Larry EchoHawk, a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, was sworn in as the 11th assistant secretary of Indian affairs at the Interior Department today.

After being given the oath of office by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the new leader of the Bureau of Indian Affairs gave a heartfelt speech about his decision to take the job. EchoHawk thanked the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Idaho for hiring him more than 30 years ago even though he was barely out of law school, a career move that paved the way for his lengthy career in public service.

Video of his speech can be viewed below. There is some overlap between the two clips.

YouTube: Part 1 | Part 2

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