OPA

Commissioner Louis R. Bruce announced today that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs has awarded a $200,000 contract to the Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., to operate an Indian post-correctional rehabilitation program for Indian prison parolees.

“With this pilot program we expect to chart ways to break the tragic cycle of imprisonment – unemployment – more infractions of the law,” Bruce said. “Without rehabilitation aid, the Indian offender has little chance of gaining the skills and knowledge necessary for a successful life in either Indian on non-Indian society.

The key to the program would be the use of local Indian counselors preferably ex -convicts who have made successful social and vocational adjustments, who would help former prisoners obtain educational, vocational

And rehabilitation services through the Bureau’s employment assistance facilities and State and local agencies. The project will be under the overall supervision of Professor Samuel Dash, head of the Center's Institute of Crlm1nal Law and Procedure. Direct supervision will be provided by Professor Herbert S. Miller, Research Director. Adrian Fisher is Dean of the University's Law Center.

“We believe that with the help of Indian counselors who have ‘been through the mill' and know firsthand the adjustment burden carried by Indian offenders, we can help these people find lives of dignity and self-­ respect , while at the same time making a contribution to their communities and their families,” Bruce said.

The initial work will be done at 10 regional centers in metropolitan area. Locations for the centers have not yet been selected.

A suit in behalf of treaty fishing rights of Indian tribes in the State of Washington has been filled by the Department of Justice at the request of the Department of the Interior. The suit is similar to one filled two years ago in Oregon.

In announcing the filing, Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel said, "The decision in the Oregon case has done much to clarify Indian fishing rights on the Columbia river. We hope this suit will have the same effect on fishing rights in the Puget Sound and Olympic Peninsula areas of the State of Washington."

Representatives of the Interior Department and of Washington Indian tribes have been meeting with the Washington State Department of Fisheries and with Washington State Governor Dan Evans and his staff in an effort to work out terms for State recognition of Indian treaty rights. But it became evident that difference of opinion over the extent of the Indian's rights remained. Secretary Hickel said.

"We therefore asked the Department of Justice last spring to prepare a case to submit to the Federal Court," he added. "Our two Departments have worked closely in developing the case, which was filled September 18."

The action is brought on behalf of seven tribes that represent all treaty tribes in Western Washington that were parties to five treaties negotiated by Oregon Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens in 1954-56. Those tribes are: Puyallup, Nisqually, Skokomish, Makah, Quileute, Hoh and Muckleshoot. The court's ruling should affect the fishing rights of all tribes that are parties to those treaties.

Secretary Hickel explained that the NESA Program affords a unique opportunity for the disadvantaged youth from poverty backgrounds not only to become aware of environmental problems prevalent in their home communities, but to learn how to cope with and solve these problems through joint community and JCCC participation while assigned to the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Program.

The 10 Interior Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers presently have a total capacity of 1,826 corpsmen. Three of the centers are operated by the Department of the Interior's National Park Service, four by the Bureau of Reclamation, two by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, and one by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The permanent Job Corps Center staffs are augmented by Union. Contract Instructors and volunteer assistance from a wide variety of sources,

Each of the Interior Job Corps Center Directors has organized a Community Relations Council consisting of leading citizens of the community nearest the JCCC location. These councils serve as a bridge between the local communities and the Job Corps Center.

Created by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, the Job Corps is a national voluntary program which provides disadvantaged young men and women between the ages of 14 and 21 with an education, vocational training and work experience and social skills necessary to prepare them for the responsibilities of citizenship and increase their employability, Department of the Interior participation in the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center program stresses vocational training and work experiences directed primarily toward conserving, developing and managing

the public natural resources of the Nation,

Participating in the Interior Job Corps Environmental Quality Week are the following Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers administered by various Bureaus of the Department of the lnterior:

Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife Mingo JCCC, Puxico, Missouri

Treasure Lake JCCC, Indiahoma, Oklahoma

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Fort Simcoe JCCC, Toppenish, Washington National Park Service

Harpers Ferry JCCC, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia Great Onyx JCCC, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky Oconaluftee JCCC, Cherokee, North Carolina

Bureau of Reclamation

Weber Basin JCCC, Ogden, Utah Collbran JCCC, Collbran, Colorado

Columbia Basin JCCC, Moses Lake, Washington Marsing JCCC, Marsing, Idaho

Commissioner Bruce said the new policy carries out an earlier pledge to turn BIA into a service rather than a management organization.

The move, according to Bruce, is designed to facilitate the transition of the old Bureau "Agency Superintendent into a modern Field Administrator. "I am giving the Field Administrators more horsepower--they are the people who are working directly with the Indian people every day," Bruce said.

"We have thrown out the old job descriptions and built completely new ones designed to assist Indian people to take control over their own destinies, develop economic and social opportunities, as well as provide for better Federal protection of the trust status of Indian land."

Bruce stated that in addition to these administrative changes, the BIA is providing for negotiation at the highest level of contractual and training arrangements to assist tribes in taking over administration of BIA programs. This effort will be headed ·by Olympic gold medal inner Billy Mills, a Sioux Indian.

"We are after a complete overhaul," Bruce said, "One of my four executive task forces has just completed work on the new agency field evaluation plan. I have directed high level executive teams composed of Tribal Leaders, BIA, the National Council on Indian Opportunity (NCIO) in the Vice President's Office,

and other Federal representatives to go to the field and evaluate Indian programs.

''With these evaluations we will be able to determine accurately where our field people are really helping Indian people to make substantial gains and where they are falling short."

During the many years I have worked in the Bureau of Indian Affairs I have witnessed many phases and much progress in service to Indian people. I believe that no era is as exciting or potentially beneficial to Indians as that of the "70's".

The Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian people are seeking new ways and new approaches which will be both realistic and progressive. I am pleased that I will have an opportunity to assist in carrying out the new policy which has been designed to make the Department and Bureau totally responsive to Indian needs.

It will be a pleasure and an honor to work with Secretary Morton and Deputy Under Secretary Rogers. I look forward to serving the American Indian and Alaska Native people in my new position.

The President today signed H. R. 471 which declares that certain lands in Carson National Forrest, New Mexico, are held in trust for the Pueblo de Taos. This tract, comprised of approximately 48,000 acres of land and the Blue Lake, has been used by the Taos Pueblo Indians for religious and tribal purposes since the fourteenth century.

In 1906, the United States Government appropriated these lands for the creation of a national forest. The Indian Claim s Commission has determined that the government took these lands without compensation, The President, in his July 8, 1970 Message to Congress on Indian Affairs said:

The restoration of the Blue Lake lands to the Taos Pueblo Indians is an issue of unique and critical importance to Indi ans. throughout the country. I therefore take this opportunity wholeheartedly to endorse legislation which would restore 48,000 acres of sacred and to the Taos Pueblo people, with the statutory promise that they would be able to use these lands for traditional purposes and that except for such uses the lands would remain forever wild.

H. R. 471 would declare that the U.S. holds title, in trust for the Pueblo de Taos, to the described area and that the l and s will become part of the Pueblo de Taos Reservation and will be administered by the Secretary of the Interior under the laws and regulations applicable to other Indian trust land. The bill provides that the Indians shall use the land for traditional purposes only, such as religious ceremonies, hunting and fishing, a source of water , for age for livestock , wood, timber and other natural resources for their personal use, subject to the necessary conservation practices prescribed by the Secretary. Except for these described practices, the land will remain forever wild and will be administered as a wilderness under the Wilderness Act of 1964.

Other provisions of H. R. 471 include the permission for nonmembers of the tribe to enter the lands for purposes compatible with wilderness preservation upon consent of the tribe. This bill does not alter the rights of present holders of federal leases or permits covering the land but would authorize the Pueblo, with tribal funds, to obtain the relinquishment of such leases or permits. Finally, this bill directs the Indian Claims Commission to determine to what extent the value of land conveyed in this legislation should be set off against any claims the Taos may have against the United States.

Albert L. Lerner, 38, Field Employment Assistance Officer, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Chicago, has been reassigned to the same post in Los Angeles, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. He will replace Daryl L. Mahoney, who has been reassigned to the position of Area Employment Assistance Officer in the Anadarko Area Office.

Lerner, a native of New York, received his B.S. degree in 1956 from State University, Oswego, New York, and his M. Ed. in industrial education from Oregon State University in 1960 He began his career in the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1956 as a teacher of vocational subjects at Stewart, Nev. In 1961 he transferred to the Flandreau Indian School as department head for vocational subjects. Four years later he accepted reassignment as an employment guidance specialist in the Cleveland Field Employment Assistance Office.

Thomas R. Hardin, 35, was named Superintendent of the Rooky Boy's Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Box Elder, Mont. today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. Hardin replaces Albert W Trimble, recently elected to become Field Employment Assistance Officer for the Bureau at Alameda, Calif.

Hardin began his Bureau career in 1963 as an elementary teacher at the Northern Cheyenne Agency, Lame Deer, Mont. He entered Federal service upon his graduation tram Rocky Mountain College, Billings, Mont. He became an Education Specialist with the Rocky Boy's Agency in 1965 and a Community Development Officer at that same-agency 1n 1970.

A veteran of the U. S. Army, he was born in Nanty-Glo Penna. Married, he is the father of three children.

During the fiscal year 1970, estimated financing for Indian individuals and enterprises jumped from $382.9 million to $437.7 million -- a $54.8 million increase over the previous year, according to a report released today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce.

The borrowed monies financed construction of thousands of new homes and rebuilding or repair of existing homes; provided funds for Indian education in technical schools and colleges; and stimulated Indian small business and development of cooperative enterprises such as cattle ranching.

Productive-type loans -- that is, those that generate income -- increased in 1970 over the previous year, with a commensurate decrease in loans for non-recoverable items. Refinancing also decreased slightly in the same period, indicating somewhat more financial stability among an increasing number of Indian families and enterprises.

Full-blooded Indians received nearly 60 percent of the loans in 1970, and 50 percent of the total amount loaned.

Private and public lending institutions provided 67.2 percent of the Indian financing last year, with tribal funds accounting for another 26.9 percent, and with 5.9 percent deriving from a Bureau of Indian Affairs revolving loan fund.

The largest percent increase over 1969 was in financing by, customary lenders. Federal credit agencies provided $91.8 million; national and state banks $50.09 million; and consumers' credit sources.

The amount of tribal funds being used for financing economic development for Indian tribes or individuals has doubled during the past five years, the report also states -- from $57.6 million to $117.7 million.

Credit and financing operations of some Indian tribes are conducted entirely with tribal loans to members and associations of members, and to finance tribal, industrial, commercial, and agricultural enterprises.

"The doubling of Indian input indicates the extent to which Indian communities can help themselves if they are given minimum Federal aid," said Commissioner Bruce.

"But," he added, "Modern American Indian communities need an additional $1 billion in credit to make them viable components of the nation. Most of this deficit cannot be met by private lenders unless they are given some incentives to furnish the money, because of the trust restricted title to Indian lands and the underdeveloped conditions of some reservations. Incentives could be in the form of loan guarantees or loan insurance and interest subsidies."

Legislation that would enable more credit to be extended to Indian communities has been introduced into the 92nd Congress. Similar bills failed passage in the 88th, 89th, 90th, and 91st Congresses. If enacted, legislation now under consideration would increase the BIA revolving loan funds as well as establishing substantial loan guaranty and insurance funds.

Copies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs "1970 Annual Credit and Financing Report," 45 pages, are available without charge from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U. S. Department of the Interior, 1951 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D. C. 20242.