Three Aides Fired at Indian Bureau
Three Aides Fired at Indian Bureau
Interior Secretary Rogers C. B. Morton today stripped supervision of Indian affairs from the top three men involved, saying he was taking personal command to "put Indian operations back to work."
Morton acted as name-calling and squabbling increased and finally surfaced this week among Bureau of Indian Affairs executives, in the wake of the six-day occupation of the BIAs Washington headquarters by hundreds of Indian demonstrators.
In a statement, Morton said he was removing all present authority for Indian affairs from Assistant Secretary of the Interior Harrison Loesch, BIA Commissioner Louis R. Bruce and Deputy BIA Commissioner John O. Crow.
Bodman Takes Charge
He named Richard S. Bodman, assistant secretary for management and budget, to take charge of the BIA.
"I have taken this action because I believe it is essential to the well-being of the American Indian that we return our Indian programs to operational effectiveness without delay," Morton said.
On Thursday, Crow first publicly criticized his boss, Bruce, and said one of them had to go. He said "I didn't like the support he gave to the unruly mob . . . He couldn't administer anything."
Crow said he had the tacit support of Loesch, who has had overall resposibility for the BIA and who named Crow to his position next to Bruce despite protests of some Indians that the purpose was to thwart Bruce's reform of the BIA.
Loesch and Crow were the targets of the ire of the Trail of Broken Treaties caravan demonstrators in early November, who asked that both be fired for being allegedly "anti-Indian."
Stays With Demonstrators
Bruce had not aligned himself with the demonstrators but he said he agreed with many of their goals and, to dramatize this, he stayed with them in the BIA building for 24 hours after they barricaded themselves in.
This ended the second day when Loesch ordered Bruce to leave.
The first of a series of congressional investigations of the BIA building takeover begins Monday before Rep. James A. Haley (D., Fla.), chairman of the House Indian affairs subcommittee. An Interior spokesman said Bruce, Crow, and Loesch will appear to testify as scheduled.
A White House spokesman had said earlier today that he'd never seen any federal agency as polarized as the Interior and BIA.
"They can't serve the people they are meant to serve," he said.