OPA

A long-range plan to give Indian schools and communities better library services is being developed by the Department of the Interior through its Office of Library and Information Services and the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Indian Education Programs.

Interior's professional librarians, together with BIA educators, are working on the project. They are being assisted by five resource persons with special experience and knowledge.

Three of the five resource persons are Indian: Virginia H. Mathews, an Osage who is a consultant to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science; Cheryl Metoyer, Cherokee from the National Indian Education Association, and Lotsee Smith, Comanche from the University of New Mexico. The other two are Norman Higgins from Arizona State University and Charles Townley of the University of Michigan.

A draft of the plan is expected to be available in March for review and comment by the Indian community and other interested persons.

Implementation of the plan will be primarily the responsibility of the BIA education office. Improvement of BIA school libraries will be a major component of the plan.

President Jimmy Carter showed a special interest in Indian affairs when he visited the Department of the Interior Friday, February 18.

The President, scheduled to speak to Interior employees in the Department's auditorium, came early, went directly to the fourth floor wing housing the Commissioner of Indian Affairs' offices, shook hands and exchanged greetings with BIA staffers in the hall and then visited with Acting Commissioner Raymond V. Butler for a few minutes.

Carter talked with Butler, and Secretary of the Interior Cecil Andrus, who was with the President, about the impact of the drought in the west on Indian reservations and the economy of the tribes.

The President then asked Butler about the present government structures for dealing with Indian Matters. Butler explained the BIA's dual role in the trust responsibility for land and natural resources and the delivery of services to the tribes.

The President then asked Butler about complaints from Indians about how they are being treated. "Are these complaints legitimate," he asked. “I’m concerned about decisions that are made which affect the lives of these people."

Butler replied that often the complaints were valid. He added that many times they were the result of a vacillating policy toward Indians. Butler said that to improve conditions a consistent Federal policy was needed.

In later remarks in the auditorium, Carter said that he wanted to substantially improve the status of Indians and the concern of our country for them. He said that he thought the person responsible for Indian affairs in our government should have the rank and dignity of an Assistant Secretary of Interior. He said he would attempt to bring this about.

Subsequently, in answer to a question, he said that he felt strongly that there should be more Indians in top positions in the federal government and, especially, in programs affecting Indians. He said that he had made a campaign promise that in his government those responsible for Indian affairs would either be Indian or be recommended as knowledgeable and competent by Indians.

The President said that he was not familiar with a bill 8.666, to allow non-Indian employees of BIA and IRS to retire early, but he would read it and would be willing to support it if it were not punitive towards non-Indian now employed in those agencies.

Secretary of the Interior Thomas S. Kleppe has signed a decision on coal leases and options to lease on the Crow Indian reservation which he said he, hoped would result in the discontinuance of a lawsuit filed by the Crow Tribe challenged the validity of the leases.

In his decision, Kleppe directed Shell Oil Company and American Metals Clims (AMAX) to reduce their leaseholds to 2,560 acres each or clearly demonstrate a need for a waiver of the Department regulation concerning acreage limitations. In the case of Peabody and Gulf Oil, the Secretary decided that the Billings Area Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, was correct in his decision the terms of their permits did not support a request for leases of more that 2,560 acres.

He also said any larger lease must be negotiated with the Crow Tribe, subject to the approval of the BIA. He also said no final department approval will be forthcoming on any leases until environmental impact statements have been completed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

Kleppe said he hoped that, in light of his decision, "the Crow Tribe and the companies involved in this litigation will attempt at once to resolve their differences in a more cooperative forum in order that the development, in which all parties have expressed repeated interest, may proceed in an orderly manner."

The Secretary’s decision was consistent with the June 4, 1974, decision of then-Secretary Morton in acting on a petition submitted by the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and raising similar issues arising from similar circumstances.

Secretary of the Interior Cecil D. Andrus announced today that he has asked Indian tribal leaders to recommend nominees "to head this nation's highest post relating to Indian affairs." He said this position had formerly been that of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, but would be according to Departmental plans, raised to the rank of Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs.

Andrus, in a letter dated February 17 to the tribal officials, cited President Carter's promise to consult with tribal leaders on issues of concern to Indian people. He asked them to submit recommendations by March 11.

The Secretary asked that the recommendations be made "following a discussion by your governing body, and in the form of a resolution. However, if the time frame I have set for this is too short for the governing body to meet, I would appreciate your personal views."

The tribal leaders were asked to give reasons for their choices, keeping in mind the need for the person selected to be both an advocate of Indian causes and the administrator of a large, complex organization.

From the recommendations, Andrus said he would select the persons with the strongest support combined with the best qualifications to be interviewed "for the purpose of assessing their abilities, commitment and compatibility with the goals of this administration." After further consultation with Indian leaders, Andrus said he would then make his recommendation to the president.

Concluding his letter, Andrus wrote: "As Secretary, I recognize and hold sacred the special trust placed upon me in respect to Indian tribes and their resources. I pledge to you my intention to make Indian affairs a major priority of this Department.

The United States Department of Justice informed a Federal Court February 28 that it intended to follow a modified Interior Department recommendation to pursue Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Indian claims to millions of acres of land in the State of Maine.

Interior's recommendation updates a draft litigation report sent to the Justice Department in January. The February 25 report, signed by Frederick N. Ferguson, Acting Deputy Solicitor for Interior, still asks for the return of land as well as trespass damages. It includes, however, two changes agreed to by the tribes.

The tribes agreed to forbear from asserting their claims to any lands which had already been settled by non-Indians as of 1790. Those lands lie primarily along the Maine coast and are the most populous portions of the claimed area. The report indicates that a legislative solution to the Indian claims on these lands will be sought.

The tribes also agreed to withhold pursuit of any legal remedies against homeowners or small property owners within the claimed area, on the conditions that the tribes would be able to obtain the monetary value of their claims to these lands from “an appropriate sovereign body.”

The Indian claims which the United States will pursue in court thus include five to eight million acres of mostly unpopulated forest land.

The Justice Department’s report notes that President Carter has announced his intention to appoint a special representative to assist the parties to reach an amicable settlement which could be ratified by the United States Congress.

The report states that if an amicable settlement is not reached by June 1, 1977, Justice intends to begin prosecuting the Indian claims. The first action proposed to be taken then by government attorneys would be to join major landholders in the claim area as defendants in the suit. These would be mostly large paper companies. The State of Maine is the only defendant in the suit at this time.

The Indian claims are based on an alleged violation of the Indian Non-Intercourse Act, first enacted in 1790. The Act states that Indian lands may not be conveyed without the consent of the Federal Government. Most of the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot lands were lost in treaties and other transactions with the States of Massachusetts and Maine between 1794 and 1833.

The Departmental decision to prosecute the Indian claims was based on a December, 1975 order of a federal court of appeals which ruled that there exists a "trust relationship" between the United States and the Tribes. It was determined that pursuit of the land claims was the only course consistent with that trust responsibility.

Alonzo T. Spang has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Wind River agency at Fort Washakie, Wyoming, Acting Commissioner Raymond V. Butler announced today.

Spang, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, has been the Resources Development Officer in the BIA's Billings, Montana area office. He replaces Clyde W. Hobbs who retired after 15 years as Superintendent of the Wind River Agency.

A graduate of Eastern Montana State University, with a Masters degree and a Doctorate in Education from Arizona State University, Spang was a teacher and educator before taking the position of Superintendent of the Northern Cheyenne agency in 1971. He had been Director of Indian Studies and an associate professor at the University of Montana, Provost and Dean of Students at the Navajo Community College and Executive Director of the Cook Christian Training school at Tempe, Arizona.

Spang's appointment at Wind River is effective February 27.

Vincent Little has been appointed Director of the Portland Area for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Acting Commissioner Raymond V. Butler announced today.

The area includes the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. There are eight agency offices in the area.

Little, a member of the Mohave Tribe, has been Superintendent of the Northern Idaho Agency at Lapwai, Idaho.

He began work with BIA as a teacher at the Phoenix Indian School in 1957. He was enrollment officer and tribal operations officer at the Western Washington Agency from 1963 to 1967. He then worked as Assistant Superintendent at the Northern Idaho Agency, was an Area Field Representative at the Hoopa Agency in California and, from 1970 to 1973, was the Education Program Administrator at Phoenix Indian School.

Little, 46, is a U. S. Army veteran. He graduated from Arizona State University in 1957 and received a Masters degree there in 1961. He completed Interior's Departmental Management Program in 1963.

Little was named Arizona Indian of the Year in 1971.

Proposed regulations to govern the preparation of a roll of Grand River Ottawa Indians are being published in the Federal Register, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond V. Butler announced today. The roll will be used for a per capita distribution of about one million dollars awarded by the Indian Claims Commission.

A question about the payment of these funds was put to President Carter during his telephone-question program March 5. It was asked by Mrs. John Ritchie of Georgetown, Ky., who identified herself as a member of the tribe.

The award represents additional compensation for more than one million acres of land in southeastern Michigan ceded by the Grand River Band of Ottawa Indians under the treaty of August 29, 1821.

According to the regulations, a 1908 roll of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in Michigan will establish an eligibility base. A person, or a lineal ancestor, must be listed on that roll. Other requirements include at least one-quarter degree of Grand River Ottawa Indian blood and United States citizenship.

Applications for enrollment will be handled through the BIA Michigan Agency at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Comments on these proposed regulations may be sent within 30 days to the Director Office of Indian Services, Tribal Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20245.

The appointment of Rebecca H. Dotson as Assistant Area Director for Education in the Navajo area was announced today by Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond V. Butler.

Ms. Dotson, an enrolled member of the Navajo tribe, comes to this position with a long record of administrative and educational experience. She has been Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' agency at Chinle, Arizona since August of 1975. She previously held positions in education programs administration, supervision, and classroom instruction. She has spent most of the last twenty-one years in the teaching profession.

The Navajo area schools which Ms. Dotson will now be supervising enroll more than 18,000 students in 58 area schools -- boarding schools and ten day schools. She will also be responsible for the administration of adult education programs, higher education assistance and the Johnson-O'Malley (JOM} funding for public school students.

A mother of five children, she received her undergraduate degree from Northern Arizona University, and her masters degree from Arizona State University. Ms. Dotson maintains affiliation with the American Association of University Women, The League of Women Voters, and numerous educational organizations. She also retains membership in Dine Bi Olta and the Navajo Division of Education of the Navajo Tribe.

Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs Raymond V. Butler announced today the appointment of Wayne H. Chattin, Jay T. Suagee, and Joe G. Weller to top positions in a newly created Division of Self-Determination Services within the Office of Indian Services in Washington, D.C.

The division will have responsibilities related to the implementation of Public Law 93-638, the Indian, Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

The new division's first chief will be Wayne H. Chattin, who returns to the BIA following his directorship of Native American Programs for the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. Chattin, a member of the Blackfeet tribe, graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1959. He has worked since then with the BIA. He worked in Montana, Arizona, and Colorado in jobs related to employment assistance, relocation and industrial and tourism development.

In 1970, Chattin received a certificate of special achievement from the BIA for his work, and in 1973, the Old west Trail Foundation named him "Outstanding Man of the Year."

Jay T. Suagee and Joe G. Weller will be program analysts in the new division.

Suagee' s appointment follows a diverse career which has included work as an Air Force intelligence specialist, Army systems analysis and data processing projects manager, and most recently, general manager, treasurer, and member of the Board of Directors of Wieser/Robodyne Corporation of Silver Spring, Maryland. Suagee received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Oklahoma, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He is a member of the Cherokee tribe.

Joe Weller’s promotion to this position follows a ten year affiliation with the Bureau. Formerly with the Yakima Indian Agency in Toppenish, Washington, Weller came to the Central Office in Washington, D.C. in 1975. While working at the Yakima Agency, he was awarded a special Achievement award for the Portland Area in 1975. Weller, a member of the Caddo tribe, attended both the University of New Mexico and North Texas State University.