OPA

Gordon E. Cannon, an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Red Lake Agency in Minnesota, Commissioner of Indian Affairs William E. Hallett said today.

Cannon, who had been Superintendent of the Fort Totten Agency in North Dakota, began his career with the BIA in 1961.

A United States Army veteran, Cannon, 42, previously served as realty officer for the Colville, Hoopa and Western Washington agencies.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Eddie Brown today ordered the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to revise procedures and to focus attention on increased monitoring and inspections to curtail abuses and mismanagement in federal programs to improve housing for American Indians.

"BIA officials who misuse or allow the misuse of these funds are in effect robbing the very poorest members of tribes who desperately need improved housing," Brown said. The Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs made his remarks today in Phoenix, Arizona, at a special meeting of BIA officials who have responsibility for overseeing the federal programs. "BIA officials have a responsibility to monitor this and all other programs closely," Brown said. "Failure to carry out this duty is a very serious breach of responsibility which undermines not only this needed program but the reputation of the entire BIA."

Brown cited a recent investigation by the Interior Department's Inspector General which found abuses in the federal Housing Improvement Program (HIP) in the Albuquerque area. The report said the BIA provided housing assistance to ineligible individuals, provided improvements that did not result in decent, safe and sanitary housing, and inadequately controlled procurements, disbursements and construction materials and supplies. Another draft audit report found similar problems in the Pit River Tribe in the Sacramento area. The Assistant Secretary said a review is currently being conducted to determine which BIA managers should be held accountable for actions identified in the Inspector General's Audit Report.

Today's meeting in Phoenix was the most recent in a series of actions Brown has ordered to stem these abuses. Other steps include:

Revision of procedures to reflect regulatory changes and areas of non-compliance that were identified in audits by the Inspector General.

Issuance of a bulletin on procurement, contracting and payment processes that will target current practices ·subject to fraud, waste or abuse.

Initiation of a regulatory change to tighten the income base for HIP eligibility to assure that the assistance is concentrated on the most needy.

A directive that contracting officers obtain recommendations form HIP staff prior to awarding or making any decision on tribal HIP contracts to assure proper program administration.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today signed a contract with the Gila River Indian Community, completing the allocation of Central Arizona Project water to 11 tribes within the state "Central Arizona Project water will be instrumental in the future development of Arizona, and it will be especially beneficial to the Gila River Indian Community and other tribes sharing in it," Lujan said. "The signing of this contract is an important milestone, completing a process that has taken 16 years." Governor Thomas R. White, in signing for the tribe, said: "We have arrived at an historic moment for the Community. We feel honored to be here today to sign this important document."

Also participating in the signing ceremony in the Interior Secretary's office were former Governor Dana R. Norris and Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie Brown. "As an Arizonan, I have a special appreciation for the importance of water to the tribes in my state," Brown noted. "These allocations enhance the value of tribal lands for agriculture and other economic development." The contract signed today provides for 173,100 acre-feet of water annually for the Gila River Indian Community of Sacaton. Arizona Indian tribes were allotted 309,828 of Central Arizona Project water under a decision made by the Secretary of the. Interior in 1976. Contracts with 10 other tribes entitled to share in the allocation were signed in previous years.

Interior Assistant Secretary Eddie F. Brown today said the recently established Indian Gaming Management Office has developed an action plan and oversight process to provide assistance to Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) field staff and Indian tribes on gaming management issues and problems. "We believe the staffing of this important office will help to curtail some of the serious problems we have encountered in management contracts between tribes and gaming management firms, lease agreements, tribal-state compacts, per capita payments from gaming revenues, and Class III gaming operations without approved compacts with the states," Brown said. "Gaming has been one of the fastest growing forms of economic development in Indian Country. Upon passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988, there was no lead time to establish a regulatory authority before tribes begin gaming activities. No one foresaw the implications and rapid expansion of high stakes gaming and consequently never considered the need for a moratorium to allow time for the logistical planning and establishment of a regulatory process," the assistant secretary added.

As of Dec. 3, Interior has approved tribal-state compacts (required by the IGRA for casino-type games) for 53 Indian tribes in sixteen states, 30 of which have been approved during 1992. "And we know that some Class III gaming is being conducted without compacts because of lawsuits challenging the classification of certain types of gaming," Brown said. "Likewise, there are Indian tribes that do not have approved management contracts for varying reasons, but our gaming management team is in the process of bringing all of those into line," he added. Brown said that most Indian gaming operations are a boon to the economies on reservations and to the surrounding non-Indian communities in the way of job creation, development and spending of tourist dollars. "Tribes have enhanced their governmental systems, increased and enhanced reservation infrastructures, built day care centers, fire departments, water and sewage treatment facilities, provided educational and other training opportunities for members, and provided for investments in other economic development ventures," Brown said. BIA has assisted 28 gaming operations in providing $61.1 million in direct loans (5, $5.1 million), loan guarantees (18, $55 million), and Indian business development grants (5, $1 million) for construction of facilities and operating capital. Almost $14 million has been repaid and all guaranteed loans are current. One direct loan is delinquent and is in the process of being modified because of construction delays.

Professionals, the current staff is working closely with the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC), a three-member commission created under the 1988 law. "We will continue to have many responsibilities in Indian gaming, even when the NIGC is fully staffed and operational," Brown said. "Our close working relationship will allow us to have an easy transition of duties to the NIGC as they assume many of these duties." The Indian Affairs assistant secretary also pointed out that his office has worked closely with Interior's Inspector General (IG) to share information regarding Indian gaming operations. "This business has grown at such a rapid pace that it has almost been impossible for one federal entity to maintain oversight over all establishments and by working together we will hopefully correct the problems that have surfaced," Brown said. He added that the new gaming office will maintain liaison with the National Indian Gaming Association, the North American Gaming Regulators Association, the National Attorneys General Association and other gaming industry-related organizations to improve tribal-state relations pertaining to Indian gaming.

A significant first step toward the resolution of Indian water-rights claims in New Mexico will be taken Monday, April 6, in Albuquerque, N.M., when Chief U.S. District Court Judge John E. Conway signs an order that finally adjudicates the water rights of the Jicarilla Apache Tribe in the Rio Chama Basin in northern New Mexico. The order, which is a Partial Final Judgment and Decree, will determine the tribe's water rights on the east side of its reservation. The signing will take place in the U.S. District Court, 500 Gold SW, 13 floor east courtroom, at 1:30 p.m.

"This settlement provides benefits to numerous water users throughout northern New Mexico," said Tim Vollmann, the chairman of the Federal Negotiating Team. "The tribe worked closely with all the parties in the Rio Chama Basin, addressing their concerns and seeking their support." All objections to entry of the decree were addressed, which enabled Judge Conway to sign the decree without holding a trial on the matter.

Although numerous lawsuits have been filed in New Mexico over the last 30 years to determine the water rights of Indian tribes, this is the first final decree adjudicating such rights in the Rio Grande Basin and its tributaries. Claims of a dozen other Indian tribes are still pending.

The court proceedings that led to the signing of today's decree were a product of the 1992 Jicarilla Apache Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act, which conditioned the settlement on the entry of final decrees in two general stream adjudications, the Rio Chama in federal court, and the San Juan River in state district court in San Juan County, N.M. The state proceedings are still pending.

Under the settlement the Jicarilla Apache Tribe entered into a federal contract with Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan in December 1992 to provide the tribe with a share of federal project water from the Navajo Reservoir in northwestern New Mexico and from the San Juan Chama Project. The latter project delivers water to the tribe and other contractors at Heron Reservoir, located on the eastern boundary of the tribe's reservation.

The proposed decree was the subject of a motion filed jointly by the tribe, the federal government, and the state engineer in 1995. Numerous public meetings were held in the Town of Espanola, the Village of Abiquiu, and other locations within the Rio Chama Basin in 1996-97 to ensure that water users were fully informed of the terms of the tribe's water-rights settlement.

The Interior Department has five other Negotiating Teams working to resolve Indian water-rights claims in the State of New Mexico. These include the claims of Taos Pueblo, the claims of three pueblos on the Rio Jemez north of Albuquerque, and the' claims of four pueblos on the Rio Pojoaque, which are located north of Santa Fe, where litigation has been pending since 1966.

An emergency created by a historic lack of salmon in the Bristol Bay area of Alaska has created the need for emergency funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Kevin Gover announced today the Bureau of Indian Affairs would immediately release $206,000 to be used for emergency assistance to the hundreds of Native Alaskans dependent on the salmon harvest in the Bristol Bay area. ·

"Emergencies come in many forms, they are not just hurricanes ·and tornadoes," Gover stated, "The salmon harvest in Bristol Bay has been the smallest in 20 years; and this will lead to suffering among the Native Alaskans, as surely as if a hurricane had hit the area." Many Native Alaskans depend on the salmon catch as their only source of income, and as the primary means of feeding their families through the Alaska winter. This year's poor harvest means that without some assistance, many Alaska Natives may go hungry this winter. "This is only a small amount of assistance, but it can be used immediately by the Native Alaskans for emergency food, shelter and clothing. We tend to see disasters and emergencies in the terms of storms that blow in and destroy, but the lack of salmon in the nets of Native Alaskans will create emergency conditions in the months to come if we do not act now. The lack of fish in this year’s catch is a true disaster even though it is not as dramatic as the destruction of a storm."

This year's dismal catch, worth less than one third of an average annual catch, has created hardship for Alaska Natives dependent on the salmon. Last year's catch was also below projections, and the accumulated debt of two substandard years is causing many Native Alaskans to look at a winter without enough food, fuel oil, or clothing to face the - winter ahead. "The amount of money here is simply not enough", stated Gover, "But by quick delivery and distribution, possibly we can help see the Native Alaskans through until more relief funds can be found."

The American Indian Art and Culture Review panel will hold its first meeting on Saturday, January 26, 1980, at the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. at the Administration Building conference room. The review panel has been established to discuss the role of the federal government in the preservation of Indian culture and art. I f the panel determines there is a role for the federal government, it will then discuss options for federal involvement.

The review panel will also analyze the education programs of IAIA and its future location. The possibility of relocation must be substantiated or justification for the maintenance of the present site be presented

Members of the panel are the National Tribal Chairmen's Association president Wendall Chino; All Indian Pueblo Council chairman Delfin Lovato; National Congress of American Indians Secretary-Treasurer Ella Mae Horse; National Endowment for the Humanities chairman Joseph Duffey; National Endowment for the Arts chairman Livingston Biddle; University of New Mexico anthropology professor Alfonso Ortiz; Native American Council of Regents coordinator Richard West, Junior; and Museum of the American Indian director Roland W. Force.

A meeting of the American Indian Art and Culture Review Panel, scheduled to be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, January 26, has been transferred to Washington, D. C.

The group will meet January 26 in the Interior Department building.

The future location of the Institute of American Indian Art will be one of the agenda items.

Assistant Interior Secretary for Indian Affairs Forrest Gerard today released the text of a telegram sent to Red Lake Chippewa Tribal Chairman, Roger Jourdain. Gerard says the telegram was sent to meet objections about a petition presented to the tribal council on October 12, 1979. The council, in Resolution Number I-80 rejected the petitions on grounds the original petitions on grounds the original petitions were not filed with the council. The council received only copies of the original.

"We made this minor concession to try to meet the council's objection, but this does not deter us from our original decision to withdraw federal recognition from the Red Lake Tribal Council if they fail to call an election as required by the petitions," Gerard said.

The text of the telegram, dated January 16, 1980 follows:

"Have received resolution No. 1-80 rejecting petitions delivered to secretary of the Red Lake Band on October 12, 1979, on grounds that the original petitions were notified. Since the council has had the petitions for three months and has now ruled them invalid solely on the grounds that the original petitions were not filed with the tribal council, I believe that the tribal council is prepared to go forward with the references requested in the petitions as soon as the original petitions are filed. I am therefore directing the acting superintendent to work with the petitioners to get the original to you.

If within ten days of having received the original petitions, the tribal council does not call for a proper election on the issues raised by the petitions to be conducted not less than 60 days from the council's receipt of the petitions, my fear that the tribal government process has ceased to function on the Red lake Reservation which I expressed to you in my telegram of December 19, 1979, will have been confirmed beyond all doubt.

The department will have no choice at that time but to withdraw immediately recognition of tile tribal council."

Interior Secretary Cecil D. Andrus today announced that public hearings on fishing regulations governing Michigan Indian tribes have been scheduled "because the matter is one of importance and controversy in Michigan."

Andrus said that public participation through the hearings, to be held February 20 at Sault Ste. Marie and February 22 in Lansing, "can assist us in evaluating the regulations for the 1980 season."

Following a U. S. District Court ruling in May 1979 that the State of Michigan does not have the authority to regulate the exercise of treaty fishing rights, the Interior Department in November published Federal regulations which took effect immediately as an interim rule to govern the remainder of the 1979 fishing season.

These regulations were developed under a memorandum of understanding with the involved tribes. In this memorandum the tribes agreed to develop one joint comprehensive set of fishing regulations which the Department agreed to review and promulgate as Federal regulations if they sufficiently protected the fishing resource. Both the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources were consulted in the process.

The interim regulations, published in November, established a 60-day public comment period for possible changes for the 1980 season. This period has been extended to March 3, 1980. Comments should be sent to the Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, 18th & C Streets, N.W., Washington, D. C. 20240.

Andrus said he considered the memorandum of understanding with the tribes and the resulting regulations as "significant steps forward in protecting the fishery resource for all users while fully implementing treaty fishing rights."

"We realize, however, that there are long-term resource concerns, such as lake trout management and the prospects for gear conversion, which need to be discussed more fully among the Department, the state and the tribes, and that adjustments to the regulations for the 1980fishing season may be advisable," he added. Sports fishermen and others in Michigan have sought through litigation and political pressure to bring the tribes under state regulations. Andrus said that under the decision rendered by U. S. District Judge Noel Fox in May, the primary regulatory authority over treaty fishers is the tribes themselves, with the Interior Department having a residual authority to step in to preserve the resource.

"We do not have the authority to impose the state's management philosophy, or resource allocation decisions on the tribes," Andrus said. "We can only regulate to protect the resource." He said he was pleased with the responsible approach taken by the tribes in the development of the interim regulations, but said the Department would amend the regulations unilaterally if necessary to ensure conservation. Notice of the hearings and extension of the comment period is being published in the Federal Register. Persons desiring to testify and those seeking additional information about the hearings should contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Minneapolis Area Office, 831 Second Avenue, South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402,612/725-2904.

Interior's Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Sidney Mills said today that the Department continues to recognize Mrs. Stephanie Hanson as the Treasurer of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, despite a prior attempt by the tribal council to oust Mrs. Hanson from that role

Mills, who last week received the final report and recommendations of an investigatory team he appointed in January, also said that two petitions requesting referendum elections to amend the tribal constitution and to vote on Mrs. Hanson's status as treasurer were invalid because they were not signed by the required 25 percent of the eligible voters

Even though the petition calling for .a referendum on the status of Mrs. Hanson has been deemed invalid, the tribal council has under other authority decided to put a question about Mrs. Hanson's status before the Red Lake electorate on March 26.

A letter to Tribal Chairman Roger A. Jourdain, signed by Deputy Assistant Secretary Rick Lavis reiterated a September 13, 1979, statement by Secretary Cecil D. Andrus that the prior attempted removal of Mrs. Hanson was not in compliance with the Red Lake Band's constitution. Lavis also told Jourdain the referendum election on Mrs. Hanson's status scheduled by the tribal council for March 26 could not make legal an action of the tribal council which has originally taken, was contrary to the band's own governing documents. "The election, if held would be advisory only and not be binding on this department,"

Lavis said. "We would expect the council to permit her to reassume her position and to allow her to function as treasurer as soon as she obtains a proper bond." He added that this could lead to the reinstatement of some of the tribal contracts and grants for which funding has been withheld because of the lack of a functioning treasurer. Lavis said if the council wanted to provide for the recall or removal of its district representatives or officers it should enact appropriate "removal and recall X" ordinances of general application as required by Section 2 of Article of the band's constitution.