service function and with the whole range of Indian life, and many other functions of the Indian Service are intimately linked with the land-acquisition program. New Indian lands.-Under the act of June 14, 1934 (48 Stat. L. 960), 265,446 acres in Arizona have been added to the Navajo Reservation by purchase or exchange at a total cost of $358,312. Seventeen tracts, totaling 52 acres, within the Pueblos of Picuris and Nambe have been acquired for $6,355. Home sites for two members of the Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians, and the Baron Long Ranch of about 1,600 acres to be occupied by about 80 members of the band, have been purchased for a total of $129,600. A tract of 155 acres near Burns, Oreg., costing $11,592, was acquired for the benefit of the Paiute or Snake Band living there. Under acts of Congress, 557 acres have been added to the Rocky Boy Reservation, Mont.; 8,300 to the Zuni Reservation, N. Mex.; and 75 acres of the former Whipple Barracks Military Reserve, Ariz., and 80 acres in Utah were withdrawn for the use of Indians. Under the provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act, approved June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. L. 195), the Indian Office has cooperated with the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in the purchase of land for the relief and benefit of the Indian population. During the year options were obtained on 1,655,384 acres, the asked price being $6,585,219. Of this total, options on 1,070,169 acres have been accepted, at a cost of $2,928,241. It is hoped that these purchases will be consummated under the direction and supervision of the Resettlement Administration, which has taken over the duties of the F. E. R. A. as to land purchases. These lands are situated in the following States: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and New Mexico. Options have also been secured on lands in Washington, California, Nevada, Utah, and Oklahoma. Extension of trust periods.-The period of trust was extended for 10 years by order of the President on allotments made to Indians of the following tribes and bands: Torres Martinez, California; Crow, Montana; various tribes, Oklahoma; Klamath, Oregon; Crow Creek, South Dakota; Colville, Spokane, and Yakima, Washington. Fee patents; sales.-Only 12 applications of Indians for patents in fee, covering 1,764 acres, were approved during the year. No new sales of restricted Indian lands have been made except a few in Oklahoma and on some reservations which voted not to accept the Indian Reorganization Act. The work of completing sales of allotted Indian lands made on the deferred-payment plan some years ago is progressing, final payments having been made on 67,520 acres. Thirty-nine forced patents in fee previously issued without application were canceled under the acts of February 26, 1927 (44 Stat. 1247), and February 21, 1931 (46 Stat. 1205), bringing the number of such cancellations to 440. Suits have been instituted involving 75 allotments on which fee patents were canceled under the above-mentioned acts to cancel tax assessments, tax deeds, and sales, and to refund taxes paid by the Indians. In two recent cases of this kind judgments were recovered by the United States and all tax assessments, tax sales, and deeds were invalidated and taxes paid by Indians were recovered. Five Civilized Tribes titles.-Forty-one suits were instituted to clear title to restricted lands belonging to allottees of the Five Civilized Tribes and 25 favorable judgments were obtained during the fiscal year. There are now pending about 50 suits involving the title to these lands belonging to restricted allottees. Minerals.—There was considerable increase in the activity of leasing for oil and gas mining purposes in Oklahoma during the year. The income of the Osage Indians from their oil and gas leases was almost $5,000,000, bringing the total received by them from that source to slightly more than $252,700,000. Oil is being produced and marketed on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico and on the Blackfeet Reservation, Mont. There is little change in activities relative to lead and zinc mining at the Quapaw Agency, Okla., the Department having granted permission for suspension of mining operations on several of the leases. Litigation.-Approximately 98 cases are now pending in the United States Court of Claims involving Indian tribal claims. Reports were made during the year to the Department of Justice on 19 of them. The court rendered decisions adverse to the Indian tribes in 7 cases. In one suit-Blackfeet, Blood, etc., Tribes v. United States, No. E-427-the Indians recovered a judgment for $622,465.57. One case reached the Supreme Court of the United States-United States v. Creek Nation, No. F-205-in which the judgment of the Court of Claims in favor of the Creek Nation was reversed with directions for such further proceedings as might be necessary to bring the award of compensation into conformity with the Supreme Court's decision. Litigation involving the Jackson Barnett estate is still being carried on, and in accordance with one decision the Riggs National Bank has turned over to the Secretary of the Interior in trust for the estate the sum of $7,938.37 and securities of the aggregate face value of $268,550. There are about 200 persons claiming to be Jackson Barnett's heirs. Sixty-two reports were prepared on various bills introduced in the Seventy-fourth Congress, first session, relating to Indian tribal and individual claims, and 12 involving membership rights with various tribes. Congress authorized an appropriation of $79,002.19 to compensate individual Sioux Indians in connection with their claims for lost allotments adjudicated under the act of May 3, 1928 (45 Stat. L. 484). INDIAN UNIT OF THE NATIONAL RESOURCES BOARD As a part of the activities of the National Resources Board, a special Indian unit was formed, consisting in part of regular Indian Office personnel, and in part of employees hired especially for this work by the National Resources Board. An extensive survey was made of the present total Indian resources, and the attempt made to establish a standard by which the inadequacy of these resources might be measured. An estimate of the probable land and equipment needed in each reservation to enable the Indians to maintain a decent standard of living was set up. An Indian land research unit was placed in the northern Pueblos jurisdiction to make an intensive study of the economic situation of the region in connection with the Soil Conservation Service. Maps were prepared of the Tewa Basin area showing the extent and type of erosion, type of vegetative cover, amounts of alienated agricultural land within present Pueblo grants, proposed improvements in land management, areas to be purchased for Indian use, and present Indian agricultural holdings in detail. Studies were made of the present economic status of the Tewa Indians, the present condition of Indian arts and crafts, health conditions, the effect of relief work on the economic and social balance, political organization, and the effect of community houses in improving Indian relationships with the outside world. In order to orient these studies properly in their setting, studies were also made of the surrounding Spanish-American villages, the sheep industry of New Mexico, and the effect upon the tax structure of the purchase of new lands for Indians. Recommendations were made as to more intelligent economic planning. SOIL CONSERVATION Soil conservation work, first instituted on the Navajo Reservation, has been extended to many reservations in cooperation with the Soil Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture. In the Navajo and Pueblo areas, the perfect functional unification of the Indian Service and the Soil Conservation Service has been accomplished. The soil conservation work of the Indian emergency conservation work has been continued in Oklahoma, the Dakotas, Montana, and southern Arizona, as well as in the Pueblo and Navajo region. Soil conservation operations are only in part engineering works. They include revegetation, range control, stock reduction, and, in the Navajo area, genetic work with a view toward the production of a Navajo type of sheep. The soil conservation interest has penetrated deeply into the curricula and project activities of many of the day schools, and of the Fort Wingate boarding school. EMERGENCY CONSERVATION WORK Emergency conservation work continued throughout the fiscal year 1935. The liberalized regulations which gave the Indian Service the supervision of this work on Indian reservations, including the disbursement of funds and employment of personnel, were also continued. Wholehearted cooperation has been given by the Department to all of our efforts, and Director Fechner has given sympathetic consideration to all requests made and has cordially cooperated in advancing the work. A total of $10,000,000 was allotted-$7,500,000 under the appropriation in the act of March 31, 1933, and $2,500,000 under the new act. Enrollment and employment.—It is estimated that approximately 26,000 to 27,000 Indian enrollees have been employed since work began in 1933 through June 30, 1935. The total average daily number of men on the pay roll during the past 2 years has been 9,763, a total of 2,751,964 calendar days. Some of the agencies staggered employment. The number of supervisory jobs was kept under strict control. Indians were given preference and enrollees were taken over into them as rapidly as they could be trained. It was difficult to find Indians technically trained as foresters, engineers, etc., but a large number of group foremen, mechanics, machine operators, camp assistants, and assistant foremen have been Indians. The following table shows the number of Indians and non-Indians in supervisory and "facilitating " positions: All work stopped after March 31, due to uncertainty as to the continuance of funds. Only skeleton crews were kept at work until definite instructions were given after the passage of the act of April 8. Indians were permitted to work from camps or from their own homes. The cash allowance was $30 per month, with quarters and food in camp. If Indians lived at home and subsisted themselves, they were allowed commutation for quarters and rations in the sum of $12 per month. Effective April 1, 1935, this allowance was increased to $15 per month by Director Fechner, due to the increased cost of food supplies. The family camp was encouraged wherever possible. This arrangement was advantageous to the Government and beneficial to the Indians. The concentration of the Indians in these camps permitted the regular employees of the Service to visit them frequently and to help them in sanitation and health problems, recreation, and other activities. Health and accidents.-A few accidents were reported, some illness, and very few deaths. Special stress was placed upon safety. Firstaid classes were held and a number of the Indians received certificates for completion of the course. As a general rule, the health of the Indians was tremendously benefited. Production accomplishments.-A variety of work projects was undertaken on 78 reservations in 23 States. Soil erosion has long been recognized as one of the most destructive results of uncontrolled grazing, and plans were made for the development of water so as to distribute the use of forage more widely, and in the building of check dams and other structures to prevent the washing away of rich soil. While improvements of this nature are particularly necessary in Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Utah, there is urgent need for water development in all States lying between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. A statement of the major activities undertaken during the period, July 1933 to March 31, 1935, follows: |