Past News Items

Acting Secretary of the Interior John C. Whitaker and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today a decision, the result of which is that the Chemehuevi Tribe of Indians has equitable title to 18 miles of shoreline along Lake Havasu, a portion of the Colorado River. The shoreline is located in San Bernardino County about forty miles southeast of Needles California.

The decision administratively puts to rest an ownership dispute concerning over 21 miles of shoreline which has been pending before the Department for several years.

Almost $1 million to be used to help Indian students in public schools has been awarded under contracts this month to Indian tribal groups in the Great Lakes Area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. The contracts were let by the BLA's Minneapolis Area Office.

The Minnesota Chippewa Resource Development Corporation received the bulk of the money, $863,668, for the benefit of the six Chippewa Indian reservations in Minnesota - Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Mille Lacs and White Earth.

The Native Village of Tetlin, Alaska, has qualified to contract under the Tribal Government Development Program of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in order to strengthen its tribal government, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. The village may contract for up to $15,500.

Tetlin is the fourth Alaskan Native Village to qualify for Tribal Government Development Program money. The others are: Arctic Village-Venetie, Gambell and Savoonga.

A contract amounting to nearly $1.4 million has been awarded to Burgraff Construction Company of Idaho Falls, Idaho, to pave, drain, and surface slightly more than 16 miles of road and build two reinforced concrete bridges on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in the village of Owyhee, Nevada Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Alph H. Secakuku to the position of Superintendent of the Hopi Agency in Arizona.

Secakuku, a member of the Hopi Tribe, had been appointed acting Superintendent at the Hopi Agency earlier this year.

Thompson said he was extremely pleased to make the appointment and - noted that Secakuku would be the first member of the Hopi Tribe to serve as Superintendent of the Hopi Agency. The Hopi Tribal Council had asked that he be considered for the position, Thompson said.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today named superintendents to three Alaska Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies - those at Fairbanks, Nome, and Bethel. The appointments are effective August 1, September 1, and August 4, respectively.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of two Superintendents of Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies in the Pacific Northwest - the Umatilla, Western Washington Agencies --and one Assistant Superintendent -- within the Yakima Agency.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of Amon A. Baker, 48, a member of the Cherokee Nation to be Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Sequoyah High School, Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Baker replaces Edwin Moore who was appointed Assistant Area Director for Education in Muskogee in February 1964.

Baker holds a B.S. and Masters degree from Northeastern College, Tahlequah, Oklahoma in Industrial Arts and Education. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946.

David C. Harrison, a member of the Osage Tribe, has been appointed Judicial Services Officer in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Indian Services, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The position is a new one created to enable the Bureau to work more effectively for the strengthening of tribal judicial systems. Harrison, in the new post, will work with national organizations of Indian judges, tribal chairmen and Indian lawyers.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson-today announced that applications for enrollment at Intermountain Boarding High School, Brigham City, Utah, will be accepted from members of all tribal groups served by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In the past, this Bureau school had been operated solely for Navajos.