OPA

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that a contract to construct additional school facilities for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Gray Hill High School at Tuba City, Ariz., has been awarded to the Hunt Building Corporation, El Faso, Texas.

The $2.9 million contract requires the construction of' three dormitory wings, two annexes to the present gymnasium, a practical arts shop addition and a new student union.

The dormitory additions, when completed, will provide accommodations for 400 students.

The Gray Hill School was opened for freshmen students only in September, 1973 --with the other grades to be initiated in successive years. It serves students from both Navajo and Hopi communities.

Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe has directed the State Director of the Bureau of Land Management's Alaska Office to reserve rights-of-way for the transportation of Federally-owned energy, fuel and other natural resources across lands being transferred to Alaska Natives and Native corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

Under the Act, more than 40 million acres of Federal land will be conveyed to Alaska Natives and Native corporations.

The easements, which will be reserved in patents transferring the lands, will assure the Federal Government of having all rights needed to build roads, pipelines and other facilities required to transport federally owned oil, gas, minerals and other resources across lands awarded to

Alaska Natives. The easements will not be reserved for transportation of private resources.

Earlier, the Secretary rejected a proposal that would have established specific transportation corridors across the State. The present order reserves the right of the Federal Government to establish needed right-of-way and related facilities as those needs are determined, but does not define specific routes at this time.

The order provides for consultation with Natives and other local citizens prior to the time a right-of-way is established and the consent of owners in those cases where the right-of-way makes it necessary to, move or destroy improvements such-as homes, businesses, or industrial facilities. Only those easements actually in use or authorized on the twentieth anniversary of the order will continue to be in force.

The Secretary said that easements will be used to expedite the delivery of Federally-owned energy, fuel, or other natural resources needed to meet the Nation's energy crisis. He said that routes should be care­fully and precisely planned, bl.it doing this prior to issuing conveyances to Alaska Natives would detrimentally affect those entitled to receive land. He also said that easements will be exercised to make possible the development and transportation of resources owned by the Federal Government without unnecessary expense or delay; but that they will not be used to provide special benefits for private industry.

Easements for the transportation of energy, fuels, and natural resource will only be reserved in conveyances of land located on mainland Alaska, excluding the southeastern panhandle of Alaska lying south and east of the former withdrawal for the village of Yakutat. Therefore, they will not be reserved on islands off the coast of Alaska, such as Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands.

The order, which is being published in the Federal Register, 1s effective March 3, 1976.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has announced the appointment of Clydia Nahwooksy as a Special Assistant in his office.

A Cherokee from Oklahoma, one of Nahwooksy's first projects is to serve as Commissioner Thompson's Liaison for the Bureau's Bicentennial program She will coordinate the Bureau's three national Bicentennial projects: an exhibition of contemporary Indian art, a videotape project and a literature and oratory project

''We are fortunate to have Mrs Nahwooksy to spearhead our Bicentennial efforts, “said Commissioner Thompson "She has worked for many years with Indian cultural programs, and her knowledge will be useful in implementing an effective Bicentennial program in cooperation with Indian tribes."

Commissioner Thompson's appointment of Nahwooksy to the position of Special Assistant continues his interest in bringing on staff qualified women for top staff positions currently primarily in the Administrative area, are currently headed by women for top staff positions Currently, six other Central Office programs, primarily in the Administrative area, are currently headed by women.

Nahwooksy was formerly an executive in the Division of Special Projects and Programs of the Office of Indian Education in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare She is perhaps best known throughout Indian country for her work, prior to joining OIE, as developer and Director of the Indian Awareness Program at the Smithsonian Institution. One of her responsibilities during her years at the Smithsonian was to coordinate Indian participation in its annual Festival of American Folklife.

She has also served as a consultant in Indian affairs to various tribes and organizations and has worked as an Administrative Assistant with the Indian Health Service and in the BIA Education Office at the Fort Hall Agency, Idaho.

A graduate of Bacone College, Bacone, Oklahoma, Nahwooksy has also studied at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and at Idaho State University, Pocatello She is a graduate of the Department of the Interior's Management Training Program

She is a member of the American Folklore Society and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). She is also on the board of Project Forward '76,

William G. Demmert will be Director of Indian Education Programs for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Demmert, who is part Tlingit and part Oglala Sioux, is well known in the Indian community as a top administrator of Indian education programs in the Department of Health, education, and Welfare. He is the first Deputy Commissioner of Indian education in the United States Office of education (USOE), a position created in 1972 by the Indian education Act (P.L. 92-318).

Demmert will assume this new position in the immediate future. In addition, during a transition period until the middle of June, he will complete some tasks already undertaken at USOE.

"We are delighted to get Bill for this critical job in the Bureau," Commissioner Thompson said. "The Indian community is moving into a new era of progress and achievement in which improved education programs are essential for success. We expect Bill to provide the leadership that is needed."

Demmert, 42, received his doctorate in education Administration at Harvard in a special program for American Indians co-funded by the BIA and USOE. While completing his studies at Harvard, Demmert worked as Director of the Indian program at the school and served as a consultant to the U.S. Senate Education Subcommittee.

A native of Klawock, Alaska, Demmert earned his M.W. at the University of Alaska and the B.A. at Seattle Pacific College.

For ten years, from 1960 to 1970, Demmert worked as a teacher, coach and school administrator in Washington and Alaska.

Michael .A. Fairbanks, a member of' the Red lake Band of' Chippewa Indians, has been appointed the first Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs new Michigan Agency at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Fairbanks, 39, has been the Tribal Operations Officer at the Western Nevada Agency. He had previously held that position in the Great Lakes Agency from which the Michigan Agency was created.

Fairbanks is a graduate of St. John's High School at Collegeville, Minnesota. He also completed about three years of' college work in Social Sciences at the Brainerd Junior College and Bemidji State in Minnesota and at North Dakota State.

He began working with the BIA in 1969 as a Criminal Investigator at the Red Lake Agency, Minnesota.

Donald E. Loudner, a member of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Yankton, South Dakota Agency, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Loudner has been Coordinator of the Office of Indian Affairs for the State of South Dakota for the last four years.

A long-time resident of Mitchell, South Dakota, Loudner was active in Indian matters there, and for six years was a member of the South Dakota State Indian Commission.

Loudner, 44, worked for almost 20 years as a purchasing agent and supply clerk for the South Dakota National Guard. A veteran of the United States Army Infantry, he has been a post commander and held other offices in the American As an active member in the National Guard, he now holds legion the rank of Chief Warrant Officer.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has announced the appointment of Joe M. Parker, a Chickasaw Indian, as Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Tahlequah, Oklahoma Agency. Parker, who has been Acting Superintendent at the Agency since January 12, replaces Joe Ragsdale who has retired.

A native of Ada, Oklahoma, Parker graduated from East Central state College of Oklahoma in 1960 with a degree in economics and accounting. He worked as an Internal Revenue Agent until 1973 when he moved to the Bureau of Indian Affairs as an accountant in the Area Office at Muskogee, He subsequently was a Program Analyst and the Accounting Officer Oklahoma for the Muskogee Area.

Parker, 42, served four years in the United States Navy. He has twice received awards for sustained superior performance in his work

Procedural rules for the disenrollment of persons erroneously included on the roll of persons eligible for benefits under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act are being published in the Federal Register, the Department of the Interior announced today.

A roll of eligible Alaska Natives was conditionally approved December 17, 1973, and legislation enacted January 2, 1976, reopened the enrollment process for another full year- The disenrollment regulations establish procedures for removing, with due process, persons not entitled to the benefits of the Act.

Persons on the roll share ownership, through stock holdings in their regional and village corporations, of 40 million acres of land and cash distributions, to be made over a period of years, of $962.5 million.

The rules provide time limits for contesting any enrollment. For persons on the conditionally approved roll of December 17, 1973, no contest may be initiated after July 31, 1977; for those enrolled under the January 2, 1976 legislation no contest may be initiated after January 2, 1978.

Disenrollment under the rules, which become effective 30 days after publication, will not retroactively affect land entitlements of any Alaska Native group or past fund distributions made under the Act.

In remarks at the dedication of Block I of the Navajo Irrigation Project in Farmington, New Mexico, today Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe hailed the opportunities the project will provide for the Indian people.

"In the past," Secretary Kleppe said, "too many Navajos have been faced with what to them have been unsatisfactory alternatives. They could stay on the tribal land with little hope for more than an economically marginal existence. Or they could seek employment in the urban areas where the style of living too often was incompatible with the values they learned here.

"This project will make it possible for many thousands of Navajos to have the best of both worlds: they can live on the land they love and have the oppor­tunity to work on jobs which are economically rewarding to them and productive for the tribe and for our Nation."

The project was described by the Secretary as the largest Indian reclamation project since the Hohokams - the ancient Indians who more than 2,000 years ago developed an extensive irrigation system in central Arizona.

"This project is a monument to a richer, better life for the Navajo people," he said. "For hundreds of years to come, the work of all the people who labored here will stand as evidence of your ability and your dedication to a better life for your people."

With cooperative efforts such as the Navajo Project, Secretary Kleppe said, the Indian community is going to experience unparalleled progress and achieve­ment. "There will be great accomplishments," he emphasized, "because competent effective Indian leaders are seizing the opportunity to be strong leaders. Indian self-determination is a policy that is working, and this project is concrete proof of the great progress that has been made."

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that Jose M. Carpio, an Isleta Pueblo Indian, has been appointed superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' San Carlos Agency in Eastern Arizona.

Carpio has been Superintendent of the Umatilla Agency at Pendleton, Oregon. Carpio's appointment is effective May 9. He replaces James P. Howell who has retired. The agency serves the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

A veteran of the Marina Corps, Carpio has worked with the Bureau since 1955. He was formerly the Administrative Manager at the Eastern Navajo Agency, Crownpoint, New Mexico and at the Institute of American Indian Arts at Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Carpio, 47, is a graduate of the Albuquerque Indian School and has completed the Department of the Interior supervisory and management training.