BYU To BIA – Professor May Be New Director

Larry EchoHawk, a law professor at BYU, is being considered by the Obama Administration to head up the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

EchoHawk is a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and a former attorney general of Idaho, where he served as the nation's first Native American statewide elected official from 1991 to 1995.

EchoHawk may not be the favorite choice for some Native Americans and may prove to be the perfect choice for groups and individuals opposed to Indian gaming. Some have said that when he was attorney general of Idaho he influenced the governor of that state to potentially stop tribes from operating certain gaming facilities on tribal lands