OPA

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has appointed Phyllis Cross, a Mandan-Hidatsa, and Intergovernmental Relations Officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Her appointment was effective March 30.

Ms. Cross has been Special Assistant to the Regional Director for Indian Affairs, Region VIII, in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She had previously served as Special Assistant to the Regional Director for the Regional Council.

A native of Elbowoods, North Dakota, Ms. Cross received her elementary and secondary education at BIA schools on the Fort Berthold Reservation. She then completed nursing training at the St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck, North Dakota. She spent five years as a United States Air Force nurse and returned to school to earn BS and MS degrees at the University of Colorado. She has specialized in Public Health and Psychiatric nursing.

Ms. Cross was Director of Nursing for the Boulder, Colorado, City County Health Department and Associate Director of Nursing at the University of Colorado Medical Center, Denver, before entering Federal service as a Mental Health Program Specialist with HEW in 1970.

Alonzo T. Spang has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Wind River agency at Fort Washakie, Wyoming, Acting Commissioner Raymond V. Butler announced today.

Spang, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, has been the Resources Development Officer in the BIA's Billings, Montana area office. He replaces Clyde W. Hobbs who retired after 15 years as Superintendent of the Wind River Agency.

A graduate of Eastern Montana State University, with a Masters degree and a Doctorate in Education from Arizona State University, Spang was a teacher and educator before taking the position of Superintendent of the Northern Cheyenne agency in 1971. He had been Director of Indian Studies and an associate professor at the University of Montana, Provost and Dean of Students at the Navajo Community College and Executive Director of the Cook Christian Training school at Tempe, Arizona.

Spang's appointment at Wind River is effective February 27.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has appointed Alton R. Nordwall Deputy Director of the BIA's Muskogee Area.

Nordwall, a member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, worked in the Muskogee office for nine years, 1964-73, as the Area Budget Officer. He left Muskogee to complete a Department of Interior nine-month Manager Development Training Program. Since June of 1974 he has been Assistant Area Director for the Minneapolis Area.

Nordwall, 47, has a BS degree in business administration from Oklahoma State University. He had formerly received a commercial certificate from Haskell Institute, now Haskell Indian Junior College.

A long-time Bureau of Indian Affairs' employee, Nordwall began his career in 1952 as a clerk-steno at the Pawnee Okla., agency. He subsequently completed his college work and moved up the ladder through various positions in Kansas, Oregon and Montana.

He is married to the former Eva L. Fields, a Pawnee Indian from Oklahoma They have two sons and two daughters.

The tribal land of the Menominee Indians of Wisconsin once again became a reservation today when Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton in a ceremony in his office formally accepted the deed conveying it to the United States in for the tribe.

Ada Deer, Chairperson of the Menominee Restoration Committee, the tribe's interim governing body, described the transfer plan as "the epitome of Indian self-determination." She said, "It gives the tribe Federal protection without Federal domination.”

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson and Ms. Deer participated with the Secretary in the signing ceremony. Members of the Restoration Committee and other guests were present.

Fourteen years ago the United States terminated its special relationship with the tribe, removed the land from trust status and discontinued Federal services. For the tribe this was disastrous. The tribal resources, some 200,000 acres of forest land and a sawmill, became subject to taxation and the tribal corporation, established after the termination to hold and manage this property, encountered financial difficulties.

After years of legislative efforts by the members of the tribe, Congress passed legislation, signed by the President December 22, 1973, to restore the tribe to Federal status. Today's action was a major step in the implementation of the Menominee Restoration Act.

In addition to restoring the land to trust status, the Secretary signed three other documents related to the restoration. These were:

1. A supplemental bond indenture, shifting the payment obligation for bonds issued by Menominee Enterprises, Inc., the corporation established after the termination, to the tribe and making the United States secondarily liable for interest only;

2) A management and trust agreement, giving the tribe management authority over tribal properties and business;

3) A management plan calling for the establishment of a tribal enterprise for the operation of the business activities of the tribe.

The transfer plan, approved by Congress, provides for maximum tribal control over its own affairs, with the Secretary exercising his trustee responsibility over the tribe's lands and natural resources.

Vincent Little has been appointed Director of the Portland Area for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Acting Commissioner Raymond V. Butler announced today.

The area includes the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. There are eight agency offices in the area.

Little, a member of the Mohave Tribe, has been Superintendent of the Northern Idaho Agency at Lapwai, Idaho.

He began work with BIA as a teacher at the Phoenix Indian School in 1957. He was enrollment officer and tribal operations officer at the Western Washington Agency from 1963 to 1967. He then worked as Assistant Superintendent at the Northern Idaho Agency, was an Area Field Representative at the Hoopa Agency in California and, from 1970 to 1973, was the Education Program Administrator at Phoenix Indian School.

Little, 46, is a U. S. Army veteran. He graduated from Arizona State University in 1957 and received a Masters degree there in 1961. He completed Interior's Departmental Management Program in 1963.

Little was named Arizona Indian of the Year in 1971.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that 112 tribes have qualified for participation in the BIA's Tribal Government Development Program for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1975. These tribes may receive up to $50,000 under contracts for programs to strengthen and make more effective their tribal governments.

The program is designed to help the tribes with the least resources per capita to help themselves. The funds provided are to be used for training tribal officials or employees in skills needed by the tribe, the establishment of sound record keeping systems, the revision of tribal election ordinances and other projects aimed at producing better tribal governments.

"To implement the policy of Indian self-determination," Commissioner Thompson said, "we must have tribal governments capable of assuming responsibility for reservation programs. The TGDP program helps the neediest tribes achieve this capability. It has been very well received by the Indian community.

Tribes with less than 50members are not eligible for the program. About 50 tribes that applied were determined ineligible either because their service population was too small or their resources per capita too great.

It is expected that about $2.8 million will be distributed among the 112 tribes.

Editors: A listing by state of the eligible applicants and the accounts for which they qualify is enclosed.

Proposed regulations to govern the preparation of a roll of Grand River Ottawa Indians are being published in the Federal Register, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond V. Butler announced today. The roll will be used for a per capita distribution of about one million dollars awarded by the Indian Claims Commission.

A question about the payment of these funds was put to President Carter during his telephone-question program March 5. It was asked by Mrs. John Ritchie of Georgetown, Ky., who identified herself as a member of the tribe.

The award represents additional compensation for more than one million acres of land in southeastern Michigan ceded by the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians under the treaty of August 29, 1821.

According to the regulations, a 1908 roll of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in Michigan will establish an eligibility base. A person, or a lineal ancestor, must be listed on that roll. Other requirements include at least one-quarter degree of Grand River Ottawa Indian blood and United States citizenship.

Applications for enrollment will be handled through the BIA Michigan Agency at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Comments on these proposed regulations may be sent within 30 days to the Director Office of Indian Services, Tribal Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20245.

Richard Romero, a member of the Taos Pueblo Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Winnebago, Nebraska Agency. Commissioner Morris Thompson announced today that the appointment would be effective May 4.

Romero has been the Tribal Operations Officer for the Northern Pueblos Agency in New Mexico since 1971.

A Marine Corps veteran, Romero received his high school education at the BIA's Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Junior College). He graduated from East Central State College, Okla., with a BA in Education in 1956. He did post-graduate work at the University of New Mexico towards a Master's degree and in 1965 completed the Department of Interior's Management Training Program.

After two years of teaching in the Taos public schools, Romero began his career with the Bureau in 1962 as a teacher on the Navajo Reservation. He has held positions in education, housing and administration in Montana, Arizona and New Mexico.

Romero, who is married and has two sons and a daughter, will replace Robert Drew at the Winnebago Agency. Drew has been appointed an Area Director for the Indian Health Service.

The appointment of Rebecca H. Dotson as Assistant Area Director for Education in the Navajo area was announced today by Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond V. Butler.

Ms. Dotson, an enrolled member of the Navajo tribe, comes to this position with a long record of administrative and educational experience. She has been Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' agency at Chinle, Arizona since August of 1975. She previously held positions in education programs administration, supervision, and classroom instruction. She has spent most of the last twenty-one years in the teaching profession.

The Navajo area schools which Ms. Dotson will now be supervising enroll more than 18,000 students in 58 area schools -- boarding schools and ten day schools. She will also be responsible for the administration of adult education programs, higher education assistance and the Johnson-O'Malley (JOM} funding for public school students.

A mother of five children, she received her undergraduate degree from Northern Arizona University, and her masters degree from Arizona State University. Ms. Dotson maintains affiliation with the American Association of University Women, The League of Women Voters, and numerous educational organizations. She also retains membership in Dine Bi Olta and the Navajo Division of Education of the Navajo Tribe.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has appointed Billie D. Ott, a member of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma, Assistant Director, Support Services, in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Administration.

Ott, a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, had been Vice President and General Manager of Eastern Operations for the General Telephone and Electronics, Information Systems in Stamford, Conn. He has held other top management positions with Electronic Associates, Inc., and with General Electric.

A native of Comanche, Okla., who grew up in Marlow, Okla., Ott is a graduate of Chilocco Indian High School. He attended Oklahoma State University and the U. S. Naval Prep School, Bainbridge, Md., before beginning studies at the Academy. He graduated in 1952 with a degree in General Engineering.

After combat service on a destroyer in Korea, Ott, 45 completed flight training as a Naval Aviator. He resigned from the service in 1958.

In his new position Ott will have a variety of management responsibilities including provision of centralized ADP services for Bureau-wide computerized systems and administrative services such as contracting and paperwork management, property and supply and personnel.

Ott is married and has two sons and one daughter.