As rumored before, the Obama Administration has tapped BYU Law Professor Larry Echohawk to head the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Obama taps Utah Mormon to lead Indian Affairs

President Barack Obama on Friday appointed Brigham Young University law professor Larry EchoHawk to lead the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, making him the first high-profile Mormon and first Utahn to join the senior ranks of his administration.

EchoHawk, a Democrat who has taught at BYU’s law school since 1995, was the first American Indian elected to a statewide constitutional office when he won the Idaho attorney general’s race in 1990. He ran for governor there four years later, but lost. . .

EchoHawk, who is from the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, will lead the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which provides services for 1.7 million American Indians and Alaskan natives. The bureau also manages 66 million acres held in trust by the United States for the tribes.

Congratulations to Prof. Echohawk.

(I suppose his religion is noteworthy but is that headline necessary?)