$881,160 Made Available to 60 Indian Tribes for Improving Their Governments

Sixty tribal groups recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the U. S. Department of the Interior have qualified to participate in a $881,160 Tribal Government Development Program, Marvin L. Franklin, Assistant to the Secretary for Indian Affairs, announced today.

Participating tribes are in the States of Alaska, Arizona California, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada) New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington a Wisconsin.

Some of the projects to be funded by the program are: Training in parliamentary procedure for tribal council members at the school decided upon by the tribe; development of ordinances for the Indian reservation governed by the tribal council; development of a constitution for a tribe; development of budgetary processes by the tribal government; and studies started of factors in tribal government with an eye to highlighting trouble spots.

Franklin said the goal of the national policy toward the Indian people as outlined by President Nixon in his Message to the Congress on Indians delivered shortly after he began his first term in office, is to strengthen the Indian's sense of autonomy without threatening his sense of community. The President said: "We must make it clear that Indians can become independent of Federal control without being cut off from Federal concern and Federal support."

The foundation for this kind of self-determination is a strong tribal government, Franklin added.

Through contracting procedures, the tribes will be given funds to accomplish goals they themselves set. These goals will improve effectiveness of the tribe's governmental function. In some cases, this money will also be "seed money" through which tribal governments will find other sources of funding for their projects, the Assistant to the Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs indicated.

The 60 tribal groups that will benefit from this program qualified from among 144 applicants on the basis of need. Qualifying factors were the economic level of the tribe and the number of enrolled members of the tribe.

The participants are: