Past News Items

Award of two contracts for construction of 77 flood control structures in the Schuk Toak, Gu Achi and Sif Oidak Districts of the Papago Indian Reservation in southern Arizona was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

One contract, covering 47 structures, goes to Clyde Jones and Sons, Indio, Calif., who bid $64,705. The other ten bids on this job ranged from $65,625 to $142,000.

The second contract, for 30 structures, was awarded to Don L. Riggs of Phoenix, Ariz., with a bid of $27,550. The other 14 bids ranged from $32,025 to $77,000.

The Federal regulations governing the United States credit program for Indian tribes are being broadened to permit loans of funds which the tribes can use for the purpose of attracting industry to the vicinity of reservations, the Department of the Interior announced today.

Indian forest land owners would for the first time have a right of appeal from Indian Bureau decisions on their timber sale contracts under a proposed revision of Federal Regulations announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The proposal include many changes. They would permit any legally interested party to appeal on sale contracts to the Secretary of the Interior. The existing regulations do not specify such an appeal procedure.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs said the revisions also include these five other major changes:

Award of a $36,309 contract for construction of a new water system to serve the Indian school on the Papago Reservation at Chuichu, Arizona, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Chuichu School has an enrollment of 60 pupils, and the present water system includes a small pond and pump with a 3,500-gallon elevated tank. The new system to be installed under the contract will include a drilled well, pump house, new pump, water distribution system, and a 15,000-gallon elevated storage tank.

The Indian Bureau’s program for stimulating the growth of industry and industrial jobs in the vicinity of Indian reservations in line with over-all Interior Department objectives will be considerably broadened in scope during the fiscal year 1959, Commissioner Glenn L. Emmons announced today.

Award of a $304,785.00 contract for construction work that will nearly triple the capacity of Indian school facilities at Brad Springs, New Mexico, on the Navajo Reservation, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The project, which will enlarge the capacity of the Brad Springs day school from 32 to 90 pupils, will involve the construction of a new three-classroom building, a storage and maintenance building, and other related facilities.

Award of a $291,950 contract for construction of additional school facilities at South Segment School near Holliday, North Dakota, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Chase Construction Company of Minot, North Dakota was the successful bidder for the contract. Five higher bids, ranging from $295,900 to $331,325, ware received.

South Segment School, operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has a present enrollment of 62 day pupils. When completed the new structure will provide modern school facilities for a total of 120 pupils.

A $39,548 contract for construction of 14 earth-filled flood control structures in the Baboquivari district of the Papago Indian Reservation in Arizona has been awarded to M. A. Dunlap of Phoenix, the Department of the Interior announced today.

When completed, the structures will minimize flood damage to Indian homes, roads and lands on the reservation. They will also provide water for livestock and wildlife.

Trust restrictions on allotted Indian lands, scheduled to expire in calendar year 1960, have been extended for an additional five years, Acting Secretary of the Interior Elmer F. Bennett announced today.

This order, and a similar order issued last December extending trust restrictions expiring during 1959, reverse a custom started in 1951 of limiting such extensions to a maximum of only one year. In 1951, the then Acting Secretary was considering terminating trust status on individual Indian lands on a year-by-year basis. Each trust case would be subject to review every year.

The Department of the Interior announced today the award of a $120,788.86 contract for the construction of a municipal center on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation at Fort Thompson, South Dakota.

The contract provides for the construction of a concrete masonry building to serve a multiple use in the Indian community. The building will contain offices for a judge, jail administration space, quarters for incarceration of prisoners, and a large room which will serve as a library and be used for community gatherings, as well as for a courtroom.