Past News Items

Award of a $777,777 Bureau of Reclamation contract for the clearing of approximately 15,600 acres of land along the border of New Mexico and Colorado, to be inundated by the waters of Navajo Reservoir, was announced by the Department of the Interior today.

The contract went to Universal Grading Company, Incorporated, of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A "new trail" for Indians leading to equal citizenship, maximum self-sufficiency, and full participation in American life was endorsed today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

Secretary Udall endorsed the "new trail" approach in announcing the completion of a 77-page report by a Task Force on Indian Affairs which he appointed earlier in February.

"Preparing the new trail will require the collaboration of the Indians, State and local governments, and the American people," Secretary Udall said.

Appointment of Martin P. Mangan, Alexandria, Va., as Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in charge of legislative work was announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.

In his new post, Mangan will have prime responsibility for planning and coordinating the legislative program and legislative recommendations of the Bureau.

Mangan, 40, has been with the central office of the Bureau in Washington, D.C., since 1951, and is assuming the duties of H. Rex Lee, recently appointed as Governor of American Samoa.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today announced he has instructed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to examine into the rights of approximately 35 Indian groups in western Washington who have complained to him about asserted encroachments.

He took note of tribal apprehensions generated by Congressional proposals in past years for the termination of Federal protection and services for Indians, and the transfer of criminal and civil jurisdiction over Indian land to State and local governments.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has awarded the first negotiated contract for the supplying of equipment which had been earmarked for an area of substantial labor surplus, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.

The contract is for three motor graders which will be used by the Bureau's Branch of Roads in the Aberdeen, South Dakota and Phoenix, Arizona areas. It was awarded to The Galion Iron Works and Mfg. Co., Galion, Ohio, for the sum of $36,033.

Award of a $59,405.54 contract for the clearing and leveling of 240 acres of land and the construction of the main lateral and waste way to serve these lands on the Hogback Project of the Navajo Reservation near Shiprock, New Mexico, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

This construction work will bring under irrigation two new farm units. When completed, the project works will serve an ultimate area of 11,500 acres of land benefiting 500 Navajo Indian families.

Appointment of Leonard O. Lay, relocation specialist of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Minneapolis, Minn., as superintendent of the Bureau's Turtle Mountain Agency at Belcourt, North Dakota, effective July 9, was announced today by the Department of the Interior. He succeeds Herman P. Mittelholtz who was recently named superintendent of the Minnesota Indian Agency, Bemidji, Minn.

Secretary of the Interior, Stewart L. Udall announced his support today of legislation that would make it possible to revive and strengthen the program of Federal loans to Indian tribes to help finance job-creating enterprises and greater development of human and natural resources on Indian reservations.

The Secretary's position was set forth in a favorable report on S. 1540, a bill that would remove the present $10 million legal limit on appropriations for the revolving loan fund of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

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Housing Administrator Robert C. Weaver today announced approval of a loan of $166,600 to build a housing-for-the-elderly project in the middle of the 2,000,000-acre Pine Ridge Indian reservation in southwest South Dakota.

The project was initiated by leaders of the Oglala-Sioux Tribe of Indians most of whose 12,000 members live on the reservation.

Award of four contracts totaling $269,949.50 for surfacing work on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservation roads in South Dakota was announced today by the Department of the Interior.