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Office of Public Affairs
Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs Marvin L. Franklin announced today that the first exhibition of art at the John F. Kennedy Center will be a showing of works by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Scheduled to open at the Kennedy Center on April 1, 1973, the multi-media show will feature several of the best known American Indian artists, working in sculpture, painting, graphics, ceramics, jewelry, costumes and poetry.
Artists are: Donna Whitewing Vandall, John Vandall, Bill Prokopiof, Cal Rollins, Juan Chavarria, Roberta Watts, Jim McGrath, Paul Masters, Milliard Holbrook, Ramoncita Sandoval, Seymour Tubis, Lloyd New, Otellie Lioma, Don Whitesinger, John Boyland, Douglas Hyde, Ralph Pardington, Dave Schwindt, Herb Gilbert, Dominick Laducer, Alan Houser, Kay Wiest, Eldred Poisal, Bob Harcourt, John Kindred, Henry Cobin, George Fredericks, Chuck Dailey, and Bruce Ignacio.
The show will bring the work of many of these artists to Washington for the first time, and will provide a serious look at the full spectrum of Native American art. Thirty-four artists will exhibit more than 150 individual pieces during the 22 day show. Sponsors are: U. S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, James E. Hawkins, Director Education Programs BIA; Mrs. Elizabeth K. Hart, Cherokee Studios, Alexandria, Va.; Charles Daley, Museum Director, I.A.I.A.; and Lloyd New, Director of I.A.I.A.
During its ten years of existence, the Institute of American Indian Arts has produced world famous artists such as Fritz Sholder and Lloyd Kiva New. The school has a student body of some 300 Indians from 80 tribes, and has as its stated purpose the idea that "unique cultural traditions can be honored and used creatively as a springboard to a meaningful and productive contemporary life." The result is art that combines international sophistication with the overwhelming influences of the American Indian culture.
A $2.5 million supplemental appropriation for the Bureau of Indian Affairs will make it possible for some 3,000 Indian youth to receive scholarship grants enabling them to begin or continue their education in 1973 at the college level.
In making the announcement, Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton said the additional funds will enable the Bureau to meet the needs of all eligible Indian applicants. The 3,000 youths are in addition to the record high of 11,009 students already receiving higher education assistance under the Bureau's regular appropriation.
"About 14,000 applications for scholarship grants were received this summer," Secretary Morton said. "This supplemental appropriation will make it possible to provide grants for the spring semester for those students we could not previously help because of a lack of funds. These students should immediately contact their agency or BIA Area Office to reactivate their applications for assistance," he added.
The 14,000 Indian students expected to be receiving college scholarship aid in 1973 is a dramatic increase over past years. It is almost 20 times the number receiving assistance ten years ago and about five times the number assisted four years ago. More than 100 students receiving assistance are in law school and approximately 100 more are in other post-graduate programs.
"This is an indication that our Native American youth are deeply interested in seeking a professional level of education. The rapidly increasing number of applications also reflects the desire of Indians to achieve the necessary education to attain the self-determination advocated in President Nixon's 1970 Message to Congress, “Secretary Morton said.
The supplemental appropriation, which has been allocated to the Bureau's Area Offices for distribution, brings the total provided through the Bureau of Indian Affairs for Indian higher education to $20.9 million in fiscal year 1973.
The Indians --with their traditional independence, resourcefulness, and close ties to nature --provide the United States with its unique character, some authorities say. Now their relationship to the land, their neighbor, states, and local governments, is the subject of a book, "The States and Their Indian Citizens," just published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U. S. Department of the Interior.
"This study comes at a time of critical review of the relationship between the various governments in our Federal system and makes a significant contribution to our understanding," Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton says in the foreword of this book.
The author is Dr. Theodore W. Taylor, former Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He did most of the research and writing on the book while a Federal Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.
The Secretary continues: "The conflict in the Indian community as to the desirability of special Federal services to urban Indians is explored. Indeed, the general policies and philosophies discussed in this study may significantly contribute to a greater understanding of the relationship between ethnic minorities and the general population as well as to options available for future growth of our Federal system in general.
"Taylor discusses the nature of self-determination in relationship to trust responsibility, whether the non-Indian society has a perpetual obligation to the original Americans, the impact of subsidies, and the responsibilities residing with Indian, State, and Federal Governments."
The appendix contains an analysis of the special messages on Indians to the Congress by both President Johnson and President Nixon and a table that shows by State the acres of Indian land, population, and whether Indian children are educated by public or Federal schools.
Governor Robert Lewis of the Zuni Pueblo writes in his introduction to the book that "This book will help those (Indians) who want to help themselves think through what they want to do. It presents insights into some of the complex history and problems we Indians face along with our non-Indian neighbors which I think will be helpful to Indians and non-Indians alike."
The book is illustrated and has a 26" x 36" map in color that shows the Federal and state reservations.
The book may be purchased for $2.25 in paper cover from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. Order by catalog number l20.2:ST2/3.
Review copies are available on request from the Office of Communications, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and 1951 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20242.
Indians of North Carolina, II a new 24-page booklet describing the life or the 5,000 members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians living today in the Tarheel state, has just been published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Richard S. Bodman announced today. Bodman has administrative control of all Indian operations for Interior.
"About 5,000 members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians live today in North Carolina, most of them on the 56,500 acre Cherokee Reservation in the western part of the state," Bodman explained. "Their reservation is a well-governed Indian community that welcomes tourists --its principal source of income," he said.
"We hope this booklet will tell all Americans more about their Indian neighbors and encourage those who live near the Cherokee Indian reservation in North Carolina or travel in that vicinity to visit the "First Americans" there,” he said.
The booklet points out that the Cherokee had the mightiest empire of all the southeastern Indian tribes before the white man entered the New World. They built villages on the banks of streams in what are now parts of North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.
It discusses the exodus of' the majority of' Cherokee along the "Trail of' Tears" in 1935, recognition and protection of' the North Carolina Cherokee which began in 1948, the Cherokee economy, school system, housing, and health of' today, as well as tourist attractions available on their North Carolina reservation.
The booklet is one in a series that describes Indian tribes with a Federal relationship. Others are "Indians of The Eastern Seaboard," "Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts of Alaska," "Indians of Arizona," "Indians of California," "Indians of the Central Plains, II "Indians of the Dakotas,." "Indians of the Great Lakes," "Indians of the lower Plateau," "Indians of the Gulf Coast," "Indians of Montana-Wyoming," "Indians of New Mexico," "Indians of the Northwest," and "Indians of Oklahoma."
All are 15 cents except "Indians of the Great Lakes," "Indians of the Gulf Coast," "Indians of New Mexico," and "Indians of North Carolina," which are 20 cents. All are available from the Superintendent of Document Washington, D.C. 20402.
After consulting with representatives of the Indian community, Richard S. Bodman, Assistant Secretary--Management and Budget, today announced several steps to improve the operations of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the U. S. Department of the Interior.
Immediate measures being taken are:
2. Use existing authority to transfer all responsibility for Indian affairs to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs as a first line officer reporting directly to the Secretary and propose legislation to upgrade the position of Commissioner to that of Assistant Secretary.
3. Include in next year's program and budget request an appropriation for BIA block grants to federally-recognized Indian tribes and propose supporting authorization legislation.
In realigning the operations of the Bureau, Bodman said daily operational activities presently performed in the Central Office would be transferred to area and agency offices. "This will place increased reliance on area and agency offices with headquarters removed from all direct operations," he said.
"Second, as a result of this transfer, we plan to reduce the number of authorized positions in the Central Office to a commensurate level. We estimate that the revised workload of the Central Offices can be carried out by an authorized permanent employment level of 715 people --approximately 600 positions fewer than authorized in the fiscal 1973 budget. In addition, we intend to transfer 50 positions out of the Central Office to the field.
As our actual employment is now substantially less than our authorized ceiling, actual employment in the Bureau will be reduced by about 285 persons.
Mr. Bodman said the positions provided to the field offices would enhance capability in the area of tribal operations, real property management, and comprehensive planning. The funding for the positions abolished in headquarters will remain available to the Bureau and will be used for direct services to the Indian people.
"Third, we plan to separate responsibility for carrying out our Indian Trust obligations from responsibility for carrying out delivery of services to the Indian community. To do so, we will establish separate offices to carry out each of these duties," he added.
Mr. Bodman said Secretary Morton, using existing authorities, is transferring the responsibility for Indian affairs formerly held by the Assistant Secretary for Public Land Management, now held by the Assistant Secretary--Management and Budget, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. "This will establish the Commissioner of Indian Affairs as a first line officer reporting directly to the Secretary," he added.
At the same time, the Secretary will propose new legislation to Congress to upgrade the position of Commissioner to Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs.
Continuing, Bodman said as another important step in the implementation of President Nixon's July 1970 proposals to Congress, legislation will soon be submitted to the Congress to enable the Bureau of Indian Affairs to provide block grants to federally-recognized tribes to carry out development projects as provided in tribally-prepared plans.
"Included in the proposed Bureau 1974 program and budget request is an appropriation of $25 million for this purpose," he said. These funds are to be used for projects such as: water, sewer and other utility systems; industrial and commercial parks and facilities; streets and access road construction; water pollution control facilities for treatment of industrial waste; tourist and recreational facilities; harbor facilities; education and training facilities; health, community and cultural centers; airport facilities; and natural resource and related human resource development.
"This program will replace the program for Indians which has been carried out by the Economic development Administration (EDA) of the Department of Commerce in the past, but will only affect new starts. Current EDA commitments will be honored." Mr. Bodman said.
Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B Morton today announced the appointment of Marvin L. Franklin, 56, an Oklahoma City business executive and member of as Assistant to the Secretary for the Iowa Indian Tribe Indian Affairs, a new position in the Interior Department.
Franklin will be the senior official for Indian affairs within Interior, and will immediately assume direct responsibility for all Department programs concerning Indian and Alaska Native people on an interim basis, Secretary Morton said. He will report directly to the After a Commissioner of Indian Affairs is named, Franklin Secretary will continue to advise Secretary Morton on ways to improve Indian programs and their relationships with other Federal agencies.
The appointment marks the completion of a two-month effort by Richard S. Bodman, Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget to administer programs and provide services for Indians following the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters last fall.
Franklin has been employed by Phillips Petroleum Company since 1947, and since 1965 has been its Director of Cooperative Projects. A major part of his assignment has been to work with government to develop industry in disadvantaged areas, especially those where Indians are in need of job opportunities.
In this capacity Franklin has worked closely with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in its industrial development program for reservations, as well as with the Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration.
Having an Indian heritage, Franklin has been a Councilman with the Iowa Tribe, Chairman of the General Tribal Council and presently is Vice Chairman of the Tribal Executive Committee. The Iowa Tribe once controlled the land area between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, but the Westward Movement resulted in the tribe being located on a 400-square-mile reservation in northeast Kansas and southeast Nebraska.
Franklin's efforts on behalf of Indians were recognized by the Department of the Interior on June", 1971, when Secretary Morton presented him with the Public Service Award for Conservation o£ Human Resources for results achieved in creating economic betterment for Indian reservations.
His affiliations also include being president of Indian Enterprises, Inc., founded by the four Indian tribes of northeastern Kansas to assist in bringing job opportunities to tribal members. He also is President of the Phillips Industrial Finance Corporation, Vice-President of Provesta Company, member of an advisory committee to the American Petroleum Institute; President, First Americans Corporation; and a director of the Navajo Forest Products Industries, the Navajo Chemicals Company, Papago Explosives Company, Oklahoma Vocational-Technical Foundation, and the American Indian National Bank.
While in Oklahoma City Franklin has had an opportunity to engage in business outside of his required services to Phillips Petroleum. He has been an organizer and active officer in a life insurance company, an investment company and partner in law firm. Franklin was born July 18, 1916 in Ponca City, Oklahoma. He was graduated from Northern Oklahoma College in 1940, and received a law degree from Oklahoma City University in 1955. From 1940 to 1947 he was a commercial pilot and trained pilots during World War II. He also was Director of Page Aviation Flight School under contract to Oklahoma University. His home is in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Theodore B. White, 52, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux and Oneida Indian tribes, has been named Chief Tribal Operations Officer in the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D. C., the Department of White has already assumed the duties of the Interior announced today his office.
He came to the Washington, D.C.,office from the post of Superintendent of the San Carlos Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Arizona. This agency has jurisdiction over the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation.
White has a masters in social work from Loyola University in Chicago, and a B.A. in sociology from Lipscomb College, Nashville, Tenn. He has also attended the University of Wisconsin and Pepperdine College.
He began his career in the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1955 as a relocation officer with the Shiprock Agency in Arizona. Two years later he accepted a similar post in the Los Angeles Field Office and moved from Los Angeles to Chicago as a supervisor of this same kind of work. He remained in this field of work at the Rosebud Agency (1959), Dallas Field Office (1960), Cleveland Field Office (1961), and Chicago Field Office (1962).
He became a community living guidance specialist in Washington, D.C.) in 1966, and superintendent of the San Carlos Agency in 1967.
He served four years in the Air Force in World War II. He is married and the father of two sons. He and his family make their home in Fairfax, Va.
Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced approval of the largest Land and Water Conservation Fund project to date on Indian Indians. The $550,000 L&WCF grant is for development of the Blackfeet lands. St. Mary's Lake Recreation Complex in Montana.
The Federal monies, matched by the Blackfeet Tribal Council for a total investment of $1.1 million, will be used to provide new campground and outdoor recreation facilities on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, which parallels the eastern edge of the Glacier National Park, in northwest Montana. The will be located on the northeast shore site --Chewing Blackbones Campground of St. Mary's Lake, adjacent to U.S. Highway 89 between the St. Mary's and Many Glacier entrances to the park.
James G. Watt, Director of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation which administers the Land and Water Conservation Fund, said, "It is gratifying to know that the Blackfeet Indian Tribe is undertaking a project which" not only will bolster their own economy, but also will provide the vacationing public with much needed accommodati6ns near Glacier National Park."
The St. Mary's Lake Recreation Complex, part of a larger development providing complete services for the area's tourists, will include a campground situated on a peninsula, boating facilities, and a children's fishing pond. Picnic grounds and a par-3 golf course are also planned.
The Department of the Interior has approved a contract between three New Mexico Pueblos and the Pojoaque Valley Irrigation District to operate and maintain a proposed dam and reservoir in northern New Mexico, Marvin L Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, announced today.
“Approximate1y 1,000 Indians from San Ildefonso, Nambe, and Pojoaque Pueblos and 750 non-Indian land owners with a total of almost 3,000 acres of irrigab1e land will benefit from the water stored in the reservoir" Franklin said. "The contract approval culminates several years of community efforts between the Indians and non-Indians in the area to join together to solve mutual water shortage problems," he added.
The Pojoaque Valley Irrigation District will operate the Pojoaque Tributary Unit --dam and reservoir --which will be located on the Nambe Indian Reservation.
This project, through the use of controlled storage, will bring into full productivity the irrigable Indian and non-Indian lands using the limited water supply available. By storing excess flows of the Rio Nambe during non-irrigation periods, releases can be made during the periods of low flow to meet irrigation needs. The Pojoaque Tributary Unit will also enhance fishery resources and will provide additional recreation opportunities.
Construction of the dam and reservoir is expected to begin this fiscal year following an election by the Pojoaque Valley Irrigation District to vote approval of the contract.
The Pojoaque Tributary Unit is the first of four planned tributary units in the San Juan-Chama Project. Largely a cooperative effort between the pueblos and the non-Indian Pojoaque Valley Irrigation District, the project has received technical assistance from the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the State of New Mexico.
Regulations have been published in the Federal Register to govern distribution of $13.2 million awarded the Osage Indian Tribe of Oklahoma by the Indian Claims Commission, largely for fair payment for triba11ands taken many years ago, the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.
The new regulations specify procedures to be followed by eligible persons in order for them to share in the distribution of judgment funds.
All claims for per capita shares by heirs of Osage Indian blood must be filed with the Superintendent of the Osage Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pawhuska, Okla. 74056 not later than April 27, 1974. The claimant must identify, by name and allotment number, each allottee in whose share the individual claims an interest, in order that the Superintendent may notify the individual when the Order of Distribution for such allottee is made. 1£ a claim is not filed, an individual may not receive the notice of distribution.
The award is a result of a compromise settlement which disposed of four Indian Claims Commission dockets containing claims for:
No. 105: Additional payment for about 12.3 million acres of land in Missouri and Arkansas ceded under the Treaty of November 10, 1808 (7 Stat.l07).
No. 106: Additional payment for about 2 million acres of land in Oklahoma and Arkansas ceded under the Treaty of September 25, 1818 (7 Stat.183).
No. 107: Additional payment for about .13 million acres of land in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas ceded under the Treaty of June 2, 1825 (7 Stat. 240).
No. 108: Attorney fees and expenses paid from Osage funds to prevent ratification of the proposed Drum Creek Treaty of 1865. Settlement was negotiated on the basis that the Indian lands had an average value of about 50 cents an acre when they went into non-Indian hands and that consideration for the lands according to the treaties signed at the time exceeding a million dollars.
The Indian Claims Commission, an independent agency of Government, decided the case, and the Congress then appropriated the money to make payment of the award.' It next passed the Act of October 27,1972 (P.L. 92-586, 86 Stat. 1296) to provide for the disposition of the money to members of the Osage Tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. According to this Act, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of the Act.
The Act provides for the distribution of funds to allottees and heirs of Osage Indian blood of deceased allottees.
The superintendent shall put aside one per capita share for each allottee for distribution in this manner:
1. One share to go to each allottee who is living on the date the Order for Distribution for that share is issued; and
2. One share for distribution to the heir or the heirs of Osage Indian blood of each allottee who is deceased on the date the Order of Distribution for the share is issued, to be divided among such heirs in such proportions as shall be computed in accordance with other parts of the regulations.
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