Past News Items

Three 1965 honors graduates from Haskell Institute, the Bureau-operated vocational-technical school at Lawrence, Kansas, will be participants in a special graduation and award-presentation ceremony at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1951 Constitution Avenue, N.W. at 2:00 P.M. today.

The lure of the Nation's Capital brought the students to Washington a few days before the graduation ceremonies at Haskell. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash will, therefore, present them with their diplomas and honors awards.

A $16 million road construction program has been carried out on Indian reservations by the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the fiscal year which will end June 30, 1965, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash announced today.

Improved roads open up undeveloped sections of Indian reservations for industrial and commercial development, tourism, and increased recreational use. More and better roads also mean improved school bus services for Indian youngsters and easier access to market areas for Indian farmers and ranchers.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today directed the Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs and Office of Territories to make family planning services available in their social services programs.

The service will be on an entirely voluntary basis. It is in line with the May 25, 1965, report of the National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. The study described the growth of U. S. population as a serious obstacle to the realization of many goals of society and one which puts the nation's general prosperity out of reach of millions of its citizens.

Seeking to encourage broader private financing of economic development on Indian reservations, the Department of the Interior has asked Congress for authority to establish an Indians' Loan Guaranty and Insurance Fund of $15 million under administration of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It would be used to guarantee or insure loans made by private lenders either to Indian organizations or to individuals of one-quarter or more Indian blood.

To stimulate greater economic growth and development on Indian reservations, the Department of the Interior has asked Congress to increase by $35 million the authorized amount of the revolving loan fund of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Under a bill proposed by the Department, authorization for the program would be boosted from $27 million to $62 million and the Bureau would be permitted to make grants of not more than 20 percent of the borrowed amount in connection with the loans under certain circumstances.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced that his Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs, at the request of the Hoopa Valley Indians of California, has approved a $600 per capita distribution to tribal members from the Tribe's emergency reserve fund. Many Hoopa Valley families suffered severe economic setbacks, including loss of homes, in the series of floods which swept the region early this year.

JICARILLAS TAKE THE LEAD IN CATTLE MARKETING

The Jicarilla Apache Cattle Growers' Association, instrumental in establishing the cattle market in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, reports that the market not only is commanding prices equal to or better than other nearby markets, but also is stimulating other businesses on the reservation.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior today advised that Indians who are eligible to share in the 1961 Cherokee judgment award must file their claims by October 9, 1965.

The net amount to be distributed to the 41,935 tribal members on the Cherokee tribal roll is $11,741,800, under an award granted September 14, 1961 by the Indian Claims Commission. The per capita payment amounts to $280. The award represents additional recompense to the Cherokee Nation for lands in Oklahoma ceded by the Indians to the United States in the past century.

For an invention that dramatically reduces accident risks and at the same time results in sizeable cost reductions, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall has awarded the highest incentive payment in the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to an engineering technician on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana.

Frank H. Roderick, a Bureau of Indian Affairs employee, received a check for $1,350 in recognition of the usefulness of his design for a new type irrigation canal check.

Nearly $200 million in new school construction and school improvement projects were approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the fiscal years 1962-1967, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall reported today.

The projects funded represent intensive efforts by the Department, during the six years beginning July 1, 1961, and continuing through next June 30, to expand and upgrade Federal school facilities serving young Indians who do not have access to public schools. Bureau schools and dormitories serve about 55,000 youngsters in 18 States.