| OCR Text |
Show It Was Their Idea Ute Indian Plan Ohehed In Congress The lower house of congress,! interior committee, last Thurs- day, May 3, approved a bin to release to the Ute Indians of Utah a one-third share of a $17,000,000 fund they have had coming to them for sometime. The bill allows a $1000 payment pay-ment to each of the 1600 Indians in the tribe, and the establishment establish-ment of a $5,000,000 fund for a three-year program to improve their land holdings and schools. Committee members Praised the tribe for bringing in the plan themselves. Rep. Reva Beck Bo- sone (D-Utah), said the tribe wisely decided it wouldn't press to get all the money at once. The money comes from a settlement set-tlement reached last July on the tribe's suit for reimbursement reimburse-ment for land taken from them some 20 years ago. Oil later was discovered on the land. Other Utes in southwestern Colorado have about $14,000,000 coming from the same settlement, settle-ment, and Rep. Wayne Aspinall (D-Colo.), said a similar bill for distribution of money to them !was being prepared. Indian Bureau officials said the program proposed by the Utah group included purchase of winter range to supplement present summer range for cattle, establishment of a credit loan fund, and rehabilitation of a government school. They said the Utes were the first tribe to bring in a plan for their own betterment. Before it was approved for House action, the bill was amended to tie up the remainder remain-der of the fund until further congressional action is taken. It originally would have allowed the Secretary of Interior to make further distributions. A committee from the Uintah and Ouray Tribal Business Committee, Com-mittee, composed of R. O. Curry, Cur-ry, chairman, Francis Mc Kin-ley, Kin-ley, Albert H. Harris, and Russell Rus-sell Cuch, Superintendent Forrest For-rest R. Stone, all of the Uintah Basin, and their attorney, John S. Boyden, along with Ralph M. Gelvin and Walter V. Woe-hike, Woe-hike, of the Phoenix area, presented pre-sented their proposition to the committee in Washington. |
