The Native American Law Students Association at Yale Law School held its first ever Alumni Achievement Awards Dinner October 23, 2014. The recipient, Kevin Washburn (Chickasaw), class of 1993, is Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Yale College sent over the Blue Feather Drum Group to offer a welcome song and an honor song for Secretary Washburn. One of the drummers added to the enthusiasm with an announcement that the college now enrolls a higher percentage of Native students than any other ivy-league school.

Secretary Washburn well deserves the honor of receiving the Alumni Achievement Award. His long and distinguished record in academic and governmental aspects of federal Indian law attracted the attention of President Obama, who nominated him for the top position in Indian Affairs in the U.S. government.

As Assistant Secretary, Mr. Washburn holds responsibility for promoting Indian self-determination under the federal Indian law system. The position requires a delicate sense of balance, not only among competing constituencies, but—more profoundly—among competing legal principles.