OPA

Professional Indian artists and artisans have received 12 first place awards and student Indian artists and craftsmen nine first place awards plus other honors, in the 1967 Biennial Exhibition of American Indian Arts and Crafts. The exhibition is sponsored by the Center for Arts of Indian America, a non-profit organization.

The exhibition is open to the public through December 15 at the Department of the Interior Art Gallery, Interior Building, 18th and C Streets, N. W., Washington, D.C.

Entries for the exhibition were gathered on an invitational basis from 138 Indian artists and craftsmen representing more than 40 tribes throughout the Nation. The over 250 items entered include paintings, sculpture, graphic arts, pottery, textiles, basketry, jewelry, and carving.

Prizes and awards include Bureau of Indian Affairs purchase awards and Center-donated prize funds, Oklahoma State Society, Arizona State Society, Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Inc., special cash awards, and a student grand award contributed by Phillips Petroleum Co., The American Indian Society of Washington, D.C., Arrow, Inc., Indian and Eskimo Cultural Foundation, and the Interior Department Recreation Association.

Judges were: James McGrath, Director of Arts, Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, N.M.; Jack Perlmutter, Head, Graphic Arts Department, Corcoran School of Art, Washington, D.C.; and Warren M. Robbins, Director, African Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

Mrs. Stewart L. Udall, president of the Center, said the judges were impressed and stimulated to find not only that the works of art were based on the rich tradition that is the background and the environment of these artists, but that the artists are also concerned with contemporary expressions, and searching for a synthesis that combines the modern and traditional.

Exhibits were divided into two categories -- professional and student.

The Grand Award of $500 in the professional category went to Fritz Scholder, California Mission Indian, and Sacramento, Calif. The Grand Award of $275 in the student category went to Elmer Yazzie, Navajo, Shiprock, N.M.

Among other awards in the professional category were:

Special Award, Ruthe Jones, Delaware-Shawnee-Cherokee, Okmulgee, Okla.; Marie Tsosie, Navajo, Window Rock, Ariz.; ,Josephine Peters, Karak, Hoopa, Calif.

Special Cash Awards to first place winners: painting, Earl Eder, Sioux, Poplar, Mont.;

Graphic arts: Linda Lomahaftewa, Hopi-Choctaw, Second Mesa, Ariz.; sculpture, Peter Seeganna, Eskimo, Sitka, Alaska;

Pottery: Margaret Tafoya, Santa Clara Pueblo, Espanola, N.M.; Dolores Castillo, Spokane, Oswego, N.Y.;

Baskets: Lucy George, Cherokee, Cherokee, N.C.;

Jewelry: Charles Loloma, Hopi, Hoteville, Ariz.;

Textiles - woven: Lola Yazzie, Navajo, Window Rock, Ariz.;

Printed: Edna Massey, Cherokee, Stillwell, Okla.;

Carvings: Lawney Reyes, Colville, Seattle, Wash.;

Mixed media: George Morrison, Chippewa, Providence, R.I.;

Other: Alice Cadotte, Sioux, Fort Yates, N.D.

Bureau of Indian Affairs purchase awards for first prize items were made to seven of these professional artists and craftsmen in six categories. These winners were Earl Eder, Linda Lomahaftewa, Peter Seeganna, Margaret Tafoya, Dolores Castillo, Lucy George, and Lawney Reyes.

In the student classification nine Stewart L. Udall Cash Awards were made to first place winners in seven categories. They were: Painting, Connie Red Star, Crow, Lodge Grass, Mont.; graphic arts, Brenda Holden, Miwok, Phoenix, Ariz.; sculpture, John Co Romero, Taos Pueblo, N.M.; pottery, Johnny Romero, Taos Pueblo, N.M., and Eugene Stabler, Omaha, Macy, Neb.; jewelry, Isaac Koyuk, Eskimo, College, Alaska; textiles, Eliza Vigil, Tesuque Pueblo, N.M., and James Holmes, Potawatomie, Neillsville, Wis.; other, Herbert Stevens, Apache, San Carlos, Ariz.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Lo Bennett announced today an Adult Education Training Seminar for Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel, November 27 through December 2, at the University of Oklahoma at Norman.

The Seminar will be held at the Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education on the university campus. It will be the first national effort by the Bureau to train its adult educators intensively about the current problems of the profession.

Bennett said the Bureau will send its entire adult education staff to the seminar, along with assistant area directors and community development officers.

Some of the country's top adult education experts will appear, including representatives from the Universities of Chicago, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, and Roosevelt University of Chicago.

Other speakers will include top officials from the Adult Education Association of the United States; the National University Extension Association, and the Research Studies and Training Center for Adult Education.

"This seminar is in line with the Bureau's intensive effort to clean up the gray areas of Indian education," Bennett said o "Pre-school work, basic education, high school equivalency, and the development of human resources fall into these areas.”

Adult education is highly important to the Indian who wants to move forward in society, on or off the reservation."

Bennett went on to point out that the 48 hours of intensive instruction the seminar will offer is only part of an ever-expanding program to bring Bureau personnel up to the professional competence demanded by current innovations in the field.

Dr. William Ro Carmack, BIA Assistant Commissioner for Community Services, will wind up the five-day program by presenting certificates of accomplishment to the participants.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert Lo Bennett today announced preparation of a roll of Upper and Lower Chehalis Indians of Washington State entitled to share in a $754,000 Indian Claims Commission judgment.

An amendment to the Code of Federal Regulations provides that "all persons who were alive on Oct. 24, 1967, who establish that they are descendants of members of the Upper and Lower Chehalis Tribes as they existed in 1855 shall be entitled to be enrolled to share in the distribution of the judgment funds."

All applications for enrollment must be filed with the Superintendent, Western Washington Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 3006 Colby Avenue, Everett, Wash. 98201 no later than Aug. 1, 1968.

The Claims Commission made the award for 838,200 acres of land in Washington State taken from the tribe without compensation in 1855 0 Some of the award will be used to pay attorney's fees, the rest distributed to tribal members. The regulation change is being published in the Federal Register o

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today approved an agreement between the Crow Indian Tribe and the National Park Service under which some of the Crow Tribal lands in Montana will be included in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.

The action was requested by the Crow Tribe and concerns reservation land in Montana adjacent to the Recreation Area, which surrounds the reservoir formed by the Yellowtail Dam on the Bighorn River in South Central Montana and North Central Wyoming.

The Recreation Area was authorized by Congress in 1966, and included some Crow Reservation 1arid that had been acquired by the Bureau of Reclamation.

"This arrangement will permit a splendid Indian-owned resource to be put to use for the recreational advantage of the public, while the Indians themselves derive substantial economic benefits from the influx of tourists who come to enjoy the area I s natural beauty,” Udall said.

The agreement was signed at a ceremony in the Secretary's office by Ed1son Real Bird, chairman of the Tribal Council, and Mrs. Pauline Small, Council secretary. Director George B. Hartzog, Jr., signed for the National Park Service, which administers the Recreation Area.

Real Bird pointed out that under the terms of the agreement the tribe will enjoy significant concession rights on lands presently within the recreation area in Montana.

"Under this agreement," Real Bird said, "certain rights or privileges, including the sale of fishing and hunting permits, native handicrafts, overnight accommodations, and boat, camper and auto supplies will be extended to the Tribe."

"This joint venture of the Crow Tribe of Indians and National Park Service is of a new undertaking. It is the hope of the chairman that this cooperative method brings opportunities for my people such as employment, business, other related tourism industry, and the development of our resources. Since the Tribe is to become the principal concessioner of the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, we are in hopes that this brings about the tourism that has not been available in the past, by providing motels, boating, and related recreation facilities. We feel this cooperation with National Park Service sets a new feature in government - Indian tribe relationships, and that many worthwhile ventures will materialize throughout the United States. Such endeavors will certainly bring the true image of the American Indian in perspective. We expect this agreement to be one more forerunner for the development of the Crow Tribe."

The National Park Service will assist in the development of lands, roads, trails, structures and other improvements; cooperate in Indian improvement programs, and give certain preferences to Indians in employment.

Udall noted that nothing in the agreement detracts from the responsibility of the Secretary of the Interior or of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to administer grazing permits and leases or to exercise other trust responsibilities.

The agreement is for 50 years but may be modified or amended by mutual consent.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today he is sending Robert E. Vaughan as a personal representative to Alaska to assist in drafting legislation related to Alaska Native land claims against the United States.

Vaughan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior for Public Land Management, will meet with the legislative drafting committee of the Alaska Federation of Natives in Anchorage December 6 and 7.

Vaughan and the committee will explore the possibility of Alaska Natives sharing in revenues from the Outer Continental Shelf in payment for their land claims against the United States.

At the same time, Secretary Udall announced that he has designated Hugh J. Wade, Interior's Regional Solicitor in Alaska, as his local representative to coordinate the Department's activities on Alaska Native claims and to serve in a liaison capacity with the Natives and the State.

Secretary Udall recommended attempts to reach a common solution of the claims problem during his trip to Alaska late last month. The proposal was favorably received by representatives of the Natives and the State of Alaska.

The Secretary said he was pleased that Emil Notti, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives, had scheduled a drafting session so promptly. Mr. Udall said he was making available a high level official of the Department whose responsibilities cover both the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the Federal lands and handles leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today approval of a program proposed by the Navajo Indian tribe to invest up to $10 million of tribal scholarship funds in selected stocks to increase the annual income available for education purposes.

The net annual income from the scholarship funds will be devoted to scholarships for needy Navajo youth, as has been done in the past with income from scholarship funds held in banks or the U.S. Treasury.

"Under this new program the Navajo tribe will advance another step in handling its own affairs and will move into management, with capable assistance, of funds which heretofore have been in trust status," Secretary Udall said.

"We expect that the investments in stocks will result in a larger annual net yield, thus providing more aid for advanced education of young Navajos than is available with the income from the deposits."

The Secretary gave his approval after the tribe agreed to changes that had been recommended by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett in an original stock investment proposal.

Udall wrote Raymond Nakai, Chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council, that it appears that under the agreements as amended "the tribe is properly protected." The Secretary commended the tribe for its action.

Under one agreement, the New York firm of Naess and Thomas will be investment counselor for the Navajos for investment of tribal scholarship funds.

Under a second agreement, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., will handle the acquisition, disposition, and custody of securities of the scholarship fund.

The portfolio of stocks will be reviewed periodically by the Navajo tribal investment committee.

The tribe has had a $10 million scholarship fund for some time, with the money invested in banks and the Treasury. The bank deposits have been earning the maximum legal yield of 5 1/2 percent, compounded quarterly. The deposits in the Treasury have earned 4 percent annually.

The shift to investment of up to $10 million in stocks is based on tribal belief that a balanced portfolio of stocks, including fixed-income blue chip securities and also growth stocks, will result in greater annual net income.

Robert Schoning, Oregon State Fisheries Director, and Thor Tollefson, Director of the Washington State Department of Fisheries, conferred this week with top officials of the Department of the Interior in Washington to explore possibilities of cooperatively developing regulations that would recognize and provide for Indian off-reservation treaty fishing rights.

Governor Tom McCall of Oregon, at whose request the meeting was held, was unable to attend because of adverse flying weather.

The two state directors indicated a willingness on the part of their departments to issue regulations providing for an exclusive Indian commercial net fishery on the Columbia River above Bonneville Dam in recognition of treaty rights of certain tribes to fish off-reservation at their "usual and accustomed places."

The Department of the Interior has issued framework regulations covering off-reservation treaty fishing rights and is at present considering implementation of the framework plan by promulgation of specific regulations where necessary. Several tribes have also adopted regulations governing the fishing activities of their members.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall said he was encouraged by the fact that the states' proposal recognized the special treaty rights of the Indians. He told the state officials that the Department welcomes an opportunity to work closely with the states and the tribes on that basis and in choosing an approach which, it is hoped, will lead to amicable resolution of this long-standing controversy.

"The tribes, the states and the Federal Government all have responsibilities for and interest in conserving and governing the fishery resource, and a true spirit of cooperation will be required of all parties," Secretary Udall added. He stressed the necessity of involving the tribes in development of basic approaches for establishing fair, reasonable and necessary conservation regulations.

Director Tollefson noted that successful culmination of this cooperative approach to the problem on the Columbia River could lead to similar cooperation with respect to other streams in Washington where Indian tribes have treaty rights.

Interior Department officially participating in the discussions included Assistant Secretary Harry Ro Anderson, Solicitor Frank Barry, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife Clarence F. Pautzke, and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett. Also taking part were Dale M. Baldwin, Area Director at Portland, Ore" for the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Donald R. Johnson, Regional Director at Seattle, Wash., for the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries; and George Dysart, Assistant Regional Solicitor for the Department at Portland, Ore.

The Department of the interior said today it has proposed to Congress that a 1931 Act regarding the acceptance of gifts by the Secretary of the Interior for the benefits of Indians be broadened.

The present act authorizes the Secretary to accept contributions or donations for Indians for the benefit of Indian institutions or for the advancement of the Indian race. However, the language of the Act seems to limit the use of funds to institutions or to individual Indians, the Department added.

A requested amendment would permit donated funds to be used in such fields as educational curriculum research, research on special Indian social adjustment problems, projects to develop Indian communities and community leadership, museums to preserve Indian culture, and cooperative projects for housing improvement or resource development.

The amendment proposed by Interior states that the Secretary "may use donated property in accordance with the terms of the donation in furtherance of any program authorized by other provisions of the law for the benefit of Indians,"

Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the storm-stricken areas of Arizona, where snow depths, up to 79 inches are reported, said today everything humanly possible is being done for the affected Indians and their livestock.

Similarly, the Public Health Service's Division of Indian Health reported its staff in the storm area participating in rescue work and alert to possible heavy demands on personnel and facilities in the storm aftermath.

Dr. Ervin S. Rabeau, Assistant Surgeon General and director of the division, conferred by telephone with staff officials in the area.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is keeping all Federal agencies which may be of assistance fully informed of the developing situation.

Graham Holmes, BIA Navajo Area Director, said by telephone from Window Rock, Ariz., that all Navajo Indian schools apparently have sufficient supplies of food and fuel and the boarding schools will operate without any Christmas holidays to accommodate the some 22,000 children attending them.

W. Wade Head, Area Director at Phoenix, Ariz., said "things are under control."

Head said the latest reports put the snowfall since late last week at 79 inches north of Flagstaff and at five feet in upper elevations on the Fort Apache Reservation. He said some difficulties had developed in locations on the Hopi, Fort Apache, and some other reservations "but everything is being taken care of." Head said all schools in his area except for a few day schools closed because of muddy or snowy road conditions were reported all right. The Cibecue School on the Fort Apache Reservation, from which pupils were sent home yesterday because fuel was running low, was open again today after an oil delivery but with reduced attendance from the normal level. Holmes said arrangements had been made for movement today by truck from Phoenix of 60 tons of surplus commodities supplied by the Department of Agriculture. Head explained that additional surplus commodities also are available or en route, to be moved into the Navajo country as needed and when transportation is feasible.

The first three truckload carrying the 60 tons are designated for Tuba City, Window Rock, and Chinle. The foods will be distributed from those points by pickup trucks.

Focal points for supplies of both food and fuel are the schools and chapter houses on the vast Navajo Reservation, which is about the size of the State of West Virginia.

The schools and chapter houses usually become the places of refuge for the Navajos who run out of food or fuel, and concentration of supplies in them protects the students and benefits those Indians who make it to the schools for aid.

Air Force helicopters were out today on mercy missions and four planes were in readiness at Phoenix to start dropping hay again, five tons to the flight, as soon as visibility will permit.

The "choppers" in some instances carried staff members of the Division of Indian Health, and the division also was supplying emergency medical kits for dropping.

Hospitals and clinics in the storm-stricken areas were becoming crowded as patients ready to leave could not be discharged and other patients were continuing to come in. This was true even though the full impact of the effect of the storm and shortages of food and fuel is not expected to be felt until the storm conditions turn for the better, said Doctor Rabeau.

Indians from as far away as Idaho, Montana, Minnesota and the Dakotas are being flown with heavy snow removal machinery to help open some 2,000 miles of roads blocked by snow on the huge Navajo Indian reservation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Reporting today on measures underway to aid the storm-stricken Navajos, and other Indians, the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs said six 40,000-pound gross weight four-wheel drive snow plow trucks are scheduled for movement by big C-124 Air Force planes today.

The huge snow removal machines were being loaded into the planes at Grand Forks (N.D.) Air Force Base, Ellsworth Air Force Base at Rapid City, S.D., Glasgow Air Force Base in Montana and Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The plows are being flown to Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque, N.H. Their crews of Indian operators and mechanics were accompanying the plows, the Indians giving up their Christmas at home in order to help out the Navajos.

Tribes participating included the Red Lake Chippewas and Leech Lake Chippewas of Minnesota; Standing Rock Sioux of North Dakota and South Dakota; Blackfeet, Fort Belknap Sioux, Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux of Montana; and Fort Hall Bannocks and Shoshones of Idaho.

The Indian operators are familiar with coping with snow depths of several feet, such as are blocking many roads on the big Navajo reservation, which is about the size of the state of West Virginia.

Original plans had called for movement of two of the machines and their crews yesterday but the number has now been increased to six. Two rotary snow plows loaned by the National Park Service in California are due in the Navajo area today, also.

A total of 437,000 pounds of surplus food commodities made available by the Department of Agriculture had been moved out of Phoenix to Navajo country through yesterday and an additional 160,000 pounds was scheduled for movement today. In addition to food dropped for Indians, airlift of 124 tons of hay was carried out yesterday with 200 tons scheduled for dropping today.

The Air Force established a rescue station at Tuba City after a convoy worked its way through from the east on the surface. This will enable loading and refueling of helicopters at Tuba City so they may make mercy missions over isolated areas which could not be covered with flights from the Window Rock area.

A plow opened a road to the rim of the Colorado River's Grand Canyon where the trail starts down to the Havasupai reservation and movement of food and hay to the Indians deep in the canyon was started by horseback.

The death of a new-born infant at a Bureau trailer school on the Navajo reservation was reported, increasing to four the number of storm-connected deaths reported by the Navajo area office.

Area Director Graham Holmes said at Window Rock that mercy missions are continuing to operate but he knew of no specific human disaster conditions. The temperature at Window Rock fell to eight degrees below zero this morning.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­