OPA

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced the appointment of Carl W. Beck of Apache County, Arizona; as a special consultant on Indian Affairs.

A former official of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Mr. Beck resigned in 1948 to enter private business.

He served in the Indian Service for 23 years in a number of responsible positions including the superintendencies of the Western Shoshone Agency, Owyhee, Nevada, and Fort Hall, Idaho. He entered the Navajo Indian Service in 1929.

Mr. Beck was born in 1902 in Mexico and early in his life removed to St. Johns, Arizona. He attended the public schools of that city and later the University of Arizona.

Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, has forwarded for publication in, the Federal Register, proposed changes in the Code of Federal Regulati6ns recommended by the Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina.

Under the proposed changes, Commissioner Bruce said the time limit for filing applications for enrollment would be removed. In addition, the tenure of office for members of the Enrollment Committee would be limited to two years; the Tribal Enrollment Office, as used in the revision, would be defined; and certain eligibility requirements for persons born after August 21, 1957, would be deleted. Commissioner Bruce said the changes were recommended by the Tribal Council last February.

Publication in the Federal Register is necessary under an Interior Department policy which affords interested persons' the opportunity to submit in writing comments, suggestions or objections regarding the proposed revisions. Such letters should be addressed to the Superintendent, Cherokee Agency, Cherokee, North Carolina 28719, within 30 days after the date of publication.

James J. Thomas, 27, Winnebago Indian, has been named special assistant to the Department of the Interior's Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Louis R. Bruce, the Commissioner announced today.

Thomas, horn and reared on the Winnebago I Indian Reservation, Nebraska, recently completed an Indian administrator development program of the Bureau.

In announcing the appointment, the Commissioner said: "I am proud that Indian people have man such as Jim Thomas who can come to the Bureau of Indian Affairs from an Indian reservation and contribute the knowledge he gained there coupled with expertise from the urban setting for the betterment of Indians."

Thomas joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1967. He headed the Bureau's Youth Committee and served in an intern capacity at the Billings Area Office, Flathead Agency, and Cleveland Field Employment Assistance Office, all BIA field offices.

Part of his internship included a special eight-month assignment to the Office of Economic Opportunity in Washington, D.C., as an analyst for selected community action programs.

Thomas attended St. Augustine's Indian Mission on the Winnebago Reservation, and was graduated from Heelan High School, Sioux City, Iowa, in 1963. He served three years in the National Guard, and was on active duty at Fort Jackson, S.C., and Fort Polk, La. He has attended George Washington University, Washington, D.C.; Eastern Montana State University, Billings, Mont.; Griswold College, Cleveland, Ohio; and Northern Virginia Community College, Arlington, VA.

The largest oil and gas mining lease sale ever made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs will be offered prospective bidders at a sale to be held at Window Rock, Arizona, April 21, May 1, May 12, and May 22, Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay announced today.

The land area totals more than 528,000 acres in the vicinity of the isolated Four Corners area on the Navajo reservation in Arizona and Utah. If all the land is taken up by successful bidders, the Navajo Tribe could realize a cash bonus estimated at a possible $3,000,000 plus annual rental payments of $650,000 per year, and one-eighth royalty if production is obtained.

Sealed bids will be received by Allan G. Harper J area director, Navajo-Hopi reservation, at the Window Rock Area office on tracts which average 2,560 acres each and which involves a total of 214 tracts.

The bids are to be opened as follows:

Block A, 53 tracts, totaling approximately 130,963.80 acres, bids to be opened at 2:00 p.m., April 21;

Block B, 52 tracts, totaling approximately 130,108.64 acres, bids to be opened at 2:00 p.m., May l;

Block C, 60 tracts, totaling approximately 147,094.49 acres, bids to be opened at 2:00 p.m., May 12;

Block D, 49 tracts, totaling approximately 120,642 acres, bids to be opened at 2:00 p.m., May 22.

Blocks A, B, c, and D, lie in Utah, south of the San Juan River and in northeast Arizona in the vicinity of the Four Corners.

In addition, bids will also be opened April 21 on 10,240 acres of Tribal land in San Juan County, New Mexico, approximately 15 miles south of Shiprock; bids will also be opened on 5,540 acres of Tribal land in Coconino County, Arizona, located approximately 6 miles southwest of Tuba City. Prospective bidden, will also be invited to bid on 8,155 acres of individual scattered allotted lands in San Juan County, New Mexico, approximately 20 miles south of Farmington, New Mexico.

The leases are offered without any special drilling requirements. Geologists, representing many oil and gas companies, have made exhaustive geological surveys of the area to be leased by the Navajo Tribe. There is great oil and gas development, adjoining the tracts now opened for lease, in the vicinity of Shiprock, Farmington and Bloomfield, New Mexico.

This will be the first major sale for oil and gas leases on the Arizona side of the reservation. Prospective bidders, not on the mailing list, may procure copies of the advertisements by phoning or writing Mr. Marvin D. Long, Chief of Lands, Window Rock, Arizona,

Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior, today lauded the Salt River Indian Community of Arizona for receiving the Meritorious Program Award of the American

Institute of Planners. The award was presented at the Institute's 52nd annual convention in Boston.

In a letter addressed to the President of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Council, Commissioner Bruce said this was the first time that the Nation's leading professional planning organization has honored an Indian community.

Salt River was the first tribe to negotiate with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to be included in the Reservation Acceleration Program (RAP). RAP has moved from a pilot status involving 11 selected tribes to one of nearly 40 participating tribes during 1972.

"Please accept my congratulations for the professional recognition that you have just received," the Commissioner wrote “I know you will go on from here and continue to explore. And to conquer new ground, serving as a model for other small communities, Indian and non-Indian) throughout the Nation."

Two thousand Pima and Maricopa Indians comprise the Salt River Indian Community near Scottsdale, Ariz. The Citizens adopted a new constitution and produced a planning program which resulted in major decrease in unemployment; created new educational programs; Construction of an industrial park; adoption of zoning regulations; and improvement of its housing stock to the point where housing is now adequate for 30 percent of its families.

It is the first time that a plan has been created for an Indian community by the Indian citizens themselves. "I know that my planning staff can learn much. From your pioneering efforts not only in developing your own, unique planning process, but in supporting it through the development of a community land board which involves allottees in managing their land, and in setting up a computerized land management system," Bruce said.

Public school enrollment of Indian children is increasing at a fast rate a Bureau of Indian Affairs survey released by Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay, shows. Comparative figures for the years 1942 and 1952 show that while the number of Indian children enrolled in all schools rose some 25 percent in that decade, the number attending public schools in their home states rose approximately 40 percent.

In 1942, of the total 70,000 Indian children of school age enrolled in school, 35,000 were in public schools, 28,000 in Federally operated schools, and 7,000 in mission schools. These figures compare with a total of 88,000 Indian children of school age enrolled in school in 1952, with 48,000 in public schools, 31,000 in Federal schools and 9,000 in mission schools.

The Alaska statistics are not included in the survey. During the past school year Alaska had 11,000 Indian children of school age enrolled in all schools available to them. Of this total, 4,700 were in public schools, 5,200 in Federal schools and 1,100 in mission schools.

The three types of schools available for Indian children are those operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, public schools of the States in which the Indians reside, and mission schools operated by religious denominations.

Seventy-eight percent of the approximately 123,000 Indian children of school age in the United States and Alaska are in schools of some kind.

The first 14, Indian athletes named to the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame at Lawrence, Kansas, will be formally inducted November 25, according to the Board, which includes representatives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Nine of the Athletes will be inducted posthumously.

Ceremonies marking the occasion will be held in the Student Union Building of Haskell Indian Junior College, Lawrence, Kansas. A display room has been set aside to house the memorabilia on Indian sports heroes until the Hall of Fame Building can be erected on the famed Haskell campus.

The American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame will stand as a historical record and tribute to the abilities of Indian athletes and as art inspiration for Indian youth seeking to develop rewarding and productive lives. The Hall of Fame was incorporated as a non-profit organization in August 1972 in the State of Kansas. It will be supported by private donations.

Haskell Indian Junior College was selected as the home of the Hall of Fame because of its prominent history. The great Haskell Institute teams of the late 1920's won nationwide acclaim for their football prowess.

Billy Mills, Oglala Sioux Indian and Director of Recreation, Physical Education and Athletics for the BIA, is representing Commissioner Louis R. Bruce on the Hall of Fame Board to bring plans to fruition. He is a Haskell graduate who became the first American ever to win the Olympic 10,000-meter run in 1964.

The fourteen athletes to be inducted were selected in September by a five-member committee from the Board consisting of George LaVatta, Portland, Oreg.; Harold Schunk, Rapid City, S.D.; Albert Hawley, Phoenix, Ariz.; Elijah Smith, Riverside Calif.; and Mills.

Other members of the Board are Clarence Acoya, Denver, Colo.; Walter McDonald, Billings, Mont.; Dr. Walter Soboloff, Juneau, Alaska; Roger Jourdain, Minneapolis, Minn.; Joe Watson, Navajo Area; Overton James, Anadarko, Okla.; Clarence Tallbull, Phoenix, Ariz.; and Fred Owl, Cherokee, .N. C.

The nine to be inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame include:

Jim Thorpe -- Potawatomi/Sac & Fox Tribe. Born Prague, Okla., 1888, died 1953. Attended Carlisle Indian School, Carlisle, Pa., and Cumberland Valley College, Fa. Named All-American halfback at Carlisle 1908, 1911 and 1912. Gold Medal winner in the Pentathlon and the Decathlon at the 1912
Olympic games. Voted greatest athlete of the 1st half century.

Charles A., "Chief" Bender -- Chippewa Tribe. Born Brainard, Minn., 1884, died 1954. Attended Carlisle Indian School. Major league pitcher for Philadelphia, 1903 - 1917. Played in World Series· of 1905, 1909, 1911, 1913 and 1914. Named to the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1953.

John Levi -- Arapaho Tribe. Born Bridgeport Territory, Okla., 1898, died 1946. Attended Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kansas, 1921 - 1924. All-American fullback in football and named Haskell's greatest all-around athlete. Jim Thorpe called him "The greatest athlete I have ever seen."

Rueben Sanders -- Tututni, Rogue River Indian. Born Corvallis, Ore., 1876, died 1957. Attended Chemawa Indian School, Ore., excelled in football, baseball, track and bike riding. Achieved the distinction of being one of the greatest all-time football players and all-around athletes in the State of Oregon.

John "Chief" Meyers -- Cahuilla Band. Born Riverside, Calif., 1880, died 1970. Attended Riverside High School and Dartmouth College. Played major; league baseball with New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers from 1908 ­- 1916. Batted 358 with 1913 Giants. Earned title of "Ironman" as Giant catcher from 1911 - 1913.

Joseph N. Guyon -- White Earth Chippewa Tribe. Born White Earth, Minn., 1892, died 1971. Attended Carlisle Indian School, Carlisle, Pa., 1911 -1914; Georgia Tech, 1917 - 1918. Named All-American at Carlisle 1913 and 1914 and All-American at Georgia Tech 1917 and 1918. Played professional football with Kansas City Cowboys and New York Giants. Named to National Professional Football Hall of Fame, 1966.

Louis Tewanima -- Hopi Tribe. Born Second Mesa, Ariz., 1877, died 1969. Attended Carlisle Indian School, 1907 - 1912. Member of the 1908 Olympic Team, ninth in the Marathon. Member of the 1912 Olympic Team, second place in 10,000-meters. Named to Arizona sport Hall of Fame, 1957; Helms Foundation member to the all-time U.S. Track and Field Team, 1954. Established a new world record in the ten-mile run, 1909.

Alexander Arcasa -- Colville Tribe. Born Orient, Wash., 1890, died 1962. Attended Carlisle Indian School 1909 - 1912. Excelled in football and lacrosse. Named to Walter Camp's All-American team of 1912. Camp's second choice after Jim Thorpe.

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay today announced the transfer of a 45-bed Indian hospital at Hayward, Wisconsin, to a local nonprofit corporation for future operations and maintenance.

The hospital was turned over to the Hayward Memorial Area Hospital Association. It will continue to provide services primarily for members of the Lac Courte Oreilles tribe, and will also serve non-Indians of the area. The hospital will be operated under a policy of equality of treatment and non-segregation.

Under contracts negotiated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, other Indians in the area will receive service at local hospitals closer to their reservations than the Hayward Hospital. The Lac du Flambeau Indians will receive treatment at Moccasin or Rhinelander, Wisconsin; the Bad River Indians at Ashland, and the Red Cliff band of Chippewas at Bayfield.

The Hayward Hospital, operated for many years by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is the first to be transferred to local ownership and supervision under authority of Public Law 291 of the 82nd Congress, approved April 3, 1952.

The move is part of the Indian Bureau’s program of transferring its service responsibilities to State and local agencies. The transfer was discussed with the Indians involved and approved in resolutions adopted by their tribal councils.

The resignation of Louis R. Bruce as Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was announced today President Nixon. The resignation is effective January 20,1973.

Bruce. 66 has served as Commissioner since August 1969. A member of the Ogala Sioux tribe of South Dakota, Bruce was born on the Onondaga Indian Reservation in New York and grew up on the State's St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.

In submitting his resignation to the president, Bruce said: "Since my appointment and confirmation, I have worked to carry out the self-determination policies as outlined in your Indian message of July, 1970.

"Some of these are: Aid to tribal governments; an aggressive National Tribal Chairman's Association; and Indian Bank; the Indian Action Teams; Tribal control of Indian Education and a strong Bill of Rights for BIA boarding school students; roads on the reservations; establishment of viable Indian economies; Indian preference and consultation -- spells self-determination as I have been trying to identify it in my efforts during the administration.

"This I have done in a time when American Indians have been more directly involved with the Federal Government than ever before in determining the shape and direction of the policies and programs that vitally affect their lives."

Legislation is being drafted in the Bureau of Indian Affairs which will authorize transfer to the State of Texas complete trust responsibility over the affairs of the 410 Alabama-Coushatta Indians living on an approximately 4,000-acre reservation in Polk County, Texas, Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay announced today.

Those are the only Indians in Texas for which the Bureau has any responsibility. Their tribal assets consist solely of lands upon which there is an excellent stand of timber. Their economy is based entirely on wage-earnings, principally in the logging industry.

Secretary McKay's action in asking that Federal legislation be drafted for introduction as soon as possible in the Congress was in response to a recently passed concurrent resolution by the Texas legislature accepting the trust responsibility, as well as a resolution adopted by the Indians on February 13, 1953, The Indian resolution stated, in part:

"WHEREAS, the Alabama and Coushatta Indian Reservation is located in Polk County, Texas, and consists of 4,281 acres of timberland (and) the State of Texas, through its Forest Service, is willing and able to extend to our reservation the conservation and management practices which are being applied to State forests, therefore, be it resolved that the Secretary of the Interior be, and is hereby, urged to authorize the great State of Texas to assume full responsibility for the management, protection and conservation of our forest resources....."

On May 21, Gov. A11an Shivers notified Assistant Secretary of the Interior Orme Lewis that the State Legislature had accepted the trust responsibility by concurrent resolution. That resolution stated:

"WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States may pass legislation relinquishing the trust responsibilities of the United States with respect to the lands and other assets of the Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes, and,

"WHEREAS, This Legislature finds it necessary to hereby indicate its desire and set forth a policy necessary in order to achieve a stronger unity for the protection of the interest and welfare of such Indian tribes; now therefore, be it

"RESOLVED, By the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring, that in the event the Congress of the United States shall provide such legislation, and the Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes shall indicate their consent by appropriate resolution, the Governor is hereby authorized to accept on behalf of the State a transfer of the trust responsibilities of the United States respecting the lands and other assets of the .Alabama and Coushatta Indian Tribes; and, be it further

"RESOLVED, That the Governor is authorized to designate the state agency in which such trust responsibilities shall rest, and the agency so designated shall have authority to promulgate rules and regulations for the administration of the trust and the protection of the beneficial interest of the Indians in such lands and other assets."

Subsequently Assistant Secretary Lewis directed the Bureau to prepare legislation to provide for the termination of Federal responsibility for administering the affairs of Indians in the State of Texas. The only actual services which. this Bureau has been performing in connection with these tribes in recent years is a payment of monies- $18,000 in the current fiscal year--under the Johnson O'Malley Act to the State of Texas for the use of the local school district.

The State of Texas has given a number of services to these tribes and maintains a superintendent on the reservation. Texas is spending approximately $41,000 during the current year. This interest of the State in the welfare of these tribes has a long historical background, evidently going back to the days of Sam Houston, their friend. In 1854-1855, the State purchased 1,110 acres, the deeds running to the Alabama Tribe direct. The United States purchased in 1928 approximately 3,181 acres, to be held in trust for the Alabama and Coushatta Tribes. The two areas are contiguous and have been treated as one reservation.