Edwin L. Demery, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has been named Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Minneapolis area Interior Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard announced today.
In his new position, Demery is the BIA's top official in the four states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa.
A native of Fort Yates, North Dakota, Demery has been since 1970 Superintendent of the Minnesota Agency at Bemidji, Minnesota.
He began his career with BIA in 1952 as a teacher at the Crow Creek Agency in South Dakota. After serving at the Cheyenne River Agency in South Dakota and the Winnebago Agency in Nebraska, Demery came to the Minnesota Agency in 1957 as the Employment Assistance Officer.
A World War II Army veteran, Demery is a graduate of the South Dakota State University.
