OPA

Will Rogers, Jr. will join the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a consu1tanton-call, Commissioner Robert L. Bennett announced today.

The actor, who is part Cherokee Indian and a native of Oklahoma, now resides in Beverly Hills, Calif., and calls Tubac, Ariz. his second home. He served one term in the U. S. House of Representatives from the Beverly Hills district in 1942-44.

Rogers will serve as a general adviser in community relations and similar fields. In making the announcement, Commissioner Bennett said, "We are pleased that Mr. Rogers has agreed to lend help whenever we feel his talents can be used. I hope that in the near future we may also bring other prominent Americans into consulting roles."

Rogers will receive no compensation for his services to the Bureau other than costs of transportation and a per diem allowance of $16 when on official duty.

NEW SUPERINTENDENT AT MESCALERO APACHE RESERVATION--Paul H. Clements, assistant superintendent at the Pima Agency in Arizona since 1964, has been named superintendent of the Mescalero Apache Agency in New Mexico. He fills a post vacated by the transfer last May of Kenneth L. Payton to head the United Pueblos Agency. The new assignment became effective June 26. Clements, a native of Port Townsend, Wash., has since 1948 held various BIA administrative posts -- at the Yakima Agency in Washington; the Umatilla Agency in Oregon; and the Flathead Agency in Montana. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry from the University of Washington, at Seattle.

INDIAN WOMAN TO COORDINATE SAFETY EFFORTS--At least one Bureau of Indian Affairs program will receive an infusion of glamour through the recent assignment of Mrs. Fern Thompson Fisher as the first full-time BIA coordinator for tribal and Federal safety programs.

A granddaughter of James Arkeketa, last hereditary chieftain of the Otoe-Missouria tribe, Mrs. Fisher completed a term recently as Secretary to the tribe.

In her new role as accident-prevention coordinator, Mrs. Fisher will work directly with officials of Indian tribes to combat the mounting rate of Indian accidents on the highways, in the homes, in school. These are the leading causes of deaths among Indians and Alaska Natives, according to the Public Health Service's Division of Indian Health. The Indian death rate of 155 deaths per 100,000 population (from all causes) is three times the national rate.

The new safety coordinator is currently studying safety education at American University, Washington, D.C. under a National Education Association scholarship, the first such scholarship awarded to a Department of Interior employee.

INDIAN HOUSING - Since the early 1960's the Public Housing Administration and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have coordinated efforts to improve housing conditions on Indian reservations.

To date, more than 80 housing authorities have been established on the reservations for the purpose of applying for public housing. Some recent developments include:

A 54-unit low-rent housing project, recently completed on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico, was dedicated on May 14.

Water and sewer lines have been completed for 20 mutual self-help housing units on Utah's Uintah and Ouray Reservation. The mutual housing programs permits Indian owners to gain equity in the new home through labor instead of cash. The Uintah and Ouray Indians have applied for 70 additional housing units under the plan.

On the Salt River Reservation in Arizona, 15 homes have been completed under the mutual help plan and an additional 15 are under construction.

On Arizona's Colorado River Reservation, 10 new mutual help homes were dedicated June 5.

Ground has been broken on the Yakima Reservation in Washington for a 30-unit, low-rent housing complex.

A target date of mid-August was established for completion of a 375-unit, low cost, prefabricated housing project on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. The homes will be manufactured in a plant on the reservation, with tribal members employed in manufacturing processes.

FURNITURE PLANT FOR YAKIMAS - The Yakima Tribe of Washington, a California furniture manufacturing company and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have announced plans to establish a manufacturing plant on the Yakima Indian Reservation.

The Tribe will provide an industrial site and construct a 100,000 square foot factory building, to cost an estimated $790,000. The Economic Development Administration will provide a loan for financing machinery and equipment and will guarantee a second loan for working capital, to be obtained from a private financing institution.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs plans to negotiate an on-the-job training contract with the firm, White Swan Industries, Inc. About 175 Yakima Indians will be trained for employment in the new plant, which is expected to be in operation this fall.

INDIAN CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES – Kickapoos - An order issued by the Indian Claims Commission April 21, 1966, in Docket No. 145 awarded $11,511 to the Kickapoo Nation. The award represented recovery on an accounting claim.

Puyallup - In Docket No. 203, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians seeks payment for land in Washington ceded under the Medicine Creek Treaty of December 26, 1854, ratified March 3, 1855. The Commission issued an order April 25, 1966 which held that the Tribe had title to an area of land smaller than that claimed and that the United States extinguished Indian title to this land on March 3, 1855. The case now proceeds for determination of the acreage involved, its value and remaining issues.

Yankton Sioux - The United States Court of Claims, in a May 13, 1966 decision reversed the Indian Claims Commission in Docket No. 332-A, a petition of the Yankton Sioux Tribe or Band of Indians. The Indians originally claimed an interest in a 25 million acre tract in southern Minnesota, northern Iowa, and eastern South Dakota, ceded by four bands of Mississippi Sioux under treaties of July 23, 1851, and August 5, 1851; however, this claim was dismissed by mutual agreement. They also claimed a portion of a tract in western Missouri, western Iowa and southern Minnesota, ceded under treaties of July 15, 1830, and October 21, 1837. Dismissed by the Indian Claims Commission on January 12, 1962, this second claim now must be reconsidered by the Commission under the Court's recent ruling.

Southern Ute - The Indian Claims Commission issued a May 6 order in Docket No. 328 holding that the Southern Ute Tribe is entitled to compensation for more than 230,547 acres of land on their Colorado Reservation which was disposed of by the United States without tribal consent. The case now proceeds for determination of the dates of land taking and land values at the time.

SEMINAR FOR INDIAN LEADERS -The first in a planned annual series of two-week workshops and training sessions for Indian leaders and tribal representatives was scheduled for the last week of July and first week of August on the campus of Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho.

The workshops were to be jointly sponsored by the Idaho State University, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Arrow, Inc., a private organization dedicated to Indian interests.

Sponsors provide tuition, and room and board to participants designated by their tribal organizations to attend the annual meetings. Transportation expenses are paid by the tribe whenever possible.

Problems common to tribal councils and Indian community leaders were scheduled for consideration at the seminar. At least one session this year will be devoted to problems involved in labelling and certifying Indian-made products.

Those who complete the first workshop meeting receive charter membership certificates in the Association for Progress in Indian Management, established by the sponsors to stimulate Indian leadership training.

STANDING ROCK ACQUIRES LAND - A 2,607 acre tract adjacent to lands of the Standing Rock Reservation in the Dakotas was recently purchased for $130,375 in tribal funds by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The purchase is part of tribal and Bureau efforts to consolidate Indian holdings on the reservation. The area is one in which Indian lands are heavily checker-boarded with lands owned by non-Indians.

ALLIS-CHALMERS ON GILA RIVER - The Gila River Indian community and Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company recently signed a 15-year lease involving 4,860 acres of Indian land for testing and demonstrating heavy machinery. Under the terms of the lease, the Indians will construct a $75,000 industrial plant which will be amortized in 10 years. Allis-Chalmers will rent the building, and pay an annual ground rent of $5,000. The company will develop, according to a phased plan, test sites, water reservoirs, roadways, flow direction and land balancing projects within the leased area. When equipment and time is available the company will also develop water courses, carry on land leveling, clearing, road grading and ditch cleaning projects outside the lease area for the benefit of the tribe.

Equipment operators, mechanics and technicians will be hired and trained locally whenever possible, thus providing an additional employment source for tribal members

BUREAU BOARDING SCHOOL SERVES DEMONSTRATION PROJECT - A contract signed June 28 at Window Rock, Ariz. by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Dine, Inc., gave the corporation control of a new $3.5 million Bureau elementary school on the Navajo Indian Reservation. The school, known as Rough Rock and located 35 miles northwest of Chinle, Ariz., will be operated as a demonstration center to explore new educational concepts and instructional methods.

Dine - from the Navajo word for "people" - comprises a group of Navajo leaders, including Allen Yazzie, Chairman of the Tribal Education Committee; Ned Hatathli, Director of Resources for the Navajo Tribe, and Guy Gorman, a tribal councilman.

To open in September, Rough Rock School will enroll 210 boarding students and 60 day students in beginning classes through sixth grade and will employ several specialists in remedial reading and speech correction, as well as general classroom teachers.

The demonstration will be funded by a grant provided through the Office of Economic Opportunity. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will continue to provide basic operating funds for the school plant.

BIA CONTRACTS FOR ON-THE-JOB TRAINING - A number of companies have recently renewed contracts with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to provide on-the-job training for Indian employees. Included are:

Ashland Precision Products Corp., of Ashland, Wis., $14,615 to train 21 Chippewas in parts manufacturing for miniaturized subassemblies.

Burnell &Company, Inc., of Pelham Manor, N. Y., $140,250 to train 195 residents of Laguna Pueblo, N. M. in electronics industry vocations.

• Caldak Electronics Corp., Pierre, S. D., $11,700 to train 23 Indians in electronic components assembly.
• Jicarilla Lumber Co., Dulce, N. M., $24,250 to train 29 Apache Indians in the forest products industry.
• Saddlecraft, Inc., Cherokee, N. C., $5,275 to train 15 Cherokees in leather manufacturing.
• U.S. Automatics Corp. of Pewaukee, Wis., $21,200 to train 47 Indians in the manufacture of electronic components and devices.
• The Vassar Corp. of New York, N. Y., $94,075 to train 158 Cherokees in manufacture of hair accessories.
• Winston Container Corp., Louisville, Miss., $16,675 to train 28 Choctaws in manufacturing paper boxes and containers.

A new $36,256 contract with Philco Corporation has also been negotiated to train 16 Indians of various tribes in the company's Palo Alto, Calif., plant. The trainees will acquire vocational skills needed for employment as electronic technicians.

Opportunities for developers and investors to grow along with America's rapidly expanding recreational industry are being offered by the Cochiti Indian Tribe of New Mexico, which has concession rights on what will be the biggest lake in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe area.

When the Cochiti Dam is completed across the Rio Grande, 50 miles north of Albuquerque, in 1970, it will create a 2,300 acre-lake in the midst of some of the Southwest's most scenic and historic country.

The Cochiti Pueblo is offering 1,850 acres of shore land for commercial recreational development under long term leases on Cochiti Lake. The Pueblo will also consider residential or other development proposals on adjacent lands.

Cochiti Lake will be set among the mesas, arroyos, and canyons of the New Mexico high country. It will be surrounded by mountains in an area with a near perfect climate for outdoor living.

Access to the area is provided by the Pan-American Central Highway (Interstate 25). Economic projections indicate that Cochiti Lake will have 850,000 seasonal visits in 1970 with the figure rising to two million by the year 2000.

In addition to its main attractions of boating, camping, fishing and swimming, the lake will be close to the Bandelier National Monument, the atomic city of Los Alamos, Valle Grande -- the Nation's largest extinct volcano--and the Spanish charm and festivity of Santa Fe.

A basic plan for the development of the area has been prepared and endorsed by the Cochiti Pueblo, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Army Corps of Engineers. This plan contains the basic terms and conditions for commercial and public use development and is available from the Superintendent, United Pueblos Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, P. O. Box 1667, Albuquerque, N. Mex. 87103.

Solon G. Ayers, a career educator and employment assistance officer with the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, has been named Superintendent of the Albuquerque Indian School in New Mexico, the Bureau announced today.

Ayers has been on detail to the Albuquerque office of the Bureau since June, working with Bureau architects in planning a new structure to replace the century-old Indian boarding high school there.

The new institution will offer postsecondary vocational-technical programs as well as a full range of high school courses. Congress recently approved $700,000 in planning funds for the school.

Ayers also has been working with Bureau education officials and with State and local school authorities in shaping curricula for the new institution, which would not be restricted to Indian enrollment.

Ayers' career with the Bureau started in 1940 as principal of Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kans., one of the largest and oldest Federal schools for Indians. In 1962 he became director of Federal education services for the Bureau's Portland, Ore., Area, which embraces Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. In 1963 he became Chief of Employment Assistance in the Bureau's Denver office, where Indians seeking to relocate are aided in acquiring skills and jobs. Before his Bureau service, he held teaching and supervisory positions in public schools and colleges in Texas.

A native of St. John, Kans., Ayers holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Education from the University of Texas.

Award of an $894,186 construction contract at historic Fort Sill Indian School, Lawton, Okla., was announced today by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Successful bidder was the V and N Construction Co., Lubbock, Tex. A total of nine bids was received, the highest $1.5 million.

The contract covers two 128-pupi1 dormitories; a service building; and seven 3-bedroom houses and three 2-bedroom houses for school faculty members. The project will include site grading; connections for all utilities; walks, driveways, play areas and related work. The contractor also will demolish an old dormitory.

Fort Sill School, established in 1892 on the site of an earlier Quaker Indian school, is operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a coeducational boarding high school. Students come from several parts of the country. During the 1965-1966 school year 36 tribes were represented in the student body of 270.

For those who equate reservations 'with tar-paper shacks and abject poverty, the first sight of the Seneca Indian Nation's Allegany Reservation in southwestern New York State is an impressive surprise. The story behind these new homes and the hopes that go with them is equally impressive.

It is a story of men who turned adversity into triumph. Most of these men are Senecas led by their forceful and articulate President, Martin Seneca. But one, a prime mover, is a Choctaw from Oklahoma -- Sidney Carney.

Carney is in the employ of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The story of Carney and the Senecas could be said to have its beginnings in 1794.

The Seneca Nation was among the Six Nations who signed a treaty with the young United States in 1794 which guaranteed them the right to certain areas of New York. Some of the lands were later sold by the Indians. The remaining Seneca holdings comprise two reservations -- the Allegany and the Cattaraugus. The Allegany stretches in a narrow band for 40 miles along the Allegheny River. A strip of 10,000 riverfront acres was designated several years ago by the Army Corps of Engineers for a reservoir site as part of the Ohio River Basin development. The water will be backed up by the Kinzua Dam, 20 miles downstream.

When the Corps of Engineers' announced its plans to dispossess 133 Seneca families, a total of 830 people, a nationwide protest ensued as the Senecas fought a losing battle through the courts to retain their land.

The Government and the Seneca Nation eventually came to an agreement whereby the Senecas would receive approximately $3 million for the seized lands and another $12 million for a program of rehabilitation for the distressed community.

The money was appropriated by Congress in 19164. Today, two years later, the transformation of the area is evident to the most casual visitor. Where a scattering of shanties and shacks had dotted the verdant countryside, there is now a vast reservoir to hoard the river waters. And on the highlands above are ramblers and ranch houses where 133 dispossessed families have started life anew.

Sid Carney proved to be a powerful catalyst in the rehabilitation of the Senecas, as the tribe set about developing comprehensive plans, including guidelines for investment, education and industrial development.

Carney brought a stream of consultants to the reservation to measure its potential for industrial and tourist development. Meanwhile, the Community Facilities Administration, the Public Housing Administration, the Area Redevelopment Administration, the Accelerated Public Works Program, the Manpower Development and Training Program, the National Park Service, and the Forest Service were also rung in on the planning.

The Quakers, friends of the Senecas since before the Treaty of 1794, sent a representative to give further assistance to the Tribe.

The first challenge was the relocation of the 133 families. Two new town sites -- Cold Spring and Jimerson town (named for a prominent Seneca family) were selected. Both are at the northern end of the reservation.

In these towns, modern homes, -- both ranch style and split level -- have been constructed on lots ranging from one to three acres, some of them beautifully wooded. The homes have all utilities and many luxuries -- wood paneling, fireplaces, extra bathrooms. The tribe figures their average worth at $12,000, excluding land, in an extremely conservative estimation. It is easy to see that most families intend to stay put. Shrubs have been planted and the struggle to grow grass on the rocky soil has begun. From outside, the scene is typical of suburbia anywhere.

From the inside there is a difference. The decor of these homes is strongly Indian. Pictures, paintings, pottery, baskets and countless other artifacts are in evidence as a reminder of the heritage these people share.

While many husbands work in a nearby Salamanca, N.Y., furniture factory, or for the Erie Railroad, most wives still cling to tradition at home. Weaving and basket making are part of the tradition.

Although most Senecas are Christian and few still fluent in Iroquois, the traditional "Longhouse," site of ancient religious ceremonies and traditional dances, was rebuilt on higher ground. Several Christian churches of very modern design are under construction in the new villages.

Even the dead share a new environment. From individual family plots scattered over the reservation 3,800 graves were relocated in two cemeteries in beautiful settings on the hillsides above the two new communities.

Although the relocation has been painful, the Senecas are not dwelling in the past. They fully expect to provide, on their own terms, all the benefits of modern society for the members of the tribe.

Tribal rolls contain 4,132 names. Roughly one-third lives on each of the reservations, with one-third living off the reservation. The Cattaraugus Reservation is the larger of the two and is made up largely of level lands equally suitable for agriculture or industrial sites. It is there that the second phase of the Seneca's improvement program can be seen.

The walls are already rising for a $400,000 manufacturing plant, the first building on what will be a 66-acie industrial park. The factory is owned by the First Seneca Corp., an organization principally financed by the tribe. The plant will be run under contract by the U.S. Pillow Corp. and will employ more than 100 Indians.

The industrial park is but one project that the Tribal Council and Carney have devised.

On the banks high above what soon will be a reservoir 29 miles long, the tribe plans to construct "Seneca Overlook," a motel - pool - golf course facility for travelers on New York State's Southern Tier Throughway, now under construction across the southern part of the reservation.

On the waterfront, downstream, will be built "State-Line Run," a complete water-based recreation and camping facility, set in beautiful wooded hills and mountains within a day's drive for millions of recreation seeking Americans.

The Council wants a feasibility study on its plans to build "Iroquoia." This would be a $9 million re-creation of several Indian villages as they were at the height of the Six Nations' power. The purpose, aside from financial gain, is to portray the role the Indians played in the development of America.

Indicative of the progress already made by the tribe are the two modern community buildings, one on each reservation) from which the Council directs operations and plans for the future. They are ultra-modern in design and furnishing -- down to touch-tone telephones-- and in addition to offices contain libraries, kitchens, gymnasiums, and craft rooms.

The lettering on the office doors includes SNEF (Seneca Nation Educational Foundation), SNHE (Seneca Nation Housing Enterprises), and SNICC (Seneca Nation of Indians Cemetery Commission).

Of these, the first holds the key to the success of the Seneca story, and as a result has received $1.8 million of the award money. The tribal Educational Foundation will assist Senecas of all ages to obtain the education necessary to compete in modern America. It is already providing transportation to remedial reading classes in nearby public schools; it has received numerous applications for its college assistance program; it has joined with the Ford Foundation and the local school district for a thorough study of Indian educational problems; and it is supporting a management training program to ready Indians for supervisory positions in the new pillow factory.

In addition, the Foundation has been providing financial assistance to 53 students enrolled at schools ranging from colleges, through business schools to vocational schools. It has hired two part-time guidance counselors who meet with Senecas of all ages who have questions about improving their education. Last summer it sponsored a Neighborhood Youth Corps program which employed 95 young people, between 16 and 21, with support from the Office of Economic Opportunity.

The President of the Foundation is an attractive and knowledgeable Seneca widow, Mrs. Maribel Printup, who, as Carney‘s secretary, is the only other Bureau of Indian Affairs employee on the reservation.

The Senecas know that if they are to sustain this growth and improvement, they must have a continuing reserve of trained and educated people who can provide the leadership and the skills to operate these new enterprises. In 20 years, they believe, the Educational Foundation can provide the tribe with its own Sid Carney to maintain the progress that he helped begin.

What is it like to be an Indian or Eskimo child? It is part ceremonials and dances and colorful costumes of an era gone by, and it is part school days and rule days, too. It is sometimes life on a ranch, sometimes adventure in the big city, sometimes the life of a fisherman's family, says the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Because nearly all youngsters love stories about American Indians, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs has just published a special picture book, "Indian and Eskimo Children."

Designed for readers in the lower elementary grades, the booklet has 50 pages of appealing photographs with simple text in large, easy-to-read type. From the child whose home is a "wickiup" to the youngster living in ranch-style suburbia, the booklet presents a series of unusual camera close-ups of the way of life that is the American Indian's today.

"Indian and Eskimo Children" can be ordered from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402. The price is 35¢ per single copy, with 25 percent discounts on orders of 100 or more when shipped to a single address.

Indian and Eskimo Children book may be viewed online at the Hathi Trust Digital Library website.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced the signing of a contract today between the Western Superior Corporation, a subsidiary of the BVD Co., Inc. and the Hopi Tribal Council for the establishment of a new $1.5 million garment manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Winslow, Ariz. The nationally known organization will be located on a 200-acre area site donated to the Hopi Indian tribe by the town of Winslow.

The factory will be built by the Hopis to BVD specifications and leased back to its subsidiary. It will take in two acres under roof, with 107-thousand square feet of working area. The Santa Fe Railroad and Highway 66 parallel the tract.

It is anticipated that as many as 800 Indians will eventually be employed by the firm in the main plant and other smaller plants on the reservation which will feed into the operation at Winslow. The organization will be highly diversified in its operation, including cutting and sewing, knitting, dying and bleaching, and packaging, warehousing and shipping of a variety of soft goods items. The enterprise is part of the company's western expansion plans.

The signing brings to culmination almost two years of a series of negotiations between representatives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs who made the initial contact with BVD, the corporation, and the town of Winslow, and the two Indian tribes of the area -- the Hopis and the Navajos. The Winslow site was originally offered to the Navajos, but the Tribal Council turned it down.

Although never looked upon, traditionally, as a commercial minded people, it was the Hopis who stepped in with their own proposal to finance the venture with funds from their oil lease bonus. It is the largest single investment to date made by an Indian tribe with an outside firm.

"At a time when the Bureau of Indian Affairs has brought together some of the country's leading industrialists to acquaint them with the possibilities and rewards of building on or near Indian reservations, the tribes should take every possible step to encourage enterprises that will provide employment for their people," Secretary Udall said. "This is part of what we mean when we talk about handing over the reins of freedom to the Indian people."

He continued: "The Hopis seemed to understand immediately that more than a plant was needed; that housing and other community services that Winslow could 0ffer were equally important to an operation of this size. It is gratifying to witness their quick response to this tremendous opportunity.”

The Secretary also praised the Hopi Council for its generosity in making it a condition of their contract that Navajos as well as Hopis were to get hiring preference. Sixty Navajo girls who have already been trained in a pilot project by BVD at Winslow will probably be the first employees when the new plant is built.

“This is the kind of forward thinking among Indians that we want to encourage in future negotiations for the tribes,” Secretary Udall said. “The Hopis have told me that they see the new plant as a foretaste of the future. Now their children will find employment near the reservation and will not need to move far from the area to take advantage of the education that thousands of them are getting through BIA education programs. The BVD Corporation anticipates a full training program to install Indians on the supervisory and management levels, the entire operation eventually to be all-Indians.

“Among those present at the signing in ,the Secretary's office of the Department of the Interior was Harry Isaacs, Senior Vice President of BVD; the Hopi's tribal attorney, John S. Boyden; members of the Hopi Tribal Council; Dewey Healing, chairman, Homer Cooyama, Robert Sakiestewa and Clifford Honahni; Mayor J. Lester Allen of Winslow and Harold Elmer, director of the town's Industrial Development Commission; as well as Deputy Commission Theodore W. Taylor and other Bureau of Indian Affairs officials.

A new company that began operating only a few months ago on the Crow Indian Reservation near Hardin, Mont., plans doubling its working force in a few months to capitalize on the exceptional skill of Indian employees, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs reports.

Occupying a $68,000 Indian-owned plant building and aided by a $232,000 loan from the Crow Tribe, the firm makes battery chargers for cordless electric toothbrushes and an electronic device for disinfectant units. A third product -- a battery charger for cordless electric knives will be manufactured later this month. By year's end, Indian employees are expected to reach 80, all trained under a contract between the company and the Bureau.

The plant has only one non-Indian employee, the manager. He says that tardiness and absenteeism are lower than in any manufacturing plant with which he had been associated. Under his direction, several Indians are being readied for supervisory positions over jobs that are rated as electrical assembler, mechanical assembler, inspector, and tester.

Varying degrees of skill are required. One item in production involves 19 separate hand operations, assignments in which the patient and careful Crows are particularly adept.

The new industry, U.S. Automatics, Inc., came into being last November through a $300,000 investment by the Crow Tribe. This was approved by the tribal Industrial Development Commission and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The new building occupied by the industry is leased to the company.

At the outset, some Crows were skeptical of the industrial undertaking in view of heavy tribal investment in developing the Big Horn Recreation Area for tourism. This area, near the scene of Custer's Last Stand, is noted for the annual outdoor drama staged by the Crows in reenacting the famous battle against the 7th Cavalry.

On the drawing boards at the Crow Reservation are plans for an industrial park where the new plant building is located. The Economic Development Administration has approved a tribal request for a $241,000 grant for this purpose. The Crows will contribute an additional $60,000 to develop a 40-acre tract with all necessary accommodations, from natural gas to loading and unloading ramps. Construction may start next month.

NEW INDUSTRY FOR NORTHERN CHEYENNE -- It may be mid-summer, but it looks like Christmas on Montana's Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

Fourteen tribal members are working to fill a large order for Christmas trees which are fashioned from pine cones and are scheduled for delivery to a San Francisco candy company.

Northern Cheyenne Originals, Inc., a new industry at Lame Deer, Mont., produces the trees in heights from 1 to 5 feet from Ponderosa pine cones gathered on the reservation. A variety of other items, including Christmas wreaths, corsages, costume jewelry and table decorations, is made from local jackpine, lodgepole pine, and spruce cones.

The young company is the joint venture of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and Jack Rouse, a Montana businessman. Negotiations were conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which plans to contract with the company for an on-the-job training program for Indian workers.

Says Rouse: "The Northern Cheyenne Tribe has created a favorable climate in which small industries can thrive, and there is a good labor pool on the reservation."

NATIVE ALASKANS TRAINED AS HEAD START TEACHERS -- Fifty Alaska Natives, none of whom had previous teaching experience, recently completed an 8-week training program at the University of Alaska to become Head Start teachers in their villages this fall.

Last year the number of teachers trained for Head Start in Alaska proved insufficient to meet demands of village councils seeking to establish local programs. Head Start is a program for underprivileged preschoolers conducted under the Economic Opportunity Act.

The special group of 50 was selected for training through elections in the villages. Although educational backgrounds range from fourth grade level to some college experience, all were selected by their neighbors as suitable persons to work with young children. The intensive training course just completed included instruction in arts and crafts, nutrition and other subjects needed by Head Start teachers.

Periodic follow-up visits will be made to every village by teaching supervisors to assist the teacher-trainees in acquiring competence on the job.

INDIAN CENTER AT GONZAGA UNIVERSITY -- A Pacific Northwest Indian Center is being established on the campus of Gonzaga University, Spokane, Wash. An independent corporation, it seeks to promote Indian studies and develop Indian leadership throughout the country.

Plans call for construction of a five-story museum and research building with permanent exhibits of objects related to Indian culture. The authenticity of the museum collection will be the responsibility of a board of Indian technical advisors. Clothing, food products, medicines, weapons, horse trappings, and other articles of daily life will be featured in the exhibit.

WORK PROJECT ON FORT APACHE -- A recent $99,000 authorization from the Office of Economic Opportunity is helping the Fort Apache Tribe in Arizona provide jobs for 60 chronically unemployed tribal members by putting them to work on projects to beautify reservation playgrounds, campground areas, cemeteries, and villages.

NAVAJO ARTS AND CRAFTS -- The Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild, established in 1941 to promote the sale of quality work by Navajo craftsmen, has increased the number of its Arizona sales outlets to six. In addition to the main store at Window Rock and branches at Cameron and Betatakin Ruin National Monument, there are three new shops at Chinle, Teec Nos Pos and Kayenta.

The Guild's expansion program effectively increases the opportunities for visitors to various sections of the huge reservation to purchase Navajo silver work and rugs and to view Indian craftsmen at work.

COCHITI DAY SCHOOL NOW PUBLIC -- Cochiti Day School at Pena Blanca, N.M., will be transferred from Federal to local control with the opening of the; school term in September. This is a further step by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to facilitate public school education for Indians. The school had served about 40 Pueblo grade-schoolers when it was federally controlled.

INDIAN ON-THE-JOB TRAINING CONTRACTS -- The Bureau of Indian Affairs in recent months has renewed contracts with several companies to continue on-the-job training for Indian employees. These are:

Black River Dairy Products, Inc. Eau Claire, Wis., to train 17 Chippewas in quick frozen food manufacturing processes: $4,975.

Systems Engineering Electronics, Inc., Wewoka, Okla., to train 58 area Indians in plastic sub-assembly work, electronic printed circuit board fabrication and assembly and electrical harness fabrication: $51,650.

Canoncito, Trading Post, Inc., Canoncito, N.M., to continue training 20 Navajo silversmiths: $21,550.

Durant Electronics, Inc., Durant, Okla., to continue training 53 area Indians in plastic industry processes: $10,200.

Habitant Shops, Inc., Bay City, Mich., to provide continued training for 49 area Indians in processing cedar logs into fencing: $10,425.

Mt. Taylor Millwork, Inc., Grants, N.M., to continue training 30 Indians in a multi-machine operation for manufacturing molding from pine: $16,960.

BUREAU CONTRACTS FOR BAY AREA INDIAN PROGRAM -- A $15,400 contract with the United Bay Area Council of American Indians Affairs, Inc., Oakland, Calif. has been negotiated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Council will provide recreational programs facilities for Indian youths residing in the San Francisco Bay area.

In recent years the Bureau's Employment Assistance Program has attracted many Indian families to the Oakland area, where breadwinners receive necessary paid training for jobs in various industries. Under Employment Assistance, the Bureau aids family members in adjusting to urban life and settling into new surroundings. The Council's youth program will serve children from these recently relocated families.

INDIAN HOUSING--Some recent developments in Indian housing include:

• Ground breaking for the first of 50 units of low rent public housing for some 200 Chippewa Indians on the Leech Lake Reservation in Minnesota. This is the first of several projects to add hundreds of units of new public housing for Minnesota Indians.
• The Saginaw Chippewa Housing Authority, Mt. Pleasant, Mich., is developing plans for constructing 20 units of low-rent housing approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Twelve units are intended for family occupancy and 8 for elderly Indians.
• The Bay Mills Housing Authority of Michigan's Bay Mills Indian Community has been granted 10 units of mutual help housing. This program, created for Indians, permits would-be home owners to gain equity in their dwellings through contributions of land and labor, rather than cash.
• Nevada's Walker River Reservation will begin building 20 mutual help homes with a $199,224 loan from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Indian residents can have rental payments to the Tribal Housing Authority applied toward eventual purchase.