Past News Items

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has announced that it is publishing in the Federal Register, April 21, 1982, proposed regulations to govern the preparation of a membership roll of the Pribilof Islands Aleut Communities of St. Paul and St. George. The roll to be prepared will serve as a basis for a per capita distribution of judgment funds awarded to the communities by the U. S. Court of Claims.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced the reappointment of Floyd E. Maytubby, Oklahoma City, as Governor of the Chickasaw Indian Tribe and the appointment of Waldo E McIntosh of Tulsa as Principal Chief of the Oklahoma Creek Indian Tribe.

Under a 1906 law the President was empowered to appoint a Principal Chief periodically for each of the so-called "Five Civilized Tribes" of Oklahoma-- Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole and Creek. In 1951 this appointing authority was delegated to the Secretary of the Interior.

The Minerals Management Service, created today by Interior Secretary James Watt to ensure the proper and full collection of royalties from Federal and Indian leases, will place renewed emphasis upon efforts to stem royalty fraud and theft in a system producing $5 billion in annual collections.

The basis of the new Service is the Conservation Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, which is being reassigned to report directly to the Under Secretary and an executive group within the Office of the Secretary.

The Department of the Interior favors proposed legislation to provide that judgment funds on claims against the United States awarded to any of the constituent Indian tribes on the Colville Reservation in Washington shall be deposited in the United States Treasury to the credit of the confederated tribal group on the reservation, Assistant Secretary John A. Carver, Jr., announced today.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs William E. Hallett has named Jose "Abe" Zuni acting director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Juneau, Alaska area office. His appointment is effective immediately.

Zuni, a member of the Isleta Pueblo, is a 31-year veteran in the BIA. Since September of 1979 he has been the Bureau's Management Improvement Liaison Officer, stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has previously served as Director of the Office of Administration in Washington, D. C. and held other top management positions in the Bureau.

Thomas H. St. Clair, industrial development specialist with the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Portland, Oregon, has been appointed superintendent of the Papago Indian Agency, Sells, Ariz., the Department of the Interior announced today.

The new superintendent will take office July 23. He succeeds Harry W. Gilmore who has been in charge at Papago since 1955 and now moves into a position as program officer in the Indian Bureau's area office at Phoenix.

Proposed regulations governing mining and mineral development on Indian lands are being published in the Federal Register, Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Thomas W. Fredericks said today.

The Department of the Interior today announced award of a $693,122 contract for 16 miles of road construction on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona.

Upon completion, the project will provide an all-weather route from State primary road systems to Round Rock and Lukachukai which will serve the needs of the communities in the Chinle Valley area of the reservation.

The successful bidder was Daniels Construction Company of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Six other bids were submitted, ranging to a high of $1,057,960.20.

WASHINGTON – Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs John Tahsuda spoke today of the courage and sacrifices of Indian Country’s fallen police officers during the 27th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Service, which was held on the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers campus in Artesia, N.M.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus today announced the Justice Department will not seek offsets against future monetary awards in Indian claims cases f or federal monies paid out under the Indian Self-Determination Act

"I was concerned that the tribes not be made reluctant to take over the responsibilities for many of the programs in operation on their land," said Andrus. "The provisions of the Indian Self-Determination Act easily could be frustrated if the trade-off for self-determination is a cloud over pending tribal claims."