OPA

A new environmental awareness award program for Indian schools and communities was announced today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce. The program is an outgrowth of new emphases upon environment and conservation in Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. It is designed to encourage environmental awareness throughout all aspects of daily life in the community.

Local Indian school board members will take part in selecting projects for awards, and will present them in ceremonies concluding the school year, Bruce said. Not only students but any other individuals in the community, as well as classroom groups, community groups, or schools or communities as a whole may qualify for the commendations.

"We hope the awards program will encourage students, teachers, parents and others to learn together," Bruce said. "Indians are often regarded as the Nation's 'first environmentalists,' and we expect the program to help carry this concept forward to meet the complex environmental challenges of today."

He pointed out that the 219 schools operated by the BIA are stressing environmental awareness through language arts, social studies, science and art curricula "in keeping with the National Environmental Policy Act which aims for harmony between man and his environment and an understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation."

Bruce also said: "We believe this approach to environmental awareness encourages a sense of responsibility to tribe, community and country, and will enable more people to have a constructive influence in a.l1 these spheres. Studies of Indian myths, religion, philosophy, ethics indicate a reverence for the natural environment which may be a lesson for the non-Indian."

Cooperating in the environmental education program is Interior's National Park Service.

National parks have set aside outdoor areas for the study of ecology and have provided materials for classroom and outdoor study projects, and is helping to provide materials that demonstrate the interdependence of man and his environment and show how Indian cultural values reinforce the balance between man and nature.

Further information on the awards program will be available through BIA schools, school boards, and tribal organizations.

The deadline has been extended to June 4, 1971, for filing applications by descendants of Kansas and Wisconsin Munsees for enrollment to, share in a $1,627,244.64 judgment awarded to the Delaware Nation of Indians by the ! Indian Claims Commission, according to Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

The money comes from an award in settlement of an Indian claim against the United States Government for additional payment for approximately 3,859,000 acres of Indian land ceded by the Delaware Nation pursuant to the Treaty of October 3, 1818 (7 Stat. 188).

Notice of preparation of the roll was previously given to Absentee and Cherokee Delaware about the judgment and eligibility requirements for sharing in it. That roll has been completed and partial payment made to eligible applicants.

It has been found, however, that the descendants of Kansas and Wisconsin Munsees, also entitled to share in the award, did not receive adequate notice of the preparation of the roll. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has, therefore, extended the filing deadline for the descendants of Kansas and Wisconsin Munsees so that those persons who believe they are eligible may apply for enrollment.

The descendants of Kansas and Wisconsin Munsees who may be eligible to share in the award are those who are lineal descendants of Delaware Indians who were members of the Delaware Nation of Indians as constituted at the time of the Treaty of October 3, 1818. The "lineal descendants" are basically comprised of those who are descendants of the Christian (Munsee) Indians of Kansas and the Munsee faction of the Stockbridge-Munsee Indian Community of Wisconsin.

The Munsee Indians who were a part of the Stockbridge-Munsee group and those who were incorporated with the Swan Creek and Black River Bands of Chippewa Indians in 1859 are both considered to have been a part of the Delaware Nation in 1818 and their descendants should be eligible to share in the judgment funds.

Four Navajo Indian tribal officials are in the lobby of the U. S. Department of the Interior building in Washington, D. C., this week to exhibit crafts produced under the Navajo Work Experience Program -- a tribal effort which provides constructive jobs and a pay envelope to people who, would otherwise have to depend upon welfare checks.

Begun nine months ago, the program has already provided 1,700 Navajos with jobs, a number expected to double within the next year. It operates across the reservation from the rim of the Grand Canyon eastward to Shiprock, New Mexico.

The exhibition includes rugs, jewelry and handcrafted souvenir items as well as photographs illustrating construction and other community improvement projects accomplished under the work experience program.

The four Navajos accompanying the exhibit are Mrs. Elizabeth Beyal, director of the Navajo Tribal Work Experience Program; John Francis, assistant director; Mrs. Joann Pinto, acting director of the Navajo Public Services Division; and Richard Beyal, Navajo Tribal Community Worker.

In welcoming the exhibit to Washington, D. C. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce said today: "We look upon your achievement in operating a successful work experience program as an example for other Indian tribes to follow. It is self-determination on the part of Indian people at its best."

The Navajo Work Experience Program works this way: The Tribe, through its local chapters (tribal subdivisions), develops work projects considered necessary to help local community development. Unemployed but employable tribal members are assigned by the tribe to jobs on these projects.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs turns over to the tribal officials the money which would have been paid in assistance grants to these jobless workers, plus an additional $30 monthly as a work incentive. The tribe then pays each worker what he would have received in assistance, plus an additional $30. The payment is not identified as welfare supervising the work.

The most popular tribal work projects involve the construction, improvement and repair of individual homes. Other vital projects are road repair, fence repair, corral improvement) hauling and chopping wood for elderly and disabled persons, improvement of water and sanitation facilities, arts and crafts, adult education, and provision of assistance in Navajo schools and hospitals.

One task performed under this program unique to the Navajo reservation is the construction of hogans, traditional Navajo homes. Some Indians prefer them because they are solidly constructed and provide warmth in winter and coolness in summer, others because they represent their culture, which they wish to retain. More than 100 hogans have been built under the Navajo Work Experience Program.

The program director, Mrs. Beyal points out that there have been benefits from it in addition to the jobs produced.

"By becoming involved in a work project a man on general assistance has taken the first step toward gaining self-respect in the eyes of his children and neighbors," she explained. He develops self-esteem and self-determination and sets an example for impressionable youngsters. By helping his neighbor, he is instrumental in establishing a stronger community."

She cites the example of a tribal elder physically unable to work who contributed a cultural point of view to the Indian children of a Greasewood, Ariz. school. He tells stories of the Navajo tribe and its traditions to groups of Indian school children who come to hear him in a hogan near the school.

Most popular among the training opportunities under the Work Experience Program is instruction in reading safety signs and the English alphabet-- requirements under an Arizona driver: licensing regulation. Basic English and health education are also popular.

Classes are conducted after hours in public and BIA schoolrooms, in Navajo chapter houses, and in Federal, State, and local government facilities. In the Chinle area, some of the teachers in the program are from the Navajo Community College, the only college to be operated by Indians and to be on an Indian reservation.

Tribal work experience programs similar to the Navajo, but on a much smaller scale, have been in operation on a number of Indian reservations for over two years. There are now 23 such programs throughout "Indian country".

One of the first programs was on the Papago reservation in southern Arizona. It now employs about 500 workers and is next in size to the Navajo project.

In fiscal year 1969, a monthly average of 500 people eligible for welfare help from the Bureau worked on tribal work experience programs. In fiscal year 1970, that figure rose to 775. With the addition of the Navajo and other programs, about 2,900 Indians who otherwise would be on Bureau welfare roles are now working.

Charles W. Swallow, 41, an Oglala Sioux "Indian, was today named J" Chief of the Branch of Credit and Financing of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D. C. Announcement was made by Louis R. Bruce, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Swallow succeed Albert Huber, who retired.

Swallow entered Federal service in 1957 with the Bureau as a clerk in the Branch of Credit at the Rosebud Agency, S.Dak. In 1960 he transferred to the Home Loan Bank Board as a Federal Savings and Loan Examiner. In 1965, he pined the Small Business Administration as an Investment Company Examiner and later was promoted to Area Supervisory Investment Company Examiner. In this capacity he received a high quality performance award.

Born at Oglala, S. Dak., Swallow is married and the father of two children. He served in the U. S. Navy. He is a member of the Association of Federal Investigators and the American Accounting Association.

Duane C. Moxon, 51, has named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Seminole Agency, Hollywood, Florida, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. He moves to that post from & similar one at Turtle Mountain Agency, Belcourt, North Dakota, when he served for nearly two and a half years. Moxon re-places Eugene Barrett, who retired at the end of May.

The new Seminole Superintendent has a B. S. degree in Agronomy from South Dakota state college and of his 28 years of Federal service, ten were as a soil scientist with the Department of Agriculture. In 1953 he became a soil scientist with the Minneapolis Area Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and served in a similar post at the Klamath, Ore. Agency and the Aberdeen, S. Dak Area office, both also Bureau installations. He served as a land operations officer with the Pine Ridge, S. Dak. Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

In 1968 he was awarded a quality increase for sustained superior performance.

Since July 1970, American Indians started 241 new businesses and expanded 143 Indian-owned businesses through the Indian Business Development Fund program of the Bureau of Indian !Affairs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today.

New businesses and expansions made possible by the Fund will create an estimated 2,900 Indian jobs and produce an annual payroll of nearly $11,900,000.

Commenting on this Indian economic expansion Commissioner Bruce said: "The Indian people want a stake in reservation business life at the management level. Small businesses created through the Indian Business Development Fund hire other Indians. The Fund opens a door to a new order of Indian involvement in America's economy with the opportunity of increasing both Indian employment and income. The program is built on individual Indian initiative and self-responsibility."

The purpose of the Fund is to provide initial capital, on a grant basis, to Indians for establishing new permanent businesses or for expanding existing business enterprises on or near reservations. A grant is made solely to provide the equity capital needed to acquire loans from customary lending sources, both government and commercial.

Equity financing for Indians is limited to 40 percent of new capital needed and is available only where financing cannot be obtained without the grant. Only profit-making enterprises are eligible.

A total of $3,400,000 was available for the Fund from appropriations for the fiscal year 1971. This generated $16,400,000 in loans, an amount 500 percent greater than the grants. Fifty-nine percent, or $9,700,000 of-total loan money came from private commercial lenders while 41 percent, or $6,700,000 came from governmental agencies.

Commercial lenders were predominantly local banks and vendors of machinery and equipment. Most government loans were made by the small Business Administration.

The average amount of Indian Business Development Fund money per each man-year employment (or permanent job) was $1,200. The average additional capital generated as loans from other sources for each man-year of employment amounted to $5,700. The combined average cost of creating each permanent job amounted to $6,900.

"Equity capital is crucial to Indian businessmen," Commissioner Bruce explained. "Without it, most are unable to enter business. Furthermore, it increases their capital resources and reduces fixed charges in the early stages of the business. Thus the Indian,-Business Development Fund fills a very important need for the Indian people."

New enterprises started, and those expanded, include a wide range of business activities. A total of 56 are involved in some area of manufacturing; 36 in contract construction; 30 in agricultural production and services; 25 in food stores; 20 in food service; 17 in operating laundromats and dry cleaners; seven in apparel and accessory stores; five in fisheries; four in furniture and home furnishings; and a number of others in a variety of other commercial activities.

A total of 780 applications were received requesting funds in the amount of $10,800,000 -- more than triple the amount of money allocated for this program.

The 1971 “American Indian Calendar” listing everts from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Hollywood, Florida, hosted by Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut groups, is now available from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. 20402. The price is 30 cents.

Dates and locations of observances are given. Among the annual activities of the various tribes that are included in the 1971 calendar are Alaskan sled dog races, Eskimo blanket-tosses, pow-wows, potlatches, rodeos, fairs, snake and crown dances, and arts and crafts exhibits.

Among Indian-owned resorts that are able to accommodate visitors with a wide range of services this year are Kah-nee-tah, on the Warm Springs Reservation, Ore., and Boundary Tree Motel, at Cherokee, N. Caro., and Bottle Hollow Resort, on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah. Bottle Hollow Resort is a $2.5 million facility that was dedicated July 5.

Typical events to which travelers are invited are the Cape Fox dancers who perform at Saxman Village, Ketchikan, Alaska, September 1-6; Navajo Tribal Fair, Window Rock, Ariz., early September; Southern Ute Tribal Fair, Ignacio, Colo., September 11-13; Assiniboine Encamp­ment, Frazer, Mont., second week in August; Omaha Homecoming and Powwow, Macy, Nebr., August 15; and Corn Dance and San Lorenzo Day Celebration at Picuris, N. M. August 10.

In announcing the publication of the booklet Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce pointed out that a number of Indian observances depend upon seasonal activities and exact dates cannot be determined in advance. He urged tourists to check with tribes, local Bureau offices, and local chamber of' commerce for specific dates if they are not already indicated.

Vacationers who don't have full camping equipment may have to stay in towns outside the reservations unless they arrange ahead for accommodations, Bruce also said.

Camera buffs are also advised to obtain permission before photographing religious ceremonies or snapping pictures of individual Indians. Alcoholic beverages are forbidden on some reservations.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton and Civil Service Commission Chairman Robert E. Hampton announced today the creation of a National Indian Training Center to be located at Brigham City, Utah.

The Center will provide in-service and preparatory training for Indian men and women seeking employment and advancement in Federal, State and tribal government jobs.

Secretary Morton made the announcement while visiting Salt Lake City today on a leg of his month-long tour of Western States. He said:

"This unprecedented, large-scale management-and-operations training program for Indians is hopefully designed to bridge the gap between the dream and the reality of Indian direction of Indian affairs. We will be seeking to uncover and develop enough Indian talents to assure that tribal government and other government programs are providing the maximum in benefits to the Indian people.

"We are grateful to Chairman Hampton and the training experts of the U. S. Civil Service Commission for smoothing the way for this program to be put into effect," Secretary Morton added.

It is expected that upwards of 500 Indians may be enrolled annually in the program. Plans calls for continuing expansion of the curricula as new personnel needs emerge.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Civil Service Commission will jointly operate the Center. Scheduled to open September 1, 1971, it will be located on the campus of Intermountain School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs facility.

Modern, well-equipped classrooms, a 25,OOO-volume library, and extensive audio-visual equipment will be available through the BIA's Instructional Services Center at Intermountain, where educational materials are produced and teacher training programs are developed for BIA schools.

The Indian Training Center will offer a broad range of training and re- training courses, with particular emphasis being given to preparing Indians for management jobs in government and tribal agencies. Courses will also be available to Federal, State and local government employees who are non-Indian and whose agencies have direct involvement with various aspects of Indian affairs.

Training opportunities will also be provided at tribal sites as well as at Brigham City. Tribal leaders will be consulted in determining training needs and developing courses to meet those needs and developing courses to meet those needs.

Technical manpower for course development and instruction will be provided by the Denver Regional Training Center of the U. S. Civil Service Commission and by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Personnel of both agencies, and of other Federal agencies, tribal groups and educational institutions, will conduct the classes.

(Following is a statement delivered by Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton during a visit to the Uintah-Ouray Indian preservation in Utah Tuesday evening, October 5, 1971.)

I am very pleased to report to you that before I left Washington, a Secretarial Order was signed that revokes a 1930 oil shale withdrawal order as it pertained to your Indian lands.

Thus, we have erased any doubt that might have existed as to the Tribe1s ownership of lands and minerals affected by the 1930 order.

I have instructed the Bureau of Land Management to note this action on their land records. In a few days, the new Secretarial Order will also appear in the Federal Register for public notice.

The problem cleared up by the new Order was complex. Let me explain it. In 1930 an Executive Order was issued that withdrew from disposal all the deposits of oil shale and the lands containing those deposits that are owned by the United States within the State of Utah and several other States.

Then, in 1945, the Secretary of the Interior restored to the Uintah and Ouray Tribe the undisposed of opened lands on the reservations, including some lands withdrawn by the 1930 order.

However, in the 1960's the Geological Survey issued an oil shale classification order that appeared to have a possible effect upon certain of the Indian lands restored to Indian ownership in 1945. The validity of the 1945 order, with respect to lands classified as oil shale lands, was in doubt. These included grazing reserve lands; timber reserve lands; over 200, 000 acres of land and minerals restored to the Tribe in 1945; mineral rights for another 200, 000 acres; and certain individual allotments.

Now the doubts are removed by my new order. There is no longer any question that these lands and minerals in question are in Tribal ownership.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is proposing a reV1S10n in Federal regulations in order to tighten environmental protection stipulations in f leases for the surface use of Indian-owned lands under Federal trusteeship.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce said today the proposed change is being published in the Federal Register. It relates to section 11, part 131, Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Interested persons have 30 days from the date of publication to submit comments.

Under the proposed change, all surface leases and user permits issued for Indian holdings would henceforth contain provisions to assure compliance with applicable air and water standards, minimize or correct hazards to the public health and safety, and provide for conservation and protection of the environment.

Lessees would be required to provide adequate measures to avoid, control, minimize or correct erosion, contamination or other abuses and damages within or surrounding the leased premises that may result from operations conducted under the lease. Prudent management practices, as well as application of recognized good farming and grazing techniques would be stipulated in leases for farming and grazing operations.

Moreover, leases would contain prov1s1ons for the lessee .to submit in advance general and comprehensive plans of any proposed construction of commercial or industrial developments, including architects' designs, construction specifications, and plans and specifications for installation and use of machinery and equipment.

Comments relating to the proposed reV1S10ns in regulations should be filed in writing with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20242.