OPA

American Legion officials and Charles Reno have been invited, in recognition of the Legion's successful effort to correct the military record of Major Marcus A. Reno, to attend the ceremonies being held June 23, 24 and 25 at Crow Indian Agency, Mont.

The ceremonies include re-enactments of Custer's Last Stand.

Robert L. Bennett, Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior, said today he extended the invitations at the suggestion of officials of the Crow Tribe to:

John E. Davis, National Commander of The American Legion;

Andrew D. Eggenberger, Montana State Commander, The American Legion, Harlowton, Mont.; and,

Charles Reno, 34-70 78th Street, Jackson Heights, N. Y., grandnephew of Major Reno.

Tribal officials suggested to Bennett that he extend the invitations on behalf of the entire tribe.

John J. Corcoran, director of the Legion's National Rehabilitation Division, announced on May 31 that the Army Board for Correction of Military Records had ruled that Major Reno, who fought with General Custer in the Battle of Little Big Horn, deserved an honorable discharge instead of the dishonorable discharge he was given in 1880.

Major Reno had been cited for gallantry and had an outstanding record in the Civil War and afterwards, but accusations of cowardice in the Battle of Little Big Horn made him a notorious and controversial figure, even though a military board of inquiry ruled he was blameless.

Theodore S. Hoffman, president of Hoffman Information Systems, Inc., Hoffman Electronics, Corp., of El Monte, Calif., has accepted an appointment as a consultant on economic development with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, in Washington, D.C., Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall announced today.

The new consultant has extensive experience in the fields of general management, industrial relations, marketing, research and development and finance. Since 1951 he has been associated with Hoffman Electronics, becoming a director of the corporation in 1964, and president of Hoffman Information Systems in March 1966.

He will advise the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the development and use of Indian talents and resources; the promotion of locations on Indian reservations for industrial plants, commercial endeavors and tourist enterprises; the encouragement of Indian-owned and operated economic ventures; and the mobilization of credit and financing for these activities.

Hoffman, 38, is a native of California who spent a part of his boyhood on the Navajo Reservation and has a knowledge of the Navajo Indian language. He holds a B.A. in Public Administration from the University of California.

The reassignment of two Indian Agency superintendents and the appointment of a third was announced today by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

William W. Grissom will move from the Superintendent's post at the Blackfeet Agency, Browning, Mont., to Superintendent of the Anadarko Agency, Anadarko, Okla. He succeeds Robert Meshaw, who died Aug. 30, 1966.

Born in Noble, Okla., Grissom served in the Coast Guard during World War II. He joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1949 as a soil conservationist at Anadarko after being graduated from Oklahoma A & M College.

Succeeding Grissom at the Blackfeet Agency is Noralf Nesset, heretofore Superintendent of the Standing Rock Agency, Fort Yates, N. D.

Nesset, born in Maddock, N. D., began his BIA career as a teacher in the Fort Yates school in 1939, after having taught at the school before it became a Federal institution. He is a graduate of North Dakota State Teachers College, Valley City.

Named as the new Superintendent at Standing Rock is Thomas J. Ellison, who has been credit officer at the Muskogee, Okla., area office. Ellison, a member of the Choctaw Tribe, was born at Fort Towson, Okla.

He served with the infantry in the European Theater during World War II and is a graduate of Colorado State University. Ellison began his Bureau career as a soil conservationist at Apache, Okla., in 1950.

All three reassignments became effective January 15, 1967.

A new era is beginning on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. For a long time Rosebud had exhibited most of the handicaps of an isolated reservation -- a land base inadequate to support its increasing population, an average family income of less than $1,500 annually, a 65 percent unemployment rate for its labor force and an estimated 90 percent of· its families living in substandard housing.

One of the most dramatic examples of changes now taking place on Rosebud is the transitional housing program. "Anpo Wicharpi" is the official slogan for the program. In keeping with the new spirit on the reservation it is Sioux for "dawn of a new day."

Cooperation among all levels of government is a key element in the Bureau of Indian Affairs' administration of reservation programs. The Rosebud housing program is an example of that concept in action. The Office of Economic Opportunity, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Public Health Service are all involved.

Together these agencies are helping the Rosebud Sioux replace shacks, tents and a variety of makeshift housing with 375 new homes designed especially for those who cannot meet the income requirements for standard low-cost housing.

The homes are low-cost because they are pre-fabricated in a central plant and assembled at the site. Containing 620 square feet of living space, they are built to withstand the bitter Dakota winters. Admittedly utilitarian by American suburban standards -- most contain neither electricity nor running water although provisions to add both are built in -- they are a first step forward for those in emergency need. Sixty-nine homes are complete and another 34 nearing completion. An average of two houses are erected each day.

Improved housing is not the only goal of the "Anpo Wicharpi" program. Twenty-five Indian men are receiving on-the-job training in building crafts at the prefabrication plant. Almost 100 are employed in field assembly crews.

The project administrator, the Rev. Richard Pates, a local parish priest, believes these new homes can be a "breakthrough" for their new owners.

"Rosebud Sioux tribal members now are looking forward to living in a decent home with ordinary conveniences. This provides them with a new image of family life and gives them a new place in society," Father Pates reports.

This program is not the total housing development on Rosebud. A tribal housing authority has constructed and rented 92 low-rent homes, and has approved construction of 50 "mutual-help" units. Under the mutual-help housing program the family contributes labor in place of down payment.

New housing alone is not the answer to deep-rooted poverty, as the Rosebud Sioux leadership acknowledges. Therefore, an all-out effort to stimulate job producing business and industry is a parallel feature of the Rosebud program.

Among the plants that have located on the reservation is the Rosebud Manufacturing Co. which arrived in November 1965. Established through tribal initiative and a $50,000 loan from the BIA revolving loan fund and the Small Business Administration, this industry uses a work force of 25 Indians, to manufacture kitchen cabinets and counter tops.

In September 1966 Fabritek, Inc., began production of electronic components on the reservation, employing 24 Indians.

A recent tribal announcement hailed the formation of Rosebud Foods, Inc., which will occupy a new $500,000 building built in cooperation with the tribe at St. Francis, S. D., and will employ 30 Sioux in the production of a new frozen food line. Employment is expected to increase to 200 within two years.

The Rosebud Reservation contains some of the most beautiful scenery in South Dakota and the tribe has begun the development of tourist-oriented enterprises among its pine covered hills and scenic valleys.

At Ghost Hawk Park on the Little White River near the town of Rosebud, the BIA and the Interior Department's Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife have assisted the tribe in creating a complete camping facility including water and sanitation systems, campsites, shower and laundry facilities and a stream well stocked with game fish.

The tribe participates in a wide variety of projects through the Office of Economic Opportunity. A recent grant of $134,977 will be used for more extensive park development and beautification and to begin a tree nursery and reforestation program. Jobs and training for 30 Indians will be added advantages of the project.

Other antipoverty programs have included the Upward Bound program which encourages education beyond high school; the Neighborhood Youth Corps, which provides Indian teen-agers with part-time jobs; and Operation Head-Start for preschool children.

The Work Experience Program provided training for men in such fields as building maintenance, heavy equipment operation, law enforcement, building trades, retail food merchandising and game conservation.

The same program helped women to become nurses ‘aides, cafeteria workers, library assistants, clerical workers, and sales clerks. A total of 201 adults took these courses. In addition many worked toward high school equivalency certificates and in other basic education programs.

In fiscal year 1966 a total of $661,685 in Federal funds was spent on Community Action Projects on the Rosebud Reservation.

In education, the reservation has achieved the goal of BlA's Indian education policy in having all Indian students enrolled in locally controlled public schools. The Bureau provides dormitory facilities for children from isolated areas, but all instruction is carried on under State and local programs.

This wide variety of program commitment on the reservation has been possible because of the initiative of tribal leadership and the enthusiasm of tribal members in trying new ideas and proposals. Two of the most active leaders, in the forefront of most developments, are Tribal Chairman Cato Valandra and Community Action Program Director Dwaine LeBeau.

Even with the many programs and projects now in operation, much remains to be done on the Rosebud Reservation. Problems that have been years in developing do not disappear overnight. But the two necessary ingredients for progress -- hope and enthusiasm -- are evident on the reservation in the actions of tribal leaders, tribal membership and those who work to assist them.

Rosebud Reservation, S.D., has seen "Anpo Wicharpi," the dawn of a new day, and is working to make that new day bright with accomplishment and pride for all who live there.

Indian tribal leaders throughout the Nation are now being kept advised of legislative developments in the Congress through new services instituted by direction of Robert L. Bennett, Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior.

Last year Bennett initiated procedures for detailed consultation with Indian tribal leaders in the development of major legislation to be sponsored by the Bureau, such as the recently proposed Indian Resources Development Act.

Regional meetings were held at which Indian leaders presented their positions; tentative proposed legislation was drafted, then further meetings were held with the Indians before final decisions were reached on the scope of the proposal to be submitted to Congress. These decisions included acceptance of many recommendations made by the Indians.

Following submission of a proposed bill, now identified as S. 1816 or H.R. 10560, Commissioner Bennett had copies of the legislation sent to all Indian tribal leaders.

Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall described the bill as the most important legislation proposed for American Indians in many, many years, certainly the most important since the Indian Claims Commission Act of 1946.

While Bennett emphasized in his letter to the tribal leaders that the bill currently contains only proposals, because the provisions supported by the Department and the Bureau have not been approved by Congress, he said the legislation should be studied carefully so that the views of the Indians may be presented to the committees which will hold hearings. The Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs has scheduled a hearing July 11 to hear Interior Department witnesses. A schedule for general hearings has not been announced, but Bennett expressed hope they would be held this fall, or sooner.

Pointing out that "it is for Congress to decide whether they (the proposals) shall be accepted or revised or rejected,” Bennett urged the tribal leaders into make your views known to Congress, to help the members of the committees in arriving at satisfactory recommendations.

In another new service, at Bennett's direction, the Bureau's Office of Congressional Relations is sending to the presiding officers of all governing bodies of Indian tribes and groups a report on the status of what it considers to be the major Indian legislative proposals that have been introduced in this session of Congress. The report is being sent weekly, except in those weeks in which no significant action occurs.

The report also goes to the Bureau's area directors and agency superintendents.

The presiding officers are urged to feel free- to contact their superintendents on any legislation of particular interest to them.

The Department of the Interior today announced issuance of new regulations dealing with off-reservation fishing by Indians under rights secured to them by Federal treaties. The regulations are intended to help assure that the Indians' rights will be protected and will be exercised in a manner consistent with conservation needs.

The new standards provide a framework to assist States and Indian tribes in regulating Indian treaty fishing to assure proper protection both to the Indians' treaty rights and to fish runs.

Where State or tribal regulations do not effectively provide both of these protections, the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe the permissible seasons and fishing practices to govern the Indian fishing. Prior to issuing any such rules. He will seek the views of affected State agencies and Indian tribes. Any fishing contrary to the Secretary's regulations or to federally approve tribal regulations will be regarded as without treaty protection and can be dealt with by States under State law.

In approving the new regulations, Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall said he hopes the States and the tribes, in consultation with each other, will adopt regulations which will meet the treaty requirements, thus making it unnecessary for the Secretary of the Interior to fix seasons and fishing methods.

"The Federal courts, “Udall said, "have consistently held that the States may regulate Indian off-reservation treaty protected fishing to the extent necessary for conservation. But they must respect the treaty right and must prove that the restriction of Indian fishing is essential to conservation. In numerous recent Incidences State and Federal courts have held that present State laws or policies have not met that test. "

The Secretary welcomed the initiative taken by Oregon Governor Tom McCall to establish a Columbia River Indian Treaty Fisheries Council to improve understanding between the State and the tribes on matters affecting Indian fishing. A meeting to discuss formation of such a council was held July 11 at Salem, Oregon. State agencies from Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the Department of the Interior, and the four Columbia River Indian tribes (Yakima, Warm Springs, Umatilla and Nez Perce) were invited to attend the meeting. Interior Department representatives explained the new Federal regulations.

Last year the United States Department of Justice successfully defended numerous Indians charged in Washington and Oregon State courts with violating State fishing laws that did not make special allowances for Indian treaty rights. As a result, State authorities this year have not arrested Indians on the Columbia River when they were fishing in compliance with tribal regulations. The Department of the Interior has assisted Oregon State efforts to prosecute Indians who were not conforming to tribal conservation restrictions.

The new Interior Department regulations follow in substantial form the draft of proposed regulations published in the Federal Register July 16, 1965. Comments submitted by State and Federal agencies, Indian tribes and other persons have been considered in drafting the revised regulations. The new regulations will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

The Department of the Interior has recommended that Congress pass a bill to increase appropriation authorization for Indian vocational education.

Labeling the current vocational training program as "one of the stable contributing factors in solving Indian problems," the Department said it is giving more emphasis to it. A bill now in Congress would increase the annual authorization from $15 to $25 million.

"The program is extremely popular among the younger generation of Indians," said a Department statement, "and we anticipate that there will be an increase in demand for these services in the near future."

Typical fiscal year expenditures for the program show $4,177,872 in 1962; $6,557,974 in 1964; $11,372,536 in 1966; and an estimated $13,328,161 for 1967.

During fiscal 1966, over 5,000 heads of families or single persons were given training, with more than 2,000 completing their courses, 888 discontinuing training, and a balance of 2,075 still in training July 1. In addition, 1,652 Indians were placed in on-the-job training positions.

According to the projected educational figures for fiscal 1969 from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which plans the programs, there will be about 5,400 Indian high school graduates annually, plus an unknown number of dropouts.

Many of the graduates and all of the drop-outs will need vocational training, according to Bureau education experts, to compete successfully for jobs. The expected increase, together with more opportunities for on-the-job training resulting from increased industrial activity on or near Indian reservations, will make the additional funds necessary, the Bureau reported.

Interior Secretary Stewart L. Udall today congratulated the Zuni Indian Tribe of New Mexico for their initiative in passing one of the first Indian Sales Taxes collected primarily from Indians.

In placing a one percent tax upon themselves, Udall said, in a letter to Zuni Tribal Governor Robert E. Lewis, the Zuni Tribe has realized "that its local government cannot be a potent force for improvement unless it is able to carry its fair share of needed educational, industrial, social, health and community development program costs."

The Zuni's willingness to tax themselves will encourage those working with them in Federal and State Government programs "to new and greater effort to meet your goals," Udall said. "Your actions should stand as a guidepost for many other tribes who share your aspirations for Indian development."

Udall noted that the new tax was one of 24 goals cited in a recently released tribal plan for 24 improvement projects over the next 24 months. The plan, he said, is further evidence of "a Zuni desire to build a Pueblo into a place of beauty, opportunity, dignity, and security for all who would continue the heritage of an ancient and honored culture."

Five awards totaling more than $709 million were granted to seven American Indian groups in judgments by the Indian Claims Commission during 1966, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs reported today.

In addition, case that was filed Indians of Utah and Commission in 1946 0 the year brought final settlement of a long-pending in the United States Court of Claims by the Ute Colorado prior to establishment of the Indian Claims The Court of Claims awarded $4.4 million to the Utes.

The Indian Claims Commission is an independent tribunal which hears and determines the claims of tribes, bands and other identifiable groups of American Indians living in the United States. As of January, 1967, the Commission had granted 88 awards totaling more than $213 million. Five of the awards are awaiting the outcome of appeals pending in the Court of Claims. Congress has appropriated $190 06 million to pay all but three of the awards which have become final.

The majority of Indian claims filed with the Commission are for fair value of Indian lands ceded to the United States or taken by the Government in the past. Most of the funds received through judgments are now being invested by the tribes for projects to improve social and economic conditions among the Indian people.

Some typical projects include: Scholarships for the education of Indian youths; social services for reservation dwellers; construction of community centers and funding of community development projects; and tribal enterprises, including recreational tourism developments, to provide employment for tribal members and bring new sources of income to tribal coffers.

The awards granted in 1966 by the Indian Claims Commission were:

Robert L. Bennett, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, announced today that Sidney M. Carney, the BIA's special liaison representative to the Seneca Indians of New York State, has been appointed Director of the Bureau's Anadarko, Okla., Area Office.

Carney, 47, is of Choctaw and Creek descent and was born in Quinton, Okla. He joined the Bureau in 1957 as an administrative officer at the Fort Defiance Agency, Ariz. He also served at the Jicarilla Agency, N. M., and in the Washington office before his assignment to New York State in 1962.

Last year Carney received a $1,500 sustained superior performance award from Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall for his efforts in helping the Senecas in their relocation and rehabilitation programs following the loss of 10,000 reservation acres for the Kinzua Dam reservoir.

Carney attended the Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kan., and has a bachelor's and a master's degree from Oklahoma State University. He served with the Army in the European theater in World War II. Carney is married and the father of four children.

He succeeds Leslie Towle, who has been assigned to the Portland Area Office. Commissioner Bennett said the appointment will take effect soon, at a date not yet made firm.