OPA

A Forestry Service Center to help Indians develop productive capacities of their commercial forest lands has been established at Littleton, Colo., in the Denver metropolitan area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today.

The new office will be directly under the Central Office of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, and initially will be staffed with six employees. Bruce said the Cen­ter is centrally located to most Indian reservations.

Assigned as Director of the Center is Earle R. Wilcox, until recently stationed at Portland, Ore., with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He will coordinate forest management inventories and plans, evaluate the cost effectiveness of intensive management efforts, and conduct special studies required for the effective protection and administration of Indian-owned forest lands.

"Indian forests now could have an annual sustained-yield pro­duction estimated at more than 1.2 billion board feet if they are managed as intensively as industrial tree farms," Wilcox said. "This is 25 percent more than these lands produced during the last fiscal year."

Commissioner Bruce said the Bureau's move toward more intensive forest management is in keeping with President Nixon's call to increase forest productivity to help meet critical housing needs.

Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel announced today the appointment of Sam Yankee to the Department's new 15-member Advisory Board on Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. The newly established Board, composed of citizens from all over the country, will provide counsel and advice to the Secretary on policy matters relating to the conservation of our wildlife resources.

Yankee, a resident of McGregor, Minnesota, is a member of the Mille Lacs band of Chippewa Indians and an ardent conservationist, secretary Hickel said. He has worked closely with Fish and Wildlife Service Personnel at the Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota.

Dr. Leslie L. Glasgow, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks in the Department of Interior, said that Mr. Yankee's past experience in working with refuge personnel together with his interest in wildlife habitat will enable him to make a valuable contribution to the Department's efforts to enhance our nation's wildlife resources.

The first meeting of the new Advisory Board will be held in the Secretary's conference room in Washington, D.C. on July 23, 24. The Secretary at the opening of the meeting will present each member with his Certificate of Appointment.

Secretary of the Interior Fred .A. Seaton announced today the Departments’ approval of the November 1 action of the Navajo Tribal Council in appropriating $300,000 of tribal funds for use by the Tribe to induce new industrial plants to locate in the vicinity of the reservation. The added payrolls would provide increased job opportunities for tribal members, it was explained.

The Department has also approved the Tribal Council’s proposal to use $44,000 in previously advanced Federal funds for the same purpose.

Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs W. Barton Greenwood said, “The Navajo Tribe is to be commended for this important step which will benefit its members for an indefinite time in providing payrolls in the vicinity of the reservation. Much progress has been made in the industrial development program and we anticipate a great deal of successful activity during the coming year.”

Technically, the November 1 action of the Tribal Council, which was by a vote of 56-0, was in the form of an amendment of the Tribe’s budget for the fiscal year which ends next June 30. A similar appropriation of $300,000 in tribal funds was included in the budget for the period which ended last June 30. It was used in providing rent free buildings and other economic inducements to industrial concerns.

So far two manufacturing plants have been established in the vicinity of the reservation as a direct result of this program. Navajo Furniture, Inc., a subsidiary of Baby Line Furniture of Los Angeles, opened a plant at Gallup, N. Mex., for the manufacture of juvenile furniture, shutters, and similar items November 15. Lear Navajo, an electronics plant affiliated with Lear, Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif., began operations at Flagstaff, Ariz., November 5. Each of these plants is expected to be employing about 100 Navajo workers after a year of operation.

The industrial activity in the Navajo area, although well advanced, is merely one part of a much broader program being sparked by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to encourage the establishment of manufacturing plants and the creation of new jobs near Indian reservations throughout the country. This work is headed up by Carl W. Beck, an Indian Bureau veteran and assistant to Commissioner Glen L. Emmons.

In addition to the two Navajo plants, three others have been established near Indian reservations in the past year under this Bureau program. Kingman Industries, Inc., a metal fabricating firm, has been operating at Kingman, Ariz., near the Hualapai Reservation since January 1956. Cherokee Leathercraft Co., a subsidiary of Saddlecraft, Inc., Knoxville, Tenn., was opened for the manufacture of leather goods on the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina last May. Casa Grande Mills, a subsidiary of Parsons and Baker, Phoenixville, Pa., is scheduled to begin operation of a garment factory at Casa Grande, Ariz., near the Pima and Papago Reservations, next March.

The Kingman plant is providing employment for about 50 Indians and the Cherokee for approximately 40. After the Casa Grande factory opens in March, it is expected to provide jobs for 125 Indians almost immediately and for 700 ultimately.

Negotiations are now being actively carried forward by the Indian Bureau with a number of industrial companies looking toward the establishment of additional plants near Indian population centers in Oklahoma, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming as well as Arizona and New Mexico.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs will. Prepare a roll of Indians originally from the central states are entitled to share in the distribution of more than $2 million in judgment funds, the Department of Interior announced today.

Tribes to be included are the Confederated Tribes of Weas Piankashaws, Peorias, and Kaskaskias, who merged under an 1854 treaty that combined their interests, distribution of more than $2 million in judgment funds, the Department of the Interior announced today.

The land for which they are being compensated totals 1,417,758 acres in Kansas, Indiana and Illinois for which the Indian Claims Commission awarded the Confederation $2,365,760.21. Until the funds are divided the money is on deposit and continues to draw interest.

Indians entitled to be enrolled and share in the distribution of judgment funds must be born on or prior to July 31, 1970, and living; their names or the name of a lineal ancestor must appear on one of the following: the final roll of the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma; the 1930 or 1937 census of the Peoria Tribe; Indian or Citizen Class lists; the schedule of persons or families made up of the various tribes which were parties to the Treaty of May 30, 1854.

Applications for enrollment may be obtained from the Area Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Federal Building, Muskogee, Okla., 74401. Completed applications must be returned to Director and must be post­ marked no later than April 30, 1971.

A suit in behalf of treaty fishing rights of Indian tribes in the State of Washington has been filled by the Department of Justice at the request of the Department of the Interior. The suit is similar to one filled two years ago in Oregon.

In announcing the filing, Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel said, "The decision in the Oregon case has done much to clarify Indian fishing rights on the Columbia river. We hope this suit will have the same effect on fishing rights in the Puget Sound and Olympic Peninsula areas of the State of Washington."

Representatives of the Interior Department and of Washington Indian tribes have been meeting with the Washington State Department of Fisheries and with Washington State Governor Dan Evans and his staff in an effort to work out terms for State recognition of Indian treaty rights. But it became evident that difference of opinion over the extent of the Indian's rights remained. Secretary Hickel said.

"We therefore asked the Department of Justice last spring to prepare a case to submit to the Federal Court," he added. "Our two Departments have worked closely in developing the case, which was filled September 18."

The action is brought on behalf of seven tribes that represent all treaty tribes in Western Washington that were parties to five treaties negotiated by Oregon Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens in 1954-56. Those tribes are: Puyallup, Nisqually, Skokomish, Makah, Quileute, Hoh and Muckleshoot. The court's ruling should affect the fishing rights of all tribes that are parties to those treaties.

Secretary Hickel explained that the NESA Program affords a unique opportunity for the disadvantaged youth from poverty backgrounds not only to become aware of environmental problems prevalent in their home communities, but to learn how to cope with and solve these problems through joint community and JCCC participation while assigned to the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Program.

The 10 Interior Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers presently have a total capacity of 1,826 corpsmen. Three of the centers are operated by the Department of the Interior's National Park Service, four by the Bureau of Reclamation, two by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, and one by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The permanent Job Corps Center staffs are augmented by Union. Contract Instructors and volunteer assistance from a wide variety of sources,

Each of the Interior Job Corps Center Directors has organized a Community Relations Council consisting of leading citizens of the community nearest the JCCC location. These councils serve as a bridge between the local communities and the Job Corps Center.

Created by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, the Job Corps is a national voluntary program which provides disadvantaged young men and women between the ages of 14 and 21 with an education, vocational training and work experience and social skills necessary to prepare them for the responsibilities of citizenship and increase their employability, Department of the Interior participation in the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center program stresses vocational training and work experiences directed primarily toward conserving, developing and managing

the public natural resources of the Nation,

Participating in the Interior Job Corps Environmental Quality Week are the following Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers administered by various Bureaus of the Department of the lnterior:

Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife Mingo JCCC, Puxico, Missouri

Treasure Lake JCCC, Indiahoma, Oklahoma

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Fort Simcoe JCCC, Toppenish, Washington National Park Service

Harpers Ferry JCCC, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Great Onyx JCCC, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky Oconaluftee JCCC, Cherokee, North Carolina

Bureau of Reclamation

Weber Basin JCCC, Ogden, Utah Collbran JCCC, Collbran, Colorado

Columbia Basin JCCC, Moses Lake, Washington Marsing JCCC, Marsing, Idaho

Indians who work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs 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.

Posters are part of the "mod" look in Indian art, and for someone looking for a decorative, different gift, these are the answer.

Subjects include 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 Delbridge 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 25¢ to cover postage and handling.

An ample supply of standard art supplies will be available on each van with enough to allow for a supply to be left behind at each school when the van departs,

In addition, students will be taught methods for using the materials indigenous to their local environments in the creation of their art forms, Pigments ground from stone, water colors blended from berries, brushes shaped by hand from twigs, and natural fibers such as leaf and bark used for collages will be prepared by· the students, in the Indian tradition.

The facilities of the mobile studios will be available to adults in the local communities after regular school hours.

The concept for the mobile art vans was developed by David C. Young, a specialist in cultural arts with the BIA.

It was created in response to criticism from some Indian parents that cultural aspects of the American Indian heritage are often neglected in the curriculum, The "holding power" of art education has been demonstrated successfully in the unique high school and postsecondary programs offered by the BIA at its Santa Fe institute of arts, a school exclusively for Indians and oriented largely to a fine arts curriculum, Many of its graduates have been recipients of scholarships to colleges of art and architecture and to museum schools in this country and abroad, A growing number are becoming established as professional artists, sculptors, designers and writers.

One of the Institute's graduates, Frances Makil, served as an instructor on an experimental run of a mobile art van last Spring. A student in art education at Arizona State University in Tempe, she was "loaned" by the college to the original mobile studio which visited her native Hopi reservation, and other Federal schools in the vicinity. Enthusiastic response to that venture from students, parents and teachers led to this year's expansion of the program,