The administration continues to search for the right people to serve in a wide range of government capacities.
Meanwhile, many of the critical posts in the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education and the Indian Health Service have been filled by “acting” directors and deputies. Here are few new names that have come forward:
Tara Sweeney, a member of the Native Village of Barrow and the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, to become the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. Tara Sweeney serves currently as the executive vice president of external affairs for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. Sweeney grew up in rural Alaska and has spent a lifetime actively engaged in state and national policy arenas focused on advocating for responsible Indian energy policy, rural broadband connectivity, Arctic growth and Native American self-determination, according to the Department of the Interior’s press release. She favors opening the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to energy development.
Bryan Rice, Bryan Rice, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, as Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Bryan Rice recently led Interior’s Office of Wildland Fire, and has broad experience leading Forestry, Wildland Fire, and Tribal programs in the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Department of Agriculture.
Robert Weaver, citizen of the Quapaw nation in Northeast Oklahoma, nominated to serve as the Director of the Indian Health Service. The White House press release summarizes his “nearly two decades of experience in hospital, mental health administration, and entrepreneurship. He is the founder and owner of four companies that provide healthcare consulting services to tribal governments, their enterprises, and their members. He works at the tribal, State, and Federal levels to improve access and affordability to quality healthcare for American Indians and Alaska Natives through improving employee benefit plans and creating tribal member wellness plans. The National Indian Health Board awarded Mr. Weaver the Regional/Area Impact Award in 2012.”
To serve on the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children, Dr. Tami DeCoteau of Bismarck, Russ McDonald of United Tribes Technical College (also in Bismarck), Anita Fineday of the Casey Family Program’s Indian Child Welfare Program, Carlyle Begay of Arizona, Melody Staebner of Fargo, and Dr. Delores Subia BigFoot of Norman, OK have been appointed. The Commission awaits five more appointees. The president appoints three members (President Obama appointed two before leaving office), the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader of the Senate each appoint three, and the Minority Leaders of the House and Senate each appoint one.
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