Head of US Bureau of Indian Affairs announces resignation
By Felicia Fonseca, Associated Press
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The head of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs announced Thursday that he is resigning and will return to New Mexico as a law professor.
Kevin Washburn, a member of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, has been on leave from the University of New Mexico since he was selected in 2012 to oversee Indian Affairs for the federal government. He said issues confronting Indian Country, such as youth suicides, have weighed heavily on him, and he wants to dedicate more time to family.
"The responsibilities are just immense, and the challenges are great," he told The Associated Press. "Frankly, it's taken a couple of centuries for the problems to get this bad, and it will take a long time to solve them." [Emph. Added]
Washburn described as recent successes settlements over the bureau's mismanagement of royalties for natural resources on reservations, the reform of leasing regulations, better coordination with tribes and a push for tribes to take over education of their children.
Read Full Article Here-->Head of US Bureau of Indian Affairs announces resignation
13 comments:
I hope one day that he gets disenrolled, so he can understand our pain, since he did nothing to help the disenrolled while he was there.
I wonder how much money Mark Macarro and Robert Smith paid him to cover up their bullshit on dis-enrollment issues.
And that other pig face bitch Amy Douchbag Smith,the evil twin sister of Robert Smith.
Washburn is not man enough to take on the challenges of the Indians in Indian country, so he is taking the easy way out.
Chicken shit asshole.
How is anything suppose to get done when these guys come in for a few years, and right when they should be making a decision towards disenrollment they leave and a new face comes in and the process starts all over again?
It is an impossible job. In some ways Washburn did a lot for Indians if you measure his accomplishments. There was a lot of land put in trust for Indian tribes, the Indian Child Welfare Act was amended, and the process for Federal Acknowledgement was streamlined. He is quoted as standing up to the Chairman of the House Sub-Committee on Indian Affairs during hearings on the revisions to the Federal Acknowledgement process.
His record on disenrollment is miserable, but the principle of protecting tribal sovereignty is an important one, and one which the Agua Caliente Cupeno will work to protect also. Don't get me wrong. I think his actions on behalf of the Pala EC were reprehensible. There would have been no compromise of tribal sovereignty to instruct the Pala EC to uphold the 1989 Final Decision. Instead he jumped through hoops to pretend that a meeting and an election are the same thing, that an Enrollment Ordinance that says it won't affect the status of members already enrolled actually allows the EC to disenroll members, and to allow the Pala EC to change the blood degree of Margarita Brittain. It was a disgusting effort to support Robert Smith's evil agenda.
Anyway Larry Roberts is acting AS-IA. Someone new will be nominated and approved by Congress. He or she will inherit a corrupt agency full of corrupt employees, a basket load of problems that were created in the past, and relationships with a bunch of crooked tribal leaders.
No one person can solve all these issues if people don't want to fix them. It seems that just as many people like it the way it is as want positive change. Who can agree what is best for Indians when there are hundreds of nations with their own special needs? The solution for some will cause problems for others unless change is managed carefully and isolated to impact only those that can benefit.
I don't know why the BIA can't amend their policies to isolate the impact on those affected instead of applying them to all Indians. That is the only way to make sure that they do no harm. I guess it is too novel an idea, or they are just too lazy to do the work.
My bet is on the latter.
The only way the BIA will step in is if we take over the ADMIN Building and demand that they act. It belongs to all of us not just Smith and Nieto. It was built with our money and it is maintained with our money. And the workers are paid with our money so they work for us not only Smith and Nieto.
We would be protecting our investment.
And Smith and Nieto have no right to tell any of to leave the area because its ours as Tribal Members.
This is what I have been saying for 4years,but we don't have enough men with balls.We have to many sheeps and not enough Eagles.Ask yourself this ,what would are Ancestors do?
What would our Ancestors do you ask.
They would probably take Smith and Nieto into the hills and hang their asses from the nearest cottonwood tree.
The only thing that has not been done is VIOLENCE.
That's what everyone says should not happen.
So if you want your life back GO TAKE BACK NOW.
ALL BETS ARE NOW OFF AND SMITH AND NIETO ARE FAIR GAME.
Someone told me that they are not going to live to much longer because of an illness that he has. This person said the he is willing to take care of the problem with Smith and Nieto if we promise to make sure that his family is kept safe from all harm and never banished from the Pala Reservation.
However I can only make a commitment for myself and my family so I don't really know what to do.
Any ideas?
Kill or be Killed by Robert Smith- Theresa Nieto.
After doing some serious thinking on the subject of taking over the Admin we would have every right to do so. Its a Tribal building owned by all of us, it's cared for with Tribal Money which belongs to all of us. The land on which it is built on belongs to all of us, so what's the problem.
Wouldn't we just be protecting what belongs to all of us as a Tribe.
I wonder what we would find hidden in Smiths and Nieto's office.
Ready or not we will be coming soon.
What kind of law is he going to teach. How to disenroll and do nothing about it.
Sounds like the law coarse that Sara D. took.
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