The Bureau of Indian Affairs regional office in Eastern Oklahoma has gone without a director for more than two years.

Jeanette Hanna, a member of the Seminole Nation, retains the title of regional director. However, she has been placed on a detail at the BIA central office in Washington, D.C.

Hanna is currently working for Assistant Secretary Larry Echo Hawk. He hasn't said publicly what he is doing about her position but met recently with tribal leaders from the region, who are concerned about the lack of leadership at the office.

“We’ve been without an area director for over two years, and it’s cost about $850,000 that should be going to technical assistance that should be taking care of our needs and our problems,” Cherokee Nation Chief Bill John Baker told The Cherokee Phoenix.

The costs to which Baker is referring are the housing, travel per diem and other expenses that the BIA typically provides to employees who are being detailed. Hanna has been out of Oklahoma since November 2009.

“We just feel like we deserve a full-time decision maker at the local level, as it’s designed, for us to be serviced,” Baker told the paper.

Get the Story:
BIA meets with Oklahoma tribal leaders (The Cherokee Phoenix 3/22)

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