These colleges are all located on Indian reservations. They are tribally charted organizations and they are operated or governed entirely by Indian people and their faculty staffs are comprised practically with Indian educators, Indian staff members and I guess our primary purpose here is to offer an alternate type of system of education for those particular groups of Indian people who never will venture off the reservation where a University of South Dakota or a Harvard is to far or only for the brilliant or for the rich and we felt that there is a need right at home for all educational levels to give a first chance to Indian students who, particularly in the age of 20 to 35 have young families or just not enough money.

These students can go off the reservation to go to school and probably the majority of you are familiar with Sinte Gleska Community College which has its own legislation. The crisis we are up against right now is that we were told this past spring that the BIA would fund no more Indian control community colleges unless they have their own legislation.

It was only through some people in the Interior Department that we got reinstated for fiscal year 1975 and now we are being told that at the end of fiscal year 1975 this community college at Pine Ridge and the other one, which are the two right now that are being funded, to the tune of $200,000 a year

Mr. MEEDS. Is that total?

Mr. BORDEAUX. Yes.

Mr. MEEDS. For your school, for each school?

Mr. BORDEAUX. All we are receiving is $200,000 now.

Mr. MEEDS. From BIA?

Mr. BORDEAUX. For an educational grant. We do have some other contracts like education for $27,500, extension, $40,000 and in the past 2 years we have operated what they call an Indian-action team. Mr. MEEDS. That is what?

Mr. BORDEAUX. An Indian-action team.

Mr. MEEDS. Do you want to tell me about that a little bit?

Mr. BORDEAUX. This here is primarily, the eligibility is the same as the 959 program, Public Law 959, which has a 2-year eligibility and so we have now, we are now into our 21st month of operation and that money will run out as of next year or as of September.

But primarily what this money here does is it allows, it provides for training for carpentry, heavy equipment, various trades, this type of thing and right now we have 48 who are in on this training program. Mr. MEEDS. Kind of an MDTA program?

Mr. BORDEAUX. Yes, almost identical to that. But I guess the summary is, you know, that we need legislation, specifically on our behalf so that we can sit down and actually start running the college the way it is supposed to be run, start developing long-range planning, start bringing in consultants ourselves, to bring in master plans, and sit down and try to develop phase 1, phase 2, and phase 3.

But we have to scrape every year for $200,000 and try to get foundations here to supplement our budget, so it just does not allow us the time to be able to develop an institution of higher education the way it should be, as meaningful as I know these schools can be because they are so flexible and there are many things that they can do in the area, not only the provision of academic courses in the AA area—we

have six, seven associate of arts degrees and we have nursing programs and as I mentioned, we have heavy equipment, we have carpentry training programs, but there are just a multitude of things that could be done there in the area, such as many enrichment courses for the elderly, for the tribal people themselves, management seminars; this whole thing that we feel the Indian colleges can contribute.

Mr. MEEDS. What is you total budget at Sinte Gleska Community College?

Mr. BORDEAUX. This year we have about $1.3 million.

Mr. MEEDS. $200,000 of which is coming from the BIA?

Mr. BORDEAUX. Well, in addition to the $371,000 and the $27,500 plus $50,000 and then the rest from the Office of Education.

Mr. MEEDS. Do you have any idea of what the Navajo Community College budget is?

Mr. BORDEAUX. Their budget, I believe, is $2.5 million.

Mr. MEEDS. How much are they receiving, do you know, from BIA? Mr. BORDEAUX. They get, I believe they get $1.5 million plus their supplemental of another, I think, $2 million.

Mr. MEEDS. For fiscal year 1975?

Mr. BORDEAUX. 1974, 1975. They have about a $21⁄2 or $3 million operation, not counting construction. When they finally complete their construction, it will have been a $5 million construction.

Mr. MEEDS. Now, are you getting any funds from HEW, through the Higher Education Act for Developing Institutions or anything like that?

Mr. BORDEAUX. On title III, we get $100,000.

Mr. MEEDS. On title III?

Mr. BORDEAUX. Right.

Mr. MEEDS. That is developing institutions?

Mr. BORDEAUX. Right. This year I think we will get $112,000.
Mr. MEEDS. Any other Federal funds?

Mr. BORDEAUX. From EPTA, we get another $100,000.

Mr. MEEDS. What are you doing with your EPTA funds? Mr. BORDEAUX. Right now we are operating on six other Indian reservations for paraprofessional teacher training. What we found is that there are 60-some people that we have identified over the past years in institutions and various colleges that have come onto the reservations, all with the idea of training our teacher aides, and so you take a student there and you take a look at his transcript-he's got 3 years at the University of South Dakota and he's got 6 hours from Harvard, he's got x amount of hours and he may have 30 or 40 hours from about 12 or 50 different schools and yet he is in no way close to any type of degree because no college will accept the other one.

Mr. MEEDS. What is your full-time equivalency student population? Mr. BORDEAUX. Let's see, we have 153 full time.

Mr. MEEDS. What is a realistic figure of the funding in the proposals you are making for community colleges?

Mr. BORDEAUX. I would say it would need to start in phases, and I would say initially, well they run the gamut because some are farther ahead of the others.

You take an institution like Turtle Mountain; they receive $100,000 and they have 106 students attending and their director also teaches four classes.

Now with them, I would say realistically they would probably go, say, with a half million, just to try to operate with what they have right there.

We have now been in operation, we are in our fourth year and easily for operation and to come up with some buildings-I am not talking campus, we operate in disbursed learning centers so we take the higher instructors in the various communities, and we take education out to these communities, so we really don't have a need for a large, central campus such as Navajo does, but we do need the buildings, like relocatable trailer houses that we can set up someplace and also set these buildings up as multipurpose centers through the community, so I would say we need about a million, million and a half.

Mr. MEEDS. Would you say, if we were to start a program somewhere in the area of $3 million, that it would be relatively sufficient to start with?

Mr. BORDEAUX. I would say probably $4 million.

Mr. MEEDS. What kinds of guidelines would you think would be necessary for us to draw to assure that the money was not wasted and it was properly utilized in developing community colleges on reservations?

Mr. BORDEAUX. Well, I—

Mr. MEEDS. Maybe you would like some time for this. Could I prevail upon you to give that some thought and write to me, write to the subcommittee and indicate that you think would be some guidelines for that?

Could you do that?

Mr. BORDEAUX. Very good, all right.

Mr. MEEDS. So without objection, that will be made a part of the record, then, at the end of your testimony.

Well, Mr. Bordeaux, let me compliment you on your testimony and your expertise. I have recognized, as have some other Members of the Congress, that we should do something in the field of community colleges on reservations for a long time, and we have been engaged in kind of a rear-action battle with BIA and others to see that you do get some funding for your schools. But all this is kind of too little and too late and too unplanned, so we might have to put something in this bill which would be a little more specific and that is why I am asking for your written comment.

I appreciate, very much, your testimony, sir.

Mr. BORDEAUX. Thank you.

Mr. MEEDS. Our next witness is Mr. Dwight A. Billedeaux, executive director of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. Please come forward, sir.

STATEMENT BY DWIGHT A. BILLEDEAUX, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL ON INDIAN EDUCATION; ACCOMPANIED BY CLARENCE SKYE AND DORRANCE STEELE

Mr. BILLEDEAUX. I would like to bring a member of our council who is with me and also a member of my staff.

Mr. MEEDS. We would be delighted, yes.

Mr. BILLEDEAUX. One is a member of the council and Mr. Skye is with my staff.

Mr. MEEDS. Please proceed, Mr. Billedeaux.

Mr. BILLEDEAUX. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Dwight A. Billedeaux, executive director of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. On behalf of the officers and members of NACIE, I express gratitude for this opportunity to testify on legislation promoting Indian self-determination and education

assistance.

The National Advisory Council on Indian Education is committed to self-determination and Indian educational reform.

NACIE has never taken an opposing position to title I of the Indian Self-Determination Act. Therefore, they adhere to the authorization of Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service to contract with Indian tribes for the operation of Federal programs on the reservations which would implement the administrations of Indian self-determination.

NACIE cannot agree to any formula that may be added until such formula is thoroughly studied and tested before being implemented. There is a study being made by HEW and the BIA. It was requested by the House Interior Appropriations Committee. The study is in relation to title IV, part A, of the Indian Education Act, other OE funding, and Johnson-O'Malley. Although the study is to be completed by September of 1974, the implementation of the study has caused HEW to assume there is duplication and therefore not request funding for part A.

As NACIE monitors this study, we are very unhappy with some aspects of it. It is another study made about Indians, for Indians, but not with them.

The National Advisory Council on Indian Education recommends under the declaration of policy, section 3-A-1 adds the following thereby the Congress of the United States recognizes the National Advisory Council on Indian Education who is proportionally representative of all Indian people from Indian communities.

S. 1017 appears to predetermine the educational needs of Indian students and communities. This is a violation of the principle of self-determination.

6,

Title I, the Indian Self-Determination Act, section 102.1, page line 5, that the Secretary may initially decline to enter into any contract requested by Indian tribes if he finds that-and it lists a number of things also under title II, part B, section C, the Secretary is authorized and directed to develop criteria pursuant to which he shall evaluate all grants and contracts authorized under this

section.

It appears that title I of the Indian Self-Determination Act is really usurped by the decisions being given too often by the Secretary. Thus NACIE asked that where it is appropriate that the term and the National Advisory Council on Indian Education be placed with the Secretary's. If we are to be a National Advisory Council on Indian Education, then allow this to happen.

The National Advisory Council on Indian Education cannot in good faith to the Indians it represents, or as advisors to Congress, cannot endorse title II, the Indian Education Assistance Act until such a time the following changes are made.

The Secretary of the Interior shall not enter into any contract for the education of Indians unless the prospective contractor has submitted to, and has had an approved educational plan, by the Secretary of the Interior and NACIE. Such plan shall include local parent advisory committees selected by Indian people who determine the educational objectives which adequately address the educational needs of Indian students who are to be beneficiaries of the contract and assures that the contractee has liaison with the NACIE and Secretary of the Interior in meeting the objectives.

Section 5(b), the Secretary of Interior and NACIE in their discretion.

Section 203(1)(A) add after; concerning the Indian process and consulting the NACIE and other Indian education bodies.

Section 204 (a) After project to-with priorities to Indian controlled institutions and organizations such as NACIE.

Part C-School construction-Section 206 (a) After or school districts, add with consent of local Indian parent committees or tribal government bodies.

Section 206 (g) (3) After Indian reservations, add preference shall be given to Indian contractors that meet all standards for government contracting.

Part E-Education Research and Development-Section 211 (a), after and demonstrations add with priorities given to Indian controlled Indian institutions.

Mr. MEEDS. I notice that you did not, at least in any specific way, refer to the portion which deals with the Johnson-O'Malley reform suggested in the bill.

What is your general position with regard to Johnson-O'Malley? What should this committee be doing about it, if anything?

Mr. BILLEDEAUX. Well, I will defer to the man to the right of me. Mr. STEELE. Definitely, we are in support of the Johnson-O'Malley Act. We think it generally duplicates the services that the National Congress does.

There is one part under the Johnson-O'Malley Act which interests the tribes and that is the part where the tribes must form either a State corporation or a tribal corporation in order to contract, and I think this portion of S. 1017 and the contract partly takes care of that. Mr. MEEDS. Is it your position that the contract authority in title I would extend to full contractual responsibility for Johnson-O'Malley? Well, I just checked with counsel and his view is the same as mine, that title I just extends to noneducational functions.

Mr. STEELE. Well, then I think in the Johnson-O'Malley Act there needs to be a change; that tribes do not have to form a State corporation, either a tribal corporation or a contract. I think that ought to be in the bill, if it already is not.

Mr. MEEDS. Could I ask the National Advisory Council to submit to the subcommittee within 30 days your recommendations as to what Congress ought to do about Johnson-O'Malley?

Mr. STEELE. All right, and does that, Mr. Chairman, give us the opportunity to bring in expertise on Johnson-O'Malley?

Mr. MEEDS. You have absolute authority to do whatever you would have to do to respond as you wish to the question. No money of course, but a lot of authority. [General laughter.]