OPA

Special funding for implementing the Indian Self-Determination Act in fiscal year 1977 has been requested by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said today.

A request for $32.9 million for self-determination services is included in the Bureau's budget request submitted January 21 to Congress by President Ford.

Commissioner Thompson said that "funds to provide grants to tribes under section 104 of the Act, to offer technical assistance and meet tribal overhead costs for contracted programs are absolutely essential for carrying out the Administration's Indian policy and making Indian self-determination a reality."

Fiscal year 1977 will be the first full year of implementation for the Act, designed to strengthen tribal governments and give Indian communities control of reservation programs.

The $589.5 million requested for the operation of Indian programs represents an increase of $19.8 million. This includes $243.8 million for Indian education programs; $155 million for Indian Services, including the $32.9 million for se1f- determination; $88.7 million for tribal resources development; $24 million for trust responsibilities; $76.1 million for general management and facilities operation, and $2 million for Navajo-Hopi settlement programs.

With the exception of the self-determination services the increases requested for Indian program operations will not permit, due to inflationary factors, expansion of old programs nor development of new ones.

Other appropriations requested are $46.3 million-construction of irrigation systems-, buildings and utilities; $74 million for road construction; $30 million for Alaska Native Claims payments and $20 million for the Loan Guaranty and Insurance Funds authorized by the Indian Financing Act of 1974.

Of the construction funds requested, $20.5 million will be used to keep the Navajo Irrigation Project on schedule for the opening of Block III in calendar 1978. Apart from this, construction funds were requested only to meet emergency needs. Funds previously appropriated for public school construction assistance near reservations have been scheduled for deferral until fiscal year 1978.

Alaska natives have been given a second opportunity to be enrolled under the Alaska Native ·claims Settlement Act, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said today.

Commissioner Thompson said that legislation (P.L. 94-204) enacted January 2, 1976, re-opens the rolls for one year for those persons who missed the original enrollment deadline of March 30, 1973.

"Almost 2,000 persons submitted applications after enrollment had been closed," the Commissioner said. "This new legislation makes it possible for them and other Alaska natives to be enrolled and to receive benefits under the Act."

The Settlement Act which was signed into law by President Nixon on December 18, 1971, granted Alaska natives 40 million acres of land and close to a billion dollars.

Persons enrolled under the new legislation will receive stock under the Settlement Act and a pro rata share of all future distributions.

Eligibility for enrollment now is the same as it was for the first enrollment. In general, this means that a person should be at least one quarter degree or more of Alaska Indian, Eskimo or

Aleut blood -- or a combination thereof -- and living on December 18, 1971. Alaska native children born after December 18, 1971 are not eligible for enrollment under the Act.

Persons seeking to enroll should write to Enrollment Coordinator, Pouch 7-1971, Anchorage, Alaska 99501. Application forms and instructions will be provided as soon as they are available.

Information or assistance can also be obtained by contacting any Bureau of Indian Affairs office or any of the Alaska Regional Corporations.

Carl M. Dupuis, an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, has been appointed Chief of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Division of Facilities Engineering, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

He is the first Indian to hold this position in the Bureau.

''We are very pleased about this appointment," Commissioner Thompson said. "Carl is highly qualified and will do an excellent job in a field where there are now too few Indians. The Indian community needs to have more of its students move into engineering work."

Dupuis, 38, is a 1963 graduate of Montana State University. Since 1971 he has been President of the Enplan Corporation in Kirkland, Washington. He has worked with other firms in Seattle, Bellevue, and Wenatchee -- all in Washington.

In his new position, Dupuis will be stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico and will be responsible for all BIA construction of buildings and utilities.

Dupuis is a member of American Society of Civil Engineers, American Indian Council of Architects and Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency Technical Advisory Groups for Municipal Waste Water Systems, American Institute of Architecture-Community Services Advisory Council, Society of Military Engineers, Puget Sound Indian Employment and Training Consortium.

He was born and grew up on the Flathead Reservation at Dixon, Montana. He is married and has two children.

Hiram E Olney, an enrolled member of the Yakima Indian Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Yakima Agency, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Olney, whose appointment was effective February 15, has been superintendent of the Fort Hall Agency in Idaho. The Yakima Agency is at Toppenish, Washington.

A graduate of the Haskell Indian School at Lawrence, Kansas, Olney began his career with BIA in 1951 as an Accounting Clerk in the Phoenix Area Office. He has worked at several BIA agency offices in jobs of increasing responsibility. He was the Administrative Manager at the Prime Ridge Agency in South Dakota before moving to Fort Hall in 1972

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has assigned Curtis Geiogamah as the BIA Acting Director on the Navajo Reservation, pending the recruitment of a permanent appointee for the position.

Thompson said that the position has been advertised and that applications would be received through March 12. ''We expect to have many excellent applicants for this important position," the commissioner said. We will, of course, consult with the governing body before making a selection, but we hope to fill the vacancy promptly."

The former Area Director, Anthony Lincoln, was recently transferred to Albuquerque, New Mexico, as Southwest Regional Field Coordinator for the Bureau.

Geiogamah was Assistant Director for Administration in the Navajo Area Office from 1966 to 1972. He now holds that position in the Phoenix Area Office. A member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, he began working for the Bureau in 1949.

The Navajo Tribe is by far the largest United States Tribe embracing about 15 percent of the total Indian population. The reservation covers about 125,000 square miles in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that Indian communities and individuals would have an extended period of time to submit comments on proposed law enforcement standards for Indian reservations.

The proposed rules, which were published in the Federal Register February 18, with a deadline for comments of February 28, are being re­published with a new deadline of April 18.

Commissioner Thompson said he wanted to encourage Indian people to express their views on these rules which will govern a basic service program in their communities."

The proposed rules establish personnel standards, guidelines concerning the use of firearms and requirements for training of police. Standards for detention or jail programs, including health and safety requirements, are also part of the rules.

The proposed rules would apply to law enforcement programs run directly by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and those conducted under contract with the Bureau. This would include programs contracted under the Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act.

The Potawatomi Indians of Kansas now have a tribal constitution. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson gave formal approval February 19 to the document ratified in an election by the tribe on February 2.

The tribe has been without any form of tribal government since 1972 - and without an effective government for even longer. The new constitution provides for the prompt election of a tribal council and officers and is expected to meet the needs of the tribe for a sound governmental system.

In a brief ceremony in his office, Commissioner Thompson congratulated members of the tribe who worked to draft the constitution. He described the approval of the constitution is an "historic step for the tribe."

In October, 1972, the Federal Government withdrew its recognition of the tribe's governing body which had been crippled by a paralyzing factionalism. Recognition of the old tribal constitution, which provided no way for tribal members to resolve the deadlock, was also withdrawn. A constitutional drafting committee was elected in 1974 to draft a more modern document. The committee has been meeting regularly since that time. The ratification pf the new constitution culminates their work.

The tribe, which has its headquarters at Horton, Kansas, has an estimated membership of about 3,500.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that a contract to construct additional school facilities for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Gray Hill High School at Tuba City, Ariz., has been awarded to the Hunt Building Corporation, El Faso, Texas.

The $2.9 million contract requires the construction of' three dormitory wings, two annexes to the present gymnasium, a practical arts shop addition and a new student union.

The dormitory additions, when completed, will provide accommodations for 400 students.

The Gray Hill School was opened for freshmen students only in September, 1973 --with the other grades to be initiated in successive years. It serves students from both Navajo and Hopi communities.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has announced the appointment of Clydia Nahwooksy as a Special Assistant in his office.

A Cherokee from Oklahoma, one of Nahwooksy's first projects is to serve as Commissioner Thompson's Liaison for the Bureau's Bicentennial program She will coordinate the Bureau's three national Bicentennial projects: an exhibition of contemporary Indian art, a videotape project and a literature and oratory project

''We are fortunate to have Mrs Nahwooksy to spearhead our Bicentennial efforts, “said Commissioner Thompson "She has worked for many years with Indian cultural programs, and her knowledge will be useful in implementing an effective Bicentennial program in cooperation with Indian tribes."

Commissioner Thompson's appointment of Nahwooksy to the position of Special Assistant continues his interest in bringing on staff qualified women for top staff positions currently primarily in the Administrative area, are currently headed by women for top staff positions Currently, six other Central Office programs, primarily in the Administrative area, are currently headed by women.

Nahwooksy was formerly an executive in the Division of Special Projects and Programs of the Office of Indian Education in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare She is perhaps best known throughout Indian country for her work, prior to joining OIE, as developer and Director of the Indian Awareness Program at the Smithsonian Institution. One of her responsibilities during her years at the Smithsonian was to coordinate Indian participation in its annual Festival of American Folklife.

She has also served as a consultant in Indian affairs to various tribes and organizations and has worked as an Administrative Assistant with the Indian Health Service and in the BIA Education Office at the Fort Hall Agency, Idaho.

A graduate of Bacone College, Bacone, Oklahoma, Nahwooksy has also studied at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and at Idaho State University, Pocatello She is a graduate of the Department of the Interior's Management Training Program

She is a member of the American Folklore Society and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). She is also on the board of Project Forward '76,

Michael .A. Fairbanks, a member of' the Red lake Band of' Chippewa Indians, has been appointed the first Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs new Michigan Agency at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today.

Fairbanks, 39, has been the Tribal Operations Officer at the Western Nevada Agency. He had previously held that position in the Great Lakes Agency from which the Michigan Agency was created.

Fairbanks is a graduate of St. John's High School at Collegeville, Minnesota. He also completed about three years of' college work in Social Sciences at the Brainerd Junior College and Bemidji State in Minnesota and at North Dakota State.

He began working with the BIA in 1969 as a Criminal Investigator at the Red Lake Agency, Minnesota.