OPA

A number of gifted American Indian students will be given the chance to go with some of the Nation's leading scientists on world-wide expeditions under an Exploration Scholarship Program of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Marvin L. Franklin, and Assistant to the Secretary of the U. S. Department of the Interior for Indian Affairs, announced today.

"The program began on a pilot basis last year, when 11 American Indian and Alaska Native high school and college students were chosen to participate," Franklin said. "We hope to have as many selected this year."

American Indian students between the ages of 15 and 21 may compete now for 1973 scholarships by submitting applications to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Office that serves them by March 16, 1973. Additional information on the awards and the applications are available from that same office.

Scholarships will be funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and will be arranged through two organizations: The Explorers Club and Educational Expeditions International (in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution).

This year's scholarships will be awarded in the fields of astronomy, archaeology, anthropology, ecology, marine biology, and geology. Expeditions of from one to eight weeks will be led by prominent scientists to research sites in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, South and Central America, and the United States.

Candidates will be chosen on the basis of demonstrated competence and potential for careers in the various scientific fields. Evidence of good health, physical prowess, recommendations by community leaders, and an essay will also be used to judge competitors.

Semi-finalists in the competition will be chosen by each Area Office and forwarded to Washington, D.C. by March 30, 1973.

Final selections will be made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Education Programs in Washington, D.C., and the participating organizations. Winners will be announced by April 16, 1973.

Scholarship assistance includes air fare to the expedition site, sub­sidized entirely by the program's private sponsors, and all other expenses.

Opportunities to take part in the expeditions are also available for other students and teachers able to pay their own expenses. Schools, educational, civic, or private organizations and state governments wishing to sponsor scholarships may do so. Expenses average $1,500 for each student.

Those students selected last year went to Nyragongo, Eastern Congo; Okavango, Botswana, South Africa; Prince Edward Island, Canada; Ubeidiya site, Israel; Rhode Island; and the wilderness area of Oregon in the United States.

One of the 11 Indian scholarship winners chosen last year reported back to the Explorers Club via an article in a recent issue of its "Explorers Journal." She is Carol Mae Nichol of Los Angeles, Calif., a Delaware-Pottawatomi Indian graduate of UCLA who went to the Ubeidiya site, Israel, last year. She says:

"I, who had been no further than Oklahoma, swam in the Sea of Galilee. I, who have always been a fence straddler in America's anthropology departments have found a place where my particular interest is an established field of study: prehistory. My career objectives are suddenly plausible •••• Thank you."

America's attention has been focused on the irresponsible violence at Wounded Knee. The future of Indian self-determination can only be set back when unrepresentative groups disregard the law.

Instead of leading to solutions and the conditions for a new era of Indian self-determination, violence leads only to more violence, and more suffering.

Human injustice cannot be eliminated without the conditions for equity --and full moral responsibility cannot be met without full legal authority.

At the same time, however, we share the belief of America's elected Indian leaders that many Indian needs must be met with legislation, with funding, and assistance --and not through negotiation at gunpoint.

The Administration has today retransmitted seven key Indian affairs bills to the Congress. Each of these bills was submitted to the 92nd Congress. All of them were originally set forth in the President's Message to the Congress on Indian Affairs on July 8, 1970.

In the two and a half years since then, however, no final Congressional action was taken. With today's proposed legislation America's Indians are for the first time in over a century on the threshold of “a new era in which the Indian future is determined by Indian acts and decision.”

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Alph H. Secakuku to the position of Superintendent of the Hopi Agency in Arizona.

Secakuku, a member of the Hopi Tribe, had been appointed acting Superintendent at the Hopi Agency earlier this year.

Thompson said he was extremely pleased to make the appointment and - noted that Secakuku would be the first member of the Hopi Tribe to serve as Superintendent of the Hopi Agency. The Hopi Tribal Council had asked that he be considered for the position, Thompson said.

Secakuku served as Tribal Operations Officer at the Nevada Indian Agency at Stewart, Nevada, from 1970 to 1974. Prior to that he was Indian Affairs Representative for the First National Bank of Arizona in Phoenix and before that was a Tribal Enrollment Specialist in the Phoenix Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

He was born May 21, 1939, at Kearns Canyon, Ariz., on the Hopi Indian Reservation.

He was graduated from Mission High School, Ganado, Ariz., attended Arizona State College in Flagstaff, Arizona and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Northern Arizona university at Flagstaff in 1968.

Secakuku is married to the former Alfreda Fredericks and they have two sons, Scott and Charles.

A contract amounting to nearly $1.4 million has been awarded to Burgraff Construction Company of Idaho Falls, Idaho, to pave, drain, and surface slightly more than 16 miles of road and build two reinforced concrete bridges on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in the village of Owyhee, Nevada Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The contract provides for the construction of 16.3 miles of highway, surfacing on a portion of state highway at and route 9 in the village of Owyhee, and the construction of two reinforced concrete bridges. The construction was requested by the Western Shoshone Tribe.

"Improvement of reservation roads is an important phase of economic development efforts carried on by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Indian lands", Thompson said. "This road project will make possible better school bus service into rural areas and improve access for Indian farmers in the valley."

The Native Village of Tetlin, Alaska, has qualified to contract under the Tribal Government Development Program of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in order to strengthen its tribal government, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. The village may contract for up to $15,500.

Tetlin is the fourth Alaskan Native Village to qualify for Tribal Government Development Program money. The others are: Arctic Village-Venetie, Gambell and Savoonga.

These villages have qualified because they elected to retain their reserved lands and, therefore, are ineligible for benefits under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

"Alaska Native villages such as Tetlin are in particular need of a well run government in order to manage their lands," Commissioner Thompson indicated "A strong local government can help Native peoples undertake projects in their own behalf successfully."

The primary thrusts of the Tetlin contract are to establish a tribal office and create a record keeping system. To accomplish this an office manager and a secretary must be trained.

The village of Tetlin is recognized by the Federal Government under the Indian Reorganization Act. A resolution requesting consideration to come under the Tribal Government Development Program was signed by Bentley Mark, village vice president, and Jimmie Joe, village treasurer.

Seneca was elected President of the American Indian Law Students Association in 1970, and was also appointed by the Chancellor of New York State's university system to serve on a panel which was charged to assist in the long range development of the State university system by providing a philosophical base with respect to change and growth.

Seneca is married to the former Karen Ann Wilson, Boise, Idaho. They have four children, three sons and one daughter.

Almost $1 million to be used to help Indian students in public schools has been awarded under contracts this month to Indian tribal groups in the Great Lakes Area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. The contracts were let by the BLA's Minneapolis Area Office.

The Minnesota Chippewa Resource Development Corporation received the bulk of the money, $863,668, for the benefit of the six Chippewa Indian reservations in Minnesota - Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs and White Earth.

The Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board of Stone Lake, Wisconsin, received $51,318 for use in the Hayward and Winter school districts. The Keweenaw Bay Education Committee, Inc., of Baraga, Michigan received $43,729 for schools in the Baraga, L'Anse and Watersmeet districts. A contract for $23,662 was also awarded to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Education Committee, Inc. for the Mt. Pleasant School District in Michigan.

Under the Johnson-O'Malley Act of 1934 the Bureau is authorized to provide assistance to public schools with substantial Indian enrollments. Commonly these funds are used for needed supplemental programs, not part of the ordinary school program. This might be a course in Indian culture, employment of an Indian teacher's aide to facilitate the beginning student's adjustments to school or a special program in reading. Local Indian committees are asked to determine the needs.

In special circumstances, where the school district contains large areas of Indian-owned, tax-exempt land, the funds can also be used for the basic operating costs of the schools.

"In years past," Commissioner Thompson said, "the use of these funds would have been determined by the Bureau, the State Department of Education and the school districts. Under these contracts the tribal groups, working directly with the school districts, will make that determination. This is one example of the way the Bureau is implementing the policy of Indian self-determination. "

Acting Secretary of the Interior John C. Whitaker and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today a decision, the result of which is that the Chemehuevi Tribe of Indians has equitable title to 18 miles of shoreline along Lake Havasu, a portion of the Colorado River. The shoreline is located in San Bernardino County about forty miles southeast of Needles California.

The decision administratively puts to rest an ownership dispute concerning over 21 miles of shoreline which has been pending before the Department for several years.

The lands in question were owned by the Chemehuevi Tribe prior to construction of Parker Dam. In 1941, however, pursuant to an Act of Congress, Secretary Ickes designated the lands be taken as part of a "freeboard" area for the reservoir, Lake Havasu, created behind the dam. Sixteen miles of the shoreline have been administered as public lands since that date, and five and one-half miles were included in Havasu National Wildlife Refuge.

The Tribe has claimed ownership of the lands and complained that it was denied access to the Lake. The Tribe pointed out that the shoreline lands were the only part of the reservation which were habitable and retained any value after 1940. Acting Secretary Whitaker's decision modifies the 1941 designation with the result that the Tribe has equitable title to the lands, subject to a flowage easement in the United States.

Acting Secretary Whitaker said "today's decision was made after an exhaustive study of its environmental consequences, and careful review of a comprehensive environmental impact statement prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. It permits maximum utilization of their reservation lands by the Indians, while preserving for the wildlife refuge all lands essential to its operation.” The dividing line between the Indian lands and those within the refuge will be a point north of Catfish Bay, to be fixed by survey.

Proposed regulations for the preparation of plans for the use or distribution of judgments made to American Indian tribes or groups by the Indian Claims Commission or the United States Court of Claims have been drafted and can now be commented on, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The proposed regulations to implement the Act of October 19, 1973 were published in the Federal Register on November 14, 1973. In compliance with the new law, a public hearing on the proposed regulations will be held at Denver, Colorado, on December 13, 1973, at the Federal Post Office Building, Room 269, 1823 Stout Street, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

In addition, written comments, suggestions or objections to the proposed regulations may be sent to the Division of Tribal Government Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20245, and will receive consideration equal to that given to all oral testimony presented at the public hearing. Although the proposed regulations cite December 14, 1973, as a date for the receipt of such written expressions, Commissioner Thompson said the Bureau will accept and consider any postmarked not later than January 5, 1974.

In implementing a 180-day time schedule set by the 1973 Act for the disposition of judgment funds, the new regulations would do this:

Require the earliest possible completion of research to identify the ultimate .Require the earliest possible completion or present-day beneficiaries of judgments.

Give the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 75 days from the date of appropriation of funds to cover a judgment in which to submit the results of all research to the involved Area Director or Directors of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They, in turn, would present the results of the research to the effected tribe or tribes.

Require an affected Indian tribe or group to hold a preliminary meeting of the tribal governing body, or a public meeting, to develop a suggested plan for the use or distribution of its judgment funds. The Area Director or Directors would assist in arranging these meetings and would make the expertise of the Bureau of Indian Affairs available to them.

Require the Area Director to call a hearing of record, to receive testimony on the proposed tribal plan, within 60 days after receiving the results of the research from the Commissioner.

Within 180 days of the appropriation of judgment funds, or in the case of awards for which covering funds were appropriated prior to passage of the 1973Act, within 180 days from the date of that Act, the Secretary of the Interior is required by the Act to submit the final proposed plan, and other pertinent items, to the Chairmen of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives. At the same time, he will submit these items to the governing body of each affected tribe or group, and to the appropriate Area Director and Agency Superintendent. Unless one of the Committees disapproves a submitted plan by resolution, it becomes effective on the 60th day from its submission to the Committees. Disapproval of a plan will require the Secretary of the Interior to resubmit it in the form of proposed legislation, after further consultation with the affected Indian tribe or group.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INDIAN AFFAIRS

Establishes an additional Assistant Secretary of the Interior responsible for Indian Affairs. The purpose of this proposal is to upgrade the position of Commissioner of Indian Affairs (which would be eliminated by the proposal) to that of an Assistant Secretary of the Interior, The creation of this position will raise the Department's responsibility for Indians to its proper level within the structure of the Department. Focusing his attention solely on their unique problems, the new Assistant Secretary will work full-time with Indians to improve their economic and social conditions and assist in the development of their full potential, both for their own and the Nation's benefit.

INDIAN ASSUMPTION OF CONTROL

Provides for the assumption of the control and operation by Indian tribes and communities of certain programs and services provided for them by the Federal Government. This proposal will enable any Indian tribe, band, group, or community to request and assume control of any program or service now extended to it by the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior or the Indian health service program of the Public Health Service of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The two program areas are the ones that deal most directly with Indian people. The turnover will be made after the tribe has consulted with the appropriate Department, has worked out a transfer plan with that Department, and has submitted that plan formally along with its request for the turnover. Even though an Indian group assumes the control and operation of a program or service, the Federal government will retain its ultimate responsibility for that program or service and will maintain its trust relationship with that Indian group.

TRANSFER OF CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES

This proposal is a companion to our proposal that authorizes Indian tribes to assume control and operation of programs and services now rendered for them by the Federal Government. It allows civil service employees to transfer with the program or service and retain the coverage that they now enjoy as civil servants and also gives them preferential reemployment rights for a period of five years. Without the opportunity for continuity in the operation of transferred programs, most if not all such transfers would be doomed to failure.

INDIAN FINANCING ACT

The Indian Financing Act is designed to infuse capital into Indian country. Essentially the Act contains three major programs. The first expands several existing revolving loan funds that have been operated by the Department of the Interior with limited capital and limited applicability. Under the Act these funds would be consolidated into one fund, $50 million in additional funds would be added to the fund, for a total of $75 million, and the fund would be made available to all tribes and eligible individuals on the same basis. The second major section in the bill is aimed at making Indians more attractive prospects for private lenders by means of a guarantee program. By virtue of this program the Secretary of the Interior would guarantee up to 90 percent of loans made to Indians by private institutions. Finally, the Act would authorize the Secretary to make grants to small Indian businessmen. These grants, of up to $50,000 per venture, would enable Indians to launch business ventures but could be made only to those who were ineligible to obtain loans or loan guarantees under the Act.

INDIAN TRUST COUNSEL AUTHORITY

Provides for the creation of the Indian Trust Counsel Authority. The Indian Trust Counsel would 'provide independent legal counsel and representation on behalf of Indians and Alaska Natives in the assertion of their natural resource rights. Such an authority is needed to remedy a conflict of interests on the part of the Federal Government. The Authority will be free from control by any Executive Department. This independence will enable the Authority to protect the natural resource rights and interests of Indians untrammeled by any other interest. The Authority will be under the direction of a three-man Board of Directors, two of whom must be Indians. The proposal authorizes the Authority, upon the request of an aggrieved Indian or group of Indians, to assist those Indians in the protection of their natural resource rights and interests in the courts and before administrative bodies. This authority will be used when a tribe has a justiciable claim and feels that it needs the assistance of the Authority for prosecuting that claim. The assistance rendered by the Authority is in addition to the responsibilities that the Department of the Interior has to protect Indians, not only in their natural resource rights, but in all rights protected by the trust relationship between the United States and American Indians.

EXPANSION OF CONTRACTING AUTHORITY WITH TRIBES

Amends the Johnson-O'Malley Act to authorize the Department of Interior to channel funds appropriated under the Act directly to Indian tribes and communities. This amendment will add new authority to contract directly with Indian tribes, bands, groups, or communities who run their own educational institutions, enabling the Secretary to arrange for direct Indian involvement in Indian education, agricultural assistance, and social welfare. The same authority will be given to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare for Indian health programs.

LIVESTOCK TRESPASS AND TRADERS

A proposal to afford Indians greater control over activities conducted on their reservations, concern the areas of livestock trespass and traders. Section 1 of the bill provides that any person allowing his livestock to trespass on trust or restricted land without the consent of the Secretary of the Interior shall be liable for a penalty of $5 per day for each head of livestock in trespass, together with the value of forage used by the animal during the period of trespass plus any other cost incurred in connection with the trespass. Section 2 of the proposal authorizes Indian tribal governments to enact laws and ordinances relating to the issuance of trader licenses on their reservation. This will place with tribal governments the ultimate decision as to whether federal law or their own trading ordinances shall obtain on the reservations.

The Department of the Interior has proposed amendment of Title 25 of the Code of Federal regulations to establish requirements and filing application deadlines for enrollment with the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Tribe of Sioux Indians and the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe, Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced today.

The proposed amendment is being published in the Federal Register.

The purpose of the amendment is to carry out the provisions of the Act of October 25,1972 (86 Stat. 1168) which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to distribute funds derived from a judgment awarded the Mississippi Sioux Indians in Indian Claims Commission dockets 142, 359, 360, 361, 362, and 363. The proposed amendment would include in Section 41.3 the requirements which must be met to establish eligibility for enrollment to share in the distribution of the funds and the deadline for filing applications.

The revision provides that two separate rolls be prepared of lineal descendants of the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Tribe and the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe who were born on or prior to and were living on October 25,1972 and whose names or the name of a lineal ancestor appears on any available records and rolls acceptable to the Secretary. Descendants of the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Tribe who meet the requirements for membership in the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, the Santee Sioux Tribe, the Lower Sioux Indian Community at Morton, Minnesota, the Prairie Island Indian Community at Welch, Minnesota, or the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota will be enrolled by the tribes on tribal rolls and will not be enrolled on the Secretary's roll. Descendants of the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe who meet the requirements for membership in the Devils Lake Sioux Tribe, the Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux Tribe or the Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux Indians of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation will be enrolled by the tribes on tribal rolls and will not be enrolled on the Secretary's roll.

Applications for enrollment on the Secretary's rolls as a descendant of the Mdewakanton and Wahpakoota Tribe of Sioux Indians or the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe must be filed with the Area Director, Aberdeen Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 820 S. Main Street, Aberdeen, S.D. 57401 and must be received no later than November 1,1973. Applications for enrollment on the tribal rolls should be directed to the appropriate tribe as soon as possible.

In keeping with Departmental po1i-cy of allowing the. puh1i-c to participate in the ru1emaking process, interested persons will have 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register to submit their comments, suggestions, or objections regarding the proposed revision to the. Director of Community Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1951 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20245.