Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay announced today that he has appointed a three-man team to investigate the collapse of a footbridge on the East Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina on July 3.

Members of the team left today to confer with James H. Baley, Jr., United States District Attorney at Asheville, No Co, Richard D. Butts, Superintendent of the Cherokee Indian Reservation, and Frank Parker, General Counsel for the Cherokee Indians.

A Forestry Service Center to help Indians develop productive capacities of their commercial forest lands has been established at Littleton, Colo., in the Denver metropolitan area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today.

The new office will be directly under the Central Office of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, and initially will be staffed with six employees. Bruce said the Cen­ter is centrally located to most Indian reservations.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton said today he has directed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to review the termination program affecting the Klamath Indians in Oregon, with a view to preparing appropriate amendments to the Klamath Termination Act of 1954 for presentation to Congress early next year.

The proposals would be designed particularly to protect the Klamath timber-land and the tribe's interests in this resource, the Secretary said.

A special three-day Polar Plan Conference on Arctic problems ended today with direction from Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel that future plans for the area should be viewed from an international standpoint.

"Knowledge of the world's polar regions will change not only the countries bordering on the Arctic -- it will change economic, social and cultural conditions throughout the world," Secretary Hickel said.

"I urge you to think of the Arctic as a single entity, so that all nations can contribute to its conservation and the wise use of its resources," he said.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons announced today that he has asked the Solicitor1s Office of the Department of the Interior for advice on questions of law involved in a proposed 25-year oil and gas development contract between the Navajo Indian Tribe and the Delhi-Taylor Oil Corporation of Dallas, Texas.

The proposed contract, which covers about 5,000,000 acres or nearly a third of the entire Navajo Reservation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, was recently submitted to Commissioner Emmons by Chairman Paul Jones of the Navajo Tribal Council.

In an effort to learn more about the problem of alcoholism among Indians, and how to deal with it more effectively, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons today announced the appointment of a special three-man commission which will begin in the near future a three-month study on the Navajo Reservation (of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah) and other Indian reservations of New Mexico and Colorado.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton today formally welcomed delegates to a Washington conference on Indian youth being held by Arrow, Incorporated, a nonprofit organization, and read to them a telegram of greeting from President Eisenhower.

Award of a $351,746 contract for construction of enlarged dormitory facilities to accommodate 58 additional Indian children at Huerfano, on the Navajo Indian Reservation, near Bloomfield, New Mexico, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The successful bidder is Anchor Construction Company, Roswell, New Mexico. Eight higher bids ranging from $356,590 to $473,400 were submitted by contractors from New Mexico and Illinois.

Regulations governing a new vocational training program for Indians between 18 and 35 years of age and residing on reservations ware announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The new program is being initiated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs with an appropriation of $1.5 million, contained in the Department’s fiscal 1958 appropriations measure signed by the President on July 1. Authorization for the program was provided by the 84th Congress in Public Law 959.

Award of a $393,000 contract for construction of a central heating plant at Haskell Institute located at Lawrence, Kansas, was announced by the Department Of Interior today.

C. L, Mahoney Co. of Kalamazoo, Michigan, was awarded the job on the basis of its low bid. Eight other bids, ranging from $407,390 to $450,000, were received by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The new plant is to replace present manually operated boiler equipment, some of which has been in service since 1921.