WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced today that Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Carl Artman will be leaving the Department of the Interior effective May 23, 2008.
“Throughout your tenure, I have appreciated your able insight as we have worked to address important issues in Indian Country,” Kempthorne said in a letter to Artman. “The Indian Modernization Initiative, developed and launched under Carl’s leadership, has upgraded communications between tribal leaders and the Department on a number of priority issues.”
“I believe at the end of this Administration, the work we have done within Indian Affairs will leave not just a legacy, but an infrastructure upon which American Indian and Alaska Natives can build to secure their governmental, cultural and economic futures,” Artman said in a letter to Secretary Kempthorne. “Thank you for this opportunity, your support and your leadership. It has been a great pleasure to work for you and with you.”
Artman, an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, was confirmed as Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs by the Senate on March 5, 2007. He had served as the Department’s Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs since February 2006.
Prior to joining the Solicitor’s Office, he served as chief counsel for the Oneida Tribe where he managed the tribe’s legal affairs and provided legal guidance for tribal-wide reorganization and economic development.
Artman, 41, also has experience in the private sector with telecommunications companies, including serving as general manager of development and operations for VoiceStream Wireless and vice president of legal affairs for Airadigm Communications. He has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College in Columbia, Mo., and a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis.