Past News Items

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of Loren J, Farmer, 35, Blackfeet Indian, to be Superintendent of the Yankton Agency, the Bureau of Indian Affairs office that serves the Yankton Sioux Indian Tribe of South Dakota. His appointment was effective March 31.

Farmer replaces Charles James who transferred to the Aberdeen, South Dakota, Area Office of the Bureau.

Farmer assumes the new post after having served as Administrative Manager of the Cheyenne River Agency, which serves the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the appointment of George A. Laverdure, 58, enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Indian Tribe, to the post of Superintendent of the Crow Agency, Mont., of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He has been serving in that post in an acting capacity since June 1973. His appointment was effective March 31.

Anson Baker, former Crow Agency Superintendent, has been transferred to the Fort Berthold Agency, New Town, N. Dak., as Superintendent.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson praised volunteer activity in behalf of Indian foster children April 2, as he bestowed the Indian Leadership Award of the Bureau of Indian Affairs upon an individual and a committee as part of National Action for Foster Children Week March 31 -April 6. The ceremony was held in the Department of the Interior Auditorium Washington, D.C.

Cam1issioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson today announced the awarding of two contracts accounting to nearly $9 million in Federal money for Bureau of Indian Affairs day schools at Acomita, New Mexico, and Wanblee, South Dakota.

"These two schools, when completed, will serve a need that has existed for many years," Thompson said.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson will present the Indian Leadership Award of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to Mrs. James M. (Marie) Cox, Comanche Indian of Oklahoma, and to the Cherokee Action Committee for Foster Children of North Carolina April 2 at 2 p.m. in the Department of the Interior Auditorium in Washington, D.C.

"These awards represent unique contributions in the realm of foster care by American Indians and are a part of National Action for Foster Children Week," Thompson said. National Action for Foster Children Week is March 31-Apri1 6, 1974.

A draft environmental impact statement on a proposal to surface mine Crow Indian and State-owned coal from more than 2,000 acres in south central Montana has been prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, and released for public comment.

The statement, filed with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), discusses the environmental effects of a proposed expansion of Westmoreland Resources existing Absaloka Coal Mine to 2,151 acres (870 hectares) in Crow Indian Ceded Lands in northern Big Horn County just north of the Crow Indian Reservation.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that he has called a special meeting of the Cherokee Delaware Tribe's general council to convene at 10:00 a.m., September 11, in the old high school gymnasium in Dewey, Oklahoma to consider removal of certain of its officers.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of LaFollette Butler, a Cherokee, as Acting Director of the Commissioner's Indian Self-Determination Staff. Butler, a 23-year BIA veteran, directed the Bureau's task force which developed the regulations for implementing the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. He is the Special Assistant to the Phoenix Area Director.

Louis D. Bayhylle, an enrolled member of the Pawnee Tribe, has been appointed Chief Personnel Officer of th Bureau of Indian Affairs. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Bayhylle has been Chief of Personnel Services at the Veterans Administration Hopsital in New York City since 1963. He has been in personnel work with the Veterans Administration for more than 30 years.

A native of Muskogee, Oklahoma, Bayhylle is a graduate of the Central High School there. He has completed numerous training programs in management and personnel.

Regulations to govern the preparation of a roll of members of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma to be used for the distribution of funds awarded by the Indian Claims Commission were published in the Federal Register, August 6, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The Apache, Kiowa and Comanche Tribes were awarded more than $35 million as additional payment for land ceded to the United States by treaties concluded in 1865 and 1867.