OPA

The Department of the Interior acted today to exempt certain lands owned by the Agua Caliente Indians of California from the effects of a new zoning ordinance adopted by the Palm Springs, California city council.

The Indians, whose reservation lands include considerable Palm Springs real estate now leased or contracted to others, had objected to certain points in the ordinance before it was adopted on June 10. They contended that the measure was too restrictive for future development of their property.

Interior's action in the case came in the form of a notice scheduled for publication in the Federal Register this week. It specifically exempts the Indian-owned lands from the application of three zoning categories in the new city ordinance--categories R-4, R-4-VP and C-1AA.

The Department's authority to exempt Indian lands from local and State ordinances was clarified in a notice published in the Federal Register on June 9, amending a regulation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (25 CFR 1.4). Exemption from local laws is permitted under this clarifying order if the Department determines that such laws are discriminatory or unreasonably detrimental to Indian interests.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash today announced the award of a $721,670 contract for further construction on the east-west road now being cut through the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona.

The construction will open up to tourist traffic the 1.5 mile stretch of the old Geronimo Trail which leads through rock-bound Barlow Pass into the pine flats. The flats are the site of the Tribe's projected Point of Pines recreational development.

Geronimo Trail, alternately known as Route 8, also provides the only transportation access for the Tribe's timber and cattle enterprises.

Successful low bidder for the construction through Barlow Pass was Hagen Construction Company of Globe, Arizona. Two other bids were received, ranging to a high of $913,404.36.

American Indians now are participating in all programs offered for the disadvantaged under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, the Department of the Interior said today.

The extent of Indian participation in these programs, operated by the Office of Economic Opportunity with Interior Department cooperation is summarized below:

Job Corps

Through Job Corps Conservation Centers spotted across the Nation, disadvantaged young people receive a second chance at schooling coupled with skill training and a change of environment.

Ten such Centers have been approved for Indian reservation areas: Winslow, Arizona and Mexican Springs, New Mexico on the Navajo Reservation; Colorado River and San Carlos Reservations in Arizona; Mescalero in New Mexico; White Earth in Minnesota; Flathead in Montana; Cheyenne River in South Dakota; and Makah and Yakima in Washington. Young people from all over the Nation are enrolled in these camps.

Neighborhood Youth Corps

The Youth Corps program--which encourages 4ropouts to stay in school through a combination of schooling and employment--has been welcomed in Indian communities.

In the few months since the Corps was organized, 55 Indian communities have submitted applications for funds. Of these more than half have already been approved. It is estimated that more than 9,000 Indian boys and girls will benefit directly when all applications have been processed. They will work part-time in hospitals, schools, libraries, and other government and nonprofit agencies while completing high school.

Operation Head Start

This program provides 90 percent Federal financial support for communities to organize and operate preschool programs that will ease the adjustment of young children to regular schooling. Health services and help in developing verbal skills and special abilities are features of Head start.

Of the 20 applications for funds submitted by Indian tribal groups, 18 have been approved for programs to serve about 1,600 children. In addition, more than 65 local school districts in predominantly Indian areas are sponsoring Head start programs to include over 9,000 children.

VISTA

Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)--the Domestic Peace Corps--which assign volunteers to work among the disadvantaged, has already assigned 18 workers to Indian reservations and has scheduled classes to train several hundred more workers requested by Indian groups.

Community Action Program

The Community Action Program (CAP) provides financial support for a broad range of antipoverty efforts in local communities. This in-depth approach to socio-economic problems has attracted 66 applications from Indian communities of which 26 have been approved to date.

Included in the proposals have been adult educational enrichment programs; evening study halls for students; nursery schools and day care centers for children of working parents; family counseling and guidance clinics; pre-employment training for service jobs; homemaker's service; manpower availability surveys of reservations; and a plan to preserve for posterity Indian legends, folklore, tribal and family histories on recordings prepared by tribal elders. These programs are expected to provide continuing benefits to the communities that initiate them.

The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs today announced completion of the membership roll of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, making possible a tribal referendum which will determine the future course of tribal affairs. The roll includes 442 persons.

Adult Poncas will shortly receive ballots on which to indicate whether or not they wish to divide their tribal assets and end the special relationship they now hold with the Federal Government by virtue of their Indian status.

The Ponca Indians requested legislation for the division of their assets in 1957. In 1962, Congress directed that the tribal roll be brought up to date and the referendum be held.

If the majority of those voting favor division of assets, notice will be published by the Department of the Interior in the Federal Register and the recently completed tribal membership roll will then become final. Tribal assets, except certain tracts of land reserved for church lots, parks, playgrounds or cemetery purposes, will then be sold and the proceeds divided among the tribal members.

It is estimated that 1,959 acres of allotted land, 671 acres of tribally owned land and 152.5 acres of Federal land in northeastern Nebraska are involved. If the referendum favors division of the tribal assets, Ponca tribal members who are owners of 25 percent or more of the full interest in any allotment may request the Secretary of the Interior to partition or sell the complete interest in that allotment.

MULTIPURPOSE CONSERVATION PROJECT AT FORT HALL

A multipurpose project on the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho will combine a 12,000-acre bird refuge on Grays Lake with efficient irrigation and flood control. The project was made possible through joint agreement of the Fort Hall Indians, the Grays Lake Protective Committee, and the Department of the Interior.

Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service will create a controlled nesting area in a 12,000-acre diked section of Grays Lake on the Reservation. An additional 9,000 acres outside the diked area will be set aside for controlled water drawdown in spring and early summer. The diked area will have a water storage capacity sufficient to deliver an annual increase of 30,000 acre-feet of water to the Fort Hall Indian tribal lands for irrigation and to provide flood control benefits to the entire Blackfoot River Drainage Basin.

In announcing the agreement, which has been 10 years in the making, the Grays Lake Protective Committee stated that the multiple-purpose conservation project is totally self-contained and no land, water, or grazing rights have been jeopardized. The project is unique in that there have been no exchange costs for lands or water use, the Committee added.

PUEBLO CHILDREN TO TEST WESTINGHOUSE TEACHING SYSTEM

Westinghouse Laboratories, a division of Westinghouse Corporation, has selected San Felipe Elementary Day School in New Mexico for a test of a new system of programmed language learning.

The test will be carried out under a contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which operates the school on the San Felipe Pueblo. The Bureau is exploring new teaching techniques that might be adaptable to Indian education.

A small group of Pueblo Indian preschool youngsters will test the feasibility of a computerized system for teaching English to children who hear only an Indian language at home.

Heart of the computerized system is a $35,000 "talking typewriter," which flashes a letter on a screen and pronounces it electronically when a key is pressed.

PROPOSAL FOR SCENIC EASEMENTS

An amendment to existing law (Sec. 208 of Title 23, USC), recently proposed by Congressman George H. Fallon, would allow the Bureau of Indian Affairs to use up to 3 percent of its annual authorizations for road construction on Indian reservations to acquire and improve scenic easements near reservation roads.

A similar proposal was contained in the Bureau's 1965 proposed legislative program but did not provide for improving the easements and limited the funds for obtaining them to 1 percent of annual road construction authorizations.

TURTLE MOUNTAIN ORDINANCE PLANT EXPANDS

The Turtle Mountain Ordinance Plant at Rolla, North Dakota, has broken ground for a new plant building to cost more than $338,000 and to house nearly $500,000 worth of high-precision equipment for jewel bearing production. Completion is scheduled for August.

The Rolla Plant, which opened in March 1953, is the Nation's only domestic producer of jewel bearings for timing and other devices used in defense and space industries. Nearly 100 Indians from the nearby Turtle Mountain Reservation are currently employed in all phases of company operations.

INDIANS INCREASING USE OF CREDIT SOURCES

The credit and financing program of the Bureau of Indian Affairs backstops Indian efforts to develop their reservation economies.

This Bureau program places emphasis on helping Indian organizations and individuals to use the same financing sources as other citizens when starting or expanding agricultural operations, businesses and other enterprises. Current estimates indicate increased use of these sources by Indians.

In calendar year 1964 Indians borrowed an estimated $157 million from banks, the Farmers Home Administration, Production Credit Associations, and other financing institutions. This contrasts with the $103 million obtained in 1963--an increase of better than 52 percent.

FIRST JOB CORPSMAN TO BE EMPLOYED IS ASSIGNED TO WORK ON A RESERVATION

The first Job Corpsman to be placed in a permanent job on an Indian Reservation will start work in August as a cook at the Job Corps Center on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona.

Jerry Enfusse, 20-year old non-Indian born in Whitesburg, Kentucky, was one of the first 30 corpsmen recruited in the Nation and among the initial group trained at the Winslow Job Corps Conservation Center in Arizona.

Enfusse, who asked to be assigned to the kitchens at Winslow, has cooked his way through the recipe books of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the United States Army during his five months training period.

After dropping out of high school in his freshman year, he completed a brief period of military service and then worked as a part-time truck driver. His new skill, acquired in the Job Corps, paved the way to his first full-time job.

The Winslow Center was dedicated in March and the San Carlos Center is due to open this fall.

The Department of the Interior today announced the award of a $499,557 contract for construction of an eight-mile section of Navajo Route 8 in the northeastern Arizona part of the Navajo Indian Reservation.

The new stretch of Navajo 8 will link the reservation towns of Ganado and Klagetoh in Apache County with an all-weather, paved highway. The towns are located a few miles south of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, near the Petrified Forest area, a popular tourist locale.

Successful bidder was Nielsons, Inc., of Dolores, Colorado. Three bids were received, ranging to a high of $707,698.

Award of two contracts totaling $264,444 for road improvement projects on Fort Totten Reservation in North Dakota and Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota was announced today by Commissioner Philleo Nash of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Improvement of reservation roads is an important phase of resource development efforts carried on by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Indian lands to improve economic conditions and stimulate employment. The road projects provide jobs for Indian workers, better school bus service, improved access to markets for farm and ranch produce, and increased tourism and recreational development on reservation lands.

A $139,498 contract to provide crushed gravel base course and bituminous surfacing on 14 miles of road between the communities of Wanblee and Potato Creek in Washabaugh County, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation was awarded to Weelborg Bros., Inc., Dell Rapids, South Dakota. The project includes part of a reservation school bus and mail route linking Pine Ridge, Kyle, and several other reservation communities, as well as a section of the new route for State Highway 40 between the communities of White River and Interior. The winning bid was the lowest of nine bids ranging to $224,880.

A $124,946 contract to grade, drain and gravel surface 11.7 miles of roads on the Fort Totten Reservation extending north from State Highway 57 was awarded to Hulstrand Construction, Inc., Lakota, North Dakota. The project will serve 20 homes in a farming area west of the Fort Totten community in Benson County. The winning bid was the lowest of five ranging to $148,415.

The award of a $397,375 contract for the construction of a 200-man Job Corps Conservation Center on the San Carlos Indian Reservation in Arizona was announced today by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It will be one of nine such centers to be operated on Indian reservations as part of the massive program of job training and education for unemployed youth being conducted under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.

Successful bidder for the San Carlos project is Building Mart, Inc. of Phoenix. Five higher bids, ranging from $397,500 to $475,350, were also received. The contract calls for building of barracks, kitchen, mess hall complex, educational-recreation complex, commissary, infirmary, staff bachelor quarters, warehouse and maintenance shops.

Total costs for completion of all necessary construction at the San Carlos Center are estimated to be in excess of $600,000. Contracts have already been let for construction of housing for some of the 36 members of the Center staff.

Other Job Corps Centers on reservations, for which construction is also planned, are as follows:

Mexican Springs, N. Mex. (Navajo); Chippewa Ranch, Minn. (White Earth Reservation); Kicking Horse, Mont. (Flathead); Neah Bay, Wash. (Makah); Eight Canyon, N. Mex. (Mescalero Apache); and Poston, Ariz. (Colorado River Reservation).

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Philleo Nash today announced the award of a $1,319,409 contract for construction of the final 17-mile section of Route 12, one of the most scenic highways on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.

Completion of this stretch will provide an all-weather link between the communities of Round Rock and Lukachukai in northeastern Arizona with Navajo, New Mexico, the Reservation town where the tribal sawmill enterprise is located.

Low bid was submitted by Nielsons, Inc., of Dolores, Colorado. Two other bids were received, ranging to a high of $1,423,336.

INDIANS LEARN JOB SKILLS WITH BIA

A total of 11,000 Indian men and women have received special job-skill training, either in accredited institutions or on-the-job, since the Bureau of Indian Affairs adult vocational training program for Indians began in 1958. Currently, trainees are learning skills in more than 100 different occupational categories.

The program pays all costs of vocational training, travel, and living expenses for the trainee and his family for periods up to two years. Information, job counseling and placement services for Indians who seek jobs outside their reservation areas is provided through BIA employment assistance offices in seven major cities--Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, San Jose and Oakland.

YAKIMAS RECEIVE AWARD FOR AHTANUM AREA

A $61,991 award to the Yakima Tribe of Indians of Washington was recently granted by the Indian Claims Commission.

The award represents payment for the Ahtanum Area, a 17,669-acre piece of land which was excluded by error when the reservation's northern boundary was originally surveyed.

The Yakima Reservation was created by treaty in June 1855.

MOBILE HOME PARK ON SEMINOLE LAND

Some visitors to south Florida will be setting up housekeeping on the Seminole Reservation this corning winter.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida has signed a long term lease with the Dania Development Company for a 40-acre tract of reservation land which will soon become a park for mobile homes.

The development company plans to construct the park in three sections, with the first section opening September 1 in time for the winter tourist season.

NEW RECREATION AREA ON CHEYENNE RIVER RESERVATION

A new recreation area, to be known as Forest City, soon will spring up on the west bank of the Oahe Reservoir in South Dakota. The development will be the result of cooperative efforts of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Cheyenne River Tribe, the Army Corps of Engineers and the State of South Dakota.

The Tribe is negotiating with private developers to establish a motel and other tourist facilities on tribal lands. Plans for Forest City include a retail outlet for Indian arts and crafts. The Corps of Engineers is currently installing public picnic facilities and planting 14 acres of trees.

ARTS AND CRAFTS TRAINING FOR INDIANS

Crafts specialists and sales shop managers from Indian reservation areas met in Washington in June to learn about possibilities for training native craftsmen under Federal legislation to improve economic opportunities nationwide.

The three-day meeting was sponsored by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, a group of art notables serving as an advisory council to Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall. Discussions explored the function of arts and crafts in stimulating economies in Indian areas. Those attending the conference heard from Government training and development specialists whose agencies administer economic aid programs under the Economic Opportunity Act, the Manpower Development and Training Act, the Area Redevelopment Act and the Small Business Act.

Training projects for craftsmen and artists are already under way in Alaska in cooperation with the U. S. Office of Education and the Labor Department's Office of Manpower, Automation, and Training.

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS SCHEDULES ANNUAL SAFETY CONFERENCE

The 1965 Annual Safety Conference of the Bureau of Indian Affairs will be held October 25-29 in Chicago, Illinois, in conjunction with the 53rd National Safety Congress and the Department of the Interior's 10th Annual Safety Programming Conference. All area offices and other field installations will participate.

The Conference will highlight ways to implement President Johnson's "Mission Safety-70" program, a new effort to reduce Federal work injuries and costs a total of 30 percent by 1970.