WASHINGTON - Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman will speak on Thursday, May 3,2007, at the 16th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Service. The event will take place at the United States Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M. The Bureau of lndian Affairs holds the service each year to honor tribal, state and federal law enforcement personnel killed in the line of duty while working on Federal Indian lands or in tribal communities. This year marks only the third time since the Memorial's initial dedication when no names will be added to it. The May 3 event will instead commemorate all law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty.
"It is appropriate that we take time each year to remember the men and women who have died while working to protect Indian Country," Artman said. "We honor their lives and the sacrifices they and their families have made for the good of all Americans."
The Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial was formally dedicated on May 7, 1992, at the Indian Police Academy at its previous location in Marana, Ariz. It was re-dedicated on May 6, 1993, following the Academy's move to its present site.
The Memorial's design is based upon indigenous design concepts. Comprised of three granite markers sited within a circular walkway lined with sage, a plant of spiritual significance to many tribes, it includes four planters, located near the walkway's entrance, that represent the four directions of the earth. The planters are filled with foliage in colors representing people of all races.
The markers are inscribed with the names of 87 American Indian and non-Indian law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty since 1852. They include two FBI agents killed at Wounded Knee in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and two BIA officers, father and son, who died in 1998 and 2001, respectively. Ten individuals have been added since 2001, including two Quinault tribal police officers killed on the same day in 1910 while investigating the assault of a young girl and the first U.S. Border Patrol agent, included last year, who died while working on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation in southern Arizona.
WHO: Carl J. Artman, Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.
WHAT: Assistant Secretary Artman is the Distinguished Guest Speaker at the 16th Annual Indian Country Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Service.
WHEN: 10:00 a.m. (local time), Thursday, May 3,2007.
WHERE: United States Indian Police Academy, DRS Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, 1300 West Richey Avenue, Artesia, N.M. Phone: 505-748-8151.
CREDENTIALS: This invitation is extended to working media representatives, who are required to display sanctioned media credentials for admittance to the event.
