OPA

A proposed draft of legislation that would terminate Federal supervision over a two-year period in four Indian communities of southern Minnesota with a combined population of roughly 300 has been submitted to Congress for consideration, Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay said today.

Groups covered by the proposal are the Lower Sioux Community in Redwood and Scott counties, the New Upper Sioux Community in Yellow Medicine County, the Prairie Island Community in Goodhue County, and about 15 individuals living on restricted tracts in Yellow Medicine County.

In habits and dress the members of these communities are practically indistinguishable

from their non-Indian neighbors. Less than five percent are full bloods and many are quarter Indian blood or less. In recent years they have been receiving only a limited service from the Indian Bureau although about 3,200 acres of their land are held in trust or restricted status.

The proposed legislation would authorize removal of the trust restrictions over a two-year period and would make the land subject to local taxes. Tribal lands now being occupied and used by individual members under assignment would be transferred to the assignees. In the case of the unassigned tribal lands, the Indians would have the option of (1) organizing a corporation or other legal entity to take over management responsibilities, (2) asking for transfer of the lands to a private trustee for management or liquidation, or (3) requesting the Secretary to sell the lands and distribute the proceeds.

The termination proposed has been fully discussed with all Indian groups affected and was heavily approved by the resident's of the four communities.

John H. Artichoker, 41, Superintendent of the Colorado River Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, is the new Area Director of the Phoenix Area Office of the Bureau, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today.

He replaces W. Wade Head. Head retired after 37 years of government service and a career in which he served successively as Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Director in Anadarko, Okla., Gallup, N. M., and Phoenix.

Artichoker, an Oglala Sioux Indian, will head one of three regional offices in the Southwest. The Southwest has the largest Indian population in the nation. His appointment became effective June 27.

"We are fortunate to have John Artichoker in this position," said the Commissioner in making the announcement. "He has served as Superintendent of three Bureau agencies -- Northern Cheyenne, Montana; Papago, Arizona; as well as Colorado River, Arizona -- and has diversified experience as an administrator, educator, and program manager."

Artichoker holds a B.S. and M.A. degree in education from the University of South Dakota. He became Director of Indian Education for the State of South Dakota in 1951. He joined the federal government in 1962 as Tribal Affairs Officer for the Billings Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Later that year he transferred to the Division of Indian Health, Aberdeen, S. Dak., as tribal relations officer.

He returned to the Bureau in 1963 as Superintendent of the Northern Cheyenne Agency. After three years he was transferred to the Superintendence of the Papago Agency, where he remained until his reassignment in 1968 to the Colorado River Agency.

Artichoker received the Junior Chamber of Commerce's Ten Outstanding Young Men's Award in 1964 and the Indian Achievement Award in 1965.

He was born in Pierre, S. Dak. and is married and the father of two sons.

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today cxmow.1ced the selection of three prominent Oregonians--Thomas B., Watters of Klamath Falls., William L. Phillips of Salem, and Eugene Favell of Lakeview - as management specialists for the Klamath Indian Tribe. They will supervise the program of property appraisal, subdivision and management under the tribal termination law enacted last August.

The specialists were selected after full consultation with the Tribe by Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Glenn LQ Emmons, and a specific endorsement by the tribal executive committee. They will take over - their new duties in the near future as soon as a contract covering their services is negotiated and signed.

Under the termination law the specialists have five major assignments:

(1) to have an appraisal made of all tribal property;

(2) immediately thereafter, to give each adult tribal member an opportunity to choose for himself and his minor children either withdrawal of his proportionate share of the tribal assets or continued participation in the tribal management plan;

(3) to pick out the tracts of tribal land which must be sold to pay off the withdrawing members, arrange for the sale, and distribute the proceeds;

(4) to have such studies and reports made as may be needed from time to time by the Tribe or the Secretary; and

(5) to have a specific program developed for future management of the unsold portion of the tribal property through a trustee, corporation or some other legal entity.,

The law provides that all these steps, together with other phase of the termination program being carried out by the Tribe and the Indian Bureau, must be completed by August 13, 1958. Costs of the work supervised by the management specialists will be borne, under provisions of the act, by the Indian beneficiaries.

Mr. Watters, a native of Cedar County, Nebr., carne to Klamath Falls as a young man and has been in the real estate and insurance business there for almost JO years. He was mayor of the city for four years in the late 19201 s and was manager of the Klamath Valley Savings and Loan Company from 1930 to 1933. In 1935 he joined other Klamath Falls businessmen in purchasing and eventually liquidating the assets of the Western Savings and Loan Company. Before coming to Oregon he attended the University of Nebraska

Mr. Phillips, also a native of Nebraska, came to Oregon in 1912 and settled in Salem nine years later. In 1922 he became associated with the Valley Motor Company and 30 years later was named president and general manager. He has since sold out hi interests in this company and is now connected with the Valley Properties Company. He is a trustee of Willamette University, a director of the [] and Coke Company, and a member of the National Executive Board of the [] of America.

Mr. Favell has been in the land appraisal and timber brokerage business for more than 40 years. He started out in Wisconsin around 1912 and has since had experience in Minnesota, Florida, Canada and finally Oregon. For a number of years past, he has been active in civic affairs at Lakeview.

Since July 1970, American Indians started 241 new businesses and expanded 143 Indian-owned businesses through the Indian Business Development Fund program of the Bureau of Indian !Affairs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today.

New businesses and expansions made possible by the Fund will create an estimated 2,900 Indian jobs and produce an annual payroll of nearly $11,900,000.

Commenting on this Indian economic expansion Commissioner Bruce said: "The Indian people want a stake in reservation business life at the management level. Small businesses created through the Indian Business Development Fund hire other Indians. The Fund opens a door to a new order of Indian involvement in America's economy with the opportunity of increasing both Indian employment and income. The program is built on individual Indian initiative and self-responsibility."

The purpose of the Fund is to provide initial capital, on a grant basis, to Indians for establishing new permanent businesses or for expanding existing business enterprises on or near reservations. A grant is made solely to provide the equity capital needed to acquire loans from customary lending sources, both government and commercial.

Equity financing for Indians is limited to 40 percent of new capital needed and is available only where financing cannot be obtained without the grant. Only profit-making enterprises are eligible.

A total of $3,400,000 was available for the Fund from appropriations for the fiscal year 1971. This generated $16,400,000 in loans, an amount 500 percent greater than the grants. Fifty-nine percent, or $9,700,000 of-total loan money came from private commercial lenders while 41 percent, or $6,700,000 came from governmental agencies.

Commercial lenders were predominantly local banks and vendors of machinery and equipment. Most government loans were made by the small Business Administration.

The average amount of Indian Business Development Fund money per each man-year employment (or permanent job) was $1,200. The average additional capital generated as loans from other sources for each man-year of employment amounted to $5,700. The combined average cost of creating each permanent job amounted to $6,900.

"Equity capital is crucial to Indian businessmen," Commissioner Bruce explained. "Without it, most are unable to enter business. Furthermore, it increases their capital resources and reduces fixed charges in the early stages of the business. Thus the Indian,-Business Development Fund fills a very important need for the Indian people."

New enterprises started, and those expanded, include a wide range of business activities. A total of 56 are involved in some area of manufacturing; 36 in contract construction; 30 in agricultural production and services; 25 in food stores; 20 in food service; 17 in operating laundromats and dry cleaners; seven in apparel and accessory stores; five in fisheries; four in furniture and home furnishings; and a number of others in a variety of other commercial activities.

A total of 780 applications were received requesting funds in the amount of $10,800,000 -- more than triple the amount of money allocated for this program.

David L. Baldwin, 38, an Osage Indian and Superintendent of the Yankton Agency, Wagner, S. Dak.., Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1969, was today named Superintendent of the Osage Agency of the Bureau 'whose headquarters are at Pawhuska, Okla. His appointment will take effect July 25.

He replaces John Pappan, Superintendent for three years, who passed away this spring.

Baldwin, Born in Ponca City, Okla., received his B.A. from Washburn University, Topeka, Kans., in 1956. Before joining the Bureau he taught in Kansas Public Schools for three years.

He entered the Bureau in 1962 as an Education Specialist at Fort Hall, Ida., and became an Employment Assistance Officer at that same agency in 1963. He was reassigned to the Umatilla, Ore. Agency of the Bureau as a Community Services Officer in 1966, and then to Yankton Agency, S. Dak. as Superintendent in 1969.

He is married and the father of two sons and a daughter.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton today announced the appointment of John O. Crow as Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Since 1966, Crow has served as Associate Director of Interior's Bureau of Land Management. Previously, he had lengthy and varied experience in the Indian Bureau.

Secretary Morton said: The appointment of John O. Crow will be a key factor in strengthening management of the Bureau and, most important, improving the lot of the American Indian."

The Secretary added that Crow will be directly responsible for running the internal operation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Indian Affairs is the largest Bureau in the Department of the Interior. It has 76 field agencies serving more than 250 tribal groups. They range from “Seminoles of the Florida Everglades to the Eskimo villages of Alaska.

Crow said he views his new appointment as an opportunity to help put into effect the directions and policies set forth in President Nixon's historic message on Indian Affairs to Congress in July 1970. The message urged a policy of self-determination without termination" for the First Americans, and recommended that BIA become a service-oriented Bureau that would encourage Indians to take a larger role in managing their own affairs.

Fifty-nine, Crow is one-fourth Cherokee, the youngest of eight children, and grew up in Commerce, a small mining town in Oklahoma. He attended the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, and later played professional football with the Boston Redskins, now the Washington Redskins.

He holds the Career Service Award of the National Civil Service League and the Distinguished Service Award of the Department of the Interior.

Crow has served as Superintendent of a number of Indian reservations, and is also experienced in top management of the Indian Bureau --having served in several executive positions, including that of Deputy Commissioner and Acting Commissioner during the early and mid-1960's.

Commissioner Louis Bruce said: "I feel fortunate that we have been able to get John Crow as my Deputy. He is knowledgeable, experienced, and dedicated, with proven ability."

The U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today reaffirmed a commitment to improve housing conditions for Indians with the signing of an Agreement of Cooperation. It calls for development of a manual of Federal housing and related programs to spur Indian use of Federal housing aid.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and HUD are operating jointly under a five-year plan to provide 6,000 dwellings a year for Indians.

Today's agreement, signed by Interior Secretary Rogers C.B. Morton and HUD Secretary George Romney clears the way for a major tool designed to acquaint tribal councils, housing authorities, groups and individuals interested in housing for Indians with HUD and other Federal housing and related Programs available to American Indians.

Planned for use by laymen and professionals, the manual will be prepared under a $40,000 contract funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and awarded to the Washington, D.C.-based Non-Profit Housing Center.

It will contain a brief summary of all relevant programs, indicating their nature, statutory basis, qualifications for assistance, and Federal officials at the National, State, or local levels administering each program.

Instructions for making application for assistance will also be provided.

Recalling the spirit and terms of the original agreement, both Secretaries viewed the new agreement as "a forging ahead" with efforts to reach the five year goals agreed upon two years ago.

Commenting on the agreement, Secretary Romney said: "We at HUD feel that today's signing and the follow-through of both Departments on the original agreement are, indeed, meaningful efforts to stem deplorable housing conditions among many Indian groups."

Secretary Morton said, "A decent, comfortable, and warm home is basic to life itself. Housing in some American Indian communities is so inadequate that spiritual and physical well-being is jeopardized. About 45,000 Indian families live in dwellings that do not meet either health or safety standards. One cannot emerge from the destructive force of poverty without decent housing.

"Interior," he said, "is committed to assuring Indians that by the end of this decade all Indian reservation families will have proper housing.

"The major financial support will come from HUD. Without our goal will be only a dream. In behalf of Indian Americans I wish to thank Secretary Romney for making reality of the dream." HUD's help

The 1971 “American Indian Calendar” listing everts from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Hollywood, Florida, hosted by Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut groups, is now available from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 20402. The price is 30 cents.

Dates and locations of observances are given. Among the annual activities of the various tribes that are included in the 1971 calendar are Alaskan sled dog races, Eskimo blanket-tosses, pow-wows, potlatches, rodeos, fairs, snake and crown dances, and arts and crafts exhibits.

Among Indian-owned resorts that are able to accommodate visitors with a wide range of services this year are Kah-nee-tah, on the Warm Springs Reservation, Ore., and Boundary Tree Motel, at Cherokee, N. Caro., and Bottle Hollow Resort, on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah. Bottle Hollow Resort is a $2.5 million facility that was dedicated July 5.

Typical events to which travelers are invited are the Cape Fox dancers who perform at Saxman Village, Ketchikan, Alaska, September 1-6; Navajo Tribal Fair, Window Rock, Ariz., early September; Southern Ute Tribal Fair, Ignacio, Colo., September 11-13; Assiniboine Encamp­ment, Frazer, Mont., second week in August; Omaha Homecoming and Powwow, Macy, Nebr., August 15; and Corn Dance and San Lorenzo Day Celebration at Picuris, N. M. August 10.

In announcing the publication of the booklet Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce pointed out that a number of Indian observances depend upon seasonal activities and exact dates cannot be determined in advance. He urged tourists to check with tribes, local Bureau offices, and local chamber of' commerce for specific dates if they are not already indicated.

Vacationers who don't have full camping equipment may have to stay in towns outside the reservations unless they arrange ahead for accommodations, Bruce also said.

Camera buffs are also advised to obtain permission before photographing religious ceremonies or snapping pictures of individual Indians. Alcoholic beverages are forbidden on some reservations.

Appointment of Richard D. Butts as superintendent of the Cherokee Indian Agency, Cherokee, N. C., was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay.

Mr. Butts, a member of the Indian Bureau’s Washington office program coordinating staff and former superintendent at Indian agencies in Oregon and Minnesota, will take over his new duties March 1. William E. Ensor, Jr., who has been acting superintendent at Cherokee since the transfer of former superintendent Joe Jennings to the Washington office last December, will resume his previous position as administrative officer of the agency.

A native of Harrington, Kansas, and a graduate of Oklahoma A. and M. College in 1933, Mr. Butts first joined the Indian Bureau in 1948 as soil conservationist at Colville Agency, Nespelem, Washington. Three years later he was appointed superintendent at Umatilla Agency, Pendleton, Oregon, and last summer was transferred to the post of superintendent at Red Lake Agency, Red Lake, Minn. Following the merger of the Red Lake and Consolidated Chippewa Agencies in December, he joined the program coordinating staff in Washington.

Before coming with the Bureau Mr. Butts served with the Army for six years and attained the rank of major prior to his discharge in 1948. His earlier background includes six years with the Soil Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture and two years of school teaching in Oklahoma.

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced that steps will be taken immediately at the Navajo Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Window Rock, Ariz., looking toward the establishment of five new subagencies covering the 15 1/2 million acre Navajo area in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Headquarters for the subagencies will be at Tuba City, Ariz., for the western part of the reservation with about 6,110,000 acres of land and 13,065 population; at Shiprock, N. Mex., for the northeast portion with about 2,772,000 acres and 17,052 population; at Crownpoint, N. Mex., for the eastern (mainly off-reservation) area covering about 1,235,000 acres and 16,934 Navajos; at Chinle, Ariz., for the central zone with approximately 2,106,000 acres and 11,133 Navajos; and at Fort Defiance, Ariz., for the southern area consisting of roughly 3,327,000 acres and 20,166 population.

Each of the subagencies will be headed by an assistant superintendent who will report directly to General Superintendent G. Warren Spaulding at Window Rock. All will be given broad authority to make spot decisions within the general framework of policy and procedure as a means of bringing the administration of Navajo affairs closer to the people, Each of the subagency headquarters will be staffed with Bureau employees who have previously been working in these areas under general supervision from Window Rock.

The Indian Bureau hopes to have the subagencies at Tuba City, Shiprock and Crownpoint established by June 30 and the other two later in the summer or early fall.

Marion A. South has already been selected for the post at Tuba City and Elvin G. Jonas for Shiprock. The other assistant superintendents will be designated as the subagencies reach the stage of actual operation.