Oregon Public Broadcasting

Larry EchoHawk could be sworn in as the head of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs as early as Friday.

The Utah law professor is Idaho’s former attorney general. He is a Mormon and a Native American. Reaction in Indian country to EchoHawk’s confirmation is mixed, especially around the issue of gaming. Inland Northwest Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports.

Back in the early 1990s, then-Attorney General EchoHawk had a strained relationship with Idaho’s five Indian tribes.

At the time, those tribes were pushing for the right to open casinos on their reservations. But EchoHawk worked to stop them, saying the state’s constitution didn’t allow it.

In testimony before the U.S. Senate recently, he was non-committal on the issue.

Now he appears to have tribal support. Coeur d’Alene Tribal spokesman Marc Stewart says a tribal official recently quizzed EchoHawk about his current views about gaming.

Marc Stewart: “All those concerns were allayed after that conversation so the tribe feels really good about Mr. EchoHawk and what he’s going to bring to Indian country.”

Others don’t feel so good.

Seattle attorney Scott Crowell issued a letter urging President Obama to nominate someone else. Crowell represents several tribes in Washington and Oregon and was concerned about what he sees as EchoHawk’s past anti-tribal gaming views.