WASHINGTON – Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk has approved a realignment of his office’s organizational and reporting structure. The realignment is contained in an order he signed Sept. 11, effective immediately.

The action to reorganize the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs was taken in order to strengthen the management and administration for Indian Affairs’ bureaus, offices and programs.

“The structure of the Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs is one that supports the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education so that they can focus on their core missions,” Echo Hawk said. “This realignment will ensure that all Indian Affairs employees are able to carry out their duties and responsibilities to those we serve in the most efficient and effective way possible.”

The order describes the reporting structure for existing offices, as well as for new positions, titles and offices, within OAS-IA.

Highlights include:

• The Deputy Assistant Secretary-Policy and Economic Development (DAS-PED) has become the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary (PDAS).

• The PDAS is responsible for the Office of Indian Gaming, the Office of Self Governance, the Office of Federal Acknowledgment and the Office of Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action.

• The new post of Deputy Assistant Secretary-Programs (DAS-PRO) has been added to oversee the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (formerly under the DASPED), the Office of Facilities, Environmental and Cultural Resources (formerly under the DAS-M) and the Office of Trust Policy and Rights Protection, which oversees Indian Affairs’ trust resources programs and assists tribes in the management, development and protection of Indian trust land and natural resource assets.

• The Office of External Affairs (formerly under the PDAS) has been divided into the Office of Public Affairs and the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.

• The new chief of staff post oversees the assistant secretary’s immediate staff, the Office of Public Affairs and the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs.

• The Deputy Assistant Secretary-Management (DAS-M) continues to be responsible for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), the Office of Human Capital Management and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).

The order also makes realignment and other changes to the BIA and BIE including:

• The BIA and BIE directors now report directly to the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs rather than through the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, as was the case under the previous reporting structure.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs has responsibility for helping the Secretary of the Interior to fulfill his trust responsibilities to tribal and individual trust beneficiaries and promoting self-determination and self-governance for the nation’s 564 federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. The Assistant Secretary oversees the BIA and the BIE, which administers one of two federal school systems.