http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/18/AR200709180
2106.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Director's Selection Rankles Trustees At Indian Museum

By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 19, 2007; Page C01

A group of trustees of the National Museum of the American Indian have
complained to the Smithsonian Institution that they were excluded from the
selection of Kevin Gover as the new director of the museum.

"Never in my mind would I think the hiring of a director would not include
consultations with the board of trustees," said Elouise Cobell, a trustee
and member of the Blackfeet Nation. "I signed on to be a trustee and I
thought it was just that. I didn't understand why they wouldn't share this
information with us and let us vet the candidates."

Eight trustees, almost a third of the 25-member board, held a telephone
conference Monday with Sheila Burke, the Smithsonian deputy secretary and
chief operating officer. They discussed what they considered a serious
oversight, especially with the high visibility of the appointment among
Native American communities.

"We felt we were left out of the loop," said Phyllis Young, the board
secretary. "I was really in the dark. I just feel it is the Smithsonian way
of doing things. We were informed that it was the sole responsibility of
the secretary. We can cry spilt milk but it is done," said Young, a
community activist on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota.

Dwight A. Gourneau, the board chairman and a member of the search
committee, said there were missteps in the communication process but the
inclusion of some board members on the search committee brought in their
input. The 11-member selection committee included three members of the
board and four Native Americans.

"We didn't do enough to keep them informed," said Gourneau, a member of the
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa of North Dakota and a retired IBM
engineer. "I can understand the trustees feeling they lacked status or
information, and being frustrated with the process, but the process was
what it is."

When candidates were discussed by name, Gourneau said, the conversations
were private and not discussed with the entire board. Henrietta Mann, a
search committee member and former board member, agreed the process was
confidential.

Burke, who chaired the search committee, and Cristi¿n Samper, the acting
Smithsonian secretary, said they were standing by the process and the
ultimate decision. Samper, at a briefing with reporters on Monday, said the
search committee "interviewed many candidates and in the end they forwarded
two names, and I personally interviewed two candidates, and in the end it
was my decision."

Gover, a law professor at Arizona State University in Tempe, was appointed
to succeed W. Richard West, the founding director of the museum. The Mall
museum opened in 2004.

A well-known professor and former federal official, Gover led the Bureau of
Indian Affairs at the Interior Department from 1997 to 2000. That position
traditionally puts its leader at odds with many Native Americans. During
his tenure, Gover was held in contempt by a federal judge for not providing
documents in a long-standing suit by Native Americans about the
government's handling of Indian trust accounts.

Gover could not be reached for comment.

Cobell, the lead plaintiff in that class action suit, said she opposed the
appointment on all grounds, including his tenure at BIA. "It is just a
situation where he is not well-respected in Indian country," Cobell said.
She said the museum director should not be an "adversary" of any Indian
interests. West said last week that Gover has "good standing" in the Indian
communities.

Gourneau, who has endorsed the appointment, said: "We need to move forward.
Kevin Gover has the right set of skills and experience. I hope we can move
past this and have everyone who is interested work with Kevin."

Linda St. Thomas, a spokesman for the Smithsonian, said the main role of
the board of trustees was to raise funds and counsel the director.

Elliott Levitas, a former congressman and one of the lawyers who represents
the plaintiffs in the suit, said the exclusion of broader input from the
board was troubling.

"At the very least, assuming it is not required by law, common courtesy and
common sense would have required consultation with the museum's board," he
said. "Also, one of the problems besetting the Smithsonian at this point is
the concern about transparency. Here you have a complete absence of
transparency, you have opaqueness."

An editorial in the newspaper Indian Country Today also objected to the
fact that Gover and West had worked together at two law firms and remain
friends.

"Post-Abramoff, the delicate thread by which the perception of Indian
peoples hangs is easily broken and arduously restored. Now more than ever,
the museum must be above reproach in order to fulfill its mission to
represent all Indian people and to educate the public about Native
histories and culture," the editorial said.

During the telephone conference on Monday, Cobell suggested the decision to
hire Gover should be put on hold. "I think we have to have more
conversations. This is not the end for me. I need a lot more questions
answered," Cobell said.