OPA

Indian leaders throughout the country will be meeting with representatives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service to plan the implementation of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (P.L. 93-638).

The Act is considered by many as the most important legislation for Indians since the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934. Signed January 4 of this year by President Ford, it is designed to promote maximum Indian participation in the government and education of Indian people.

Tribal leaders and national Indian organizations have been invited to consultation sessions to be held in 14 cities in March and early April. The purpose of these two day sessions is to review the provisions, intent and language of the Act and to seek Indian views for BIA/IHS policy decisions and regulation writing.

A joint task force of the two Indian agencies will develop draft regulations in April. Another series of meetings with Indian representatives will then be held in May to review this draft.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said, "We are trying to get the greatest possible input from the Indian community as early as possible in the process of implementing this most significant Act. We hope that Indian leaders and the members of their tribes and organizations will be deeply involved in this development effort for the betterment of Indian people."

The Act requires the publication of proposed regulations not later than September 4, 1975 and the publication of final regulations not later than November 4, 1975. Indian tribes, organizations and individuals are invited to submit comments and recommendations concerning the regulations any time prior to 30 days after the publication of the proposed regulations.

The Act gives Indian tribes the right to plan and operate Indian programs for themselves under contract with the Government. It also makes this more feasible and practical through waivers of Federal contracting regulations, planning grants and special personnel provisions.

Title II, the Indian Education Assistance Act, gives the Indian community a stronger role in approving or disapproving the use of special assistance funds for Indian children in public schools. It also provides for better planning in the use of these funds to meet the education needs of these Indian students.

A list of scheduled meetings follows. For more specific information contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Office.

Schedule of Area Meetings on P.L. 93-638: March 5-6, Albuquerque; March 6-7, Minneapolis; March 10-11, Duluth, Norman, and Phoenix; March 17-18, Juneau, Las Vegas, and Navajo; March 20-21, Anchorage, Washington, D.C. (for Eastern Area); March 25-26, Sacramento; March 31-April 1, Portland; April 1-2, Billings; April 8, Aberdeen.

Answers to 101 commonly asked questions about American Indians are provided in a newly published booklet prepared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

In 60 attractively illustrated pages, the booklet deals with questions about the legal status of Indians, reservations, religious ceremonials, languages, tribal governments, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and a variety of other topics.

The booklet also contains information about sources for additional information about Indians, brief bibliographies for both adults and children and a listing of museums with Indian collections.

"As an introduction to the Indian world for students and the general public," Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said, "the booklet is valuable. It provides concise accurate information."

The title of the booklet is The American Indians, with a subtitle, Answers to 101 Questions. It is for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402. The price is $1.25 and the stock number, which should be used in ordering, is 2402-00040.

Editors: A review copy of The American Indians is available upon request from the Office of Public Information, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20245 .

Because of increasing reports of violence and the alleged breakdown of law and order on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Morris Thompson, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, today said he was taking several steps to alleviate the situation there and to help the Oglala Sioux Tribe find solutions to the causes which are disrupting the quality of life on the reservation.

Thompson said he was detailing a Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Officer and an assistant, along with 10, members of the Special Operations Service, to Pine Ridge immediately.

He said these men, who are among the most qualified and experienced in the Bureau, will work closely with local BIA law enforcement personnel there. He also said he was asking the Justice Department to assign additional judicial and staff personnel to Pine Ridge. These people would work on eliminating the current backlog of cases pending in the Federal court system.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs also will make available additional funds to the tribal court system to allow the hiring of additional judges, clerks and bailiffs to speed the judicial process in the tribal courts, Thompson said.

The Commissioner was hopeful he would be able to add additional permanent, qualified law enforcement officers, to the force at Pine Ridge and other areas.

Last year the Bureau completed a comprehensive study of law enforcement and detention needs throughout the BIA, he said, and the recommendations in the study would go far in solving problems such as those which exist at Pine Ridge today.

Among the recommendations are the hiring of additional, well trained officers, upgrading and renovation of detention centers and jails on reservations, and a general upgrading to the tribal court systems.

Thompson emphasized, however, that while the temporary assignment of additional enforcement and judicial personnel to Pine Ridge will alleviate the situation on a short-term basis, permanent long range solutions must be found, not only in law enforcement, but also in the other matters which are affecting the quality of life on the reservation.

To accomplish this goal Secretary of Interior, Rogers C.B. Morton, on Thompson's recommendation, has appointed a six member commission from key offices within the Interior Department including the BIA. They will look at law enforcement and tribal functions, the development of policies, programs and services to meet the needs of the reservation communities and individuals and communications on or near the reservation.

And Thompson said while at Pine Ridge the commission will work closely with the tribal government, staff, Indian community leaders and individuals. The Commissioner will go to Pine Ridge Thursday to meet with the Commission and tribal leaders.

Thompson said his actions today should in no way be thought of as a "takeover" of the Pine Ridge reservation or its tribal government. Rather, he said, they should be viewed as a positive action by both the Bureau and the tribe to find the best possible solutions to the problems which exist there.

William J. Lawrence has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Colorado River Agency at Parker, Arizona.

Lawrence, a Red Lake Chippewa, graduated from the University Of North Dakota School Of Law in 1972 and had been working for the Terry C. Holter Law Firm in Bemidji, Minnesota. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962 from the Bemidji State College.

A former Marine Corps officer with service in Vietnam, Lawrence has been Industrial Development Director and Executive Director, Economic Development and Community Planning Staff for the Red Lake Reservation. He has also been the Assistant Director Indian Education Section in the Minnesota Department of Education and Director of the Indian Adult Basic Education program at the Bemidji Center.

Lawrence, 35, is married and has two daughters and one son. He was an elected member of the school board at Bemidji and a past member of the Minnesota State Advisory Council on Vocational Education. He played professional baseball for two years in the Detroit Tigers organization and is still active in recreational athletics.

Elsie A. Begaii, a Bureau of Indian Affairs' employee at Window Rock, Arizona, has been chosen to receive the Department of Interior's "Woman of the Month" award. Deputy Commissioner of Indian Affairs Harley Frankel will present Mrs. Begaii with a commemorative plaque and certificate on March 21 in Washington, DC.

Mrs. Begaii, a member of the Navajo Tribe, has worked 27 years with the Bureau. She is the Assistant Employment Assistance Officer for the Navajo Area Office.

Mrs. Begaii has been very successful in working with State and Federal agencies to assist Navajo Indians to receive vocational training and to get jobs. Her ability to speak the Navajo language and her knowledge of the culture and customs of the tribe have been valuable assets in her relationships with the Navajo people and the tribal council.

Mrs. Begaii was chosen for this honor by the Department's International Woman's Year Committee.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today the appointment of Juanita Cata as Assistant Area Director (Education) for the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Albuquerque Area. She has held this position in an acting capacity since the retirement of Henry Wall.

Cata, a member of the San Juan Pueblo, has completed Ph. D. course requirements at the University of Albuquerque. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1961 and earned a Master's in elementary education from the same university in 1967.

As a research assistant for the University of New Mexico she was the author of three units of the Navajo Social Studies Curriculum Project, culturally based materials designed to meet the special needs of Navajo students. She also helped in producing two background books to be used at White House conferences on children and youth.

She has six years of teaching experiences in the Albuquerque Public school system and has taught courses in bilingual education and cultural awareness at the graduate level.

Funeral services were held January 9 for the last full-blooded member of the Mandan Indian Tribe, Mrs. Mattie Grinnell, who lived to be 108 years old. Mrs. Grinnell died January 6 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Rose Fournier, in Twin Buttes, North Dakota.

Living through more than a century of tremendous changes for her people and her land, Mrs. Grinnell retained to the end an amazing vitality, charm and spirit.

In 1968 at the age of 101 she took part in the Poor People's March on Washington. She tended a large garden every summer and prided herself on having "the cleanest garden around Twin Buttes." She was very interested in the young and found the Vietnam War upsetting. She said that she prayed every day for peace in the world. Her daughter said that she remained alert and in good health during her last year.

Mrs. Grinnell had her own theory on her longevity. "I still use Indian medicine. That's why I'm over 100 years old."

She had a great appreciation for her Indian heritage. She knew the religious ceremonies, dances and legends and was, as she asserted, the only one who knew how to prepare the corn balls and sun-dried meat used in tribal ceremonies. She acknowledged that education was very important for the young, but added that her people should make more use of what they had been taught by tradition.

Mrs. Grinnell, herself, had only four years of schooling. She had to drop out when her father became ill and she was needed to help with the work at home. A few years before her death she jokingly remarked that if she had gone 12 years she would have been in the White House.

She was almost certainly the last person to receive approval for a Civil War Widow's pension. She received hers in 1971 when friends and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials urged her to submit an application.

Born at Like-A-Fish-Hook village on the Fort Berthold Reservation one year after the Civil War, Mrs. Grinnell was married twice. Her first husband, John Nagel, died in 1904. He was a German immigrant farmer who had served with the Third Regiment of the Missouri Volunteer Cavalry from 1861 to 1864. Her marriage to Charles Grinnell in 1907 ended in divorce in 1935.

She is survived by four children, all from her first marriage, 40 grandchildren, 28 great grandchildren and 5 great, great grandchildren. Three children from her second marriage are now deceased.

Three years ago an article about Mrs. Grinnell was published in "North Dakota Horizons." The author wrote of her that she had the "face of nobility, proud, lined with the passing of 105 winters and the pains of her people, regal, shadowed with the timeless despair of the reservations, but calm and stoic in quiet acceptance of burdens."

She lived a full life.

The selection of Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson as one of America's ten outstanding young men was described today as "symbolic of the achievements and progress of all American Indians," by Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton.

"One of the reasons Morrie was given this honor was because he overcame the odds against a poor Athabascan Indian from the fish camps of the Yukon River. Today there are thousands of Indians overcoming similar odds and moving towards greatness in various fields," Morton said.

Announcement of the selection of Thompson by the U. S. Junior Chamber of Commerce was made January 12. The brief citation for him said that he "overcame great odds to distinguish himself as one of the Nation's most effective spokesmen for his people, the American Indian." It also noted that he is the youngest Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the 140 year history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Thompson, 35, was the first Alaskan Native to be Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in that state. He was appointed to that position in 1971 after serving as a special assistant for Indian Affairs to former Interior Secretary Walter J. Hickel. He was sworn in as Commissioner of Indian Affairs December 3, 1973.

"The Indian community has taken substantial strides toward self-determination under Commissioner Thompson's leadership," Morton said.

He noted that two very important pieces of legislation had been enacted: The Indian Financing Act and the Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act. He also pointed out that most of the major positions in the Bureau have been filled with Indians, that the number of Indian college students has surged upward and that a backlog of Indian rights issues is being systematically unjammed.

"There are still many problems to be solved," Morton said, "but the Indian community is moving faster than ever toward the solutions. Morris Thompson can take a lot of credit for this progress. He is certainly deserving of this honor given him by the U.S. Junior Chamber. I am sure he sees it as a tribute to all American Indians and a recognition of their hopes for further progress."

Joseph E. Kahklen, a member of the Tlingit Indian Tribe, has been appointed Assistant Area Director (Administration), in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Juneau, Alaska, office. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced the appointment would be effective March 16, 1975.

Kahklen's previous position was Area Personnel Officer, but he has been Acting Assistant Director since his predecessor, Clarence Antioquia, was named Area Director.

The Juneau office serves approximately 61,000 Indians, Eskimos and Aleuts in Alaska.

Kahklen, who is the son of a long-time BIA educator, lived as a boy in six communities in Alaska and several locations in the Southwest United States. His high school education was split between Sheldon Jackson in Sitka, Alaska, and Snohomish in Snohomish, Wash. He did his college work at the University of Washington and the Northern Arizona University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1962.

Kahklen came to the Juneau office in 1970 as a personnel management specialist. He had held similar positions in the Navajo and Albuquerque Area offices.

Kahklen, 38, is married and has three children. He is active in volunteer work with Native organizations in Juneau.

A 15-year employee at the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Turtle Mountain Agency, Belcourt, North Dakota, has been named Agency Superintendent. He is Fred E. Gillis, a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe.

Gillis, who has been acting superintendent the past five months, has held a variety of positions at the agency since his first employment there in 1959. He has been the administrative manager, realty officer and legal clerk. He started as a clerk-steno.

A graduate of the Bureau's Haskell Institute, Gillis attended night classes at North Dakota State University to earn a bachelor's degree in business administration. He also completed in-service training in management, basic supervision, labor management and EEO counseling.

Gillis, 39, worked at the Fort Totten and Fort Berthold Agencies before coming to the Turtle Mountain Agency. His wife, Myrtle, is a teacher at the Turtle Mountain Elementary School. He has two sons and two daughters.

Gillis is a charter member of the Belcourt Knights of Columbus.