Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton today called attention to the proposed roll of the Ottawa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma which was published in the Federal Register March 21, 1958.

The Department of the Interior announced today the appointment of Harold W. Schunk as Superintendent of the Rosebud Indian Agency, Rosebud, South Dakota, effective November 27. He succeeds Graham E. Holmes, whose transfer to the Gallup Area Office in New Mexico, as Assistant Area Director for resources, was effective today.

Reappointment of Turner Bear as Principal Chief of the Creek Indian Tribe of Oklahoma for a two-year term beginning October 5 was announced today by the Department of the Interior. He has been serving in the position for the past two years.

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.

Completion of the final membership roll of the Ottawa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, following the disposition of all appeals, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The preliminary membership roll, published in the Federal Register March 21, 1958, included 549 individuals. The net result of additions and subtractions made as a consequence of appeals to the Secretary of the Interior is a final roll of 630.

Under a 1956 Congressional law, Federal trusteeship of the Ottawa property is to be ended by next August 3.

Under Secretary of the Interior Elmer F. Bennett today cautioned against permitting lessees- of Indian lands the privilege of meeting the highest offer when the lands are sold under competitive bidding at the request of the owners.

He said such a provision, admittedly advantageous to the lessees, would in most cases have "an adverse effect on the Indian selling his land.”

The Under Secretary set forth the Department's position in a letter to Chairman James E. Murray of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.

Award of three contracts totaling $171,820.40 for road construction work in Indian areas of Oklahoma was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

All three projects involve a stabilized asphalt base and single bituminous surfacing on grade and drainage completed sometime ago. All of the roads run through heavily populated Indian areas and are school-bus and mail-service routes.

Award of a $53,878 contract for flood control work on the Papago Indian Reservation in southern Arizona was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract covers construction of 32 earth-filled flood control structures and the placement of about 3,000 linear feet of metallic pipe of varying diameters.

Award of a $868,653 contract for construction of school facilities to accommodate 188 Indian children not now in school at Dilcon, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation was reported today by the Department of the Interior.

The contract calls for construction of a 7-classroom structure with a multipurpose room, a 128-pupil dormitory, a kitchen and dining room, employees' quarters, a bus garage, and a storage and utility building.

The unparalleled development of human end natural resources that has taken place on the Navajo Indian Reservation since the end of World War II is "only a prologue:" to the further development that must be accomplished over the coming decade, the Commissioner-designate of Indian Affairs, Philleo Nash, told a predominantly Navajo audience today.

A conference was held July 6-7 at Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border to discuss water needs of the area, including Lake Tahoe, the Truckee Carson River Irrigation District, and the water requirements of the Pyramid Lake Indians.