Copied without permission from the Denver Post, July 16, 1993.
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Agency Fails In Role, Says BIA Nominee
By The Associated Press
Washington - Ada Deer, President Clinton's pick to run the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, said yesterday the agency has failed its
responsibilities to tribes even though 90 percent of its employees
are Indians.
"We must remember that the bureau was created by non-Indians. It
has not been a pro-active Indian institution," Deer told members of
the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
The BIA's management of Indian schools, trust funds, dam safety
and other programs has been criticized sharply in Congress and the
Interior Department.
Clinton nominated Deer, a former chairwoman of the Menominee
tribe [nation] of Wisconsin, to be assistant secretary for Indian
Affairs in the Interior Department.
Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, chairman of the committee said the
panel is certain to recommend her confirmation.
She said she was committed to promoting "strong, effective
tribal sovereignty. There is no reason for me or any of you to be
reluctant to support the permanency of tribal sovereignty - any
more than we would be reluctant to support the permanency of
federal or state sovereignty."
One of Deer's first trips will be to visit the Pine Ridge
reservation in South Dakota, one of the nations poorest areas, she
said.
"Collectively, we have a responsibility to reverse these
devastating socioeconomic conditions that plague the Oglala Sioux
[Lakota] and many other tribes," Deer told the committee.
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Michele Lord + If you have come here to help me,
+ you are wasting your time.....
+ But if you have come because
+ your liberation is bound up with mine,
milo@scicom.alphacdc.com + then let us work together.
Aboriginal Woman
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