OPA

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover, a Lawton native and a Pawnee tribal member, is returning to his home state to speak about critical American Indian issues and his vision for Tribal America during a University of Oklahoma American Indian Law and Policy Symposium on Saturday, March 21. The symposium, sponsored by the American Indian Law Review editors and the University of Oklahoma College of Law, commemorates the 25th anniversary of the American Indian Law Review.

Gover was nominated by President Clinton for the Assistant Secretary's position and was sworn in on November 12, 1997. He leads the 10,700-employee Bureau of Indian Affairs and serves as the Clinton Administration's senior Indian Affairs official. His speech will be his first major address in Oklahoma since assuming office. Gover was born and raised in Comanche County, Oklahoma, which formerly was the reservation of the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache tribes. He is the great grandson of Seal Chief of the Skidi Pawnees and the great grandson of Hovarithka of the Yapawicka Comanches.

Gover will attend an Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity reception Friday evening in Norman. His parents, Maggie and Butch Gover, were both active members of the organization.

During his Indian Law Review symposium speech, Gover will discuss the changing direction and improvement of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the many challenges that face it and tribal nations as the new century approaches. Gover also will explore the theme of "Indian Warriors Then and Now" as it relates to the challenging work of tribal leaders, Indian lawyers, and others who work on behalf of 554 federally recognized tribal nations. His speech will include a discussion of the devastating Indian Country problems that include alcohol and drug abuse, youth suicides, and joblessness. Gover will emphasize that today's "warriors" must use their considerable skills and experience in creating tribal solutions to these troubling problems, while also strengthening responsible and responsive tribal governments.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover today thanked Oklahoma Indian organizations and tribal leaders for their receptivity and attention to the message he delivered on Indian youth issues during his visit to the state last week. "I an exceedingly grateful that my message on attacking the causes of alcohol and drug abuse among Indian youth was warmly received everywhere I traveled in Oklahoma," Gover said.

During his March 21 University of Oklahoma Indian Law and Policy Symposium speech, Gover stressed to tribal leaders and others that combating the devastating youth problems of alcohol and drug abuse and teen suicide must come first and foremost in Indian Country. "Nothing else matters until we can find tribal solutions to end these terrible problems. We must provide the leadership and vision to guide Indian youth back to constructive and fulfilling lives." Gover thanked the University of Oklahoma School of Law and the American Indian Law Review for the opportunity to deliver this message.

Indian youth and education was the theme of Gover's March 20 visit to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Riverside Indian School in Anadarko. Gover met with students, aged eight to 17, and toured the Riverside campus with them. "It's obvious they are fond of their school and its administration," he said. "It speaks volumes for the work that is being done there." Gover also attended a March 20 Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity (OIO) reception in Norman. His parents, Maggie and Bill Gover, were active members of OIO. Thirty-one tribes were represented at the event. "I was especially impressed with the emphasis OIO placed on our youth themes," said Gover. "We particularly enjoyed the performances given by Indian youth groups that use traditional tribal practices and values in carrying out their pledge to lead drug- and alcohol-free lifestyles." Indian dances and songs were performed by the Comanche Youth Dance Group, the Comanche Nation Pre-School Language Program, and the United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY).

Gover also thanked the Pawnee Nation for hosting a March 22 event that brought together the region's tribal leadership.

A Tribal-State gaming compact between the Pala Band of Mission Indians and the State of California was approved Saturday, April 25, by Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover and will take effect when the notice is published in the Federal Register. "I want to stress that this compact applies only to the future gaming operation of the Pala Band of Mission Indians," said Assistant Secretary Gover. "The terms and conditions of this compact are binding only on the State and the Pala Band. Representatives of the State have confirmed that other California Tribes are free to assess whether the provisions of this compact are appropriate for inclusion in their compact with the State.

The State has an obligation under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) to negotiate in "good faith" with each tribe requesting a compact. Because circumstances vary from tribe to tribe, our approval of this compact cannot and does not mean that the State meets its obligation of good-faith negotiating merely by offering identical compacts to other tribes. Based on our conversations with representatives of the State, we do not expect that the State will insist on provisions that are not reasonable given the circumstances of other tribes."

During the review process, several amendments were made to the Pala compact and subsequently approved by the Pala Band and the State of California. The amendments address issues that arose during the review process. The Bureau of Indian Affairs' review of the compact concludes that the agreement does not violate IGRA, Federal law, or the Bureau's trust responsibility. The compact allows the Pala Band an allocation of 199 lottery devices that it can either operate itself or license to other tribes to operate.

Twenty-eight Bureau of Indian Affairs schools in four states will officially become on-ramps to the information superhighway this Saturday, May 16, 1998. Access Native America Net Day will officially move Indian schools in Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Mississippi on-line and provide the students of these schools with access to the Internet through the Department of the Interior's network.

Celebrations are planned at all the schools with major event sites located at one school in each state. The Cottonwood School in Chinle, Arizona, will serve as the event site for the Navajo Nation; Jemez Pueblo Day School will serve New Mexico; Little Wound School in Kyle, South Dakota, will serve the Oglala Lakota Nation on the Pine Ridge Reservation; and the Red Water School in Carthage, Mississippi, will serve the Mississippi Choctaw Nation. Events will include cultural performances by students, presentations from members of the Net Day Planning Team, and an on-line event from the four schools. A show-and-tell of the web sites created by the students at all of the newly connected schools will be featured.

Many of the schools served by the Bureau of Indian Affairs are located in rural, impoverished areas where access to telephone lines and computers is limited by distance, poverty, and a lack of service that most Americans take for granted. "This is why it is so important we provide the technology of the 21st century to these children," said Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. "Our children do not have the same opportunities to take field trips to museums, zoos, or libraries. The Internet, and projects like Access Native America Net Day, bring the museums, the zoos, and libraries to Indian children."

Access to the Internet for students in Indian schools will broaden their horizons with instant links to all of the information on the Internet while also serving a strong social purpose. From the Internet, they will be able to communicate with other Indian children who may be experiencing similar problems. Peter Camp, an education specialist in the Office of Indian Education Programs and a Net Day coordinator, explains the importance of the Internet on isolated reservations: "If our kids are to participate in society they have to have the technology. Its absolutely critical. Indian children often are gripped by the feeling of isolation, that they are the only Indians left. With the creation of web pages and links between the schools, the kids are learning more about other Indian children, and gaining a new sense of hope. There is a definite lack of coverage of modem Indian issues, and this can help our kids know they are not alone," said Camp. Access Native America Net Day is a public-private collaboration between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and corporate and foundation sponsors including Intel, Microsoft, Toshiba, UPS, Los Alamos National Laboratories, and foundations like the Annenberg Rural Challenge, and the One 2 One Indigenous Learning Center.

Through the cooperation of these entities and the participation of programs such as Students Recycling Used Technology, the computers and training for their use were provided for the students involved in Net Day activities. Through the cooperation and generosity of these corporate and foundation sponsors more than a million dollars in hardware and software has been donated. Through the StRUT program, students at the Santa Fe Indian School, with the guidance and training supplied by the Los Alamos National Laboratories and Intel, built computers used by the Access Native America Net Day program. To help the newly networked schools maximize their connections Microsoft Corp. donated software and training resources to the Access Native America Net Day schools. Each school received FrontPage' 98, Microsoft's Web site creation and management tool: Internet solutions for K-12 CD, a comprehensive set of industry-leading tools and resources designed to enhance school and classroom Internet connections, training guides, including In and Out of the Classroom with FrontPage' 98, self-guided lessons to make it easy to use FrontPage as a classroom tool; and Microsoft's full Academic Training Pack, which contains training materials for educators that cover a range of technology solutions for schools. In addition through its work with StRUT Microsoft is providing Windows 95 and Microsoft Office 97 for the schools.

"Microsoft's support of Native American Net Day is part of our continuing effort to build a global Connected Learning Community, where all students have access to technology and the tools that support learning today and for a lifetime," said Kathryn Yates, director of Microsoft K-12 programs. "We are pleased to be a part of the community that is helping connect the students in these rural Native American schools to the vast resources of the Internet."

"Access Native America Net Day is already a success, but it is only a first step," said Assistant Secretary Gover. "The goal of the Bureau of Indian Affairs is to connect all 185 BIA operated schools to the Internet by the year 2000. Work on Net Day 99 begins next Monday. Our children are the national treasures of the Tribes, and the Internet is too important to their future for them to be left behind."

In an address to the Building Economic Self-Determination in Indian Communities conference today, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover attacked the lack of jobs and opportunities on Indian reservations, and pointed out some of the major barriers to economic development on the reservation. "Unemployment on Indian reservations is 49%*. Nearly half of our people are not working, because there are not enough jobs, and not nearly enough opportunity in Indian country. What would happen if half of America were unemployed? During the Great Depression, the answer was to put America back to work through the Works Progress Administration. But instead of a WPA program to provide Indian jobs, we see only shortsighted rhetoric attacking the Tribes and their right to govern themselves.

There are many impediments to progress on the reservation, not the least of which are the attempts by the States to tax and regulate all activities on Indian lands. "States and localities regularly say hat they are putting money into Indian country and not getting anything in return, but nothing could be further from the truth. States contribute less than $226 million in direct assistance to the Tribes. American Indians living on the reservations spend $3 .1 billion off the reservations, Tribal governments spend $1.2 billion on goods and services and reservation based businesses spend $4.4 billion off the reservation." This amounts to $8.7 billion dollars being pumped into State economies directly from American Indians. 'This amount is generated with almost half of American Indians unemployed. We can double these figures if we are successful in creating jobs and economic opportunity for American Indians." State and local taxation, and attempts by Congress to diminish Tribal sovereignty also are dangerous impediments to creating more opportunities for American Indians. "The Tribes are at once being told by the Federal government to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, while at the same time being deprived of the ability to use tax and regulatory policy as economic development tools," stated Gover, 'This is not right, and should not be encouraged. There is a theory that every dollar going to an American Indian falls into a black hole, never to be heard from again, this unfortunately is a ridiculous but widespread concept." Gover pledged the resources of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to create $500 million of new jobs and opportunities for American Indians over the next five years. "We are going to aggressively move forward to create new jobs, streamlining loan processes, and offering technical assistance to Tribes and individual American Indians interested in creating new businesses on the reservation."

After several hearings about the need for more police on Tribal lands and the severe need for school construction and repair funds in Indian Country, the Senate Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations cut the President Clinton's request to fund the needs of the American Indian people for law enforcement and school construction by more than $140 million.

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Gover was disappointed to learn that after the concern expressed by many members of the Congress, the subcommittee made these drastic cuts in the President's budget request for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. "We presented a very clear picture of the need for more law enforcement personnel, and the necessity of new and safe schools for Indian children. While many members agreed that these were a priority, the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee did not choose to budget the money in these areas." Gover also said, "American Indian communities have less than one-fourth of the police protection of comparable-sized communities. The safety of these Tribal communities is at stake, but we cannot provide more police officers without more money."

"Budget time is a difficult time, and hard decisions need to be made," said Gover. "The Administration hoped the Committee shared our interest in finding solutions to the problems of inadequate law enforcement and crumbling schools on the reservations. We were hopeful that the Tribes would receive the funding necessary to create solutions to these very serious problems." "The reservation schools are old, and there are many of these schools that are literally dangerous to our students. The President's budget was calculated to provide enough money to begin to solve the problem. The Subcommittee seemed to share in the need to fund this construction process, but it did not show up in the bill."

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest J. Gerard announced today Department approval of a coal mining and reclamation plan in the Navajo Nation Reservation in New Mexico.

The Restructured Mining and Reclamation Plan submitted by the Consolidation Coal Company and approved by the Navajo Nation calls for the mining of over 9,000 acres near the reservation's Burnham Chapter in New Mexico. The lease provides a royalty of 12~ percent of the value of each ton of coal. The company paid a bonus to the Navajo Nation of $5.6 million when the lease was approved in August 1977.

Assistant Secretary Gerard, in approving the plan, said it was an affirmation of the Department's commitment to the concept of trust responsibility. "Our approval of this lease and mining plan was contingent on the passing of tough tests-- tests designed to insure the balance of benefits to the Navajo people," he said.

Environmental considerations-- such as post-mining use of the land-- are included in the lease and stipulations. Stringent testing is required as part of this process. The land is expected under the plan to return to much of the same use as now, primarily grazing.

This is the first mine plan approved on Indian lands since the enactment of the Surface Mining Reclamation and Control Act of 1977. A renegotiated lease was approved between Consolidation and the Navajo Nation-- the same month that the Act became law-- making it necessary for the company to return with a plan in compliance with that law. The plan was approved with additional stipulations, agreed to by the mining company to insure compliance with the Act.

Mining under the plan will be over a 38 year period. During the first seven years about 900 acres will be mined. The production rate is anticipated to be at the rate of 300,000 tons the first year; 750,000 tons the second year; 1 million tons the third year; 4. 4 million tons the fourth year; and 6.4 million tons the fifth through thirty-eighth year.

The mining operation is expected to employ 363 people during the initial phases of operation and 245 to 335 people when in full operation. Consolidation Coal has committed to allocating at least 70 percent of the positions at the mine to Navajo tribal members.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has asked Congress for Federal funding of $1.011 billion for Fiscal Year 1981, an increase of approximately $5 million over 1980 funding.

For the operation of Indian programs, the Bureau requested $823.3 million, which includes $264.7million for education programs; $221.2 for Indian services; $74.6 for economic development and employment programs; $80.1 for natural resources development; $44.1 for trust responsibilities, and $138.6 for general management and facilities operations.

The balance of the request includes $93.6 million for construction of buildings, utilities and irrigation systems; $59.4 million for road construction; $30 million for Alaska Native Claims. Settlement, and $5 million for the Northwest Indian fisheries.

An increase of $19 million wa1 requested for Indian services. $4.3 million of the increase will be for social services related to provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act. The increased funding will also provide for meeting the needs of newly recognized Indian tribes and strengthening Indian tribal courts.

Bureau education programs will have a decrease of $7 million, with the largest part of this, $3.9 million, coming from the funding for tribally controlled community colleges.

For natural resources development, the Bureau has requested an increase in $6 million for forestry and agriculture programs.

The $5 million requested for the Northwest Indian fisheries fund would be the first increment of a $15 million fund to assist Indian tribes or corporations in the northwestern states to modernize and develop treaty-tribe fishing operations under proposed legislation.

A Special two man negotiating team has been appointed by Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Sid Mills to help settle the current governmental crisis on the Red Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota

The team members are former Bureau of Indian Affairs Commissioner Robert L. Bennett and Graham Holmes, a retired BIA official. Holmes will be dispatched immediately to Red Lake to begin consulting and planning with the tribal governing body, the petitioners and other Red Lake citizens.

In a telegram to Tribal Chairman Roger Jourdain, Mills said, "I am appointing a special two man team to work with you and the council as well as with the petitioners and other segments of the Red Lake population in an effort to reach agreement among differing Red Lake factions and make recommendations leading to remedies of the immediate problems that plague the reservation during the current governmental crisis.

"The special two man team will have the full faith, trust and backing of my office. They will report directly to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs. In view of our decision to appoint the above team, the ten day deadline for council action imposed in Assistant Secretary Gerard's wire of January 16 is temporarily lifted pending a report and recommendations from the Bennett-Holmes team.

"The continued recognition of the present tribal government will depend upon your full cooperation and good faith efforts in working with this special team and taking of appropriate action on matters at issue. I reserve the right at any time, however, to withdraw recognition on twenty-four hour notice if such cooperation is not forthcoming from the council."

The establishment of an Administrative Services Center for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was announced today by Commissioner of Indian Affairs William E. Hallett.

The Center will combine four separate administrative processing units from offices in Albuquerque and a management planning function of the Central Office. The Center will be a central location for the Bureau's Automatic Data Processing (ADP) systems development and administrative support.

Commissioner Hallett said the establishment of the Center is part of the BIA's overall management improvement. He said that the new single unit will provide better coordination of administrative services, instead of the four different programs of the past. The Center is designed to streamline the Bureau's system for processing of paperwork.

"The organization of the Administrative Services Center is a vital step towards increasing the BIA's ability to provide quicker and more responsive services to the Indian people and to the tribal governments," said Hallett.

The Bureau is developing a new state of technology ADP system. The Center would be the focal point for this information network between the Central Office, the Area Offices, and the Agency level offices.

The Center will bring together in one unit the ADP policy planning staff, the Division of ADP services, Administrative Systems Task Force Office, a property inventory services unit, and the Field Administration Office.