CONFEREES IN CONVERSATION—Lawrence E. Llndley, left. General Secretary of the Indian Rights
Association and Chairman of the Council on Indian Affairs Conference, held on April 22-24, in Wash
ington, D.C., and Alfred Ketzler, Nenana, Alaska, Chairman of the Dena Nena Henash, interior Alaska
Athabascan Indian organization. Mr. Ketzler represented that organization at the conference. The pic
taken at Secretary of the Interior Udall’s conference room in the Department of the Interior,
Washington, D.C., April 23, 1963. -Photo by Theodore B. Hetzel
Support . . .
(Continued from page 1)
still remain undefined and unex
tinguished;”
"That the State of Alaska, under
Section 6 of the Alaska Statehood
Act of 1958, is in the process of
selecting over 103,000,000 acres
_within its borders for its own use,
notwithstanding the fact that such
property may be the subject of na
tive land claims or other native
rights;”
“That the Alaska Task Force of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs recent
ly issued a report which incorp
orates many praiseworthy proposals
for improving the health, education
and social conditions of the natives
of Alaska;”
"That the Task Force recommend
ed with respect to land problems:
(1) that "the State selection pro
gram in the immediate vicinity of
such, (native) villages should be
suspended for the time being in
order to survey out small acreages
for the permanent use and occu
pancy of the inhabitants.” (2) that
should a forum be created to adjudi
cate native land rights, “the trans
fer of title to the State in some
cases might have to be deferred
until native claims were heard and
determined."
Wholly Inadequate
The Council then went on to
state that the task force recom
mendations are wholly inadequate
fully to protect the land rights and
claims of Indians, Eskimos and
Aleuts in Alaska.
It urged Secretary Udall, after
reviewing the task force report, "to
give effect to the obvious fact that
the issue is not whether the areas
reserved for native villages should
be ‘small’ or large, but whether
the areas reserved are sufficient
to meet native needs and, in par
ticular, to support a viable econ
omy.”
The Council urged the Secretary
to "recognize that, if State selec
tions in all cases where a conflict
exists are not postponed until na
tive titles are determined, the land
will be appropriated before a de
cision is rendered and thus will be
lost to the natives’ use even though
essential to their economy.”
The Council said it would under
take to convey the recommenda
tions in its resolution to their con
stituent organizations for study and
fiction.
NENANA BREAKUP
The Nenana ice went out at 6:25
Pm. yesterday and there were five
Winning guesses to collect the Ne
nana Ice Classic Sweepstakes. It
'''ill be several days before the
amount of the winnings can be de
termined said Don Clark, manager
®f the Classic.
Rampart Hearings in Alaska . . .
(Continued from Page 1)
oerore, April 22, and Carver didn’t
know about it until about 15 minu
tes prior to the meeting.
“The Indians in Alaska will get
all the hearings they want about the
proposed withdrawal.’’ Udall said.
Upon learning of the proposed
Rampart withdrawal on April 10,
Ketzler sent telegrams to most of
the villages in the proposed Ram
part area urging them to file com
ments or objections before the time
limit expired. Some of the villages
had no telegraph service and let
ters were sent to these villages.
Informed Too Late
In an exclusive interview upon
his returning to Alaska, Ketzler
said he had received a letter from
the village of Chalkyitsik saying
that his letter was not received un
til April 19 and the village did not
have time to file a comment.
Ft. Yukon, for itself and the near
by villages of Canyon Village, Birch
Creek, and Beaver, filed a strong
objection to the withdrawal.
Extension Asked
It also urged an extension of time
for filing comments to the BLM
to enable small villages that have
less frequent mail service to send
in comments.
According to the Ft. Yukon objec
tion:
"We are well aware of the fact
the withdrawal, if enacted, would
have adverse effect on the economy
of the entire Yukon basin. Private
and public investment for the de
velopment of natural resources
would appear out of the question as
a result of the withdrawal.”
Villages Object
“The feasibility study of the Ram
part Dam has not been completed
nor is there pending congressional
authorization for construction. We
therefore question the need for land
at this time for the following reas
ons:
“The power site classification re
serves the actual damsite. Since a
buffer area has been noted on the
land office records, it appears that
a withdrawal is not needed to con
trol speculation. If the geological
survey can provide ample justifica
tion for the land withdrawal, it is
likely that people of the Yukon
basin will support it.
“If this proposed withdrawal can
not be supported, we wish to re
serve the right to object to the with
drawal at the time of the hearing,”
the Ft. Yukon council wrote.
Ft. Yukon Invites
It went on to formally invite
the Interior Department to hold
the hearing concerning the Rampart
withdrawal at Ft. Yukon, pointing
out that it was centrally located in
the area involved. It requested the
hearing be held at the earliest pos
sible date, possibly within 30 days
of the deadline date for comments.
In an attempt to obtain facts per
taining to the withdrawal, the coun
cil said an open quorum meeting
was held at Ft. Yukon with various
officials and groups.
No Justification
“Evidence presented at that meet
ing did not seem to justify the with
drawal at this time. The proposed
withdrawal was unclear as to its
effect on mineral leasing and min
ing. No statement appeared stating
whether or not the land withdrawn
would be restored under the pro
vision 24 of the Federal Power Act,”
the council pointed out.
In Washington. Kctzler called for
the Interior Department to set up
an information program to keep
villages informed of what was trans
piring in regard to the proposed
hydroelectric project.
Official Visits
Kaltag 3 Days
Natives of the Lower Yukon vil
lage of Kaltag were particularly
impressed with the recent three-day
visit of one of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs Projects Development of
ficers. According to good sources,
it was the first time a government
official had stayed at the village
more than one day.
Unalakleet Co-operative
Granted 50-Year Permit
To Generate, Sell Power
Unalakleet
Recently the Unalakleet Electric
Cooperative, Inc. was granted a 50
year permit to generate power for
the Unalakleet Reservation. Offic
ers of the cooperative are: Frank
A. Degnan, president; Dale B. Frie
mering. vice president; Francis L.
Katongan, secretary, and F. Sheldon
Ryan, treasurer.
Letter to Editor
Kotzebue. Alaska
April 3. 1963
Dear Sir:
Please find enclosed my check to
the amount of $5. a payment for a
year’s subscription of Tundra Times.
Needless to say. your paper is
now filling out the much-needed
instrument to give information and
airing of the points of views of both
the Eskimos and Indians in north
ern Alaska.
Here is wishing you success in
the venture.
Your truly,
Percy Ipalook, Sr.
Project Chariot:
Interior Dept, to Press AEC
Drop 'Nuclear Blast' Design
The U.S. Interior Department will J
oppose the proposed withdrawal
by the Atomic Energy Commission
of 96,000 acres at Cape Thompson
unless the AEC removes as a pur
pose of the project the nuclear blast
ing of a harbor, according to Assist
ant Secretary of Interior John Car
ver.
Carver told Alfred Ketzler, chaii
man of the Dena Nona Henash In
terior Indian organization, in Wash
ington, D C. last week that the In
terior Department v4 uld "stand
by" its previously announced de
cision that the AEC's application
should be amended to specify the
purpose of the withdrawal is for
biological investigations, omitting
any authorization for explosion of
a nuclear device.
He went on to promise the In
terior Department would put out
ENGINEER SAYS
Relocating People
For Rampart Dam
Won’t Cost Much
Colonel Kenneth Sawyer, com
mander of the Corps of Engineers
in Alaska, said here last week the
proposed Rampart Dam hydroelec
tric project would require the re
locating of about 1.500 people but
added the relocation “would not re
quire a large figure.”
Sawyer spoke at a special meeting
of the Rampart Advisory Commit
tee in Fairbanks last Wednesday,
attended by about 40 persons.
In a question and answer session
after a formal address, Sawyer said
the Corps of Engineers had esti
mated the cost of relocating the
people in the proposed project area,
but he declined to make the cost
public.
Compared with relocation of per
sons in similar programs in the
lower states, he said the cost would
be less.
He also added that the Bureau of
Indian Affairs had contended that
more than 1.500 people would be in
volved in relocation.
Sawyer, in addition to discussing
the merits of the Rampart project,
said the Corps of Engineers would
soon proceed with other proposed
hydroelectric program in the Yu
kon-Kuskokwim River basins, in
cluding Woodchopper. Crocked
Creek, and Kaltag projects.
According to mimeographerl ma
terial distributed at the'meeting, “a
great number of letters have been
sent to the local BLM office in
opposition to the withdrawal appli
cation.”
“If you favor the construction of
Rampart Dam we urge you to write
immediately stating your support,”
it was stated in the mimeographed
material.
Also distributed were form letters
in favor of the Rampart project ad
dressed to the Bureau of Land Man
agement. It was suggested in the
mimeographed material, “it would
be preferable to re-type it on your
own letter head, or to add a para
graphy or two of your own thoughts
at the close of the letter. Sign it and
send immediately to the address
shown.”
According to Daniel Jones, man
ager of the BLM land office, many
letters both favoring and objecting
to the Rampart withdrawal have
been received by him arfd sent on
to Secretary of Interior Stewart L.
Udall.
He stated today that comments or
objections could still be filed and
would be promptly transmitted to
Washington, D.C.
an announcement soon making clear
its position.
Sen. E. L. (Bobi Bartlett told
Tundra Times last week "I am just
as certain as can be that Project
Chariot—in the sense of a nuc. ar
experiment—i in name only. Any
thing I learn to the contrary a* ;y
time will be rt ported to you."
On April 1 :. the AF.t annou .ced
it Was turning ever its Cape The: .p
son research station to the Navy
but went on to add that its proposal
for conducting a nuclear expei in nt
there” is not dead yet.”
The stated intention of the AFC
confirms an exclusive banner head
BULLETIN
On April 25 the Atomic Ener
gy Commission sent a letter to
the Interior Department cancel
ling its 96,000 acre withdrawal
application for Project Chariot.
Because of this, Senator E. L.
(Bob) Bartlett has predicted the
nuclear experiment will never
occur.
line story in the April 1 issue of
Tundra Times that the AEC still
plans the nuclear blast and point
ing out that the AEC refused to
remove the nuclear experiment as a
purpose of the withdrawal.
Vigorous protests were made by
Eskimos of the area and by various
state and national groups pointing
out obvious misinformation put out
| by the AEC in support of the pro
ject. One scientist who worked on
the project claimed before a distin
guished audience in New York City
early this year that the AEC had
deceived Eskimos about the project.
According to the AEC's announce
ment, it will turn over the Cape
Thompson camp to the Navy’s Arc
tic Research Laboratory at Point
I Barrow "as a small satellite field
station.”
The AEC said it was compiling
a four-year study of Cape Thomp
son and would probably issue it
early next year. It previously has
deferred a recommendation to Pres
ident Kennedy on whether tire ex
periment should be undertaken.
A crucial issue in the Project
Chariot controversy, which has con
tinued for the past three years, has
been whether fallout from the pro
posed blast would contaminate the
unique Arctic food chain. Caribou
and reindeer, important food of
Eskimos, eat chiefly lichens and
sedges which obtain their nutrients
from the air rather than the soil.
Dr. William Pruit, a biologist of
College. Alaska, has warned in
newspaper and magazine articles
that the danger to the Arctic food
chain already from background fall
out is greater than what is realized
and that extensive studies are need
ed to determine just how great the
danger really is.
Senator E. L. Bartlett, apparently
perplexed with the vagueness and
uncertainty of the A.E.C., recently
on the floor of the Senate demanded
£hat extensive studies be made of
the radiation danger to the Arctic
food chain. He also had placed in
the Congressional Record one of his
letters to the AEC—one of the
strongest letters to a government
agency ever to appear in the record.
Kotzebue Woman
Buys Art Print
Mrs. Edith Bullock, business
woman at Kctzcbue, bought a sea?
skin print from Calvin Oktolhk
Point Hope artist, entitled “Whale
with Belugas." Mrs. Bullock is a
collector of Alaska art.
Edith Bullock is an outstanding
community leader in the town of
Kotzebue and has liveu there for
many years.