Past News Items

Mrs. Stewart L. Udall and the District of Columbia Committee for National Library Week, April 17-23, are presenting a dual exhibit of art works, "This Is Our Library," by school children of Metropolitan Washington and displays depicting new trends in library services.

The free exhibit will be in the Interior Department Art Gallery and will be open to the public from April 18 to 28.

A reception and preview celebrating the opening of the exhibit will be held Sunday, April 17, from 3 to 5 o'clock in the Art Gallery for invited guests.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today gave the Department's Distinguished Service Award for outstanding records or exceptional contribution to the public service to 43 employees and a Valor Award to another employee for bravery in attempting to save a child's life.

Included among the recipients of certificates for superior Federal service were John M. Kelly, former Assistant Secretary for Mineral Resources, and Dr. Thomas B. Nolan, former Director of the Geological Survey.

The Department of the Interior today announced that in response to a request from the Hopi Indian Tribal Council, it is directing the removal of about 35 Navajo Indians who are illegally residing within the Hopi Reservation in northern Arizona.

Assistant Secretary of Interior Harry R. Anderson instructed the Superintendent of the Hopi Agency, Clyde Pensoneau at Keams Canyon, Arizona, to serve the eviction notices on those Indians who did not comply with previous eviction notices of the Hopi Council.

With American families taking to the highways in greater numbers every year, often in search of a scenic trail or a restful campsite, Indian reservations are putting up welcome signs.

American Indians have discovered that they are the owners of some of the most scenic, unspoiled and undeveloped real estate to be found. As business men, they are turning these natural beauties into profits, with financial and technical aid from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall has commended the White Mountain Apache Tribe of Arizona for setting aside 7,400 acres of reservation land around Mount Baldy as a primitive area.

The effect of the tribal resolution is to preserve the Indian-owned lands against timber cutting and vehicular traffic for at least five years.

Construction of a new elementary school at Cottonwood, Ariz., to accommodate upwards of 450 Indian children, is scheduled to begin soon, The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today the award of a building contract for $1,359,828.

Children in the area of Blue Gap, Tachee, Smoke Signal, Whippoorwill and Cottonwood, who have all been attending trailer schools, will use the new Cottonwood School when it is completed.

Acting Secretary of the Interior John A. Carver Jr. today announced the resignation of Philleo Nash as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, effective March 15, 1966.

Mr. Nash, a former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, was nominated by President Kennedy as Commissioner of Indian Affairs in August 1961.

Prior to this appointment he served for five months as a member of the Indian Affairs Task Force named by Secretary Udall.

WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHES ESTABLISH PRIMITIVE AREA

The White Mountain Apache Tribal Council has voted to set aside a 7,400-acre tract on its Arizona reservation as a primitive area for the next five years. The area, which includes Mount Baldy on the east boundary of the reservation, will not be subject to any development, timber cutting, or vehicular traffic, except as needed for fire or insect control operations. It will remain under tribal control and-is not part of the National Wilderness Preservation system.

John C. Dibbern, a career BIA employee and former university professor, is slated to head Bureau activities in connection with Missouri River Basin development, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash has announced.

With headquarters in Billings, Mont., Dibbern will head a staff of economist, soil scientists, and engineers engaged in continuing studies to protect the interests of Indian landowners in the multi-State Missouri Basin area.

A four-day camp-in at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago is planned by Montana's Blackfeet Indians for March 9-12.

Tribal Chairman Earl Old Person and veteran Boy Scout Leader Francis Guardipee will preside over the event in the lobby of the windy city's biggest hotel as a promotion, not a protest.

The Tribe hired exhibit space for the national convention of the American Camping Association, hoping to interest camp owners and operators in establishing residential camps on the Blackfeet Reservation.