourth is the limited program of scholarship aids for higher education which is being conducted under Bureau auspices with appropriated funds. A fifth is the program of foster home placement which is administered by our welfare staff in cooperation with various public and private agencies at the state and local level.

From a mere listing of these programs and activities, anyone can see that they provide only a partial coverage for the many and diverse needs of our Indian young people. Looking just at the teen-age group, which is the primary concern of this particular conference, we can readily identify numerous areas of need which lie outside the scope of our regularly budgeted Indian Bureau programs. There is, for example, the very pressing problem presented by the large number of youngsters in their teens who drop out of school for one reason or another before reaching high school graduation. Even for those who are attending school there is the question of leisure-time activities during summer vacations and similar periods away from the classroom. There is the whole broad and complex question of what we might call preventive medicine for juvenile delinquency on Indian reservations.

There are the hundreds of Indian school graduates eager and well qualified to pursue a higher education needing financial aid which the Bureau cannot supply from the limited funds it has available. These are just a few in a long list of needs that might be mentioned.

One of the main reasons I am so pleased about the calling of this conference is because you will be focusing public attention on needs of this kind, you will be mobilizing resources to meet these needs from a wide variety of public and private sources, you will be making start on the systematic planning of what I hope will be a many-faceted and hard-hitting action program. Among the American people throughout the length and breadth of the country there is, I am convinced, a tremendous reservoir of good will toward our American Indian citizens. I have just seen concrete evidence of this myself in the famous Knickerbocker Ball in New York City where many thousands of dollars were collected to provide scholarships for Indian youngsters in colleges and universities. Another and wholly different kind of example can be found in Brigham, Utah, where local families have recently been welcoming Indian students from our Intermountain School into their homes and giving them an opportunity to learn more about their non-Indian neighbors--and vice versa.

Although this warmth of public feeling toward the Indian is especially noticeable right now, I am sure it is by no means a new development. It has been there for a great many years. But the main difficulty has been that so much of it was unorganized and amorphous--just a kind of general outpouring of good will that was never translated into actual benefits for the Indian people. Through this conference we should be able to start accomplishing such a translation, channelizing the amorphous good will of the American people into practical action programs, and getting underway on a job that undoubtedly should have been initiated many, many years ago.

As I have already intimated, we in the Bureau are delighted to be participating in this conference and we stand ready to play our proper part in meeting the multifarious needs of Indian youth as they may be spotlighted through the workshops and the other conference sessions. I am hopeful that Indian tribal groups--and particularly those with substantial funds in their treasuries--will also take an increasingly active interest in youth programs as time goes along. Several of the tribes, as most of you know, have already made an excellent start in this direction by setting up scholarship funds and other aids for higher education. However, there are many other needs of the young people on the reservations which are also deserving of tribal support and encouragement. I am thinking, for example, of such things as using tribal funds to build recreation facilities and provide other wholesome outlets for the energies of youth as a countermeasure against the dangers of idleness and the eventual drift into juvenile delinquency.

What we are talking about here basically, of course, is a resource--the human resource of the younger Indian generation. We in the Bureau and the many tribal organizations allover the country have spent a great deal of time, money and energy down through the years in developing and protecting the natural resources on the reservations. Irrigation projects have been built and expanded. Soil and water conservation measures have been spread over a constantly enlarging area of Indian land. Timber resources have been carefully safeguarded against the dangers of overcutting and fire and disease. Ambitious programs for the development and conservation of range resources have been carried out on scores of reservations.

All work of this kind, in my opinion; is crucially important and I believe it is essential for both the Bureau and tribal organizations to push forward with natural resource programs so that the lands on the reservations can be made to provide a decent livelihood for the largest possible number of resident families. However, I also believe it is at least equally' as important--and perhaps even more so--for us to be spending our time, money and energy on the development and protection of the human resource in the younger generation. This generation, as I see it, is something like a seedling plant and it needs to be properly nourished and given every possible encouragement and support if it is to realize its full potentialities in the ripening of time.

And what is the goal of our Indian youth programs in the Bureau, in the tribal organizations, and in the various other public and private agencies? Perhaps each of us here at this banquet would define the goal somewhat differently according to his or her own personal lights. To me, however, it seems pretty clear-cut. Ever since I became Commissioner four years ago last August I have been emphasizing this theme in my private talks both with Bureau personnel and with outside parties. Undoubtedly I shall go on emphasizing it as long as I can find someone who is willing to listen.

One of the real glories of our American way of life; it has always seemed to me, is the great arching horizon of opportunity which we open up for our young people--usually at a very tender age. Most non-Indian young people, by the time they reach the fourth grade or so, have been given to understand that there is no real limit to their aspirations--that they can grow up to be doctors or lawyers or scientists or Senators or even Presidents of the United States.

Unfortunately, however, for a variety of reasons, historical and otherwise, our Indian young people have not ordinarily been exposed to this sort of indoctrination. Instead, they have been permitted in all too many cases to grow up in an atmosphere of aimlessness and apathy and to develop deep feelings of frustration and inferiority. It is this above all else that we are trying to overcome today through our school programs in the Indian Bureau and through every other means we have at our disposal. We are trying to break through the shell of inferiority feelings that has surrounded so many Indian youngsters in the past, to fire their ambitions and quicken their aspirations, to imbue them with a sense of confidence and a hunger for positive achievement.

Personally I believe we have made excellent progress in this direction over the past four years. If our efforts are to be fully successful, however, it is essential that the channels of advancement should be kept open and unclogged for Indian youth and that they should have access to the same types of assistance and guidance which are available to our other young people. That, I take it, is one of the most important purposes of this particular conference.

So I am deeply encouraged by the mere fact that this conference is being held. Even though you may not accomplish everything that all of us could wish for, I have no doubt whatever that a significant start will be made here on the tremendous and urgent job that needs to be done in the Indian youth field. To all of you who are taking an active part in the conference, I extend my heartiest commendations and my very best wishes as you move forward with your sessions. All of us who are concerned, either professionally or personally, with the well-being of our Indian young people will be wishing you well and eagerly awaiting the outcome of your deliberations.

Good morning - distinguished members of the press, Representatives of the Indian desks, ladies and gentlemen.

It is my privilege and honor to address you as the newly elected president of the national tribal chairmen's Association. There are 146 federally recognized tribes in the organization, represented by their chief elected official. We have a 12 member board of directors. The Tribal chairmen who sit on this board were elected as area representatives. The NTCA began in 1970 with a meeting held in Denver, Colorado. Since then we have come a long way in establishing the NTCA as an effective arm of the tribes on both the state and national scene. Our offices are located with the offices of the NCIO staff in the new executive office building.

First, I would like to express my thanks to the tribal chairmen of the country for giving me the opportunity to work with them in the American Indian transition as we mark the beginning of the Indian age. The role; of the national tribal chairmen's association is to be the advocates of and for our Indian people. NTCA has directed itself to the immediate and future needs of our humble Native Americans. Immediate and future needs of our humble Native Americans. The tribal chairmen are duly elected representatives of their reservations and strive to serve the needs of their people. The NTCA was established primarily to enable the leaders of our sovereign Indian nations to speak with one voice to the federal sector. We must be vigilant and guard against efforts to weaken this voice and the strong tribal leadership it represents, and to obstruct our direct relationship with the federal government. Our Indian lands must be kept in trust status and we must strive to have the submarginal land turned over to the tribes as soon as possible.

Today, the emphasis must be based on some identifiable factors relating to Indian people. Consultation, involvement, legislation, tribal domestic planning and Indian program budgets, only to mention a few. Principally, I am concerned with the seven bills that were produced by the present administration in the July 8, 1970 message which expressed self-determination of Indian people. If in fact the president is attempting to implement an Indian policy than he must be given the opportunity. NTCA is concerned with fulfilling the American Indians needs instead of being continuously used for individuals self-gains in our political system;

Let us address ourselves to the identifiable factors that were mentioned above.

1. Consultation - programs and policies are most applicable when people have some knowledge and understanding of them. We must communicate national direction for our people back home. Sharing our opinions helps to draw some conclusions on where our national effort should be placed.
2. Involvement - there is absolutely no reason, in the shape of national Indian affairs, why the Indian leadership should not be called upon to become involved in developing methods of protecting their own destiny. Indians understand themselves, so federalists should not attempt to interpret what is best for us. If programs policies and legislation are going to serve our best interest then we must be consulted and involved from the very beginning'; the significant interest of Indian people should be to react favorably and use constructive means to enhance our people in all phases of our life-style. Since this country has ours in the beginning it is our birth right; and we should involve Indian people in any transitions that effect their immediate and future needs.
3. Legislation - we have found that legislative branch is big medicine. Today, among Indian people there is a monumental concern regarding legislation. We become more concerned about the maneuvers of congress to arrange Indians in some match box configuration or even cage us forever. We need help in the vast area of legislation because we do not know the internal structures that exist in the house and senate: the NTCA is presently working with the national council on Indian opportunity to gain some understanding of legislative process. The American Indian person must have good government and legislation benefiting the Indian people.
4. Tribal domestic planning - the NTCA must be involved in an adequate overall planning to advocate constructive programs, to gain some measure of success from allocations by congress and office management and budget. The Indian people must use planning schedules to utilize available resources and planning mechanism to insure proper funding to carry out our objectives.

The NTCA is deeply concerned when tribal plans are not carried out. They are a meaningless exercise without the funds to carry our people’s plans through to completion. Every tribe has taken steps of some kind to develop tribal programs and priorities to better utilize the federal dollar for the people. Although, the tribes find it hopeless if our tribal program priorities are cut to serve off-reservation priorities when the funds should remain with the reservations. Our Indian programs funds should remain at the tribe's discretion to expend at the local level for the tribe's presently, I am concerned with the bureau of Indian affairs budget cuts because it has a direct impact on our local tribal efforts. For example, we are being told that congress appropriated funds for an Indian claims bill which is a sum of $50,000,000 and the BIA has the responsibility to pay the 50 million out of its budget for FY1974 with no increase in funds. This means that the other tribe’s budgets will be cut to scrape up the 50 million to pay the claims bill. The BIA should not have to cut other tribes budgets- to make up for the 50 million. BIA should have a special allocation from OMB as an add on to pay off the claims bill. We must admire the commissioner of Indian affairs, Louis R. Bruce, for his heroic stand in refusing to cut his budget at the interior department’s request.

I am hoping the OMB will allocate funds to the new Indian Education Act, Title IV, PL 92-318 for this present fiscal year to assist our Indian children. We hope some funds will be placed in the act to start the Indian education program wheels rolling.

We hope federal agencies will make every effort to place Indian women as well as men in positions of responsibilities, based on qualifications. As the president of the NTCA I would like to express my appreciation to the present administration for the turning' back of 21,000 acres of national forest land to the Yakima Indian tribe in the state of Washington and the restoration of blue lake to the Taos Indians in New Mexico.

In conclusion - let ls understand ourselves as human beings placed on earth in service of others and direct our energies towards dedicating ourselves to complete protection of Indian lands, water, resources, and the education and welfare of Indian people.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons today expressed "extreme gratification If over the selection of Fred H. Massey, a Choctaw Indian from Oklahoma and Assistant Commissioner of the Indian Bureau, as the representative of the Department of the Interior to attend a two-week conference for career Government executives being held by the Brookings Institution at Williamsburg, Va., starting December 1.

"This latest honor given to Mr. Hassey," Commissioner Emmons added, "provides further proof of the abilities which so many of our Indian citizens have and emphasizes the progress they can make if they are only given an opportunity, His promotion to Assistant Commissioner for Administration a year ago last July was based on an outstanding record of performance in positions of steadily increasing responsibility with the Indian Bureau over a period of 20 years. I have every confidence that he will represent the Bureau and the Department at the Williamsburg Conference capably and with distinction."

Mr. Massey first joined the Bureau in 1936 as a temporary clerical employee in the warehouse at St. Louis, Mo. One year later he was appointed a junior clerk in the construction division of the Bureau’s Washington Office and in 1940 was promoted to budget clerk in the administrative division. Subsequently he was advanced to the positions of senior clerk, assistant administrative analyst, assistant to the budget officer, and budget officer. He served as chief of the branch of budget and finance. As Assistant Commissioner for Administration, he now supervises the work of that branch and also the operations of the Bureau in the fields of personnel, property and supply, credit, plant management, and plant design and construction.

Mr. Massey was born at Massey, Okla., in 1912 and graduated from the high school at Quinton, Okla. He also attended Bacone Junior College, Muskogee, Okla.; Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans.; and National University, Washington, D. C.

At the present time more than 50 percent of the Indian Bureau's staff of nearly 10,000 employees in the United States and Alaska are people of Indian descent. One of them, Ben Reifel, is serving as area director in charge of all the Bureau's work in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Others are functioning as superintendents at local Indian agencies, as branch chiefs in the Washington office, and in many other positions of comparable responsibility.