OPA

Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Ross Swimmer said today he supports the repair of existing Navajo homes on Hopi Partitioned Lands (HPL) in northern Arizona, but pledged legal recourse if evidence is found new home construction is underway in the area.

"We have always maintained that existing law and court orders allow for repair and it has never been our position that such repairs are prohibited," Swimmer said. "But if new home construction is started on the HPL, we will have no choice but to seek appropriate legal action to stop the Navajo Tribe from breaking federal law.

Swimmer’s comments came in response to published reports that Navajo Tribal Chairman Peter MacDonald and other Navajo tribal officials were repairing Navajo homes in the Teesto area of the HPL last weekend. "I applaud the action of Chairman MacDonald in his efforts to help his people on the HPL," Swimmer said.

Swimmer said it would continue to be the policy of the federal government to encourage the remaining Navajo families on the HPL to move into new residences on lands in northeastern Arizona provided to the Navajo Tribe for resettlement purposes.

"There remains as much urgency as ever to get the remaining Navajo families signed up and moved to the new lands," Swimmer said. "We look forward to Chairman MacDonald's cooperation with us in getting the remaining families resettled.

"We are sensitive to the problems of Navajos remaining on Hopi lands," he added, "but we must guarantee that laws established by Congress be upheld."

Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Eddie F. Brown will keynote the third in a series of regional economic development conferences with Indian tribal leaders May 14-15 in Oklahoma City. The meeting is being held in conjunction with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce's third annual Indian economic development conference on May 14.

The conference will include tribal representatives from Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. The purpose of the meeting will be to highlight successful Indian economic development efforts and, through consultation with tribal chairmen, define the role for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the development of Indian community economies.

The conference also will present an overview of the roles of federal, state and tribal governments in economic development and will offer information to tribal leaders on policy options for economic development. "We are pleased that Governor Henry Bellman has asked us and Indian tribal leaders of Oklahoma to participate in their annual conference and work together to attempt to find ways of creating more economic development on Indian lands," Brown said. "The diversity of economic development projects among tribes suggests that there is no single magical formula that will solve all the problems of unemployment and poverty on Indian lands," he added. "The key is to develop a partnership between tribes and the Bureau for both economic development issues and the Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced the signing of a five-party agreement for the management of Lake Roosevelt.

The 150 mile long lake was created by Grand Coulee Dam and has become a major recreational and irrigation water resource in eastern Washington State. The five signatories, all of whom manage land along the lake or are involved in operation of the dam and irrigation works, are: the Spokane and Colville Indian Tribes, and the Interior Department’s National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Reclamation

Attending the Agreement ceremony were Jude Stensgar, Chairman for the Colville Business Council; Joe Flett, Chairman for the Spokane Tribe; John Sayre, Interior Assistant Secretary - Water and Science; Dr. Eddie Brown, Interior Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs; and Dennis Underwood, Commissioner of Reclamation.

"The Lake Roosevelt Cooperative Management Agreement continues the Department's policy of working to resolve differences and facilitating cooperation in the management of our public resources," Lujan said. "The Interior Department will continue to take a course of negotiation rather than litigation in resolving Indian water related issues."

The agreement allows the five parties to coordinate the management of Lake Roosevelt and to plan and develop facilities and activities on the lake and its freeboard lands. In addition, the agreement provides for involving and receiving comments from interested state, local and county governmental entities and private individuals and organizations.

Issues to be addressed by the five parties in subsequent months for coordinating the management of Lake Roosevelt's resources will include cross deputizing of tribal, state, county and Federal law enforcement officers and providing consistent rules and regulations for the public visitors.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today approved a proposed settlement of Indian water rights for the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho "This agreement is significant in that it is the first Indian water rights settlement for the State and the Bush Administration," Lujan said "It also can serve as a model for other Indian water rights negotiations in progress across the country. The 1990 Fort Hall Water Rights Agreement, achieved after five years of negotiations, is a victory for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, local non-Indian water users and the State of Idaho.

"I am especially pleased that the settlement was achieved without committing the Federal Government to any economically or environmentally unjustifiable water development projects," Lujan said. "Certain provisions of the agreement will benefit habitat of the endangered whooping crane and could enhance flows in the Snake River to improve salmon and steelhead fisheries

Lujan noted, however, that the agreement cannot become effective until further actions are completed in the state court, and approval by the Congress, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and the Idaho Legislature.

Under the agreement:

-- The Tribes and the United States will be decreed a firm water supply from surface and groundwater totaling 581,031 acre-feet per year;

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today met with leaders of six Indian tribes to recognize "a new chapter giving form and substance to the concept of tribal self-determination." Lujan welcomed the tribal leaders to his office for a ceremony recognizing agreements that give them greatly increased authority in the budgeting and spending of federal funds for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) programs.

Earlier this month Interior announced the agreements with the Quinault Indian Nation, Taholah, Wash.; Lummi Indian Nation, Bellingham, Wash.; Jamestown Klallam Indian Tribe, Sequim, Wash.; Hoopa Valley Indian Tribe, Hoopa, Calif.; Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, Okla., and Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa, Onamia, Minn.

"These self-governance agreements are a pilot project, but they reflect far more than that," Lujan said. "They reflect the new vigor and drive for more direct control that characterize tribal governments today." Calling upon the BIA to be strongly supportive of the tribal governments involved in the pilot program, Lujan announced that he has signed a Secretarial Order creating a Self-Governance Demonstration Project Council reporting directly to the Secretary.

"This Council will provide oversight and guidance for the implementation and maintenance of these agreements," Lujan said. "The establishment of this Council reflects my intention to work with these pioneering tribal governments exploring a new path to tribal self-determination."

The self-governance agreements become effective with the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 1991. The funds to be administered by the tribes for the first year are: Quinault, $3.9 million; Lummi, $2.2 million; Hoopa Valley, $2.0 million; Jamestown Klallam, $687,000; Cherokee, $6.1 million; and Mille Lacs Band, $267,210. New annual funding agreements will be negotiated for the two remaining fiscal years of the agreements.

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced his intention to appoint Joel Matthew Frank, Sr., a Seminole from Hollywood, Florida, to serve on the newly-created National Indian Gaming Commission.

"Joel Frank is extremely well-qualified for the demanding tasks involved in establishing the National Indian Gaming Commission," Lujan said. "His experience as Vice Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association will be an especially important asset in helping build a framework for successful operation of the Commission."

The Commission is being established in accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (P.L. 100-497) enacted by the 100th Congress. The three-member commission will regulate, establish standards for, and monitor gaming on Indian lands and reservations. The public will have 30 days to comment on the selection before it can be made official by Lujan. Earlier this year, President Bush nominated and the U.S Senate confirmed Tony Hope to serve as chairman of the commission. Under the Act, the Secretary of the Interior names the other two members of the Commission, but must allow for a comment period after announcing his choice. Lujan said he is close to selecting the third and final member.

Frank, an enrolled member of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, has been Executive Administrator of that tribal government since 1982. Previous to that he served as Assistant Health Director and as a health planner for his tribe. From 1975-1979, Frank was the health administrator for the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida. Currently, he is President of the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.; Vice Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association, and a member of the Florida Governor's Council on Indian Affairs. He also has served as Vice President and Secretary of the United South College and St. Thomas University in Miami, Fla. Comments on the nomination should be addressed to Morris Simms, Director of Personnel, Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20240.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced that he has decided to grant right-of-way permits for the proposed Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

Because of injunctions issued in pending litigation, the actual permits for the pipeline cannot be issued at this time. Notice of the Secretary's intent to issue the permits is being given the plaintiffs, as required by court order, and the permits will be issued as soon as that can be done without violating any court order.

The text of the Secretary's statement is attached.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today announced approval of revised regulations governing mining exploratory and development operations conducted on Federal and Indian lands under permits and leases issued by the Department of the Interior.

The regulations are not new, Secretary Morton pointed out, but rather are the existing reorganized and clarified regulations. (The revised regulations will be published June 1, 1972 in the Federal Register and will become effective 30 days thereafter.)

These regulations are designed to give permittees and 1essfiaes a better understanding of their responsibility to protect and other natural resources during operations and to reclaim land no longer needed for mining purposes.

The regulations also clarify the authority of mining supervisors of the U. S. Geological Survey - - who are charged with, enforcing the regulations -- for directing environmental protection and reclamation. The practical result of the revision, Secretary Morton said, is that ' the regulations will provide greater protection for the environment.

The regulations were published in the Federal Register as a proposed rulemaking March 24, 1971, with the public invited to submit comments and suggestions. As a result of comments received, a number of changes that were not substantial were made in the regulations published today.

Dollar volume of contracts with Indian tribes and individuals for goods and services -- excluding construction -- by the bureau of Indian Affairs has reached $29.5 million in fiscal year 1972, Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton announced today.

Another $12 million in contracts for goods and services to Indian tribes and individuals is anticipated by the close of the current fiscal year.

The increase in direct contracting with Indian tribes and individuals by BIA since 1969 for goods and services is significant and is in line with President Nixon's determination to give Indian people greater participation in their affairs, “Secretary Morton said.

Contracts by BIA with Indian tribes and individuals for goods and services amounted to $4.4 million in fiscal year 1968, $7.7 million in fiscal '69, and $12.9. Million in fiscal f 70, and $28. 5 million in fiscal 71, Secretary Morton noted.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce said the new emphasis on contracting by Indians through the Bureau has become "an important means of training and employment for Indians.”

Commissioner Bruce -- an Indian of Sioux-Mohawk descent -- added that the BIA contracts help make Indian people producing Americans and meaningfully involve them. In matters of great concern to themselves and Indian communities.”

Contracting to Indians has largely taken place under what is known as the "Buy Indian Act. II This act, passed in 1910, says that "in the purchase of Indian supplies” the Secretary of the Interior may use his discretion and “ so far as may be practicable Indian labor shall be employed, and purchases of the products of Indian industry may be made in open market .... “

Contracts negotiated have involved goods and services primarily for Indian education, law and order functions, social services, plant management, roads maintenance and construction, and supplies. Contracts for social services functions averaged the highest dollar amounts -- $75,400, while contracts for supplies averaged $1,600.

The anticipated number of non- construction contracts to be signed between the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian suppliers in fiscal year 1972 is 1, 749, compared to 1, 175 signed in fiscal year 1969.

Some of the Bureau of Indian Affairs service’, that have been contracted out to Indian companies or tribes to operate are: "'Housing developments, home ownership training functions, water resources inventories, ground water studies, adult education training functions. Purchase of actual supplies from Indians covers abroad spectrum.

Interior Assistant Secretary Ross Swimmer announced today the appointment of three top officials for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

Named to direct the principal program offices of the Bureau are Henrietta Whiteman, a Cheyenne Indian on the faculty of the University of Montana, to be director of Indian education programs; Frank Ryan, a member of the Gros Ventre Tribe who was executive director of the President's Commission on Indian Reservation Economies, to be director of trust responsibilities, and Hazel Elbert, a Creek Indian who served as the acting head of the BIA prior to Swimmer's appointment, to be director of Indian services. Swimmer, who became assistant secretary for Indian affairs December 5, said he was pleased "to begin to get his management team on board. They are highly qualified, very competent people who share my determination to make the BIA a more effective agency in helping Indian tribes achieve self-sufficiency and self-government."

As director of Indian education programs for the Bureau, Whiteman is in charge of a federal Indian school system that includes 57 day schools; 46 on reservation boarding schools; seven off-reservation boarding high schools; 13 dormitory facilities for Indian students attending public schools; and three post-secondary schools -- a junior college, a fine arts institute and a technical training institute. She also has oversight responsibility for 58 schools operated by tribes under contracts with the BIA. The FY 1986 budget for Indian education programs is $269 million. Whiteman, who is a full professor and director of Native American Studies at the University of Montana, has accepted her appointment for two years under an Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement with the university. A native of Oklahoma, Whiteman has been on the Montana faculty since 1972. She was a visiting lecturer in the graduate school of education at Harvard in 1977. She has talked and taught about Indian education at various universities and be ore many education groups. She has published numerous articles in both professional and popular publications,

Whiteman, 51, graduated with a B.A. from the Southwestern Oklahoma State University, earned an M.A. in English from Oklahoma State University and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of New Mexico. She began her education career in 1955 as a seventh grade teacher, in 1982, she was named Cheyenne Indian of the Year for her achievements in education. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Indian Education Association.

Frank Ryan, in the Office of Trust Responsibilities, will work with the tribes in the development of their natural resources. He will be responsible for tribal rights protection and will function as trustee for more than 53 million acres of land held in trust by the United States for Indian tribes and individuals. The FY 1986 budget for these functions is $185 million. Since 1981, Ryan has been a member of the Department of Education's Senior Executive Service as director of the Indian education program, director of the organizational performance service and personnel resources management service. He served for approximately one year on loan to the Executive Office of the President to work with the President's Commission on Indian Reservation Economies. Born on the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana in 1948, Ryan graduated from Yale in 1971. While an undergraduate, he received a Carnegie Foundation grant to study economics in Japan and to work for a Japanese company. In 1970 he received a National Science Foundation grant to return to Japan where he studied paternalism in Japanese industry. Ryan graduated from the Harvard Law School in 1977, received a faculty appointment there and remained at Harvard until 1981. He did research, taught and did some consulting in the area of Indian rights protection and development. In the early 1970's he worked with the Fort Belknap Tribal Management team, spent some time in the office of the Montana Governor as an economic development specialist, and worked with a business management firm in Chicago.

The Office of Indian Services, which will be directed by Ra2el Elbert, includes social service programs, law enforcement, housing, economic development and employment programs and a number of other reservation governmental programs. 'The annual budget in FY 1986 is $328 million. Elbert has been the acting director of the office since June 1985, after serving as the deputy director of Indian services since July 1981. A 1957 graduate of the Haskell Indian Junior College, the Oklahoma native began her government career in Washington, D.C. as a clerk-stenographer and has worked through a series of increasingly responsible jobs. During 1957-67, Elbert worked with the Indian Health Service in the old Department of Health, Education and Welfare. She transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1967, serving eight years as a legislative specialist. In 1975, Elbert began a four-year stint as the legislative assistant for Senator Dewey Bartlett of Oklahoma. In May 1979, she returned to the Bureau as a staff assistant to Forrest Gerard, Interior's first assistant secretary for Indian affairs.

DOI

INDIAN NEWS NOTES

A Publication of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Public Information Staff 202/343-7445

Interior Royalty Management Committee Includes Indian Representatives:

Interior Secretary Donald Hodel met January 10 in Denver with his recently appointed Royalty Management Advisory Committee. The 31-member committee includes seven Indian representatives. Hodel said the committee would "assure active and knowledgeable external oversight and continuing involvement in decision-making." It was selected from nominees submitted by state governors, Indian tribes, industry associations and other interested parties. Indian representatives include: Lester Chapoose, chairman, Uintah and Ouray Tribal Council; Louis Denetsosie, deputy attorney general, Navajo Nation; Judy Knight, vice chairman, Ute Mountain Tribal Council; Wes Martel, councilman, Shoshone Business Council; Ben Mathies, CPA/consultant to the Southern Ute Tribe; Thurman Velarde, administrator, Oil and Gas Administration, Jicarilla Apache Tribe; and Pressley Ware, chairman, Oklahoma Indian Mineral Association.

Indian People Share in Observance of Dr. King's National Holiday:

Indian people throughout the United States participated in the tribute paid to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this year, when his birthday -- like that of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln -- was celebrated as a national holiday. An editorial in the Navajo Times Today wrote of Dr. King's dream: "The United States has come a long way towards Dr. King's dream. Sure there is still hatred and still evil. But look at how much more good there is today than there was when Dr. King was marching for a better society. More kids, kids from every race, are educated and taking their rightful place in society. Society still has a long way to go. But it's important to keep sight of the dream. And, more important, when the dream is important enough, it's time for those who really believe to begin giving. The process of giving, of sharing and of choosing to die for a belief, is what make the human being human." In Washington, D. C, Indian Affairs Assistant Secretary Ross Swimmer told an Interior Department audience that the nation "owes a great debt to Dr. King. We need to make the principles he exemplified and taught a part of our lives. 11 Swimmer said "not being part of the problem as an active racist is not enough. 11 He added that the passive acceptance of racism and racist attitudes was a major cause of the continuing problems we .still have today.

Report on Indian Tribes of Washington Published by Seattle Times:

A lengthy report on the Indians of the State of Washington was published by the Seattle Times in December. The six-part series has been re-issued as a twenty-six page special section available by mail for $1.25 from the _Seattle Times, P.O. Box 1926, Seattle, Washington 98111. Reporter Bill Dietrich, who did the report, worked for more than a year researching and writing the articles. He visited most of the state's 26 reservations. Photographer Alan Berner visited nine of the tribes over a period of several months. 'The report includes statistical information, historical background and information on the problems and progress of the state's Indians. 'The report also gives considerable attention to the conflicts in the state between the Indians and anti-treaty rights organizations. 'The following is from the introductory article: "Washington is in the midst of an Indian renaissance. Thanks to legal decisions, a switch in federal policy and a new generation of sophisticated Indian leaders, there has been more change in the state's tribes in the past ten years than in the previous 10?,. Washington has also become the nation's leading state for Native American political activism, courtroom battles, congressional Indian legislation and an anti-Indian backlash. For today's Indian ' such positive and negative currents circle each other in a dizzying whirlpool. Also swirling are the old debates -- assimilation versus cultural survival, equal rights versus treaty rights, redneck racism versus bleeding-heart guilt, independence versus welfare."

New Mexico County Required to Change Voting Precincts for Indians:

The Justice Department recently ordered McKinley County, New Mexico to increase the number of voting precincts in Indian areas and reassign voters to their proper precincts. Justice officials said the county had violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by locating voting precincts and assigning voters to precincts so that Indians are required to travel great distances to vote. Officials also said many Indians are assigned to vote in precincts that do not follow the geographic terrain or respect Indian living patterns. County officials said the non-compliance with the Voting Rights Act was not done on purpose. The order requires the county to increase the number of voting precincts in rural areas from 19 to 23 and to create two polling places in two of the precincts. It also requires the county to reassign voters to their proper precincts. The county is required to make information about the changes available to the public written in English, Spanish and Navajo.

Supreme Court Agrees to Rule on Indian Land Consolidation Act:

The United States Supreme Court agreed December 13 to rule on the constitutionality of a 1983 amendment to the Indian Land Consolidation Act that required highly fractionated interests in reservation lands to revert to the tribe upon the owner's death. The amendment was passed to eliminate the administrative problems when a small parcel of trust land was held for as many as 100 heirs of the original owner. The amendment required that an undivided interest of no more than two percent in land that earned less than $100 the preceding year would revert to the tribe after the owner's death. The amendment was challenged in court by some potential heirs of land on the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. The district court ruled the law was constitutional, but the circuit court of appeals held the law unconstitutional because it allowed tribes to reclaim land without compensating the estate of the deceased person,

Indian Woman Is Elected Mayor in Montana City:

Julene Kennerly, an Indian woman from Montana, was featured in the January 16 issue of USA Today as the first female, Indian mayor of a U.S. city. Kennerly, 45, wife of the late state Representative Leo Kennerly Jr., was elected to the non-paid position last fall. Her goal as mayor is to revive the Blackfeet Indian reservation city of Browning. Kennerly said of her new position, "I really want to restore the pride within Browning and the dignity that we all deserve."

Indian Business Woman Is Honored By President Reagan:

Peggy Shreves, A Chickasaw Indian woman from Oklahoma, was honored by President Reagan at a White House ceremony as "Female Entrepreneur of the Year" for 1985. Her accomplishments are featured in the January/February issue of the magazine Minorities and Women in Business. Shreves is president and founder of Frontier Engineering, Inc. (FEI), a computer products plant located in Norman, Oklahoma. Shreves and her husband left their positions at Oklahoma State University to gamble on their abilities as entrepreneurs. In just four short years their sales rose from $24,000 in 1981 to more than $5 million in 1985. Shreves said that the genetic engineering equipment FEI is working on has the potential for finding a cure for cancer. She also said FEI engineers designed equipment for the Federal Aviation Administration, which is expected to help reduce the potential for airline crashes. Shreves said credit for her success goes to the assistance she received from Oklahomans for Indian Opportunity (OIO), a Oklahoma based organization that provides business development assistance to Indian-owned firms, and the Small Business Administration for helping to smooth out some early problems. Shreves was named the "Indian Business Persons of the Year" by 010 in 1984 and won a similar honor from the Dallas Regional Office of the Minority Business Development Agency.

Ceremonies Celebrate Translation into Navajo of Complete Bible:

Dedication ceremonies were held December 19 on the Navajo Reservation for a new translation into Navajo of the complete Bible. A group called the Navajo Bible Translators had been working on the project for more than 40 years, a translation of the New Testament was completed and published in 1955. This New Testament translation underwent major revisions while work was completed on the Old Testament. According to Mrs. Geronimo Martin, whose husband was one of the first Navajos to join the translators, the only other complete Bible published in an Indian language is in Chol, a Mexican Indian dialect. The New York Times, reporting on the event, said the translators had "to struggle to convert the English of the King James into the language of the country’s largest tribe, and they kept a keen eye out for cultural pitfalls." One of the translators, Faith Hill, said, "The easiest parts were anything about sheep and lambs. Navajo people know everything about sheep."

With the touch of a key, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) recently opened a computer information network to states and Indian tribes receiving mineral royalties.

The State and Tribal Support System (STATSS), gives participating States and tribes access to mineral revenue information maintained at MMS's Royalty Management Program accounting center in Lakewood, Colorado. Through government-provided computer terminals, 18 state and tribal offices have been linked to the MMS system since April 30, the date the system was opened.

"With time, perhaps a year, we hope to extend the system to many more participants," said Jerry D. Hill, MMS Associate Director for Royalty Management.

MMS is providing a training program for users of the computer equipment, and will set up a 24-hour hotline that users can call for assistance.

"Brought in under budget and on schedule," Hill said, "this first phase of STATSS should assist us all in our cooperative auditing efforts and improve understanding and communications. The information access should also trigger discovery of additional revenues. It was designed to meet the needs of its users."

The Department of the Interior, through MMS, is responsible for collecting, accounting for, and disbursing revenues from mineral leases on federal and Indian lands. States are entitled to a share of the bonuses, rentals, and royalties collected within their borders. After deduction of windfall profit taxes, states and the Federal Government equally divide the remaining revenues. One exception is Alaska, which receives a 90-percent share. Indians receive 100 percent of the revenues collected from their lands.

While the initial phase of STATSS is limited to information from MMS's principal accounting system, additional functions and information systems will be made available later.

States currently participating in STATSS are Alaska, California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. Participating tribes include Blackfeet, Cheyenne-Arapaho, Fort Peck Tribes, Navajo, Northern Arapahoe, Northern Ute, Shoshone, Southern Ute, and Ute Mountain.