UNM Dean Touts Tribal Self-Governance to Senators

WASHINGTON – Kevin Washburn, nominated to become the Interior Department’s deputy secretary for Indian affairs, told Congress on Friday that he believes in tribal self-governance, because he benefited from it as a child.

The dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law earned unanimous praise Friday from members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee who convened to hear him testify about his nomination to the federal government’s highest-ranking position in charge of Indian issues.

As deputy secretary, Washburn would oversee the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education.

The position requires confirmation of a majority of the Senate, a prospect that seemed likely based on the highly complimentary comments that senators, including Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., made about Washburn on Friday. Washburn’s nomination has also received letters of support from dozens of American Indian tribes.

“I am proud to see the University of New Mexico and our great state represented by such a strong candidate for this position,” Udall said.

Washburn said that when he was growing up in Oklahoma, his single mother would take him and his siblings to an Indian Health Service hospital initially run by the federal government. As he got older, the Chickasaw Nation, of which he is a member, took over management of the hospital from the federal government. The care his family received improved dramatically, he said.

“Tribal self-governance made my life better,” Washburn said.

However, Washburn said not all tribes are ready – or willing – to forgo federal involvement in their affairs.

“Immediate conversion to self-governance is not the right approach for every tribe,” he said.

Washburn said that if confirmed, he would strive to ensure that Indian programs do not end up on the federal budget chopping block in tight fiscal times.

“I will work very hard to ensure the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education are treated fairly in that (budget) process,” he said. “I will be a strong voice for protecting budgets as best we can.”

Washburn also said he would work to protect Indian culture and tradition.

“Culture is what makes us special, and culture, the language and traditions are all crucial to who we are as people,” he said.

Washburn had served as dean of the UNM law school since June 2009 until he stepped down recently for the Interior nomination. President Barack Obama nominated him for the Indian Affairs post in August.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal