OPA

A 1975 calendar of Indian celebrations, ceremonials and other special events open to the public has been published by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Included in the 60 page booklet is information on a variety of Indian arts and crafts fairs, native dances, rodeos, pow-wows, religious observances, historical commemorations, Indian athletic events and other tourist attractions.

In Alaska, for example, one is informed of events such as the World Eskimo Olympics, Native Foods Day -- offering fare such as Muktuk and caribou, shee fish, and snow shoe and dog sled races.

The events are listed by state, dates and locations. Very brief, general advice for potential visitors is included.

The 1975 American Indian Calendar is for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. The price is 80¢ and the stock number, which should be used in ordering, is 024-002-00044-6.

Editors: A review copy of 1975 American Indian Calendar is available upon request from the Office of Public Information, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20245.

Proposed rules governing the adoption of tribal water codes on Indian reservations were published March 17 in the Federal Register, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond v. Butler announced today.

The regulations, designed to preserve and protect Indian water rights, establish the standards which tribal codes must meet to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior when such approval is required.

The regulations allow for the adoption of codes which follow an individual permit system. They also set forth the conditions under which the Secretary of the Interior may establish a water code for a reservation.

Comments, suggestions or objections regarding the proposed regulations should be sent to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20245 not later than April 18, 1977.

A public hearing to receive comments on the environmental impact of proposed uranium mining on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation in Montezuma County, Colorado, has been scheduled for April 30. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' agency conference room in Towaoc, Colorado.

Notice of the availability of a draft environmental impact statement, prepared by the Department of the Interior, was published in the Federal Register March 28. Notice of the hearing was published March 31.

The draft statement considers the human and physical environmental effects associated with a proposed exploration and mining plan submitted by Mobil Oil for the underground mining of possible uranium deposits underneath approximately 162,000 acres of land on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation.

Both oral and written statements will be received at the hearing. Oral comments will be limited to ten minutes. Written comments may also be submitted any time before May 14. They should be sent to the BIA Albuquerque Area Office, 5301 Central Ave., NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108.

Single copies of the Department's draft statement may also be obtained in the Area Office.

Jack N. Rumsey has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Agency at Wewoka, Oklahoma, Acting Commissioner Raymond V. Butler announced today.

Rumsey, a Creek Indian, succeeds Buford Morrison who retired. The Wewoka Agency, located east of Oklahoma City, is one of six agencies under the Muskogee Area Office of BIA.

A native of Stidham, Oklahoma, Rumsey served in the Army Air Force in World War II and began working for BIA in 1945. He has held positions of increasing importance since then and most recently has been the Administrative Manager of the Pima Agency at Sacaton, Arizona.

Rumsey, 56 was a 1941 graduate in the commercial course of the Haskell Indian Institute at Lawrence, Kansas. He also attended Southeastern Oklahoma State College at Durant and Oklahoma A & M.

The greening of 9,320 acres of arid land in northwest New Mexico will be a part of the Navajo Indian Tribe's celebration of the American Bicentennial Year. Federal funds totaling $2 million have been made immediately available to assist with on-farm development costs to make possible a March 1976 beginning of operations for the Navajo Irrigation Project. The project will ultimately include more than 110,000 acres.

The economic impact on the tribe will be dramatic. Total revenues from the agricultural enterprise, when all associated businesses and services are included, have been estimated at about $150 million annually when the project is completed.

It is expected that alfalfa will be grown on about 40 percent of the acreage on the project at all stages of development. Corn will account for approximately 30 percent of the planted acreage, while sugar beets will account for about one-fifth. Vegetables and potatoes will be produced on the remaining 10 percent. These figures are based on an analysis of the economic and production potential of the lands done by the New Mexico State University.

The project will be administered as a tribal enterprise, rather than following an individual entrepreneurship approach.

Other enterprise activities are expected to be generated by the project. A vegetable processing plant is considered feasible and livestock operations will almost certainly be developed to utilize the feed grains and roughages developed on the project.

The New Mexico State University analysis indicated that the project could support a dairy operation of more than 1,100 cows and an egg production enterprise of 300,000 layers. A backgrounding feedlot of 5,000 head capacity and a finishing feedlot of 15,000 head minimum size were also considered highly feasible. Swine production was also considered an attractive alternative since the Four Corners region is a pork deficit area producing less than 25 percent of total consumption needs.

Water for the project will be diverted from storage in the Navajo Reservoir about 35 miles northeast of Farmington, New Mexico and delivered to the project through a system of tunnels, siphons, open concrete-lined canals and pipelines. The main canal is 47 miles in length. About 100 miles of intermediate canals and laterals, plus a very complex system of pipe lines; are also included in the project design.

The enabling legislation, passed in 1962, provided an authorized ceiling for construction costs of $135 million -- which subsequent legislation raised to $206 million based on 1970 prices. An estimate based on 1972 prices, however, indicated that the construction costs would exceed $280 million.

The project lands are located on a high plateau with the elevations ranging from 5,400 feet above sea level to 6,480. The entire project area lies within San Juan County, south of the San Juan River. About half of the land lies off the reservation, but these lands have been or will be acquired to be held by the United States in trust for the Navajo Tribe.

The Bureau of Reclamation in the Department of the Interior is responsible, for the design and construction of the major works of the project, using funds appropriated to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The contributions of Dr. William J. Benham, Jr., to Indian education programs in the United States were cited in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on March 23.

Benham, a Creek Indian from Holdenville, Oklahoma, is the director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Indian Education Resources Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond V. Butler presented the Department of Interiors Meritorious Service Award to Benham, who was in Washington to testify at house appropriations hearings on the BIA's 1978 budget request. The presentation was made, with the approval of Subcommittee Chairman Sidney Yates, during a break in the hearings.

The citation described Benham as an innovator and a pioneer in the development of effective education programs for Indians. It noted that during Benham’s term as director of schools on the Navajo reservation, special efforts were made to adapt the education programs to Navajo people. These included the development of Navajo social studies, a Navajo program for teaching English as a second language and the establishment of parent advisory school boards at BIA schools.

Benham's achievements, as director of the resource center, include the nurturing of a program, adopted as a 1976 Presidential objective, to further Indian self-determination in the operation of schools.

Benham is a 1950 graduate of East Central Oklahoma University, which gave him in 1975 a Distinguished Alumnus Award. He earned his master's and Doctor's degrees from the University of Oklahoma.

Benham began his education career with BIA as a teacher at the Leupp boarding school on the Navajo reservation.

Three units of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Indian Education Resources Center in Albuquerque were cited for excellence of service by Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus March 28.

Department of the Interior Unit Citation Awards were presented to division chiefs by the Resources Center Administrator Dr. William J. Benham, Jr., representing the Secretary. The brief ceremony was part of a general staff meeting at the Center.

Receiving the awards for their units were John Carmody, Division of School Facilities; Dr. Thomas Hopkins, Division of Evaluation, Research and Development; and Dr. Robert Hall, Division of Continuing Education.

The Indian Education Resources Center is part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' central office structure. It serves the Director of Indian Education Programs in the development of policy and programs and provides technical assistance to regional and local field education units.

The Department of the Interior today extended until March 18 the period for public comment on proposed revisions of regulations governing mining operations under coal leases on Federal and Indian lands.

Notice of the extension will be published in the Federal Register this week.

The revised regulations would require the reclamation of surface mined coal land to an extent equal to the standards recommended by the Administration for inclusion into Federal legislation on surface or strip mining.

After March 18 the Interior Department will review public comments for 20 days before taking further action. Full compliance by coal operators would be mandatory six months after regulations become effective.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus told Bureau of Indian Affairs employees March 31 that he has taken no position - pro or con - on the American Indian Policy Review Commission recommendation to remove Indian affairs from the Department of the Interior in favor of a separate, independent agency.

Andrus, at a meeting with the BIA employees in Washington, D.C., said that his initiation of a process to affect the appointment of an Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs should not be interpreted as a prejudgement of the separate agency recommendation. He said that he was moving to recommend someone for the Indian Affairs job because it appeared that it would be some time yet before any decision would be made on the AIPRC recommendation.

Under Secretary James Joseph, who was sworn into office March 23 and who has been playing a lead role in Indian affairs in the Department, reported that 75 tribes responded to the Secretary’s request for nominees for the Assistant Secretary post. He said that 37 persons were nominated, a profile of qualifications prepared for each of them and a smaller number selected for further consideration. He said that there would be further consultation with Indian organizations, interviews with final candidates and then a recommendation made to the President.

Joseph said that it would probably be a few weeks before a recommendation would be made to the White House and require some time after that to have an appointment made and confirmed.

In a question period, Andrus was asked if he had reason to think that Indian tribes supported the AIPRC recommendation to establish an independent agency for Indian affairs. Andrus replied that some tribal chairmen had expressed their support for the move, but he did not know if this was a majority opinion.

Indian leaders throughout the country will be meeting with representatives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service to plan the implementation of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (P.L. 93-638).

The Act is considered by many as the most important legislation for Indians since the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. Signed January 4 of this year by President Ford, it is designed to promote maximum Indian participation in the government and education of Indian people.

Tribal leaders and national Indian organizations have been invited to consultation sessions to be held in 14 cities in March and early April. The purpose of these two day sessions is to review the provisions, intent and language of the Act and to seek Indian views for BIA/IHS policy decisions and regulation writing.

A joint task force of the two Indian agencies will develop draft regulations in April. Another series of meetings with Indian representatives will then be held in May to review this draft.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said, "We are trying to get the greatest possible input from the Indian community as early as possible in the process of implementing this most significant Act. We hope that Indian leaders and the members of their tribes and organizations will be deeply involved in this development effort for the betterment of Indian people."

The Act requires the publication of proposed regulations not later than September 4, 1975 and the publication of final regulations not later than November 4, 1975. Indian tribes, organizations and individuals are invited to submit comments and recommendations concerning the regulations any time prior to 30 days after the publication of the proposed regulations.

The Act gives Indian tribes the right to plan and operate Indian programs for themselves under contract with the Government. It also makes this more feasible and practical through waivers of Federal contracting regulations, planning grants and special personnel provisions.

Title II, the Indian Education Assistance Act, gives the Indian community a stronger role in approving or disapproving the use of special assistance funds for Indian children in public schools. It also provides for better planning in the use of these funds to meet the education needs of these Indian students.

A list of scheduled meetings follows. For more specific information contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Office.

Schedule of Area Meetings on P.L. 93-638: March 5-6, Albuquerque; March 6-7, Minneapolis; March 10-11, Duluth, Norman, and Phoenix; March 17-18, Juneau, Las Vegas, and Navajo; March 20-21, Anchorage, Washington, D.C. (for Eastern Area); March 25-26, Sacramento; March 31-April 1, Portland; April 1-2, Billings; April 8, Aberdeen.