OPA

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Ralph E. Paisano, a Laguna Pueblo Indian, as Superintendent of the BIA's Ramah Navajo Agency, Ramah, New Mexico.

Paisano, who has been an Employment Assistance Specialist in the Albuquerque Area Office, assumed responsibility at Ramah on April 11.

A graduate of Gallup High School, Paisano has been attending the University of New Mexico and has completed extensive management training within the Department of Interior. After four years in the Navy, Paisano began his Civil Service career in 1952.

The Department of the Interior has asked Congress for legislation declaring the Colorado River Indian Reservation, which lies mainly in Arizona and partly in California, to be the property of the Mohave and Chemehuevi Indians now occupying the reservation.

Enactment of a bill proposed by the Department would settle a long-standing controversy which has seriously retarded effective development of the 1,300,000- acre reservation, the Department said.

The reservation was established by an 1865 act of Congress which specified that the area was reserved for the "Indians of said [Colorado] River and its tributaries." Broadly interpreted, this would include Navajo and Hopi Indians and several other southwestern tribes in addition to those which historically occupied the reservation.

In 1954 the Department of the Interior determined that the 1865 law constitutes a continuing offer to Indians of the class mentioned and may be accepted by them until withdrawn. The present occupants of the reservation, who are organized under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 as the Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Reservation, disagree. The bill now proposed by the Department would resolve the dispute in their favor.

In authorizing the Secretary of the Interior (not the Colorado River Tribes) to lease the reservation lands in 1955, Congress provided that the act should not be construed as recognizing any ownership in the Colorado River Tribes, or in any Indians or group of Indians. Subsequent enactments continued the Secretary’s leasing authority until a determination has been made of the beneficial ownership of the reservation.

The reservation, the Department emphasized, has great potentialities for both irrigation farming and recreational development. It is the location of the oldest Federal irrigation project in the United States--a project initiated in 1867 with a potential irrigable area of over 100,000 acres of which only about 35,000 acres have thus far been developed.

"The absence of a determination of the beneficial owners of the reservation," the Department said, "is hampering its orderly development. The present leasing acts provide that the proceeds from leasing may be expended for the benefit of the organized group, but no provision is made for the use of funds from other sources. The organized group has expressed reluctance to consent to grants of rights-of-way over reservation lands in view of the fact that they may not be the sole beneficial owners and the proceeds may not be expended solely for their benefit. With the enactment of this legislation, the owners of the reservation will be clearly defined and the uncertainty which has inhibited the tribes from moving forward with desirable development activities and otherwise making the best use of the lands will be ended."

Under the proposed bill, the unallotted lands comprising all but a minor portion of the reservation would be held in trust by the United States for the Colorado River Tribes in the same manner as other Indian tribal lands. The bill would not cover improvements placed on the lands by colonists from other tribes or by the United States for administrative purposes (including irrigation facilities). It also contains a provision permitting reservation colonists from other tribes to be adopted by the Colorado River Tribes provided they denounce their other tribal affiliations. Applications for membership would have to be filed by such persons within two years after the date of enactment.

Ten young men from Alaska--five Indians and five Eskimos--will soon move into technical jobs in the space exploration program as a result of training received under auspices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of the Interior reported today.

The Alaskans were graduated from an electronics training course at the RCA Institute in Los Angeles August 2 and soon will return to their native State to take jobs at a new data acquisition facility at Fairbanks. It will be operated by RCA Service Company, Cherry Hill, N. J., under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Featuring an 85-foot parabolic antenna, it is one of the first high-capacity data acquisition stations in support of NASA's new generation of scientific and meteorological satellites.

Training of the ten Alaskans represents the second major phase of an electronics teaching agreement between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Radio Corporation of America. The first group of trainees was graduated about a year ago from the RCA Institute in New York City and was received by President Kennedy at the White House August 2, 1962, before proceeding to jobs on defense installations in Alaska.

Twenty-five other Alaska natives are now training at the RCA Institute in Los Angeles and will be ready for placement in 1964 in jobs similar to those at Fairbanks. An additional 44 are scheduled to begin training at Los Angeles August 11, and 20 more are scheduled to enroll in January 1964. Job counseling and placement services will be the responsibility of the Bureau and of RCA.

The ten latest graduates moving to the Fairbanks facility are Morris S. Thompson, Athapaskan Indian from Tanana; Roy Wesley Snyder, Jr., Eskimo from Nome; Paul Rookok, Eskimo from Mt. Edgecumbe; Lawrence D. Peterson, Athapaskan from Fort Yukon; Albert David Morgan, Tlingit Indian from Ketchikan; Vernon F. Miller, Eskimo from Fairbanks; Vitus Jack, Eskimo from Stebbins; Harold A. Haldane, Tsimshian Indian from Metlakatla; Gerald Evans, Athapaskan from Bettles Field; and Albert Adams, Eskimo from Kotzebue

The Department of the Interior today announced ,approval of a contract for $67,303.30 between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Aslett Construction Company, Twin Falls, Idaho, for construction of five miles of road on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation near Pocatello.

The contract calls for grading and bituminous surfacing of 4.985 miles of road on the reservation. The road will be used for farm to market access school bus and mail routes. When completed the road will be turned over to Power County, Idaho, for maintenance under an agreement between that county and BIA.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons said the Bureau examined seven bids ranging to a high of $93,760.10 before making the award to the Aslett firm

Two changes in the Federal regulations governing the mineral leasing of land owned by Indian tribes and by individual Indians were announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Underlying purpose of the changes is to provide better protection for the interests of the Indian landowners in the light of current economic conditions in the mining industry.

One of the amendments governing leases for minerals other than oil and gas, provides for an annual rental of not less than $1 per acre and annual development expenses of not less than $10 per acre unless otherwise authorized by the Commissioner. This represents an increase in the rental rates under the former regulations which were fixed on a graduated scale of 25 cents per acre for the first year, 50 cents per acre for the second and third years, and $1 per acre for each year thereafter. Development expense requirements under the old regulations varies with different minerals but were less than $10 per acre for all except coal.

The second amendment affects the term of mining leases on individually owned Indian lands and provides that they may extend for 10 years and as long thereafter as the minerals are produced in paying quantities. A similar provision on term has been in effect for the tribal lands and for oil and gas leasing of individual lands for some years. Under the former regulations, however, leases for minerals other than nil and gas on individual lands were limited to 15 years without regard to production.

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay announced today that the Department of the Interior has proposed to Congress an amendment of Public Law 280 of the 83d Congress which governs the extension of State criminal and civil jurisdictions to Indian reservations and other similar Indian areas.

Public Law 280, approved by President Eisenhower August 15, 1953, extended State jurisdiction, with certain exceptions, to Indian areas in California, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon and Wisconsin, It also gave congressional consent for other States to assume such jurisdiction by appropriate enactment but without any requirement for consultation with the Indians who would be affected.

In signing the law President Eisenhower made a statement objecting to this latter feature and recommending that “the Act be amended to require such consultation with the tribes prior to the enactment of legislation subjecting them to State jurisdiction as well as approval by the Federal Government before such legislation becomes effective."

The proposed amendment is intended to carry out the President’s recommendation. Several bills of this type were introduced in the second session of the 83d Congress but none was enacted.

Under the proposed amendment, in any State where an extension of jurisdiction was contemplated, the first step would be for the Governor to consult fully with the Indians concerned for the purpose of learning their wishes and to report the results of this consultation to the Secretary of the Interior. The second step would be a notification by the Governor to the Secretary that the State had enacted a law extending its jurisdiction to Indian areas. It would then become the duty of the Secretary to find and determine whether the proposed extension of jurisdiction would be in the best interests of the Indians concerned.

If the finding and determination should be negative, the Governor would be so notified and the extension of State jurisdiction would not become effective. If the finding was affirmative, a notice to that effect would be published in the Federal Register. On the 90th day after publication, the State jurisdiction would be extended to the areas of Indian country listed in the notice,

The proposed amendment would also make the same procedure effective for any extensions of State jurisdiction that might be contemplated at the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota and the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon, two areas that were exempted from the provisions of Public Law 280.

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service today announced nearly $40,000 in repatriation grants under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) to assist museums, Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations in returning ancestral human remains and cultural objects to their people.

“NAGPRA provides an opportunity to correct the mistreatment of native peoples' ancestral dead by returning the sacred objects and cultural heritage that have been removed from their communities,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “These grants will continue the process by which more than 10,000 Native American human remains and one million sacred objects that have been returned to tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.

Enacted in 1990, NAGPRA requires museums and federal agencies to inventory and identify Native American human remains and cultural items in their collections and to consult with federally recognized Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations regarding the return of these objects to descendants or tribes and organizations. NAGPRA also authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to award grants to assist in implementing the law.

The grants announced today support the efforts of museums and Indian tribes to pay for the costs associated with the return of the human remains and objects to their native people. NAGPRA also supports the efforts of museums, Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to consult and document NAGPRA-related human remains and cultural items in non-federal collections through consultation/documentation grants.

Projects funded by the grant program also include training for both museum and tribal staff on NAGPRA, digitizing collection records for consultation, and consultations regarding cultural affiliation and culturally unaffiliated individuals.

For additional information regarding these awards, contact Dr. Sherry Hutt, National NAGPRA Program Manager, at 202-354-1479 or via e-mail at sherry_hutt@nps.gov.

FY2014 NAGPRA Repatriation Grant Recipients

www.nps.gov

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The Office of the Secretary previously announced that it will conduct a listening session on the status of implementation of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations. The purpose of the session is to meet with Indian tribes to discuss progress to date and receive feedback. Indian landowners may also attend to provide input. This notice corrects the previously published notice to provide RSVP and testimony information and an agenda.

Visit the Government Publishing Office to read the Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 100/ Friday, May 23, 2014 / Notice (page 146)

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service today announced more than $1.5 million in grants under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) to assist museums, Indian tribes, and Alaska native villages to document and return human remains and cultural objects to their native people.

Grants were awarded both to support the efforts of museums, Indian tribes, Alaska native villages and Native Hawaiian organizations in the documentation of NAGPRA-related objects (consultation/documentation grants), and to pay for the costs associated with the return of the remains and objects to their native people (repatriation grants). This year, 29 grants totaling $1,471,625.00 are going to 24 recipients for consultation/documentation projects, and $95,423.40 is going to eight repatriation projects.

“NAGPRA provides an opportunity to correct the mistreatment of native peoples' ancestral dead by returning the sacred objects and cultural heritage that have been removed from their communities,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “These grants will continue the process by which more than 10,000 Native American human remains and one million sacred objects that have been returned to tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations.

Projects funded by the grant program includes consultations to identify and affiliate individuals and cultural items, training for both museum and tribal staff on NAGPRA, digitizing collection records for consultation, consultations regarding culturally unaffiliated individuals, as well as the preparation and transport of items back to their native people.

Enacted in 1990, NAGPRA requires museums and federal agencies to inventory and identify Native American human remains and cultural items in their collections, and to consult with federally recognized Indian tribes, including Alaska Native villages, and Native Hawaiian organizations regarding the return of these objects to descendants or tribes and organizations. The Act also authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to award grants to assist in implement provisions of the Act.

For additional information regarding these awards, contact Sherry Hutt, National NAGPRA Program Manager, at 202-354-1479 or via e-mail at sherry_hutt@nps.gov.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, July 9, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will deliver opening remarks at the first-ever White House Tribal Youth Gathering, part of the Obama Administration's Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative to remove barriers standing between Native youth and opportunities to succeed. The Gathering provides Native youth from across the country the opportunity to interact directly with senior Administration officials and the White House Council on Native American Affairs, chaired by Secretary Jewell.

The White House Tribal Youth Gathering is a collaboration between the White House and UNITY Inc. The event builds upon the President’s continued commitment to improve the lives of Native youth across the country. Nearly half of Native American people (42 percent) are under the age of 24. More than one-third of Native children live in poverty and Native youth have the lowest high school graduation rates in the country, according to a recent White House report.

Under a Council initiative, Secretary Jewell and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan issued a Blueprint for Reform in June 2014 to transform the Department’s Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). The goal of this transformation is to give tribal nations the ability themselves to provide an academically rigorous and culturally appropriate education to their students, according to their needs.

Following her remarks at the July 9 Gathering, Secretary Jewell and BIE Director Dr. Charles ‘Monty’ Roessel will participate in a panel discussion at the Native American Journalists Association conference on Friday, July 10.

Who: Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior

What: Opening remarks at White House Tribal Youth Gathering

When: Thursday, June 9, 2015 9:00 a.m. – Remarks during the opening ceremony

Where: Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel Grand Ballroom 999 9th Street NW Washington, DC 20001

Media: Credentialed members of the media must RSVP here.