Daily Sitka Sentinel

STA Council Welcomes New General Manager

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Lawrence SpottedBird remembers his first trip to Sitka in 1999, when he was representing Shaan Seet of Craig at a Southeast Conference meeting here.

Lawrence SpottedBird (Sentinel Photo)

    “I thought it was one of the most beautiful areas I’ve seen, and there are a lot of them in Southeast,” said SpottedBird, who started work Monday as the new general manager of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska,. “That was my first impression: ‘Wow.’”
    SpottedBird will be formally introduced to the STA Tribal Council 6 p.m. today at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi. A tribal council meeting will follow at 6:30 p.m.
    SpottedBird says he brings to the job “management skills, people skills, networking skills and skills at working with all the resources available for the benefit of whomever I’m working for.”
    He said his first few days on the job have been a little overwhelming, but there’s been nothing he hadn’t expected.
    SpottedBird comes to Sitka from Bremerton, Wash., where he ran his own consulting business, SpottedBird Development, working with tribal entities and individuals.
    SpottedBird was born and raised in southwest Oklahoma, as a member of the Kiowa Tribe, and grew up learning about his culture and participating in pow-wows. His grandfather and uncle were pow-wow singers, and he grew up listening to tribal songs and singing around the big drum at pow-wows.
    “The drumbeat is what I grew up with,” SpottedBird said. “I was born and raised to the beat of a drum.”
    SpottedBird attended the University of Oklahoma, where he studied architecture and wrestled on the university’s squad. He said his path changed course, and he got married and entered the U.S. Navy, serving during the Vietnam War but never going overseas. He used his G.I. Bill benefits to finish school at the University of Central Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
    His first job was in tribal business development, consulting tribes and individuals in Oklahoma. SpottedBird has held jobs all over the country, consulting on Native American business development enterprises and opportunities with tribes  throughout Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington state. In the late 1990s he served as general manager of Shaan Seet Inc. and worked with Prince of Wales tribes to start the Prince of Wales Tribal Enterprise Consortium. Most of his work has been for for-profit entities.
    He said he was interested in the Sitka job as a chance to branch out.
    “I felt it was time for me to get involved in the tribal government side,” SpottedBird said. “This was an opportunity with the tribe, to support the tribal council and tribal members.”
    STA’s announcement about SpottedBird’s hire praised his management credentials as well as his background in economic development, federal-level negotiation and procurement skills, and grant development and management.
    SpottedBird said some of the major challenges he sees ahead are related to the STA budget.
    “A lot of tribes are finding it tough in recent times, budgetarily,” he said. “Sequestration has created budgetary disruptions in many programs. It’s affected tribes around the country.” He hopes to ease budget challenges at STA through economic development ventures and new programs.
    “My focus will be to support the tribal government – not just generate revenues for revenue’s sake but to continue to provide good services to tribal members,” he said. “I want to help support the tribal community, and the Sitka community in general, in the work that we do.”
    He said being successful on the job requires a “cooperative approach, a broader approach.” He said he sees a good future for STA.
    “Sitka Tribe, like many tribes, has the capacity and ability to leverage that unique structure as a tribal sovereign nation, not only to provide for tribal members but also for business development,” SpottedBird said. “I’ll be looking at what makes sense here in developing those activities. If it doesn’t interfere with cultural, historical values, we’ll look at it; if it does, we won’t.”
    SpottedBird said he is interested in participating in cultural events here – including tribal and non-Native events. He said he enjoys the arts, including classical music, theater and singing. Among his hobbies are golf, bicycling, painting and writing.
    He said his wife, Lanie, will be joining him soon, arriving on the ferry in early June with their cat.
    The event tonight before the tribal council meeting is open to the public.