OPA

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson, in a long afternoon meeting January 9 and all day January 10 in Washington, D.C. with elected executive boards of the two major national Indian organizations --the National Tribal Chairmen's Association and the National Congress of American Indians --solicited their views and recommendations on the organization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, recruitment techniques for staff positions, and budgeting goals and objectives of the 141 year-old Agency.

"I want Indian people, their tribal councils and organizations fully involved in decisions that will directly affect them. and I want to establish better communications between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the tribes and their members so that Indian groups this Agency serves can realize, fully, self-determination," Thompson began.

"American Indians have the right to expect an effective and efficient Bureau of Indian Affairs. They have the right to expect that the money appropriated by Congress for Indians is spent wisely, and that each dollar directly or indirectly benefits Indians at the local and individual level. Indian people have a right to determine what the Indian priorities will be, and how they are to be met."

Representatives of the two Indian groups also reviewed goals for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

A representative of the Assistant Secretary, Management, of the Department of the Interior and Thompson indicated that they wished the Indian leaders to comment on possible priorities and degree of, emphasis. The Departmental representative explained that the policy of the Department --to which Thompson reports --has a system of "management by objective." Manpower and dollars are paired, in order to set dates for accomplishments.

Attending were: National Tribal Chairmen's Association: Governor Robert Lewis, President (Zuni Pueblo); Bill Youpee, Executive Director (Fort Peck); Elmer M. Savilla, Vice President (Quechan); Kenneth Black, Secretary (Otoe-Missouri). National Congress of American Indians: Ernest Stevens, Vice President (Oneida); Charles Trimble, Executive Director (Oglala Sioux). Two Area Representatives of the National Tribal Chairmen's Association sat in on the January 10 sessions. They were Chairman Buffalo Tiger (Miccosukee) and Chairman Alvino Lucero (Isleta Pueblo).

Charles M. Soller, Department of Interior assistant solicitor for Indian Affairs, died of cancer October 25 in Washington, D.C. He had been a key legal adviser to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for 20 years.

Seller received in September of this year the Interior Department's Superior Service Award for his work on behalf of Alaska Natives under the Alaska Native Claim Settlement Act. His compassion and sensitive response to need were cited in the award.

A native of Washington, Kansas, Soller was a graduate of the University of Kansas and the Michigan University Law School. He was an assistant attorney general for the State of Colorado before joining the Interior Department in 1954 as a regional counsel of the Bureau of Land Management in Alaska.

His family asked that expressions of sympathy be in the form of contributions to a Charles M. Soller Alaska Native Scholarship Fund, administered by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Richard C. Whitesell, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Assistant Area Director, Community Services, in the BIA's Phoenix Area Office, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Whitesell has been Superintendent of the Flandreau Indian School at Flandreau, South Dakota.

A former marine, Whitesell was Education Program Administrator at Riverside Indian School in Oklahoma before going to Flandreau. He began
his career as an educator in the Brockton, Montana schools in 1961.

He is a graduate of the North Dakota State College at Dickinson, North Dakota and earned a Masters in Education from South Dakota State University. He completed the Department of Interior's Management Training Program in 1969.

A new director of Bureau of Indian Affairs activities in Eastern Oklahoma was named today. Commissioner, Morris Thompson announced the appointment of Thomas J. Ellison as Muskogee Area Director. Ellison, an Oklahoma Choctaw has been the Acting Area Director since the retirement of Virgil Harrington.

The Muskogee Area, one of the Bureau's 12 field jurisdictions is the second largest in Indian population and the smallest in geographic area. It includes 40 counties in Eastern Oklahoma with approximately 63,000 Indian residents. Most of the other jurisdictions are multi-state. The Area Director has responsibility, directly under the Commissioner, for all Bureau programs and services in the jurisdiction.

Ellison has worked for the Bureau for almost 24 years. A 1950 graduate of Colorado State University, with a major in agriculture, he began his career with the Bureau as a Soil Conservationist. He has held positions as a Loan Examiner, Finance Specialist, Tribal Economics Development Officer and Area Office Loan Specialist. In 1967 he was named Superintendent of the Standing Rock Agency in North Dakota. He was appointed Tribal Operations Officer for the Muskogee Area in December of 1968 and became Deputy Area Director in March of 1972.

Ellison was born in Choctaw County, Oklahoma, in 1924. He received his high school education at the Bureau’s Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kans. He is married to the former Carolyn Fry of Apache, Oklahoma and has two daughters, Glenna, a sophomore at Oklahoma Central State University, and Susan, a high school senior.

Ellison is a World War II veteran.

Rogers C. B. Morton, Secretary of the Interior, was honored as an "advocate or the American Indian" in an award given him by the Crow Indian Tribe of Montana. The presentation ceremony was held October 16 in the Secretary's office.

The framed document presented to Morton by the Crow Chairman, Pat Stands, cited his leadership in promoting Indian self-determination and his role in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement. The restoration of Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo and Mount Adams to the Yakima Tribe were also mentioned.

Morton was the second recipient of the award named after Chief Plenty Coups, the last Crow chief. In 1921 Chief Plenty Coups, represented the Indian people of the United States at the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery. His war bonnet and coup stick are kept in the museum at the Tomb. His personal flag will now be placed there also. It was donated to the Museum by the tribe. Chief Plenty Coups was a friend of President Teddy Roosevelt and an acquaintance of many other high officials.

Morton, in his acceptance remarks, commented on the statesmanship of Chief Plenty Coups who both kept his tribe from war with the non-Indians and retained the tribal lands. Morton also said that President Ford had expressed his support for the efforts of the department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to help the “Indian community by a dynamic part of the United States community -- and not step-children or wards.”

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson welcomed the Crow delegation and other guests. Barney Old Coyote, a Crow Indian who is President of the American Indian National Bank, gave background information on Chief Plenty Coups and the award named for him. Colonel Eugene Bauer, Chief of Staff of the Military District of Washington, and Raymond Costanzo, Deputy Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery received Chief Plenty Coups’ flag, presented by a relative of the Chief, Vincent Goes Ahead.

Other members of the Crow delegation were Mr. and Mrs. Calvin Bell Rock, Mrs. Stands and Mrs. Goes Ahead.

Anthony Whirlwind Horse, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs agency
on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Whirlwind Horse has been the Education Program Administrator at the agency. He succeeds Albert Trimble who is now Tribal Chairman of
the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Whirlwind Horse, 48, went to work at Pine Ridge as a teacher in 1957. He spent four years, 1963-67, at the neighboring Cheyenne River
Agency as a Principal-Teacher and then returned to Pine Ridge as a principal in 1967.

A navy veteran, he attended Bacone College and Northeastern State, Tahlequah, both in Oklahoma. He earned a B.S. in education from Black
Hills State College, Spearfish, South Dakota and an M. S. in education from Northern State College, Aberdee, South Dakota.

Billie D. Ott has been appointed Assistant Director for Management Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Administration,
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Ott, a member of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma, has been Assistant Director for Support Services in the Administration office. In his new position he replaces Sidney Mills who is now Executive Assistant to the Commissioner.

A Naval Academy graduate, Ott worked in private industry before coming to the Bureau in 1975. He was the Vice President and General Manager of Eastern Operations for the General Telephone and Electronics, Information Systems in Stamford, Connecticut from 1973-75.

A native of Comanche, Oklahoma, Ott resigned from military service in 1958 after combat service in Korea and completing flight training
as a Naval aviator.

The appointment of Ronald L. Esquerra as his executive assistant was announced today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson. Esquerra 29, is an enrolled member of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe.

"Ron has an impressive record of achievement," the Commissioner said. "He will be working very closely with me and will be a valuable asset for the Bureau and for Indian people."

The duties of the new executive assistant will include coordination of activities of the Commissioner's immediate staff, supervision of the appointment schedule and liaison with other agencies and offices.

Esquerra was the Indian Field Officer in Phoenix, Arizona for the Office of Minority Business Enterprise. .In this capacity he managed federal contracts and provided program assistance to Indian contractors in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Nevada. He had previously worked in the Economic Development Administration as Deputy Special Assistant for Indian Affairs to the Assistant Secretary.

As a Ford Foundation Leadership Development Fellow in 1970-71, Esquerra worked in numerous Federal, state and tribal Indian programs. While completing graduate work at Arizona State University, he was also Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Arizona State Indian Community Action Program. Esquerra majored in Business Management at Brigham Young University where he graduated with honors in 1966. After a two-year stint in military service he earned a Masters in Business Administration at Arizona State.

He is perhaps the only Indian to complete the certification program of the American Mortgage Bankers Association. Esquerra grew up on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. In 1973 he was listed in the publication Outstanding Young Americans.

The Chairman of the Colville Indian Tribal Council, Eddie A. Palmanteer, Jr., has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Colville Agency. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Morris Thompson, announced the appointment effective October 13. The tribe's Vice Chairman, Al Aubertin, will move into the Chairman's position until the next election.

"Eddie Palmanteer is a competent, hard working person,” Commissioner Thompson said. "We consulted with the tribal council about filling this position and he was their nominee. I think he is an excellent choice."

The Agency serves only the Colville Reservation which is located about 90 miles northwest of Spokane, Washington. It is the largest reservation in that state, The tribe has about 5,360 members.

Palmanteer, who is a full blood Colville Indian, has held many positions with the tribe. Before being elected Chairman, he was Assistant Manager of the Colville Indian Tribal Enterprises. He has also served as Business Manager, Employment 0fficer and Enrollment Officer for the tribe, He has had previous experience with the Bureau of Indian Affairs as an Enrollment Officer for the Western Washington Agency and Tribal Operations Officer for the Nevada Agency.

Palmanteer, 42, is a veteran and an alumnus of the Wenatchee Valley College.

Procedures for updating the membership renewal of the Menominee Indian Tribe were published in the Federal Register of October 17th, 1974 the Department of the Interior announced today.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said that “the Menominee tribal membership roll has been closed since June 17, 1954, when legislation was passed to terminate the tribe’s special relationship with the Federal Government. The restoration of this relationship by Public Law 93-197, passed December 22, 1973, requires the updating of the roll.”

Following a 30-day review period, final regulations governing the enrollment process will be published. The Bureau will then contract with Menominee Restoration Committee, the interim governing body for the tribe, to conduct the enrollment in accordance with the regulations.

The new roll will include members of the tribe listed on the 1954 roll and still living on December 22, 1973 and descendants of 1954 enrollees, born after midnight of June 17 of that year, who possess at least on quarter degree Menominee Indian blood. These latter must file an application for enrollment in accordance with the procedures set forth in the published regulations.

The termination of the Menominees, finally effected in 1961, was a disaster for the tribe and its people. It meant the withdrawal of education, health, and welfare services provided by the Federal Government through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It also ended the trust status of the reservation land and the lumber mill which was the tribe’s main industry. In less than seven years after termination, the tribe, which had been one of the more economically successful, was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Under the Restoration Act, BIA and Indian Health Services programs are already being provided to the tribe and the Menominee-owned land will be restored to trust status. There are approximately 2,600 people residing on the former reservation land - now Menominee County in Northeast Wisconsin.

It is probable that the new Menominee roll, including those who have moved out of the county, will exceed the 1954 enrollment of 3,270.

The proposed enrollment regulations require adequate publicizing of all information pertaining to the enrollment process. Copies of the proposed regulations can be obtained from the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Minneapolis Area Office, 831 Second Avenue, South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402.