Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today appointed 36 Indian tribal representatives and seven departmental employees to an Advisory Task Force to develop goals and plans for the reorganization of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
"I look forward to working with this important group to define ways that we can strengthen the organization of the BIA to better serve the Indian people," Lujan said. "These are the people that know the Bureau and know how it can best be of benefit to Indian tribes. I value their judgment."
Lujan followed the recommendations of Indian tribes in selecting three representatives for each of the 12 BIA areas. He added two representatives from his office and five from BIA.
The first meeting of the Joint Tribal/BIA/DOI Advisory Task Force has been scheduled for Tuesday, January 22, in Washington, D.C. Time, date, place, purpose and proposed agenda will be published in the Federal Register. Discussion of goals and/or plans for the reorganization of the BIA will take into consideration tribal government, departmental and federal government, and BIA concerns and ideas about strengthening the administration of Indian programs.
Established for a two-year period, the Task Force will make preliminary recommendations to Secretary Lujan on BIA reorganization by April 30, 1991. Lujan will designate one co-chairperson from the federal representatives and the tribal members will select by majority vote the other co-chairperson from tribal representatives.
Proposals for reorganization of the BIA were first presented to Indian tribes at a National Indian Tribal Leaders Conference sept. 28, 1990, in Albuquerque, N.M., by Lujan. He recommended that a Bureau of Indian Education be created separately from the BIA that would report directly to the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs and that the remaining functions form a separate bureau. A federal trust office would be created as part of the assistant secretary's office.
In the 1991 appropriations act, Congress directed the BIA to delay reorganization until a task force is convened and reports to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.
Representing Lujan's office on the Task Force will be Eddie Brown, assistant secretary - Indian Affairs, as designated co-chairperson, and Bill Bettenberg, deputy assistant secretary - Indian Affairs. The five BIA representatives will be Stan Speaks, acting deputy commissioner of Indian affairs; Edward Parisian, director, Office of Indian Education Programs; Bill Collier, area director, Anadarko Area Office; Betty Walker, area education programs administrator, Minneapolis; and Wyman Babby, superintendent, Fort Peck (Montana) agency.
Tribal representatives appointed by Lujan are listed by area.
Aberdeen: Charles Murphy, chairman, Standing Rock Sioux; Harold D. Salway, president, Oglala Sioux; and Michael Jandreau, chairman, Lower Brule Sioux.
Albuquerque: Wendell Chino, president, Mescalero Apache; Chester Fernando, councilman, Pueblo of Laguna; and Bernie Teba, executive director, Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council.
Anadarko: Joseph T. Goombi, chairman, Kiowa Business Committee; Larry Nuckolls, governor, Absentee-Shawnee; and Juanita Learned, chairperson, Cheyenne-Arapaho.
Billings: Donovan Archambault, president, Fort Belknap Community Council; Harold Monteau, tribal attorney, Chippewa Cree; and John Washakie, chairman, Shoshone Business Council.
Eastern: James Sappier, governor, Penobscot Indian Nation; James Billie, chairman, Seminole Tribe; and Phillip Martin, chief, Mississippi Choctaw.
Juneau: Will Mayo, president, Tanana Chiefs Conference, Inc.; Willie Kasayulie, president, Native Village of Akiachak; and Joe Hotch, president, Klukwan, Inc.
Minneapolis: Gordon Dickie, chairman, Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin; Darrell Wadena, chairman, Minnesota Chippewa; and Michael Parish, attorney, Hannahville Indian Community of Michigan.
Muskogee: Gary Breshears, executive director, Creek Nation of Oklahoma; Bill Follis, chief, Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma; and Mark Downing, executive director, planning, research and development, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
Navajo: Daniel Tso, delegate, Navajo Nation Council and chairman, Education Committee of the Navajo Nation Council; Virgil Pablo, executive director, division of Social Services, Navajo Nation; and Karen Dixon Bates, executive director, Shiprock Alternative School Inc.
Phoenix: Nora Garcia, chairperson, Fort Mojave Tribal Council; Brian Wallace, chairman, Washoe Tribal Council; and Luke Duncan, chairman, Uintah and Ouray Tribal Business Council.
Portland: Georgia George, chairman, Suquamish Tribe; Mickey Pablo, chairman, Salish/Kootenai Tribe; and Ken Smith, chief executive officer, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation.
Sacramento: Donald Ray, chairperson, Hopland Rancheria; Virgil Moorehead, chairperson, Big Lagoon Rancheria; and Frances Shaw, chairperson, Manzanita Band of Mission Indians.
