Candidate chosen to lead BIA’s Eastern Okla. office

The announcement is made during the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes quarterly session.



TULSA, Okla. — One of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ larger regional offices will soon be under new leadership.

Speaking before more than 60 people at the quarterly general session of the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes at the RiverSpirit Event Center Friday morning, acting regional director Karen Ketcher announced that a candidate has been selected to be the new permanent regional director and his application is being reviewed and vetted. She did not announce the candidate’s name.

“Our goal is to have him in office by Nov. 1,” she said. “I look forward to working with the (Inter-Tribal) council as I go back to my old position as deputy regional director.”

Based out of Muskogee, Okla., the BIA’s Eastern Oklahoma regional office has seven agencies and serves 18 of Oklahoma’s 39 federally recognized tribes, including the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole nations. It has not had a permanent director since 2009, when then-director Jeannette Hanna was detailed to Washington D.C.

After more than an hour of reports and announcements, including Ketcher’s, the council passed four resolutions, including one to save a sacred site facing potential desecration.

Located near Wetumpka, Ala., Hickory Ground, or Oce Vpofa, was the last pre-removal capital of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and its National Council. The site is now part of the reservation of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians and is adjacent to one of the tribe’s casinos.

Muscogee (Creek) Nation officials contend that the Alabama tribe’s proposed $246 million expansion project to the gaming facility would desecrate the site. To date, more than 60 sets of human remains, including those of seven chiefs, have been unearthed during the expansion process.

“When we see this, what happened to us will probably happen to you,” said Sam Deer on behalf of Hickory Ground Mekko George Thompson. “We were all removed and brought here.

“We still hold on to our traditions and customs here in Oklahoma, but we need to please remember who we really are and who our ancestors were.”

Formally established in 1949, the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes was reinstated earlier this year during the mid-year meeting of the National Congress of American Indians after being dormant for several years.The Choctaw Nation will host the next meeting in January.