Past News Items

Appointment of John B. Keliiaa as superintendent of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Agency, Dulce, N. Mex., succeeding Guy Robertson, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Mr. Keliiaa has been serving as acting superintendent of the agency since January 5 when Mr. Robertson transferred to the post of assistant area direct in the Indian Bureau’s office at Sacramento, Calif. He will take over full responsibilities of the position February 23.

Legislation that would make it a Federal criminal offense to trespass for hunting, fishing or trapping purposes on Indian reservations and other Indian lands held in trust by the United States is needed to protect the property rights of Indian tribal groups, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Roger Ernst said today.

The Interior Department, Mr. Ernst pointed out, has reported favorably to Congress on H.R. 7240, a bill which would provide such protection by amending appropriate sections of the United States Code.

Additional progress toward the goal of full educational and economic opportunities for American Indians was accomplished by the Bureau of Indian Affairs along many different lines in the fiscal year 1957, the Department of the Interior reported today.

Plans for further insuring the secrecy of absentee ballots in Osage Indian Tribal Council elections, and representation proportionate to each voter’s financial interest in the Osage mineral estate, were announced today by the Department of the Interior.

In a letter to the chairman of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, the Department said it has submitted a notice of the proposed changes for publication in the Federal Register.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton, to assure continued conservation management of the 750,000 -acres Klamath Indian Forest in Oregon and thus protect one of the Nation’s most valuable ponderosa pine stands from the threat of destruction, has asked Congress to amend the 1954 Act which now provides for an end of Federal Trusteeship of the Klamath Reservation by August 1960.

Appointment of Willard W. Beatty, executive vice president of the Save the Children Federation of Norwalk, Connecticut, as a member of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the Department of the Interior, was announced today by Assistant Secretary Roger Ernst.

Dr. Beatty was appointed to fill the unexpired term of James W. Young, Pena Blanca, New Mexico, who recently resigned. The term expires July 6, 1960.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs will make a payment at the earliest possible date to persons who are entitled to share in the western Creg0n Judgment Fund. The checks should be in the mail during the next few weeks.

Transfer of Narolf Nesset from superintendent of the Cheyenne River Indian Agency in South Dakota to superintendent at Standing Rock Agency, Fort Yates, North Dakota, was announced today by the Department of the Interior.

Mr. Nesset succeeds Harold W. Schunk, recently transferred to the Rosebud Agency in South Dakota. The new move is effective December 13, according to Indian Commissioner Glen Emmons.

Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton announced today approval of a recommendation made by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons for transfer of the Department’s function of approving contracts between attorneys and Indian tribes. Commissioner Emmons recommended that the function be shifted from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the Office of the Solicitor of the Department.

The transfer will be effected as soon as the necessary order has been developed and formally approved by the Secretary.

Trust restrictions on allotted Indian lands, scheduled to expire in calendar year 1960, have been extended for an additional five years, Acting Secretary of the Interior Elmer F. Bennett announced today.

This order, and a similar order issued last December extending trust restrictions expiring during 1959, reverse a custom started in 1951 of limiting such extensions to a maximum of only one year. In 1951, the then Acting Secretary was considering terminating trust status on individual Indian lands on a year-by-year basis. Each trust case would be subject to review every year.