OPA

Regulations governing loans to Indians from the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Revolving Loan Fund are being published in the Federal Register. The regulations have been revised to reflect the provisions of the Indian Financing Act of 1974.

The Indian Financing Act consolidated existing revolving loan funds administered by the Bureau and authorized the appropriation of an additional $50 million for the consolidated fund. Loans from the fund can be made to Indian organizations or individuals for purposes which will improve and promote economic development on Indian reservations.

Loans may be made directly or through eligible relending organizations for economic enterprises, individual housing needs or education needs.

Loans may be made only to applicants who are unable to obtain financing on reasonable terms and conditions from other sources and are unable to obtain a guaranteed or insured loan under Title II of the Indian Financing Act.

Application forms and further information are available at Bureau Agency offices.

Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton today issued a policy statement concerning Indian cultural and religious use of migratory bird feathers and parts. Following is the text of the statement.

"I am aware that American Indians are presently experiencing uncer­tainty and confusion over the application of Federal bird protection laws to Indian cultural and religious activities. Apparently, this confusion and concern may have resulted, in part, from this Department's enforcement activities under such laws. This statement is intended to clarify the Department of the Interior's responsibilities and intentions, and to ease the minds of American Indians.

"The Department of the Interior recognizes the unique heritage of American Indian culture. It also recognizes that American Indians have a legitimate interest in expressing their cultural and religious way of life. At the same time, both the Department of the Interior and American Indians share an additional responsibility to conserve wildlife resources, including federally protected birds.

"As a result of meetings between agencies of the Department of the Interior, the Association for American Indian Cultural and Traditional Activities, and others, I can assure American Indians that our policy is to permit them to engage in the following activities without fear of Federal prosecution, harassment, or other interference.

"1. American Indians may possess, carry, use, wear, give, loan, or exchange among other Indians, without compensation, all federally protected birds, as well as their parts or feathers.”

2. American Indians who wish to possess bird feathers or parts to be worked on by tribal craftsmen for eventual use in Indian religious or cultural activities may transfer such feathers or parts to tribal crafts­men without charge, but such craftsmen may be compensated for their work.

"However, the Department of the Interior will continue to enforce against all persons those Federal laws prohibiting the killing, buying or selling of eagles, migratory birds, or endangered species, as well as those laws prohibiting the buying or selling of the parts or feathers of such birds and animals.

“I encourage American Indians to express their identity and to freely pursue their cultural and religious practices. At the same time, I encourage them to support the purposes of the Federal bird protection laws. There is much work to be accomplished to further clarify the rights and obligations of American Indians with respect to Federal bird protection laws, and special efforts will be made to conduct a two-way education process between Government employees and Indian communities. In addition, we have agreed to work in a spirit of cooperation with the Association for American Indian Cultural and Traditional Activities, and other interested Indian representatives, in order to harmonize the policies, practices, and procedures for enforcement of the Federal bird protection laws with the legitimate needs of Indians. This includes review of Federal regulations, with probable changes where the legitimate needs of American Indians can be legally recognized without harming federally protected birds.

"In this regard, one area of discussion should be the possibility of American Indians sharing with Federal officials the responsibilities of wildlife management and enforcement through the adoption of tribal ordinances designed to conserve federally protected birds.

"In the past, one problem has been that legitimate sources of feathers, which might have been available to the Department for distribution to American Indians, have not been fully utilized. We are presently developing better procedures to collect and distribute eagle feathers from the Fish and Wildlife Service repository at Pocatello, Idaho, where feathers of eagles found dead are stored. In addition, we will make an effort to distribute the feathers and parts of other migratory birds to Indians.

"I hope that this statement will help to take away the uncertainty and confusion presently experienced by American Indians. I hope also that our efforts will encourage tradition, culture, and religious activities among American Indians, while at the same time promoting a mutual effort to protect and conserve federally regulated birds.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs is going to take a long, hard look at the educational needs of Indian, pre-school-age children. And what can or should be done to improve the development of infants, toddlers and youngsters up through the age of eight.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson has announced that a $325,000 contract has been awarded to the Bank Street College of Education New York City, to make the study.

"To some people it seems odd that we would be concerned about education programs for such young children," said Dr. Clennon E. Sockey, the Bureau's Director of Indian Education Programs. "Research has indicated, however, the crucial importance of these first years. It is estimated that 50 percent of a child's intellectual potential is developed before the age of 5."

Sockey said this does not mean the five-year-old knows half as much as he ever will. It is, rather, a matter of ability to learn which is established. "In the early years, even before birth," he explained, "impairments to learning can be created which could be prevented or reversed if caught soon enough."

Results of the study and program recommendations will be submitted to the Congressional Appropriations Committee as an information base for making funding decisions about BIA education programs.

Two pilot programs for children up to age four are now in operation in the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico and the Choctaw Reservation in Mississippi. They are called Parent-Child Development Programs. In these programs the goal is not to teach a lot of things. It is, instead, to bring together the resources of the community and the family to enable the child to enjoy a healthy, happy and stimulating beginning of life. Many Indian children just beginning school have already suffered permanent damage to their learning abilities because of previously undetected hearing defects, pre-natal malnutrition or other physical, emotional or intellectual problems.

The role of parents as the first and primary educators of children is stressed in these programs.

The study will be carried out in six BIA field areas with the cooperation of participating tribes.

Bank Street College is a private graduate school with a prestigious reputation among educators. The school has been extensively involved in the development of Head start, Follow Through and other early childhood education programs. Staff members have worked with the BIA in the establishment of kindergarten programs on the reservations and the training of teachers and aides of these programs.

An Indian advisory board will be established to provide guidance for the project. Indian professionals will also be added, in top level positions, to the project staff and Indian community members will be trained for the collection of data at the reservation level.

Harley D. Zephier has been appointed Area Director in the Bureau of Indian Affairs Aberdeen Area, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today. The area includes South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska.

Zephier, who has been the Acting Director since last fall, was previously the Tribal Government and Indian Rights Officer and Tribal Operations Officer in the Area.

A member of the Yankton Sioux Tribe, Zephier is a 1962 graduate of Yankton State College in South Dakota. He majored in secondary and physical education.

He was a high school teacher and athletic coach in South Dakota public schools for four years. In 1966 he became an Educational Specialist with the Indian Health Service at Winnebago Nebraska and in 1969 was named Director of the IHS hospital at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

Zephier, 40, was born at Pine Ridge. He is married and has seven children.

Thank you, President Tonasket. Senator Jackson, Senator Nelson, Congressman Udall, Congressman Meeds, ladies and gentlemen.

Mrs. Hathaway and I are grateful for the opportunity to join the National Congress of American Indians in paying tribute to Senator Jackson and Congressman Udall. On behalf of the Interior Department, I want to express our appreciation for their significant efforts in securing passage of legislation settling the Havasupai boundary issue.

In recent years, there have been a number of legislative milestones in the formulation of Indian policy. The Indian Financing Act, the Self-Determination Act, the Menominee Restoration Act and a host of other bills were enacted in the spirit of non-partisanship. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we owe a great debt of gratitude to the Members of Congress. From my own stand­point, I look forward to working with the Congress as we face the remaining items on the agenda of Indian legislation.

Just a little under five years ago, a new Federal policy toward Indians was espoused in a major Presidential message. That message contained a series of legislative and administrative proposals, which taken together, would bring about the most significant change in the history of Federal Indian Policy. I do not mean to imply that the ideas and programs contained in the President's message of July 8, 1970, were new. In fact, most of the proposals in that message were concepts the Indian leaders had been trying to tell us for years. The novelty of that message lay in the fact that the Administration and the Congress were beginning to listen to what you were saying. It was also the first time that all these ideas were put together to form a coherent, rational policy.

Thanks to the joint efforts of the Congress and the Administration, most of the proposals contained in that 1970 Message have been enacted into law. Of the remaining issues, two stand out prominently.

Since the Commissioner is with us tonight, I will mention the bill establishing in the Department a new position -- Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. It is time, I believe, that Indian Affairs assumes, in structure as it is in substance, its rightful place as a principal part of the Department.

I would also mention the proposed creation of an Indian Trust Counsel Authority. The United States Government, and particularly, the Secretary of the Interior, acts as the legal trustee for Indians in defending land and water rights. Because we also have obligations to the Nation as a whole, real and apparent conflicts sometimes arise. To dispel any doubt about the diligence with which we pursue our trust responsibilities to the Indian community, I favor the principle of an independent trust counsel authority. In all candor, the Department has some disagreements with the bill now before the Senate Interior Committee. But our commitment to the establishment of a Trust Counsel Authority is not diminished, and we want to work with the Indian community and with the Congress to secure a mutually acceptable bill.

I would like for a moment to discuss one element of the Presidential Message which has already been enacted into law. I am referring to the Indian Self Determination Act. In this law, the Congress has set forth a policy which represents a distinct departure from past practices toward Indians. It may-be the single most significant bill in the history of Federal Indian policy.

The Self-Determination Act authorizes Federal agencies to turn over management of specific programs to the tribal government. It is not the policy of this Act that tribal governments must take over the administration of Federal programs affecting their reservations. The policy is that tribal governments must have the choice of taking them over or not taking them over. Under this Act, the determination of a tribe's ability to undertake programs rests principally with the tribe itself.

In order that there be no misunderstanding about the meaning and purposes of the Self-Determination Act, I will emphasize that tribes are free at any time and at their own behest to relinquish administration of programs back to the Bureau or to Indian Health Service or wherever.

The Federal agency is then obligated, by law, to reassume operation of and responsibility for those programs. The intent of this Act is to strengthen tribal governments, but at their own pace, and without any underlying threat of termination of services. The Self-Determination Act, along with the Menominee Restoration Act, were designed to put that misguided experiment to rest -- forever.

I do not want to dwell on the history of Federal Indian policy. This is not the place to recite a litany of broken agreements and unenlightened efforts. What is needed --and what has been so difficult for many non-Indians to comprehend --is an understanding of the special relationship between the Federal Government and the Indian people. We need to recognize that the goods and services which the Government ·provides to the tribes are not donations given solely out of the goodness of our hearts. While these services and programs to Indians must be administered with sympathy and care, it must be understood that they are the result of solemn obligations undertaken by the Government in exchange for land and other considerations. In business ·parlance, it is a contractual agreement. As a Nation, we pride ourselves on maintaining our obligations with other nations with whom we have agreements. So must we pride ourselves on living up to our solemn promises, our contractual obligations, if you will, to our Indian citizens here at home.

The issue of energy development in the West is one which is squarely before me -- before the Congress and the Nation -- and before the Indian community. It is among my concerns that areas proposed for increased production of coal lie within, or intermingled with Indian lands. I can readily understand your feelings of apprehension about the prospects of large scale energy developments. To the extent that development is under our control, we will all have to work closely together to be sure energy projects are developed with long-range social, cultural and environmental impacts in proper perspective. We will attempt to keep the decision making process as open as possible, to aid in the flow of information so that all options are available and understood by the concerned entities. But I see here an opportunity -- an opportunity for jobs and a more stable economic base for many Indian communities, without the loss of the unique Indian heritage which is so valuable to us all. I see also an opportunity for the people in these places to play a positive role in helping the Nation meet its energy objectives. It will be the test of the self-determination policy and of our ability to carry out our trust responsibilities if energy sources on Indian land can be developed meeting these multiple objectives -- the people objectives as well as the energy and economic goals.

There are other important Indian issues on our agenda, notably the adjudication of water rights, and hunting and fishing rights and other jurisdictional issues. For my part, I recognize the responsibilities I bear, and the impacts of my decisions on your lives. There is a unique relationship between the Indian people and the office of Secretary of the Interior. I have a trust responsibility which I am pledged to carry out with diligence and compassion. I come to this office with a basic understanding of your concerns and with a sympathy for the difficulties you face. But I have much to learn. Only with an open and frank dialogue with Indian leaders can I hope to fulfill my obligations effectively. I pledge myself to that end.

In my own State of Wyoming, we do not have a large Indian population. In fact, we do not have a large population, period. But, we pride ourselves on our ability to get along with each other and our ability to understand the other fellow's point of view. I think I can manage to keep that little bit of Wyoming with me as I assume my duties here.

President Tonasket, ladies and gentlemen, together we face a number of critical Indian issues. We must work together to see many of these most serious issues resolved.

A preliminary injunction has been issued which prevents non-Indians from interfering with the Omaha Tribe's possession of valuable farm land in the Blackbird Bend area of the Omaha Indian Reservation in Iowa, the Department of the Interior said today.

The action was taken by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa on June 5, 1975, in response to a request by the United States as trustee for the tribe.

Interior Solicitor Kent Frizzell said: "The situation is one which could have led to needless violence and bloodshed. The action of the court will serve to stabilize the present dispute while the Interior Department continues to take the necessary steps that will allow the Omaha Tribe to take peaceful possession of over 3,000 acres of land that, in the opinion of the Interior Department, rightfully belongs to them."

For more than twenty years, non-Indians have been farming on land that was separated from the main portion of the Omaha Reservation by a series of man-made changes in the Missouri River. In 1974, after a number of studies and investigations reviewing an 1867 survey of the land, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson concluded that the land was part of the reservation. In April, at the tribe's direction and with the sanction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, individual Omaha Indians took possession of the land.

The non-Indian farmers brought an action in an Iowa State Court which ordered the Indians ejected from the land.

Acting in its responsibility as trustee for Indian lands, the Department of the Interior then requested the Justice Department to go into Federal Court on behalf of the Omaha Tribe and file a quiet title action against all non-Indians claiming an interest in Blackbird Bend, seeking damages and past profits from those who have farmed the land. In this suit, filed May 19, the Government requested a preliminary injunction to restrain non-Indian farmers from interfering with the Indian's occupancy of the land.

The action of the Court means that the tribe will remain in possession of the land and be able to farm it until the case is finally decided.

Solicitor Frizzell said the action was "indicative of the Department's determination to protect Indian rights. This sort of dispute is one that ought to be settled in the courts, with the United States advocating the Indians' position."

Bureau of Indian Affairs Commissioner Morris Thompson proclaimed the decision as a "great victory for the Omaha tribe." While the non-Indians had been in possession of the land before April for many years, the Commissioner noted that "they have been nothing more than trespassers, always with notice that the tribe had a strong and rightful claim to the land. This claim is fully supported by the Bureau."

Wyman J. McDonald, a member of the Flathead Indian Tribe, has been appointed Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Mescalero Agency in New Mexico. His appointment will be effective March 30.

He has been since 1971 executive director of Tri-State Tribes, Inc., in Billings Montana. This organization has been involved in training and other work with Indian Community Action Programs in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

McDonald, who was born in St. Ignatius, Montana in 1938, is a 1962 graduate of the University of Montana. He has completed the Interior Department's manager development program and taken special courses in industrial and general development at the universities of New Mexico and Arizona State.

A Marine Corps veteran, McDonald has worked with both OEO and EDA in Washington, DC. He has seven years previous experience with the BIA, at which time he served as an employment assistance officer, probation and juvenile officer and tribal affairs assistant.

McDonald is a former chairman of the Red Lake Reservation Community Services Committee and a former member of the Northern Minnesota Human Relations Commission.

Stanley K. Hathaway, former two-term Governor of Wyoming, was sworn into office today as the 40th Secretary of the Interior.

Hathaway, 50, was confirmed by the United States Senate as Secretary of the Interior June 11, 1975.

Hathaway was born in Osceola, Nebraska, July 19, 1924, and moved with his family in 1928 to Goshen County, Wyoming. The family homesteaded near Huntley, Wyoming, and he graduated from Huntley High School in 1941.

He attended the University of Wyoming until 1943, when he joined the Army Air Force. During World War. II, he was a radio operator on a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber with the Eighth Air Force. His crew participated in 35 combat missions and he survived two crash landings. He received the French Croix de Guerre, Presidential Unit Citations, and five Air Medals.

Following the war, Hathaway entered the University of Nebraska, where he earned Bachelor of Arts and Law degrees. He met his future wife, Roberta Harley of Sioux City, Iowa, while attending law school. They were married in 1948 and have two daughters, Susan 22 and Sandra 20.

After graduation from law school, the Hathaways moved to Torrington, Wyoming, where he established a law practice. He was elected Goshen County Attorney twice, in 1954 and again in 1958.

In 1966, Hathaway was elected Governor of Wyoming. He was re-elected to a second term in 1970.

During his two terms in office, Governor Hathaway served as Chairman of the Western Governors' Conference, Chairman of the Federation of Rocky Mountain States, and Chairman of the National Governors' Conference Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Management. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the National Governors' Conference.

Stanley M. Speaks, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, has been named Superintendent of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Agency at Anadarko, Oklahoma. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced that the appointment was effective June 22.

Speaks has been Acting Superintendent of the Intermountain Indian School at Brigham City, Utah, this past year. He has worked in Indian education programs with the Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1959. He was the Supervisory Guidance Counselor at Intermountain for five years.

Speaks has been actively involved in Indian youth programs, particularly scouting. He is a member of the American Indian Relations Committee (Boy Scouts of America) and was Chairman of the 16th American Indian Tribal Leaders' Seminar on Scouting 1972-73. He is also a member of the Rotary International.

Speaks, 41, is a graduate of Northeastern State College, Oklahoma, where he also earned a Master's degree in Education.

Demonstrations of two newly established career development programs on the Navajo Reservation will be opened to visitors July 9 and 10.

Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson said that the programs at Tuba City, Arizona, and Shiprock, New Mexico, have been proposed as models for other reservations. BIA officials from all regions of the country, as well as congressional, state and tribal representatives have been invited to see demonstrations of the program operations.

The purpose of the new program is to help Indians successfully choose and pursue a career as well as to channel community manpower potential to fit community needs.

Testing, counseling and career information services are provided by specially trained staff members in newly equipped analysis and referral centers. Programmed kits of audio­visual materials are available to enable individuals to learn about the opportunities and challenges of different occupations or professions on and off the reservation. The programs are also developing skills banks on job applicants and job banks on skills needs of their areas. The area job needs banks will also be used by the counselors.

This is a new effort by BIA and the Navajo Tribe to link training and education to career and employment needs.