President Trump has named Eugene R. Peltola Jr. director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs regional office in Alaska, answering the request of Alaska Natives for a member of Alaska’s natives for the job.
The new director is of Yupik and Tlingit descent and is a citizen of the Orutsararmiut Native Council.
The appointment was greeted positively. Julie Kitka, president of the Alaska Federation of Natives said her organization is “pleased with the appointment of Gene Peltola Jr. as the new Alaska BIA Area Director.”
The job has been vacant since Weldon “Bruce” Loudermilk, a citizen of the Fort Peck Tribes was transferred to Washington D.C. to direct the bureau. Loudermilk was controversial because he wasn’t from Alaska.
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski recently added her voice to the call for an Alaska native to head the local BIA area. She was also behind the BIA hiring an Alaskan, Tara Sweeney, to serve as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, who runs the BIA.
When Sweeney was undergoing hearings in the U.S. Senate, Murkowski characterized the BIA as lacking “leadership” and “discipline.”
When Peltola took his job last week, he commented, “Being an Alaskan born Alaska Native, I feel very honored and privileged to be selected for the position of regional director for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Alaska.” He added, “This will provide me the opportunity to contribute to the continued betterment of our people, and, have a voice in the manner which subsistence opportunities are presented for Alaska Natives and other rural residents of the state.”
