Following numerous layoffs across Indian Country earlier this week, agencies across Oklahoma in Watonga, Pawnee, Seminole, Osage and Carnegie were listed for closure on DOGE’s ‘Wall of Receipts.’ Additionally, layoffs were reported at the Miami Agency, with 15 employees losing their jobs.
These listings gave no detail on why these agencies were being closed, what was housed there and what services would be affected—leaving tribal officials scrambling for answers.
For Chief of the Seminole Nation Lewis Johnson, the potential closure of the Wewoka Agency closure is personal.
“Even when I was a kid, I remember the local Wewoka Agency and the different things that took place,” Johnson said in an interview with KOSU.
As he grew up and assumed more responsibilities within the tribe, so did the agency. The building, located in Seminole, is home to departments that handle land acquisitions, mineral rights and fire management and prevention.
Notably, agency firefighters have responded to major wildfires across the country.
“Our people were always ready to mobilize and go help,” he said. “Those are things that we're concerned about… Delays into the efficiencies and the service of those deliveries—those will be administrative challenges.”
Those challenges include redistributing services to local agencies, which will cause delays in services and travel burdens on tribal members.
Because of this, Johnson devised another solution to ensure the BIA services will continue.
“Some of the long-tenured employees that had worked at the agency, like the realty director, I offered my office,” Johnson said. “We'll make space in an office for that person to be able to continue the work.”
Similarly, Osage Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear said in a statement that the tribe’s Secretary of Development, Casey Johnson, is brainstorming another office space for the Osage Indian Agency. He noted he is unsure what this agency closure means for the employees there.
“With this notice from the federal government, we are unsure if the BIA or the GSA will accept an alternative space offer for the BIA employees,” Standing Bear said in a statement. “We have been anticipating this and will continue working daily to mitigate damage and alleviate the anxiety federal cuts are causing Osage Nation, our people, and our communities”
Johnson said DOGE’s cuts neglect those who live in rural areas that rely on these services.
“They’re cutting (these agencies) down because of funding, money or figures, and they're not really taking into consideration these people's lives,” he said. “They serve a purpose within Indian Country. It lightens that burden on the nation itself.”
In a letter to Johnson, the Eastern Oklahoma Region of the BIA, who oversees these local offices, said the issue of the closures was being brought to the Department of the Interior as they worked to keep services running.
“The Wewoka Agency provides direct services to the Seminole Nation as well as the restricted land owners of the original allottees of the Seminole Nation. We stand firm in our duty to continue these statutory and Treaty defined obligations. We were just as blindsided as the Tribe by the unilateral decision of GSA to terminate the lease of the Agency,” the letter reads. “However, this is not a closure of our legal obligation to the Tribe. We stand firm in our federal obligation. This issue has been elevated to the heads of the Department of Interior and they are well aware of the impacts on a local level.”
A spokesperson for BIA under the Department of the Interior did not answer questions about the potential closures.
“The Department of the Interior is committed to upholding federal responsibilities to tribal communities,” they wrote in an email. “Indian Affairs offices remain open and continue to provide services. The Department of the Interior is working with GSA to ensure facilities will be available for the continued delivery of BIA services.”
In a statement to his tribe, Johnson affirmed Seminole leaders would remain vigilant.
“Indigenous peoples will stand together just as our native grassroots people have demonstrated resilience for so many years. ‘May the Blessings from the Creator continue to be with all,’” he said. “These trying times will pass.”
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