Commissioner of Indian Affairs Robert L. Bennett announced today that Barney Old Coyote, Interior Department Job Corps Conservation Center Coordinator since December 1964, has returned to the Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs as Assistant Director of its Sacramento, Calif., Area Office.
"Mr. Old Coyote has demonstrated his ability to work effectively and harmoniously with the Indian people," Bennett said, "and I know he will continue this record in California."
Old Coyote, 45, is a Crow Indian from St. Xavier, Mont. He joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1948 as a clerk-typist at Crow Agency, Mont., and held positions of increasing responsibility at several western reservations. He was Sub-agency Superintendent at Box Elder, Mont., when he was named to his present position in the Department.
Last year Old Coyote received the Department of the Interior Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor the department bestows, for outstanding performance as Job Corps Coordinator.
Old Coyote attended elementary and high schools in Hardin, Mont.; Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kan.; and Morningside College, Sioux City, Iowa. He served in the Army Air Force during World War II as an aerial engineer-gunner, flying 50 missions in the European and Mediterranean Theaters.
He will succeed Marvin Ripke, who retired January 11.
