Past News Items

Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe and officers of the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation today approved an agreement paving the way for the first major conveyance of land to Alaska Natives under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

George E. Keller, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Rosebud Agency in South Dakota, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Keller, who was born on the reservation, has been Community Services Office at the agency the past four years. He was formerly Education Program Administrator at the Lower Brule Agency, Principal of the Pierre School and Guidance Supervisor at the Flandreau Indian School.

Sidney L. Mills, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has been named Executive Assistant to Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson, it was announced today.

Mills, who has been Assistant Director for Management Services in the BIA's Office of Administration, succeeds Ronald L. Esguerra who was recently appointed Director of the BIA's Albuquerque Area.

A plan for the use and distribution of more than $9 million awarded to the. Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation by the Indian Claims Commission is being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The award is compensation or reservation land taken by the united States in the early part of this century. The reservation is in North Dakota.

Regulations governing the enrollment of persons under the amended Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act were published today in the Federal Register, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

The Settlement Act was amended by legislation enacted January 2, 1976, which reopened the rolls for a period of one year for those persons who missed the original enrollment deadline of March 30,1973.

Alaska Natives will receive 40 million acres of land and almost one billion dollars under the provisions of the Settlement Act, signed into law December 18,1971.

Proposed regulations to govern the preparation of a roll of persons of Cherokee Shawnee Indian ancestry are being published in the Federal Register, Commissioner Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. The roll will be used for a per capita distribution of funds awarded to the Shawnees by the Indian Claims Commission.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is strengthening its Office of Indian Education Programs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Under a new organizational structure, approved July 13, the authority of the office will be extended and some major functions transferred from field units to the Washington headquarters.

Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe today hailed the new spirit of determination and confidence among Indian leaders. In remarks to 200 leaders of the American Indian community at a White House meeting, Secretary Kleppe said: "Whether young or old, the Indian leaders today have a new spirit --perhaps it is revival of a very old spirit-- of determination and of confidence."

President Ford will meet with more than 200 leaders of the American Indian community at the White House Friday afternoon (July 16), Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

It will be the first time a President of the United States has met with such a broad representation of the Indian leadership.

William P. Ragsdale, a Cherokee Indian, has been appointed Superintendent of the Uintah and Ouray Agency, Fort Duchesne, Utah, the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced today.

Ragsdale replaces William Streitz who was transferred to the Phoenix Area Office as Indian Trust Protection Officer.

A graduate of Central State College, Edmond, Oklahoma, Ragsdale has been Acting Superintendent at the agency and has been a participant in a Superintendent Intern program at the area office.