OPA

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer expresses concern about the well-being of the Indian people who are directly affected by the inclement weather in the northern part of the country.

"Eight federally recognized Indian tribes and approximately 56,000 Indian people have been adversely affected by the recent disastrous weather in South Dakota," Ms. Deer said.

The Dakotas have been hit by freezing temperatures and record snowfall. Snow has drifted to as high as 15 feet in some areas closing all roads and stranding people in remote areas. "Mercifully, there has been only one reported Indian death as a result of this bad weather." Mr. Delbert Brewer, Area Director for the Aberdeen Area Office said.

The Bureau of lndian Affairs has been working around the clock to respond to this emergency. The Aberdeen Area Director has established a Disaster Team to respond to this crisis which is operating 24 hours a day to coordinate and direct BIA' s efforts to assist tribes within their jurisdiction. In addition, a field coordinator has been dispatched to Pierre, South Dakota to directly assist in the coordination of the efforts of the State, National Guard and FEMA.

"Our crews are working 24 hours a day in two shifts in an attempt to open roads on the reservations to get food and water in," Mr. Brewer said. "At this juncture the main objective is to ensure that the basic needs of the people are met." In order to respond to this crisis, snow blowers were shipped in from the Billings Area Office. However, the Aberdeen Area is now experiencing difficulty getting adequate fuel for equipment, and keeping them maintained. Extra costs for supplies and labor that are being incurred by Aberdeen and other Area Offices as a result of this storm is causing havoc with current operating budgets, but the BIA remains committed to assist tribal governments during this crisis.

Wind chill factors of -70 degrees below zero have not helped the ground efforts in Aberdeen. Snow blowers were directed to free those in need of medical attention first, but in some cases the critically ill had to be air lifted by National Guard helicopters to local hospitals. The BIA has established shelters close to emergency care units for those that require ongoing medical attention.

BIA, Area Offices in storm affected regions are working directly with tribal, state and federal agencies to respond to the needs of the Indian community caused by this disaster.

Strengthening local tribal programs, Indian education, and critical infrastructure projects are among the key components of the Fiscal Year 1998 Bureau of Indian Affairs' $1.73-billion budget request.

"This budget represents an increase of $127 million above the 1997 level to meet basic tribal priority needs. I want to emphasize that this budget reflects very low BIA administrative costs," said Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer. "The entire administrative budget of the Bureau constitutes less than ten percent of its operating budget. I am proud to say that this administrative overhead is among the lowest in the federal government and allows more than 90 percent of funds to be delivered directly to the tribes."

Tribal Priority Allocations (TP A), which are the tribes' chosen spending priorities, are funded at $7 57 .3 million, an increase of $76.5 million over 1997. TPA is used for basic necessities such as tribal courts, law enforcement, housing repairs, social services, and adult vocational training. TP A programs comprise approximately one-half of the operating budget.

"The increase to TPA will allow tribes to collectively maintain an additional 1,250 miles of reservation roads," said Deer. "It also will allow tribes to hire another 400 law enforcement staff members, to repair an additional 75 homes for needy families, and to fund an additional 220 child welfare cases each month."

The Indian Education budget request for School Operations is $467 million and represents a $16.8- million increase over 1997 in order to meet a 3,000-student increase that is anticipated between now and the 1998-99 school year. The additional funds also are necessary so that the 185 BIA schools can maintain accreditation and provide safe transportation for an expected 52,400 Indian children. The budget also includes an additional $3 million for the 24 tribally controlled community colleges funded by the BIA.

To help meet infrastructure needs, the bureau requests $125.1 million for construction, which includes $49.2 million for education construction. Currently BIA schools require $475 million to bring them up national standards. Education construction includes $14 million to replace the Many Farms School in Arizona, which now has numerous safety problems that could endanger students. An additional $8 million is requested for various school facility improvement and repair projects. Because of overcrowded conditions at the Ute Mountain Ute Detention Facility in Colorado cited in a recent consent decree, the Bureau has requested $9.1 million for construction of a replacement facility. The budget also includes a $22-million request to repair structural deficiencies on high hazard dams on reservations. The total need for hazardous dam repair exceeds $400 million.

To fulfill requirements related to the federal Indian trust responsibility, an increase of $7.8 million is requested for critical programs such as environmental cleanup, water-rights studies and negotiations, and the Indian land title program.

Faith Roessel, a special assistant to Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt has announced her resignation. Roessel is a native of Round Rock, Arizona, and is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation.

Roessel served as a special assistant to Interior Secretary Babbitt, and had responsibility for issues that included military base closures involving Indian tribes, environmental justice, tourism, and tribes. Roessel also staffed the White House Domestic Policy Council's Working Group on American Indians and Alaska Natives, which Secretary Babbitt chairs. As special assistant to Secretary Babbitt for the Working Group, Roessel served as a liaison to the agency co-chairs of the five subgroups to help develop their work plans on interagency collaboration in: protecting the environment and natural resources that affect Indian people and lands; promoting reinvention opportunities to better serve Indian tribes; improving consultation between federal agencies and tribes; strengthening educational opportunities for Indian youths and adults; and recognizing and preserving Indian religious freedom. The Working Group, created at the urging of Secretary Babbitt, is a focal point in coordinating and carrying out President Clinton's policies toward tribal governments. President Clinton signed two executive orders originating from the Working Group.

"Faith has assisted me greatly in her counsel on Indian issues and helped create an interagency Working Group that is productive and result-oriented," said Secretary Bruce Babbitt. "She has taken on some tough issues for the department and I will miss someone of her caliber and dedication."

For the immediate future, Roessel plans to spend time with her family. She is married and has two young children. Prior to her current position, Roessel was the Interior Department's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. She joined the Clinton Administration in 1994 and has served as a political appointee of President Clinton in both capacities as Special Assistant and Deputy Assistant Secretary.

In Washington, D.C., Roessel has served as the director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office, senior staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund, and legislative assistant for U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). Prior to corning to Washington, Roessel was an associate in a Phoenix law firm.

Ada E. Deer, Assistant Secretary of lndian Affairs announced that Mr. M. Franklin Keel has been appointed as Area Director for the Eastern Area Office. "During this critical time for our Indian people we need dedicated, qualified, caring administrators to respond to the needs of our Indian people," Ms. Deer, said. "We welcome Mr. Keel to our senior management staff."

Mr. Keel has been acting as the Eastern Area Director since September 1996. Prior positions with BIA include serving as the Deputy Director of the Office of Trust Responsibilities, Staff Assistant to the Director of the Office of Trust Responsibilities, Superintendent of Concho Agency in Oklahoma, and Senior Legislative Specialist on the Bureau's Congressional and Legislative Affairs Staff. Additionally, he also served as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Information Agency in Athens, Greece, and as an Administrative Assistant with the U. S. Naval Weapons Laboratory.

"Mr. Keel brings with him many years of experience and formal training to our upper level administrative staff," Ms. Hilda Manuel, Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs said.

Mr. Keel has earned a bachelor's degree at the Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts, and attended Oklahoma City University where he completed law school earning a Juris Doctorate degree. He also pursued graduate work at the University of Denver Graduate School of International Studies and at the George Washington University School of Public and International Affairs.

Mr. Keel a Choctaw and Chickasaw from Oklahoma has dedicated most of his career to Indian Affairs and has concentrated his efforts in the area of Indian Trust Administration within the Bureau. He is married to Ms. Kathie L. Pett - Keel. He has three sons, Christopher, Joseph and Andrew.

As Area Director for the Eastern Area he will oversee the operation and administration of the Bureau's Eastern Area Office which has responsibility for the Indian tribes in the eastern seaboard, which extends from Maine to Florida, and the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi River.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ada E. Deer today signed a preliminary decision that proposes extending Federal acknowledgment to the Cowlitz Indian Tribe of Longview, WA. Assistant Secretary Deer said the petitioners meet the required criteria in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 25, Section 83.7 as modified by Section 83.8, which applies to petitioners who had prior unambiguous Federal acknowledgment.

The Cowlitz Indian Tribe, concentrated in Lewis County, Washington, now will be subject to a 180-day public comment period, after which the Bureau of Indian Affairs will issue a final determination. If this final determination also is positive, members of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe will be eligible for certain rights and benefits accorded tribes that have federal recognition, which establishes that a special government-to-government relationship exists between the tribe and the United States. Currently there are 554 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes.

The BIA's Branch of Acknowledgment and Research found that the Cowlitz Indian Tribe represents the amalgamation of two separate bands, the Lower Cowlitz Indians and the Upper Cowlitz Indians. The Cowlitz negotiated a treaty with the Federal Government in 1855, but their chiefs refused to sign it because the treaty provisions would have removed them from their traditional homeland along the Cowlitz River. Both Cowlitz bands were headed by traditional chiefs from the mid-19th century through 1912. Since 1912, the group has maintained a single combined tribal organization that has elected officers and held regular meetings. The group has approximately 1,400 members.

The address of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe is 1417 15th Ave., #5, P.O. Box 2547, Longview, WA 98632- 8594, telephone: (360) 577-8140. The chairman of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe's General Council is John Barnett.

Eddie F. Brown, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs, today approved an amended constitution adopted in a 139-70 vote by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska in November.

The certificate of approval notes, however, "This approval shall not be construed to validate any assertion that the Sitka Tribe of Alaska has governmental authority over lands (including management of, or regulation of the taking of fish and wildlife) or persons who are not members of the tribe, absent a ruling by a court of competent jurisdiction, an opinion of the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior or an Act of Congress subsequent to the date of the certification which indicates the existence of such authority over lands or non-members."

In issuing the approval, Brown said he was concerned about the sufficiency of tribe's membership or citizenship roll under the amended constitution. He also pointed out that while there are 2,669 names on the membership roll, only 210 votes were cast in the election.

Brown said that although the tribe had failed to make all the technical changes recommended by the Department, he could approve it under the conditions stated in the certificate of approval.

The White House Conference on Indian Education will take place January 22-24 at the Ramada Renaissance at Techworld, 999 9th St., N.W., Washington, D.C.

The Conference will bring together 234 voting delegates and observers to discuss and recommend steps to improve Indian education. The advisory task force planning the Conference has chosen the theme, "Honoring tradition…inspiring change." After opening ceremonies and a luncheon on January 22, the conference will break into 11 group sessions devoted to various aspects of Indian education. On January 24, the Conference will conclude with a Resolution Assembly.

The work group sessions will focus on Native languages and culture; higher education; structure for schools: readiness for schools; exceptional education; safe, alcohol/drug free schools; governance of Indian education/independent Board of Education; well being of Indian communities/delivery of services; literacy/student academic achievement/high school graduation; Native and non-Native school personnel; adult education and lifelong learning/parental, community and tribal partnerships. Members of the news media are welcome to attend the work group sessions.

Journalists wishing to cover the Conference must have credentials from the White House or the Congress, or must be credentialed by the Media Office of the Conference.

Credentials may be acquired on site. Journalists who do not have credentials from the White House or Congress must register at the Media credentials Desk in the Ramada Renaissance which will be open 1-5 p.m. Tuesday (January 21); 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 7 a.m. - Noon on Friday. Applicants must provide their name, social security number, date and place of birth, job title and a letter on company letterhead stating that the applicant has been assigned to cover the Conference. Journalists wishing to register in advance with the Media Office should provide a request by telefax with this information. Fax: (202) 208-3231.

All journalists wishing to cover the conference must check in with the Media Credentials Desk (room 18) at the Ramada Renaissance to obtain badges that will provide admittance to the sessions. Contact: Bob Walker or Gail Wendt (202) 208-317.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced the appointment of Philip N. Hogen, former U.S. Attorney in South Dakota, as Director of the Department's new Office of American Indian Trust.

"I am pleased that Phil Hogen has agreed to fill this important post that was created to expand the oversight of the trust responsibility this Department has for American Indians and Alaska Natives,” Lujan said. "He brings a wealth of experience in protecting the rights of people in his previous jobs and I feel certain he will do the same in this new position."

Hogen, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, will be the first person to head the post announced last year by President Bush in his American Indian Policy statement. The President said: "An Office of American Indian Trust will be established in the Department of the Interior and given the responsibility of overseeing the trust responsibility of the Department and of insuring that no Departmental action will be taken that will adversely affect or destroy those physical assets that the Federal Government holds in trust for the (Indian) tribes."

The new appointee has served as U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota since 1981. He was Jackson County States Attorney in Kadoka, S.D., from 1975 to 1981. He also worked on the staff of former U.S. Representative James Abdnor. Previous to that he was in private law practice. Hogen, 47, is a graduate of Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., and holds a juris doctorate from the University of South Dakota School of Law. He is married to the former Marty Teupel of Lead, S.D. They have two children.

Two posters proclaiming 1992 as the Year of the American Indian will be unveiled in Green Bay, Wisconsin, June 23 at a reception in the Radisson Inn on the Oneida Indian Reservation.

The four-color posters are the first two of a series of four posters that will be issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in conjunction with a proclamation issued in March by President Bush designating 1992 as the Year of the American Indian. It is the first time in history that such a proclamation has honored the American Indian people.

The posters will be unveiled at 7 p.m. at a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Radisson, hosted by the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans, the Menominee Nation, and the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council. The event will be held in conjunction with a meeting of the 43-member Advisory Task Force on the Reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

All of the posters are designed with a theme of "The Spirit Lives." One of those to be unveiled in Green Bay features two original graphics by young Indian artist and fashion designer Robert Bowers, a student at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M~ He graphically builds on the poster series theme with two silhouetted Indians -- one in a dancer's costume with arms aloft and the other in a cap and gown raising a diploma -- and in Bowers' words "standing strong in tradition and at the same time striving for education." Bowers, a Umatilla-Yakima Indian from Portland, Oregon, will be present when his poster is unveiled.

The other poster features a four-color adaptation of the Year of the American Indian logo with seven fanned feathers surrounded by an arch with the repeated words, "The Spirit Lives." Beneath is printed the numbers 1992 and within the numbers are the names of all Indian tribes in the country.

Two other posters, both also created and designed by the Native Images Department at the Institute of American Indian Arts, will feature two original art works by former students at the school and will be issued in August. Congress passed Public Law 102-188 earlier this year, asking the President to declare 1992 as the Year of the American Indian. His proclamation reads in part, "this year gives us the opportunity to recognize the special place that American Indians hold in our society, to affirm the right of Indian tribes to exist as sovereign entities, and to seek greater mutual understanding and trust.''

Assistant Interior Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F Brown today announced the appointment of John W. Tippeconnic as Director of the Office of Indian Education Programs in Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

"I am pleased that John Tippeconnic has agreed to direct our education program. We continue to have the strong support of President Bush and Secretary Manuel Lujan for the improvement of education at all levels and we are committed to working with Indian tribes to improve education at our Bureau funded schools," Brown said. "John Tippeconnic is a dedicated public administrator with an extensive background in education -- including Indian education -- and has the experience to lead our efforts." Tippeconnic, an enrolled member of the Comanche Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, has served for the past two years as Director of the Office of Indian Education in the U.S. Department of Education. His new appointment was effective July 13.

"It is an honor for me to head up the education program in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I look forward to working with Dr. Brown, the tribes, and school boards to continue the improvements made in Indian education," Tippeconnic said. Tippeconnic, 49, has more than 26 years’ experience in the' field of education. He began his career in 1966 after obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree at Oklahoma State University as a classroom teacher in the Albuquerque, N.M. public school system. He later taught for four years in a BIA-funded school in Tuba City, Arizona, also served as vice-president and assistant to the president of Navajo Community College in Arizona, and spent one year on the staff of Pennsylvania State University·.

In 1978 he joined the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C., and in 1980 became Director of the Center" for Indian Education arid Assistant Professor at Arizona State University. He held various positions including Associate Professor of Education at Arizona State, until he returned to the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. as Director of the Office of Indian Education. He has remained in that position until the time of his present appointment. The new education director has a Master in Education from Pennsylvania State University and in 1975, received his Ph.D. from the same University. He is a member of the Senior Executive service. During his 26-year career, he has served on numerous state and national education related committees including President of the Arizona Native American Education Association, Program Chair for the American Indian/Alaska Native Education Special Interest Group, and the American Educational Research Association.

Tippeconnic is married to the former Debra Milone. They have one son and reside in Falls Church, Virginia.