Past News Items

The Department of the Interior has recommended against proposed legislation which would narrow the jurisdiction of the Indian Claims Commission over claims by Indian tribes against the United States which are based on original Indian title, it was announced today.

In a letter of June 25 to Senator James E. Murray, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Assistant Secretary Wesley A. D'Ewart gave four reasons for opposing the proposed amendment of the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1976.

Nearly 500 “mixed blood" members of the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in northern Utah have withdrawn from the tribe and are now in the process of setting up their own organization, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons announced today.

The action was taken under Public Law 671 of the 83d Congress which provides for a division of tribal assets between "mixed blood" and "full blood" members and for termination of Federal trusteeship over the property and affairs of the “mixed blood" group by August 27, 1961.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton today called attention to the final roll of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin which was published in the Federal Register December 12, 1957.

The roll, comprising 3,270 names, was compiled under the Menominee Termination Act of 1954 and represents the final listing of tribal members after disposition of all appeals that have been made to the Secretary. Only those people on the roll are entitled under the Termination Act to share in the benefits of tribal property.

Appointment of James N. Lowe, Sacramento, Calif., as Chief of the Indian Bureau is newly created Branch of Industrial Development was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

A two-year extension of the Interior Department's authority to lease lands on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in western Arizona would benefit the Indians, the Federal Government and the economy of Yuma County, Arizona, Assistant Secretary Roger C. Ernst said today in announcing the Department's support of S. 2161.

The bill would amend the Colorado River Leasing Act of 1955 and would provide such an extension beyond the present August 14, 1957, expiration date.

The Department of the Interior has recommended enactment of legislation extending the life of the tribal government of Oklahoma’s Osage Indians until 1984, it was announced today.

The principal function of the Osage tribal government, which is scheduled to expire in 1959 under existing law is to participate with the Secretary of the Interior in the execution of leases for development and extraction of the minerals that were reserved to the Tribe in Osage County, Oklahoma, under 1906 legislation.

Award of a contract for construction of 7.557 miles of roads on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, Gila and Navajo Counties, Ariz., to Bentson Contracting Company of Phoenix was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Bentson’s bid of $185,330.60 was the lowest of thirteen received. The others ranged from $193,784 to $315,590.

This is the first section of the planned 26-mile road from Fort Apache to U. S. 60 which leads to Globe and Phoenix. Its construction will stimulate further development of the reservation for commercial trade as well as recreation.

Competitive bidding for oil and gas leases on Indian lands in the "four corners" area of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado has resulted in bonuses for the Indian owners totaling over $45,000,000 in the past six months, the Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton announced today.

By comparison, the combined income realized by all Indian tribal groups and individual Indian landowners from bonuses, rents and royalties on oil and gas leases in the l2-month period which ended last June 30 was approximately $41,000,000.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons will be in a Portland March 4 and 5 for a meeting arranged by an unofficial committee of the American Bankers Association with trust officers of several banks in the Pacific Northwest region, the Department of the Interior announced today. The meeting will be concerned with problems involved in protecting the assets of Klamath Indians who are minors or otherwise not capable of managing their affairs after the termination of Federal trusteeship which is provided for in Public Law 587.

Award of a $465,056 contract for construction of a 90-foot bridge and for grading, draining, and asphalt paving about 19 miles of a north-south road through the Colorado River Indian Reservation in Arizona was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The road to be improved connects State Route 72 at Parker, Arizona and U. S. lute 60-70 near Ehrenberg, Arizona. When completed, it will serve as an outlet for population along the route to either termini and will save considerable mileage for motorists between Blythe, California and Parker, Arizona.