OPA

The proposed rule of the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians one of the three participant groups which will share a $15.7 million judgment awarded the tribe by the Indian Claims Commission and being distributed pursuant to the Act of December 18, 1971 was published in the Federal Register May 17, 1972. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce made the announcement today. Regulations to govern preparation of the roll were published April 21, 1972.

The award represents settlement by Compromise of claims for the taking in 1868 of about 38,000 acres of land in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada aboriginally owned by the Shoshone Tribe; the use of funds of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Fort Hall for irrigation projects; the taking of about 297,000 acres of Fort Hall Reservation land in 1889; the taking of 407,000 acres of Fort Hall Reservation land in 1898; and failure of the United States to provide a reservation for the Bannock Tribe as promised by the Treaty of July 3, 1868 (15 Stat. 673).

Any person claiming membership rights.in the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians, or any interest in said judgment funds, or a representative of the Secretary on behalf of any such person, within sixty days from the date the proposed roll is published, may file an appeal with the Secretary contesting the inclusion or omission of the name of any person on or from such proposed roll.

Appeals must be in writing addressed to the Secretary of the Interior and mailed to the Area Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 425 Irving Street, NE, Portland, Oregon 97208.

The proposedro11of the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians one of the three participant groups which will share a $15.7 million judgment awarded the tribe by the Indian Claims Commission and being distributed pursuant to the Act of December 18, 1971 was published in the Federal Register May 17, 1972. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce made the announcement today. Regulations to govern preparation of the roll were published April 21, 1972.

The award represents settlement by Compromise of claims for the taking in 1868 of about 38,000 acres of land in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada aboriginally owned by the Shoshone Tribe; the use of funds of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Fort Hall for irrigation projects; the taking of about 297,000 acres of Fort Hall Reservation land in 1889; the taking of 407,000 acres of Fort Hall Reservation land in 1898; and failure of the United States to provide a reservation for the Bannock Tribe as promised by the Treaty of July 3, 1868 (15 Stat. 673).

Any person claiming membership rights.in the Northwestern Band of Shoshone Indians, or any interest in said judgment funds, or a representative of the Secretary on behalf of any such person, within sixty days from the date the proposed roll is published, may file an appeal with the Secretary contesting the inclusion or omission of the name of any person on or from such proposed roll.

Appeals must be in writing addressed to the Secretary of the Interior and mailed to the Area Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 425 Irving Street, NE, Portland, Oregon 97208.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today that he has offered the services and facilities of the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs to South Dakota officials who are battling the ravages of last wEH9kend's disastrous flood at Rapid City. Approximately 2100 Indian people live in Rapid City.

In telegrams to South Dakota Governor Richard F. Kneip and Donald G. Eddy, Director or the area's Office of emergency preparedness, Commissioner Bruce stated, "The Bureau of Indian Affairs wishes to offer its services in any way to help the people and the city of Rapid City in the unfortunate destruction on Friday and Saturday."

Twenty three Indians are believed to be among the dead and an estimated 200 Indian families are homeless or destitute as a result of the disaster.

In addition to the Bureau staff members from BIA's Aberdeen Area Office, the Indian people who live the area surrounding Rapid City have banded together to aid Indian families caught in the catastrophe.

Both Bureau employees and Indians are working in full cooperation with Federal, State and local Officials in Rapid City to clean up the damage and give aid to the sick and injured. BIA welcomes the presence in Rapid City of the Title VI Compliance Officer from the Office of Emergency Planning in Washington who is there to insure that all disaster relief is carried out on a non-discriminatory basis.

"The unique content and method of traditional Indian teachings, development of morality and will power in the formation of Indian character, the spiritual training of Indian children by kin .and medicine man. All will be discussed at '" I the Second Conference of American Indian Elders on Traditional Indian Education," Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce announced today. The Conference will be held at the Mather Training Center, Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, June 19-23.

The week-long, conference is jointly sponsored by the Myrin Institute Inc., a non-profit foundation organized to promote adult education, and the Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs. An initial conference with Indian elders was held in Denver, Colorado in June, 1968.

Following introductory remarks by Sylvester M. Morey, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Myrin Institute, Commissioner Bruce will address the Conference June 19 on the need and importance of traditional Indian education. The afternoon discussion will cover the content and methods of traditional Indian teachings as they affect a child's life from conception through puberty.

Tuesday the group will discuss the formation of character and the grooming of a chief. The Thursday morning discussion will be the role of women elders in the education of the young; followed by an afternoon discussion of the perpetuation of sacred lore to young Indians and its influence on their lives.

Indians participating in the Conference are representative of regional Indian areas and tribes of the United States. Allen Quetone, Kiowa, Superintendent of the BIA Concho Agency, Concho, Oklahoma will. Serve as Moderator; and Robert L. Bennett, former Commissioner of Indian Affairs and presently Director of the American Indian Law ‘Institute at the University of New Mexico, will attend as special consultant.

On Friday June 23, participants have scheduled a press conference at 1:00 p.m. for concluding statements. It is expected that the group will discuss the gap in understanding that has always separated the white man from the red.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce 'announced today J ' the creation of a new BIA agency in New Mexico for the Ramah-Navajo Indians. It will be called the Ramah-Navajo Agency. Located in the west central part of the State, the new Agency will be under the jurisdiction of the BIA area office in Albuquerque.

Donald Smouse, Program Officer for the Ramah office will be the Acting Superintendent of the Agency until a permanent Superintendent is appointed.

The Ramah-Navajo band of Navajos was previously under the Zuni agency but was excluded when the Zunis assumed control of their own Agency ini1970. The new Agency will be located in Ramah, New Mexico 87321.

Commenting on the creation of the new Agency, Commissioner Bruce said, "This Agency represents a major step forward for the Ramah-Navajo people. It will permit them to better plan and program for the development of their community with the full cooperation of a Bureau line officer on site rather than in Albuquerque."

A remote Eskimo village hugging the rim of the Arctic Ocean has become a proving ground for the Federal Government's national environmental policy.

The Village of Barrow, Alaska, located in the last reaches of civilization on the North American Continent, over the last half century has had tons of garbage laid on its doorstep - - much of it from government agencies.

The residue of garbage began accumulating in quantities in the 1940· s with the Navy's exploration for oil, and was accelerated during construction of the DEW line by the Air Force. - Added to this were the day-to-day waste of a population sustaining life in a harsh, forbidding climate, without the benefits of modern water and sewage systems. Empty oil drums became useful, and ultimately necessary, to control waste.

For many years, nothing was ever done about it because no one seemed to mind and government agencies were always short of money when it carne to making cleanup funds available.

But with the stirring of national conscience about pollution and a change in public policy, logistic requirements for cleaning up Barrow and its environs escalated into a full- scale battle plan.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton pointed out that President Nixon -- in his environmental messages to the Congress has called for the marshalling of various forces to curb pollution.

President Nixon has said that, while State and local governments, consumers, industry and private organizations have primary responsibility for protecting the environment, the Federal Government must exercise effective leadership to assist these groups. Providing leadership for the Barrow cleanup, Secretary Morton said, was in line with the Presidents objectives.

Visiting the area in July 1971, Secretary Morton was appalled at seeing acres of oil drums, broken-down machinery and other junk, along with animal carcasses, and human and household waste littering the landscape around Barrow.

Morton decided action must be taken quickly to change Barrow's pollution plight. He made the Barrow cleanup a special project and placed William L. Rogers, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, in charge.

In September 1971 Rogers, accompanied by James H. Isbell, a consultant named to coordinate agency efforts at Barrow, met with Navy Captain Emory Smith, Director of the Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserve, and others to discuss plans for the cleanup.

From the records it was evident that much thought, talk, and planning already had been given to a cleanup program. Of paramount importance was the fact that agreement had been reached on geographic areas of responsibility among the Office of Naval Research, the Office of Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserve, the State Division of Aviation, and the Village of Barrow.

Secretary Morton enlisted the support of Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird and Alaska Governor William Egan.

But the Village of Barrow faced a critical problem - - no money. The Village Council acknowledged its responsibility, but without money the task appeared impossible.

One source was money Congress made available to all States in the Emergency Employment Act of 1971. With its high rate of unemployment, Barrow was allocated $28,800 -- enough to employ 20 men for more than 10 weeks. In other legislation, Congress made funds available for cleaning up Indian Reservations and the Village became eligible for another $25, 000. Finally, the Bureau of Indian Affairs redirected some of its resources to remove an old gas line which had been abandoned in place some seven years before. That gas line had some 4, 000 empty oil drums holding it above the tundra.

In February of 1972, the job was about two-thirds finished. More than 12,000 oil drums which had been used for household waste were removed from the tundra southwest of the Village. Most of the old pipeline was stacked neatly in a storage area and its supporting oil drums are gone.

Where is Barrow's trash going? Part of it is being used in an erosion control project southwest of the Village. A ravine which has developed through the years is being filled and at the end will be topped with two or three feet of earth so that the drainage will flow in another direction during spring "breakup.”

A shallow lagoon, half way between Barrow and the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory, has been used as a sanitary land fill for many years and its use continues.

The Department of the Interior asked both the Environmental Protection Agency and Alaska’s Commissioner of Environmental Conservation for their respective views on using those areas for trash disposal. Both concurred. Since the permafrost extends from the surface down to a level of 1,300 feet, anything buried to a depth of two or more feet becomes permanently frozen; contamination of other areas will not occur.

The Navy responded to Secretary Laird's call for action by sending a 20 -man all-volunteer force of Seabees to begin the cleanup at Navy Arctic Research Lab last October. The Navy renewed its effective effort in the spring of 1972.

But once clean, will it stay that way? Things are being done on this score also.

Secretary Morton, Deputy Assistant Secretary Rogers, and Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., Chief of Naval Operations, did the pre-game planning and Alaska's Congressional delegation carried the ball to get funds for a new incinerator which, about a year from now, will serve both the Arctic Research Lab and the Village of Barrow. It will be used for both liquid and solid waste.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is sponsoring construction of 100 new homes in Barrow. One of HUD’s requirements is that a modern water and sewage system be designed for the entire village. Interior's BIA school and the Native Health Service Hospital are already served by modern sewage systems.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Louis R. Bruce today announced that 11 American Indian and Alaska Native high school and college students who represent nearly as many tribes have been selected for scholarships enabling them to accompany some of the Nation's leading scientists this summer on worldwide expeditions.

The scholarships for the American Indians are funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They were arranged through two organizations -- the Explorers Club and Educational Expeditions International (in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution).

Selection of the Indian students was based upon demonstrated interest and achievement in the natural sciences.

The students are: Edward P. Cardipe (Pawnee) 1656 Bridge Street, S. W., Albuquerque, N. M.; Aaron Harrison (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) Belcourt, N. Dak. ; Theodore Isham (Creek-Seminole) 3616 N. W. 27th Street, Oklahoma City, Okla.; James E. Monogye (Hopi) Oraibi, Ariz.; Carol Mae Nichol (Pottawatomi) 2525 Military Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif.; Maud Oktollik (Alaskan Native) Pt. Hope, Alaska; Lawrence Oliver (Navajo) Lukachukai, Ariz.; Ronald Quetone (Kiowa) Anadarko, Okla.; Joe M. Sampson, Jr. (Yakima) White Swan, Wash.; Janneil Summers (Oneida) Oneida, Wisc.; Valerie Taguma (Chippewa) Stone Lake, Wisc.

Harrison will pursue his interest in volcanology on an expedition to Nyragongo, Eastern Congo. Oliver will travel the vast distance from Navajo land to Okavango, Botswana, South Africa to join an anthropological study team visiting the Hambukushu people. Isham, who leans toward astronomy as a college major, joined scientific observers of a solar eclipse from the vantage point of Prince Edward Island, Canada; and Quetone will be part of an eclipse-viewing team in Rhode Island.

Miss Oktollik will travel from Pt. Hope, Alaska to Portland, Ore., to join Sampson, Taguma, Summers, and others on an ecology expedition in wilderness areas of Oregon. Monogye explores the wilderness area of Riverton, Wyoming, in a similar expedition. A recent UCLA graduate, Miss Nichol, has joined an archeological dig at the Ubeidiya site, Israel. She plans to continue with graduate studies in anthropology-archeology next fall.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton declared today that "God and the courts willing, there will be a trans-Alaska pipeline."

In remarks prepared for delivery in Alaska to the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, Secretary Morton emphasized, "We at Interior and in President Nixon IS administration are proud of the conscientious fashion in which the pipeline decision was made.”

The proposed 789 mile hot oil pipeline linking the North Slope oil fields to a tanker terminal at Valdez "will mean- unprecedented social and economic change for your State,” he said, adding:

"I know that our' decision to proceed with the pipeline is in the best national interests. We have been responsive to national needs for more. Energy; to Alaskans needs for avenues of economic development, and for balanced development of natural resources without jeopardizing the environment.”

The Secretary expressed hope that a court decision on a request to lift injunctions prohibiting construction of the pipeline could come before Labor Day. "No matter who wins there, the case undoubtedly will then go to the Court of Appeals. After that it may well go to the Supreme Court,” he added. "Consequently this litigation could go for as long as a year or 18 months or even more. We must be candid in our understanding of that. "

The Secretary traced progress in implementing the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which was signed by President Nixon last December 18.

"The Interior Department has taken decisive actions toward fulfilling the promises of the Statehood Act,” he said. We have developed a system for a balanced apportionment of land selection based on the common interests of Alaskans, natives and the American people. "

"We are at the beginning of a new age for Alaska, Secretary Morton added, “an age in which conservation is matched with progress, and in which development is matched with equity.”

Reaffirming the administration's commitment to what President Nixon described as "a new era in which the future for American Indians is determined by Indian acts and Indian decisions," Secretary of the'" Interior Rogers C. B. Morton highlighted recent accomplishments in achieving Indian self-determination before the National Tribal Chairmen's Association at Eugene, Oregon Monday.

He applauded the efforts of the emerging Indian leadership. "They are leading the American Indian into a self-determined age. America's Indian tribes are awakening and on the move," he said.

Reviewing funding for Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, he noted that BIA funding has doubled from $249 million to over $530 million in just four years. During the same period the number of BIA executive positions filled by Indians has risen dramatically. "The number of Indians serving as BIA area directors has risen from lout of -11 to 7 out: of a possible 12," Norton said.

There have been similar dramatic changes in education, he noted. Funding for Indian college scholarships has risen from $3 million to over $15 million in the last four years and today all 200 BIA schools have an Indian advisory school board or education committee.

Economic development has also been encouraging; he said. Norton cited successes in the reservation industrial development program, noting that there are over 220 plants employing over 6,500 Indians on or near reservations today, and that there have been similar accomplishments through the Indian Business Development fund and Tribal Work Experience Programs.

Morton further noted, that "key portions of desperately needed legislation" in the Congress now should be passed in order to continue the progress of recent years.

Concluding a review of "incredible strides in education, economic development, and the achievement of self-determination," Morton stated that "never at any time in the last half century has the Indian's path for a self-determined future been so clear."

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C.B. Morton today announced that the Department of the Interior has entered into a use agreement with the Department of the Air Force to preserve Wildwood-Air Force Station near Kenai, Alaska, in good condition until arrangements can be made to transfer title to the base to the Kenai Native Association. Interim uses planned for the 'facility include a program for boarding high school students and Indian Action Team activities.

"Vice President Agnew, who is deeply interested in this program, and I are pleased to be able to make this arrangement which will further the program of the Bureau of Indian Affairs give the Kenai Native Association an opportunity to take step forward in building an economic base in their community, and advance President Nixon’s program of self-determination,” Morton said.

Wildwood Air Force was constructed and activated by the U.S. Army in 1953 as a communications station. It was transferred to the Air Force in 1965 to implement the policy of consolidating all long haul communications in Alaska under the Air Force as Agent for Defense Communications Agency. The base encompasses approximately 4,300 acres, has 65 buildings including 18 family units with a total area of 471,000 sq.ft. The inactivation of the mission and closure of the station by July 1, 1972 was announced by the Air Force on September 29, 1971.