Office of Public Affairs
Office of Public Affairs
The Department of the Interior said today it has asked Congress to enact legislation to increase by $3 million the authorization for a program of adult vocational training for Indians administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Several identical bills pending in Congress call for raising the annual operating funds from the present $12 million to a new high of $15 million.
The program, which began in 1958, is designed to help increase the employability of Indian men and women. It is open to those between 18 and 35 years old.
The Bureau has contracted with more than 100 public and private vocational education institutions throughout the Nation to provide training in a wide range of occupations for which skilled help is in demand. All expenses of trainees are met by the Bureau during the training period, including costs of moving and maintaining families of those trainees who are family heads. Jobs are found for those who complete training and aid is provided in establishing them in new communities.
Nearly 10,000 Indians have been placed in permanent technical and other skilled work since inception of the program. Over 2,000 now are in training. In addition to institutional education, the program also provides on-the-job training.
In a report to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, the Department said:
“The funds that have been available for this activity have not been sufficient to furnish vocational training to all of those Indians who are in need of and desire such training. At the present time, there is a backlog of nearly 5,000 applicants, both family heads and individuals.
"Needless to say, more and more of the younger Indian people are completing high school and will become available for these services in the near future. If the present trend continues with respect to requests for services under this program, a further backlog will develop."
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash has expressed concern that the backlog of applications may deter some Indians from persisting in efforts to increase their earning power through occupational training.
The Department of the Interior today announced four proposed amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations governing trading with Indians.
Under the proposed rule changes, licensed traders would no longer be required to furnish a penal bond to the United States of up to $10,000. Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs disclose that no effective use has been made of the ongoing procedure, particularly since traders who lease Indian lands are required by land leasing regulations to furnish performance bonds. Compliance with the laws and regulations will instead be assured by the rescinding of licenses for failure to comply, BIA officials said.
Another amendment would conform the licensing period of a trader to the period of his land lease. Non-Indians who lease Indian-owned lands hold land leases for periods of up to 25 years. Present regulations limit the issuance of licenses to trade to one-year periods. The administrative work involved in annual renewal procedures is believed by Bureau officials to divert staff members from other major responsibilities related to economic development of Indian lands.
An additional amendment provides for a $5 license fee, to help pay administrative costs.
Finally, the proposals would require the licensing of itinerant peddlers or purveyors of foodstuffs and other merchandise, since their trade has increased so that it is necessary to designate them as traders. Similar requirements have been in effect on the Navajo Reservation and several other Southwestern reservations since 1957.
A notice of intention to adopt the amended regulations is being published in the Federal Register. Suggested changes and comments should be forwarded to the Bureau of Indian Affairs within thirty days of the date of publication.
Indians, Aleuts and Eskimos who are qualified under the 1906 Alaska Native Allotment Act will find it easier and quicker to obtain land allotments up to 160 acres under liberalized regulations announced today by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.
He said the new regulations--which recognize that the Natives' mode of life, the Alaska climate and the character of the land are all different from conditions on the homestead States of the West--are in effect a return to the interpretation of the statute regarding use and occupancy of the land in effect prior to 1930.
Since 1906, when the Act was passed, only slightly more than 100 grants of title have been made. Until 1930, a qualified Native had no difficulty in obtaining an allotment if he had used the land as a fishing campsite, hunting or trapping cabin, or for caches, corrals or other seasonal but regular purposes. Hunting, fishing and berry-gathering were also considered as qualifying uses. It was not necessary that permanent improvements be placed on the land, or that it be cultivated.
In 1930, however, interpretation of the 1906 Act changed and the Department's Bureau of Land Management began judging applications for Native allotments on the basis of whether the applicant resided on or cultivated the land. Secretary Udall said that as a result, applications justified by occupation and use of the lands consistent with native life and character of the land and climate, have frequently been rejected because of lack of satisfactory evidence of occupancy as required in the contiguous public land States.
Under Secretary of the Interior John A. Carver, Jr., made an examination of the matter in Alaska and reported to Secretary Udall that more than 800 applications were in the process of being filed, and that a return to the more liberal interpretation was needed to protect the Natives' rights from the rapid encroachment of civilization and competition for the land and its resources.
The 1906 Act did not prescribe what use the Native applicant must make of the land, nor specify that use and occupancy could be shown only by improvements or cultivation, nor require the applicant to state the purpose for which he needs the land.
Secretary Udall said that State officials endorse the desirability of generosity toward the Natives, even though the State is also planning large-scale selection of lands under the Alaska Statehood Act.
The new regulations provide for allotments in regularly shaped lots, not necessarily contiguous, up to the maximum of 160 acres. Secretary Udall said BLM's record keeping will be simplified by avoiding the irregular boundaries of allotments whose size and shape was controlled by the former method of determining proper use and occupancy.
The 1906 Act permits the Secretary to approve allotments to any Indian, Aleut or Eskimo of full or mixed blood who resides in and is a native of Alaska, and who is the head of a family, or is 21 years of age.
The new regulations are effective upon publication in the Federal Register.
Award of a $491,000 contract for the construction of a dormitory and related facilities at the Wahpeton Indian School, Wahpeton, North Dakota, was announced today by the Department of the Interior. The successful bidder was Meide and Son, Inc., of Wahpeton. Eight higher bids ranging to $588,400 were received.
The 160-pupil dormitory for Indian youngsters through grade 2 is a continuation of an expansion and improvement program for the Wahpeton School begun in 1960 to meet the growing needs of the school population. A new classroom building was completed in 1962 and two dormitories in 1964. The current construction project will replace an existing dormitory which is no longer adequate. The improvement program is scheduled for completion within the next 5 years.
Wahpeton School enrolls almost 400 Indian children through grade 8 from the reservations of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Montana. Most of the children are orphans, while a few come from socially and economically deprived homes. During the summer months, approximately 150 of the children remain at the school for planned education and recreational activities.
The contract includes the installation of a two-stall garage facility, sidewalks, utility connections and other site improvements.
The Department of the Interior has recommended to Congress that legislation be enacted to distribute $2,500,000 in judgment funds to the Klamath Indians of Oregon.
The amount was settled upon by attorneys for the United States and for the Indians and represents redress for insufficient payment for lands ceded to the United States under Treaty in 1864. The case was adjudicated by the Indian Claims Commission last year and funds were appropriated by Congress in June 1964. The additional legislation is now needed to authorize final disposition.
Indians concerned are the Klamath and Modoc Tribes and the Yahooskin Band of the Snake Indians. Federal trust responsibility for their reservation--the Klamath Reservation in southern Oregon--was terminated by a 1954 Act of Congress. When the termination was proposed, the Klamaths were given an opportunity to remain as tribal members or to withdraw from tribal membership. Those who withdrew received sums of money as their share in tribal assets. Those who remained retain joint ownership in the balance of the assets. Both groups retained their interests in future claims awards.
As no further reservation programming is contemplated, distribution of the present judgment funds, and any future awards that result from pending claims, will be made on a per capita basis.
Those whose names appear on the final tribal roll published in 1957 (or their legal heirs) are eligible for per capita payments. There were 2,133 names on the roll, Distribution will be made equally to those who withdrew from tribal membership and those who did not.
In recommending the legislation the Department also proposed an amendment to provide for payment of necessary legal expenses and fees for prosecuting other Klamath claims still pending before the United States Claims Commission.
The Commission, which is independent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior, was established in 1946 as a special tribunal to consider Indian claims against the United States. Most of these claims are based on past land transactions between tribal groups and the Federal Government.
The Department of the Interior has submitted to Congress proposed legislation for disposition of nearly $5 million in judgment funds held in the United States Treasury for the Miami Indians of Oklahoma and Indiana. Three different awards are involved, resulting from decisions by the Indian Claims Commission.
Largest of the original judgments, netting $4,182,720 exclusive of attorneys' expenses, was appropriated by Congress in May 1963. Interest at the rate of 4 percent per year has meanwhile accrued. Funds will go to descendants of the Miami Tribe or Nation as it existed in 1818.
Today the former Nation consists of two separate and distinct groups: The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the Miami Indians of Indiana. The judgment was based on a claim by the Indians that they were inadequately compensated for lands ceded to the United States in Ohio and Indiana nearly 150 years ago. The Department's proposal would authorize a per-capita distribution of the judgment, after payment of all expenses, to those meeting eligibility requirements.
In two additional judgments, the Commission awarded a net of $308,572 to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and $56,356 to the Miami Indians of Indiana as settlement for lands in Kansas ceded to the Government in 1854. The money was appropriated by Congress in September 1961 and was deposited in the United States Treasury, at 4 percent interest, to the credit of these groups.
Legislation proposed by the Department provides that the governing body of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, subject to approval by the Secretary of the Interior, shall decide precisely how it will program the Tribe's judgment of approximately $308,000.
Since the Miami Tribe of Indiana, on the other hand, is not an organized body, the Department proposes a per-capita distribution of approximately $56,000 among Indian beneficiaries.
Should the Department's proposal become law, qualifications for appearing on the rolls to serve as a basis for distributions would be announced and published in the Federal Register.
The sound of drums and the chant of Indian song will introduce the American Indian Performing Arts Festival April 22-27 in the Department of the Interior Auditorium, 18th and “C” Streets, NW., in Washington, D. C.
The dance performance will be one feature of the first American Indian Festival and Exhibition to be held in Washington under the sponsorship of the Gallery of American Indian Art in the Department of the Interior. Opening concurrently and continuing for several weeks will be a showing of priceless Indian arts and crafts of all periods, on loan from several museums. The exhibition, to be displayed in the seventh-floor Gallery, will be open to the public without charge.
For the theater presentation, ninety American Indians will be brought together through the efforts of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a school operated by Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs. Representing Indian groups from Florida to Alaska, some of the dancers will be Institute students. Under the direction of Lloyd Kiva New and Rolland Meinholz, instructors at the Institute, the performance has been described by them as a “collage of dance and chant, symbolizing birth, life and death.”
The entire presentation, according to the directors, will typify the customs, beliefs and practices of the American Indian, especially in that period before his culture became overlaid with European influences. Through dance and chant, pantomime and poetry, the presentation will symbolize an Indian day of worshipping, working, playing, sorrowing and battling against the enemy.
The show will open with the presentation of a child to the rising sun, followed by ritual preparations for the day and the Hoop Dance and Eagle Dance. The second segment, representing high noon, will consist of legend-telling, games and social dances and here the Rabbit Dance and Fluff Dance of the Senecas, the Seminole Alligator Dance, the Haida Blanket Dance and the Pueblo Buffalo Dance will be performed. With the coming of night, the audience will be the onlookers at a Plains burial ceremony which will be complemented by the Mescalero-Apache Crown Dance and the Navajo Night Chant.
To complement the performing arts production, the Indian arts and crafts exhibition, the most ambitious and comprehensive yet undertaken by the Gallery, has been designed and coordinated by James McGrath of the Institute of American Indian Arts. Traditional--and in many instances ancient--items suggestive of dance, music, legend and myth have been gathered from museums in Denver, Colo.; Tacoma and Seattle, Wash.; Portland, Ore.; Los Angeles, Calif.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Santa Fe, N.· M.; Anadarko and Ponca City, Okla.; Chicago, Ill., and New York City. The Smithsonian Institution has also opened its showcases and unbolted its garret doors to McGrath in his search for the authentic and unusual.
The setting for the assembled pieces will in itself be a reflection of an Indian day, with piercing light and darkness, reflecting ceiling glass and opaque rugs and animal skins employed in startling counterpoint to create an aura of drama.
The dance performances are scheduled as follows: Evenings - April 22, 23, 26 and 27 at 8:30; and matinees - April 23, 24, and 26 at 2:30. Tickets for children are $1.00 and for adults $2.85 at all performances, and may be purchased through the American Automobile Association.
The Exhibition of arts and crafts will be open April 22 through May 28 and may be seen Mondays through Fridays between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., in the Interior Gallery, which is operated by Government Services, Inc. During the evening performances of the Performing Arts Festival, the Gallery will remain open until 8:00 p.m.
Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today petitioned the Federal Power Commission seeking to intervene on behalf of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation in Montana in their application for increased payments from the Montana Power Company for use of tribal lands at Kerr Dam.
The Secretary is trustee for lands owned by the Confederated Tribes. The Kerr license specifically provides that any change in terms of the license that may affect the Indians' interest shall be subject to his approval.
By intervening, the Secretary proposes to show that the annual charges for the occupancy and use of lands of the Confederated Tribes by the Kerr Project should be substantially increased to reflect the true commercial value of said lands for power development. Amount of the increase was not specified.
The annual charges were originally determined by the Federal Power Commission, with approval of the Secretary of the Interior, when the Kerr license first was issued in 1930. The dam began operating in 1939 with one generating unit. A second generating unit was completed in 1949. Under terms of the license, charges were subject to readjustment 20 years after operation began.
A third generating unit was built in 1954 and the Confederated Tribes then applied to the FPC to readjust the annual charges to reflect the increased power output. After lengthy proceedings before the FPC and in court, the Tribes were awarded an increase based on the third generating unit. The Tribe now is paid $238,375 annually by the power company.
The increases now being sought by the Confederated Tribes would reflect the growth in commercial value of the entire project since 1939.
Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall today appealed to the increasing millions of visitors to Interior-administered recreation areas throughout the United States to "arrive safely, play safely, and return home safely."
During the peak vacation period now beginning, areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Bureau of Reclamation will experience more than 173 million visitor-days of use, far greater than the 1964 total, the previous record year, Secretary Udall said. The 1964 figure was approximately 162 million.
Secretary Udall said that newly opened Federal recreation areas, the bargain-rate Federal Recreation/Conservation Sticker, and the "See the U.S.A." campaign will motivate more people to seek the out of doors for enjoyment.
"The hundreds of sites we administer for the public have been freed of as many hazards as possible," Secretary Udall commented. "Safeguards have been increased, but protective devices cannot be installed for all the millions of acres, both in land and water, that form the public-use areas. The public 1 s regard for its own safety will be equally effective in curbing accidents."
Secretary Udall said the intensified accident-prevention efforts in the Department are part of President Johnson's "Mission SAFETY -70," which calls for a 30 percent reduction in Federal work injuries by 1970. The program emphasizes not only increased safety among Government workers, but for all people who visit Federal parks, forests, buildings, and other sites.
The five Interior agencies administering public-use areas reported that .operative safety work with non-Federal groups has been exceptionally helpful handling a greater number of visitors. They range from cleanup campaigns to water-safety classes.
Following are summaries of the recreation opportunities, the anticipated 1965 use, and safety programs:
Fish and Wildlife Service
The Fish and Wildlife Service administers nearly 300 National Wildlife Refuges totaling about 28 million acres, including lakes and streams. These areas are managed primarily for various species of wildlife, but use by the public is welcome as long as the basic purposes of the refuges are not jeopardized. Picnicking, swimming, boating, fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, and wildlife observation are among the activities.
Visitor days this year are expected to total about 15 million in keeping with the steady eight percent increase per year in recent years.
Water safety and fire prevention are stressed. New-style wooden life preservers have replaced conventional preservers and loss to vandalism has dropped considerably. Public awareness is helping prevent damage to signs and other safety installations. Designated swimming areas now are roped-in during periods of peak use. Roads have been improved to curb vehicular accidents.
Bureau of Land Management
Although it has no method for making an accurate estimate of the number of visitors to public land areas, the Bureau of Land Management reports there has seen a "tremendous upsurge" in recreation use of the 464 million acres it administers in 11 Western States and Alaska. The Bureau now operates 112 recreation sites on the public lands in Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Alaska. Other public land areas available for recreation are in Washington, Arizona, Montana, and Colorado.
Picnicking, camping, hiking, water skiing, swimming, fishing, hunting, and even gold-panning are among the wide range of outdoor recreation activities found on the public lands.
Whenever possible, the Bureau of Land Management provides signs, guardrails, clean drinking water, comfort stations, boat-landing sites, and other facilities. BLM, however, must lean heavily on public cooperation in preventing accidents. This is because of the great expanse administered and the remoteness of many of the most appealing areas.
Many communities, recognizing the value of tourism, have helped the Bureau improve safety by removing broken glass and other hazardous materials left by visitors. In Las Vegas, Nevada, public-spirited citizens participated in a cleanup day at the Red Rocks Canyon site being developed by BLM.
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Of the approximately 50 million acres of Tribal and Allotted Land administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the following are available for recreational purposes: More than 8 million acres of land, 332,000 water-surface acres, 363 miles of streams, and 66 miles of lakeshore.
Reservations offer outstanding opportunities for fishing, hunting, hiking, picnicking, camping, and nature study. In 1964 the public spent more than 2,800,000 visitor days enjoying recreational sites. This year's total is expected to exceed 3,000,000. At many locations on land under Bureau of Indian Affairs jurisdiction, public recreation facilities have been developed by commercial enterprises. These include resorts, motels, swimming and picnic areas, and boating equipment.
Whenever possible, the Bureau will utilize the services of Job Corps members to increase the number of safety installations to protect the public, including warning signs, fencing, and guardrails.
Bureau of Reclamation
The Bureau of Reclamation administers more than 200 water-oriented recreation areas in the 17 Western States. These consist of 3.5 million acres of land and 1-1/3 million acres of water surface. Thousands of additional acres will be added this year when Yellowtail Reservoir in Montana-Wyoming and Clark Canyon Reservoir in Montana begin to fill.
Visitor-days' use of Reclamation recreation areas is expected to exceed 36 million this year, continuing a trend that has been a 50 percent increase since 1960.
For the ninth successive year, the Bureau is conducting "Operation Westwide,“ a safety program developed in cooperation with the American Red Cross. The program emphasizes water safety and accident prevention to reduce drownings in irrigation ditches, lakes, canals, and other installations built by the Bureau.
The Bureau reports that about $10 million annually is being invested by public agencies, concessionaires, camp operators, and others to build public-use facilities at Reclamation areas, such as access and interior roads, parking areas, beach equipment, camp and picnic grounds, comfort stations, drinking fountains, docks, and boat-launching ramps. In addition, fences and similar protective devices are being installed to supplement the large number already in place to protect the public.
Eight new or expanded recreation areas were opened at Reclamation projects during the past year.
National Park Service
The National Park Service administers more than 200 areas throughout the United States which are destined to handle a new high of 110 million visits this year compared with the 102 million total of 1964. In addition, visits to sites in the National Capital Parks area will total about 9 million.
Thus far, 1965 visits to Park areas are running about 7 percent ahead of 1964.
Including the nine new sites authorized by the 88th Congress, the Park Service now administers more than 26 million acres of Federal land for public use.
Many additional safety improvements have been made in efforts to protect visitors during the 1965 season. These include handrails along danger zones, abrasive coatings on slippery walking surfaces, more fire-prevention equipment, a larger number of warning and direction signs. The Service is appealing again to feminine visitors to avoid wearing high heels while walking in rugged areas.
Water safety has been improved by providing rescue boats and maintaining air patrols at key locations. The popular Lake Mead Recreation Area, which had more than three million visits last year, will have 12 trained lifeguards at supervised swimming beaches. Wherever possible, latest weather information will be posted at boat-launching areas. To help keep water-based accidents to a minimum, the Park Service distributes safety leaflets, regularly inspects boating equipment of concessionaires, and maintains safety patrols at such special events as ski races, raft races, and regattas.
The U. S. Department of the Interior today announced the appointment of Doyce L. Waldrip to the post of Superintendent of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon. He will replace Allan W. Galbraith who transfers to the Portland Area Office to become Assistant Area Director for economic development.
Since January 1960, Waldrip has served at the Seminole Agency in Hollywood, Florida, first as administrative officer and, since 1963, as superintendent. In fifteen years of service with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he has also been stationed at the Turtle Mountain Agency in North Dakota, and the Cheyenne River Agency in South Dakota.
During World War II, Waldrip served for three years in the Army Air Corps. A native of Hollis, Oklahoma, he attended New Mexico A &M State College and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1950 from West Texas State College.
Galbraith, in his new post in Portland, will participate in local administration of the programs of BIA’s Division of Economic Development. His responsibilities will involve land operations, real estate appraisal, forestry, credit and financing, real property management, housing development, road construction and maintenance and industrial development.
A native of Washington State and a World War II veteran, Galbraith had served as superintendent at the Warm Springs Agency since 1957. Previously, he held similar posts at the Klamath Agency in Oregon and the Jicarilla Agency in New Mexico. He is a member of the Society of American Foresters, and has served as secretary and treasurer of the American Society of Range Management, Northwest Section.
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