Gover, around the time of his appointment (AP)

Kevin Gover Has Some Advice for Kevin Washburn

Rob Capriccioso

Kevin Gover, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) since 2007, is one of the few Native American leaders who have led the main Indian affairs branch of the United States government, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); he served there as assistant secretary­­—Indian Affairs during the Clinton administration, from 1997 to 2000.

During Gover’s tenure, he gained first-hand experience of what it means to advocate for tribes in the federal system—and what the chances for success really are, even with an administration that wants to be friendly, but doesn’t always know how to be the best of friends.

Indian Country Today Media Network asked Gover, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, for advice for the newly confirmed assistant secretary—Indian Affairs, Kevin Washburn, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation.

How does being head of the NMAI compare to leading the BIA? Are there any similarities?
Almost none. Being the assistant secretary is all about having a great deal of responsibility, but a very limited authority to deploy resources as you see fit.

Do you end up feeling stymied?
You have to take your opportunities when they arise. The bureau may have very little capacity to create a wave, but we should be able to ride them when we see them. Two examples: In the middle of the Clinton administration, there was a lot of focus on safe streets and police officers, and the Bureau was able to get involve in that initiative, which increased law enforcement on reservations. It was not enough, but it was better than it had been. And at the end of the Clinton administration, there was some money after the budget was balanced, and we were able to get close to a billion dollars in more funding for the Indian affairs budget across the agencies. We got a lot of money for school construction under that. The assistant secretary and his staff have to really be watchful and aware of the overall political discourse in order to latch on to the things that are going to actually see some progress.


What are some of the major challenges Kevin Washburn is facing?

Any lessons we can learn from Echo Hawk’s tenure?





Washburn hit the ground running, saying he plans to release a long overdue tribal jobs report in 2013, expressing concern that gaming has wrongly “hijacked” the federal Indian policy agenda, and promising to clean up the federal tribal recognition and trust systems, all while strongly promoting tribal self-determination. One of his first decisions was to deny the Mashpee Wampanoag casino in Massachusetts because he believed it was too kind to the state in terms of fees. Does that signal anything to you about his leadership?

What is clear from the speed at which that decision came down was that the decision had largely been made. The department seemed headed in a certain direction. While I’m sure he would have had the opportunity to change it if he disagreed, the good news is that it was moving in a direction that he obviously supported. It was a good, strong start.

Everyone is still talking about the possibility of the fiscal cliff—how should Washburn be treading here?
Here’s what I would do: First, take it for granted that you don’t get to decide whether sequestration goes into effect. Nobody cares what the assistant secretary thinks about it. So, you can’t really influence the outcome. What you can do is prepare for the worst but hope for the best. It seems certain that Congress won’t let it happen—they will do something. While they are developing that something, you need to be in there, kicking and pitching and making sure that the interest of the tribes in the federal budget are as well-protected as you can make it.

Do you think Washburn’s elbows are sharp enough for that kind of fight?
Let me tell you something: Being a law dean isn’t for sissies [Washburn was dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law]. Law faculties are about the most difficult group of people I’ve ever been around. All [of them] are very certain of their importance and their insight. To be able to manage in a situation like that bodes well for being able to manage in the kind of situation he is going into.

On the other hand, it’s like going from Triple-A to the major leagues. We’ll see if he has got the sharp elbows he’s going to need. Although it’s not all about being aggressive. Sometimes it’s about being clever. Sometimes it’s about staying out of sight. You just have to use a lot of political judgment.

The Obama administration has done some good things for Indian country. At the same time, there have been shortfalls at the Interior Department—missing tribal jobs reports under federal law, a missing federally recognized tribes list, failing to testify on federal tribal recognition in the House. These seem like elementary political issues. Why are they happening?
I’m not sure what to make of it. I think that it’s very important for the assistant secretary to deliver on the basics. If you’re going to have credibility when you’re talking about what we need in Indian country, you need to be sure your agency can deliver on the assignments that it already has.



How much effort should Washburn spend on pushing for a legislative fix for Carcieri v. Salazar?

The land consolidation component of the settlement of Cobell v. Salazar is going to take up a lot of resources at Interior in the coming years—how does he focus on the whole new mandate that was not developed by him?


If I were assistant secretary right now, I would put a lot of energy into what the trust system should look like going forward.

How should Washburn work with tribal leaders?
I think he needs to establish an alliance with the tribal leadership, and the tribal leadership needs to establish an alliance with him. In some ways, the only political clout that the assistant secretary has is the political clout of the tribal leaders. That’s a key element of success in the job—to the extent that success is possible.

Final question: Do you ever miss being at the BIA?

You need to be logged in in order to post comments
Please use the log in option at the bottom of this page



Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on
Congratulations to Mr. Washburn, remember the people and do not get caught in the beltway politics. Hope you will be available to the people.

william smith's picture
william smith
Submitted by william smith on
Hopefully he will weed out all these wannabee fabricated tribes like thnorth Carolina groups with a false history trying to get in on that casino and indian money ,I think they called Croatan or Lumbee a made up group that went from mulatto and black to state indian with no Indian history only myth and guesses recognition needs to get stricter all the groups that cant get it cry that it is broken ,well it isn't them groups are false if you research them so started long ago like the lumbee croatans,they tried to hi-jack Cherokee identity and tuscorora identity.