OPA

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has named Francis E. Briscoe, 56, an enrolled member of the Caddo Indian Tribe from Anadarko, Okla., Area Director, Portland Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs Briscoe has served in an acting capacity since Dale M. Baldwin retired last year.

"The Bureau of Indian Affairs is fortunate in having a man with the education and experience of Francis Briscoe to fill this post," Commissioner Thompson said. He has served in four Area Offices of the Bureau as well as with the Bureau in Washington, D.C. He also brings to the job a degree in business administration

Briscoe began his 25-year career with the Bureau in 1949 as a clerk typist in the Central Office, Washington, D.C. He then held positions of increasing responsibility in Area Offices at Minneapolis, Minn., Aberdeen, S. Dak., and Albuquerque, N.M. From 1955 to 1965 he again served in Washington, D.C., as an accountant, supervisory accountant, and financial manager. He moved from the post of Area Director for Administration in Aberdeen, S.Dak. to the same post in Portland in 1972.

Briscoe is a graduate of Oklahoma University, Norman, Okla., with a B.B.S. iii Business Administration. Fran 1940 to 1945 he served in Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany as part of the 45th Division (Thunderbirds) of the U.S. Army.

He has completed the Interior Department's manager training program and has had additional supervisory and management training.

He is married to the former Bonnie Lee Stribbling (Choctaw), Ardmore, Okla.

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.

He began his career with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1950 as an Instructor at the Seneca Indian School, and in 1955 became a teacher at Sequoyah High School. In 1964 he was Construction and Maintenance Representative for the BIA Muskogee Area Office, and later became Construction Analyst. Baker returned to Sequoyah High School in 1965 as Building and Grounds Manager until February 1974 when he became Acting Superintendent.

“We feel fortunate to have a man with the qualifications of Mr. Baker to assume the post of Superintendent of Sequoyah High School," Commissioner Thompson indicated. “He has the academic background and the experience in Indian Education to make a real contribution to our Indian students."

Baker is married to the former Jean Thompson, also a member of the Cherokee Nation. They have four daughters.

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.

Jose Carpio, 46, an Isleta Pueblo Indian, will become Superintendent of the Umatilla Agency July 21. Headquarters of the Agency is at Pendleton, Ore. Stephen A. Lozar, 49, an enrolled member of the Flathead Tribe, will become superintendent of the Western Washington Agency headquartered at Everett, Wash. July 28. Merritt E. Youngdeer, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, will become Assistant Superintendent of the Yakima Agency July 21. Agency headquarters is at Toppenish, Wash.

Carpio replaces Harold Duck, who retired December 1973 after ten years as Superintendent of the Umatilla Agency. He has served at four Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies: Colorado River, United Pueblos, Jicarilla Agency, and Eastern Navajo Agency. He has also held posts at Albuquerque Indian School, from which he was graduated, and the Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, New Mex. He served as Administrative Manager at the Eastern Navajo Agency and the Institute of American Indian Art.

He was graduated from the Department of the Interior supervisory and management training course, and is a veteran of four years in the U.S Marine Corps.

Stephen A. Lozar replaces George Felshaw who died in October 1973 after more than 11 years as Superintendent of the Western Washington Agency. Lozar cares to the Western Washington Agency from the Colorado River Agency, Parker, Ariz. He had been real property management officer at the Western Washington Agency in 1968 and assistant superintendent until September 1971 when he moved to the post of Area Field Representative at Riverside, Calif.

He has served in posts at the Warm Springs, Umatilla, Flathead and Wind River Agencies. In addition, he has worked in the Portland and Sacramento Area Offices.

He has attended the University of Montana and served for a year in the U.S. Army.

Merritt E. Youngdeer replaces Barney Dunn, who retired recently after A 14 years as assistant Superintendent of the Yakima Agency. He is a graduate of Haskell Institute - now Haskell Indian Junior College - commercial course and the Navajo Area 7th bureau Field Management Program and the Interior Department Manager Development Program.

He began his career in 1964 with the Rosebud Indian Hospital of the Indian Health Service. He has held successively responsible posts in the Bureau of Indian Affairs Wind River, Tuba City Agencies, in Wyoming, and Arizona, in the Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, N.M., and the Anadarko Area Office, Anadarko, Okla.

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.

Frederick P. Baker, 35, an enrolled member of the Mandan Hidatsa Tribes of Fort Berthold, N. Dak., is to be Superintendent at Fairbanks. Gary T. Longley, 42, an Eskimo, will undertake the Superintendent’s post at Nome. Peter P. Three Stars, 47, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is to become Superintendent of the Bethel Agency. All three men have lived and worked in Alaska prior to these appointments.

Baker has a B.S. in education from Bemidji State College, Minnesota, and has also attended the University of Michigan and University of California, Los Angeles. He was an Employment Assistance Officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Fairbanks in 1969, a post he held until 1971. He has also been a Community Living Guidance Specialist with the Bureau in the Los Angeles Field Employment Assistance Office from 1967 to 1969. He began his work life as a teacher-coach in a public school in Naytahwaush, Minn., and his Government career as an education specialist with the Indian Health Service at Standing Rock, N. Dak., Belcourt, N. Dak., and Pine Ridge, S. Dak.

He returns to the Bureau from a position as associate director, Division of State and Support Services, Mountain Plains Education and Economic Development Corp., National Institute of Education, Glasgow Air Force Base, Mont. He has served as chairman, Division of Special Academic Services, Mary College, Bismarck, N. Dak. and is now a member of its Indian Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Haskell Indian Junior College Board of Regents. Haskell is a Bureau of Indian Affairs school.

Gary Longley, a native of Nome where he will head the Bureau of Indian Affairs Agency, has attended the University of Alaska. He served with the U. S. Air Force for four years, and with the Alaska National Guard for two.

He began his civilian Government career as a weather services specialist at Anchorage, Alaska. then became a health officer with the Alaska Native Health Service. He first came to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1972 as an enrollment coordinator at Anchorage. Most recently, he has been executive director with the Bering Straits Native Corporation -one of 12 regional corporations established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act – in Nome. Regional corporations are formed as businesses for profit although their articles of incorporation and bylaws have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior.

Peter Three Stars has a B.S. in education from the University of South Dakota at Springfield, S. Dak., and has taken Bureau of Indian Affairs management training courses.

He was a relocation officer with the Bureau at Juneau, Alaska, from 1958 to 1959 and an elementary teacher at Unalakleet, Alaska, from 1959 to 1963. In 1963, he became a tribal operations officer at the Juneau Area Office and moved to a similar post with the Bureau in Washington, D.C. in 1971.

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.

Secakuku served as Tribal Operations Officer at the Nevada Indian Agency at Stewart, Nevada, from 1970 to 1974. Prior to that he was Indian Affairs Representative for the First National Bank of Arizona in Phoenix and before that was a Tribal Enrollment Specialist in the Phoenix Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

He was born May 21, 1939, at Kearns Canyon, Ariz., on the Hopi Indian Reservation.

He was graduated from Mission High School, Ganado, Ariz., attended Arizona State College in Flagstaff, Arizona and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Northern Arizona university at Flagstaff in 1968.

Secakuku is married to the former Alfreda Fredericks and they have two sons, Scott and Charles.

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.

The contract provides for the construction of 16.3 miles of highway, surfacing on a portion of state highway at and route 9 in the village of Owyhee, and the construction of two reinforced concrete bridges. The construction was requested by the Western Shoshone Tribe.

"Improvement of reservation roads is an important phase of economic development efforts carried on by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Indian lands", Thompson said. "This road project will make possible better school bus service into rural areas and improve access for Indian farmers in the valley."

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.

These villages have qualified because they elected to retain their reserved lands and, therefore, are ineligible for benefits under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.

"Alaska Native villages such as Tetlin are in particular need of a well run government in order to manage their lands," Commissioner Thompson indicated "A strong local government can help Native peoples undertake projects in their own behalf successfully."

The primary thrusts of the Tetlin contract are to establish a tribal office and create a record keeping system. To accomplish this an office manager and a secretary must be trained.

The village of Tetlin is recognized by the Federal Government under the Indian Reorganization Act. A resolution requesting consideration to come under the Tribal Government Development Program was signed by Bentley Mark, village vice president, and Jimmie Joe, village treasurer.

Seneca was elected President of the American Indian Law Students Association in 1970, and was also appointed by the Chancellor of New York State's university system to serve on a panel which was charged to assist in the long range development of the State university system by providing a philosophical base with respect to change and growth.

Seneca is married to the former Karen Ann Wilson, Boise, Idaho. They have four children, three sons and one daughter.

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 Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board of Stone Lake, Wisconsin, received $51,318 for use in the Hayward and Winter school districts. The Keweenaw Bay Education Committee, Inc., of Baraga, Michigan received $43,729 for schools in the Baraga, L'Anse and Watersmeet districts. A contract for $23,662 was also awarded to the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Education Committee, Inc. for the Mt. Pleasant School District in Michigan.

Under the Johnson-O'Malley Act of 1934 the Bureau is authorized to provide assistance to public schools with substantial Indian enrollments. Commonly these funds are used for needed supplemental programs, not part of the ordinary school program. This might be a course in Indian culture, employment of an Indian teacher's aide to facilitate the beginning student's adjustments to school or a special program in reading. Local Indian committees are asked to determine the needs.

In special circumstances, where the school district contains large areas of Indian-owned, tax-exempt land, the funds can also be used for the basic operating costs of the schools.

"In years past," Commissioner Thompson said, "the use of these funds would have been determined by the Bureau, the State Department of Education and the school districts. Under these contracts the tribal groups, working directly with the school districts, will make that determination. This is one example of the way the Bureau is implementing the policy of Indian self-determination. "

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.

The lands in question were owned by the Chemehuevi Tribe prior to construction of Parker Dam. In 1941, however, pursuant to an Act of Congress, Secretary Ickes designated the lands be taken as part of a "freeboard" area for the reservoir, Lake Havasu, created behind the dam. Sixteen miles of the shoreline have been administered as public lands since that date, and five and one-half miles were included in Havasu National Wildlife Refuge.

The Tribe has claimed ownership of the lands and complained that it was denied access to the Lake. The Tribe pointed out that the shoreline lands were the only part of the reservation which were habitable and retained any value after 1940. Acting Secretary Whitaker's decision modifies the 1941 designation with the result that the Tribe has equitable title to the lands, subject to a flowage easement in the United States.

Acting Secretary Whitaker said "today's decision was made after an exhaustive study of its environmental consequences, and careful review of a comprehensive environmental impact statement prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. It permits maximum utilization of their reservation lands by the Indians, while preserving for the wildlife refuge all lands essential to its operation.” The dividing line between the Indian lands and those within the refuge will be a point north of Catfish Bay, to be fixed by survey.

New regulations for a program affecting 100,000 Indian children in 435 public school districts and 23 states were published in the Federal Register August 21, 1974. "These regulations reflect the vast changes and development in the Indian community of the past several years," said Commissioner Morris Thompson of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The new regulations govern the Bureau's program of financial assistance to meet special educational needs of Indian children not in Federal schools. It is commonly referred to as the Johnson-O'Malley program, after the Congressmen who introduced the authorizing legislation in 1934.

The revised regulations give the local Indian community the major role in determining how the funds should be used. In the past this was primarily the responsibility of school officials. This change accords with the Administration's policy of Indian self-determination.

Funding for the program in fiscal year 1975 is expected to be almost $28 million. These funds may be used for needed supplemental programs, not part of the ordinary school program, or in exceptional circumstances for operational expenditures of the school district. Some school districts need this operational assistance because the tax base, including state and other Federal aid, is not adequate for meeting minimum state educational standards. School costs are also frequently greater in isolated rural areas.

It is expected that at least 80 percent of the funds will be used in 1975 to supplement the regular school program to meet the special needs of Indian students. Hiring Indian teacher aides for the primary grades to help young

Indian students adjust to the school situation would be an example of such use. Provision of a tutorial program, a course in Indian culture Of a program of teaching English as a second language are other examples. Local Indian education committees determine the needs and the programs.

"There was maximum involvement of Indian, people in the development of these regulations," Commissioner Thompson said. "They are responsive to the Indian people we serve and we are confident that the end result will be better programs for Indian children."

Other changes from the old regulations, last revised in 1957, include:

Eligibility for assistance is broadened somewhat, but is still limited to Indians living on or near reservations; Funds may be used for pre-school children and other educational programs conducted outside the normal school setting; Eligibility requirements for school districts seeking funds for operational expenditures have been tightened; Provision is made for more equitable funding between states and within states, and Program and fiscal accountability requirements have been greatly strengthened.