Indian Affairs leadership highlights housing, fisheries partnerships during Pacific Northwest visit

Scott Davis, senior advisor to the Secretary of the Interior, and other leaders from Indian Affairs wrapped up a multi-day visit to Washington and Idaho where they engaged with tribal leaders on administration priorities. Davis, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and a descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, is exercising the delegated authority of the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs.

Davis spoke at the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians mid-year conference, where he met with leaders of tribes in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Northern California, Southeast Alaska, and Western Montana and shared the administration’s vision for a relationship between the federal government and tribal nations that prioritizes efficiency, accountability, and results over bureaucracy. Davis also met individually with tribal leaders to discuss important issues such as treaty fishing access rights and fisheries management, law enforcement, economic development opportunities and furthering self-governance.

Davis was joined by BIA director Bryan Mercier, who previously served as director of the BIA’s Northwest Region. During the trip, Davis and Mercier visited the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Spokane Tribe of Indians, Coeur d’Alene Tribe Reservation, and the Nez Perce Tribe Reservation.