Artman Calls It Quits – Luckily Not One Host Community “Annihilated”

A couple weeks ago, Kathy Cleary wrote in a letter that Assistant Secretary of the Interior Carl Artman said he fully supports tribal interests and doesn’t care if Indian casino hosting communities are “annihilated”, and that in 2002, as tribal attorney for the Oneida, he told citizens of Hobart, Wisconsin, to get ready to be “extinguished.”

I noticed that in her letter she only actually used quotes for two words from two different remarks. Very strong words..... “annihilated” and “extinguished”.

It leads me to believe that Ms. Cleary most likely took these two words which may or may not have been used by Artman and completely took them out of context or flat out made them up.

If the man actually said what Ms Cleary said he said then why not quote the whole remark… not just one word?

Can you imagine the uproar this kind of remark would have caused if it were true? It would have been in headlines all over the country, and surley Mr. Artman would have been relieved of his duties, but I can’t find a single article or reference to these remarks.

I did find some other articles though concerning Mr. Artman which are in stark contrast to Ms Cleary’s take on him.

In Feb of this year at a House panel hearing which was considering legislation that would clear the way for two Indian casinos in Michigan, Artman said that the BIA opposed the legislation because it would prevent proper consultation with neighboring tribes, and with local and state governments that might be affected by the land deal.

Also, in his January 3rd memorandum of this year which dealt with tribal requests for the Department to take off-reservation land into trust for gaming he said that greater weight in making these decisions would be given to concerns raised by state and local governments as to the acquisition’s potential impacts on regulatory jurisdiction, real property taxes and special assessments.

These are true, not fabricated or twisted or taken out of context, and can be found in the sources below.

These remarks hardly seem like they would come from a man who said that he “doesn’t care if Indian casino hosting communities are “annihilated”.

So, Ms Cleary, could you please give me source for the statements you made in your letter?

Thank you.

I emailed Mr. Artman for him to clarify, explain or out right deny these remarks but haven’t received a reply yet… he is probably too busy packing up his things in DC and heading back to Wisconsin.

He quit his job.

After serving for just over a year as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Carl J. Artman is leaving the Bush administration.

His resignation comes as a surprise to many Indian leaders and U.S. government officials, but some who know him said increasing frustrations with the bureaucracy of the BIA played a role in his early exit.

An enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin, Artman was confirmed by the U.S. Senate March 5, 2007, to head the BIA. He previously served as the department's associate solicitor for Indian Affairs since February 2006. ''I believe at the end of this administration, the work we have done within Indian affairs will leave not just a legacy, but an infrastructure upon which American Indian and Alaska Natives can build to secure their governmental, cultural and economic futures,'' Artman wrote to Interior Department Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in a letter announcing his resignation.

''Throughout your tenure, I have appreciated your able insight as we have worked to address important issues in Indian country,'' Kempthorne responded in a letter to Artman.

Artman is most often cited for starting the department's Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative, which served to enhance communications between tribal leaders and Interior on a number of trust responsibility issues.

His resignation stunned many Indian leaders and U.S. government officials, especially given the lengthy amount of time it took Artman to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

When Artman was confirmed in 2007, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who chairs the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said the job should have been filled two years previously, but legislative holdups made that goal untenable. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., a vocal critic of the BIA and off-reservation gaming, ultimately registered the sole dissenting vote against Artman's nomination.

''It's a disappointment and setback for Indian country that Assistant Secretary Artman will be resigning,'' Dorgan said in a statement. ''I am afraid we will not make enough progress on the issues affecting the Native American community, from law enforcement issues to economic development.

Mr. Artman took consultation with tribal leaders seriously, and I hope that the future or acting assistant secretary will meaningfully consult with tribal leaders before acting on matters that [affect] our Native American communities.''

W. Ron Allen, secretary of the National Congress of American Indians and chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, said he was ''very disappointed'' to learn of Artman's resignation. ''He truly has been one of our most effective and knowledgeable assistant secretaries,'' Allen said. ''Carl was always forthright with the tribes and was making a significant difference with the BIA and its responsibilities to the tribes.''

Leaders who know Artman expected that he might resign come fall, as the Bush administration tapered to a close. His early departure signaled to some that he may have had ongoing frustrations with BIA bureaucracy.

''I sense that there were things bothering Carl - perhaps just not being able to achieve what he wanted to achieve,'' said Gerald Danforth, chairman of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin.

Prior to joining the federal government, Artman worked for the Oneida Tribe as director of federal affairs and as chief legal counsel.

''I suspect he would have liked to see changes within the BIA that would streamline the processes,'' Danforth said. ''His intentions were right, but how they were unfolding within the BIA, I don't know. I just sensed a certain frustration that things weren't moving forward as quickly as he believed they could be.''

Many Indian leaders are skeptical that Interior will be able to soon find a replacement that was as well-versed on Indian issues as Artman, especially before the close of the Bush administration.

''Because he has worked in Indian country, he had a clear understanding of what the tribes are trying to accomplish with respect to self-determination, self-governance and self-reliance,'' Allen said. ''It is hard to have an impact when you are working on a short stint in the system, but because he knows how it works, he was able to make decisions to address a lot of policy matters.''

It's expected by some insiders that Majel Russell, an enrolled member of the Crow Tribe of Montana and Artman's principal deputy assistant secretary, may be tapped to fill out the remainder of his term. That would likely mean she would have to relocate to Washington, D.C., from her current home in Montana.

Artman's last day on the job is expected to be May 23. It's unknown at this point where he will land, but Danforth said an invitation is open for him to return to the Oneida Nation.

He did not respond to requests for comment.


Sources:
http://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/artman0103081.pdf
http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/15385971.html
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417231