History of the Commission
Camille Cash (left), Deputy Executive Officer for the Board of Supervisors, conducts the swearing-in ceremonies for four of the five elected members of the City/County Indian Commission. The four are (from left) Howard Yackus, Rudy Ortega, Sr. Lila Lewis and Clifton Roman Nose. The fifth elected member, Delores Hitman, was not present for the ceremonies.
The primary purpose of the Commission is to increase the acquisition and application of funding resources to the socioeconomic problems of American Indians in Los Angeles City and County without duplication of any service or activity provided by any other County officer or department.
The first the Los Angeles City and County government officials made their respected appointments, among are, Tim Wapato, Chairman; David Lester, Vice Chairman; Al Juneau, Shirley Fiske, Emmett Sarracino, Lincoln Billedeaux, Iron Eyes Cody, Pat Patterson, Sanford Smith and William Connolly.
Following the governmental appointments of 1976, the commission held its first county-wide election for the five community elected members. Among the five elected members in 1977 are, Rudy Ortega, Sr., District 1, Lila Lewis, District 2, Clifton Roman Nose, District 3, Howard Yackus, District 4, and Delores Hitman, District 5.
The Los Angeles City-County Indian Commission, first of its kind in the United States, took their first official meeting on June 20, 1977, held at the County (Hahn) Hall of Administration. The Commission established Personnel Budget, By-laws, Planning, Legislative and Administrative Committees. In addition the commission voted to support the creation of the Indian Health Services Liaison Officer in the County of Department of Health Services.
Past Commissioners
Rev. Marvin Abrams
Seneca
Zoie Adkins-Dungee*
Daron Ahhaity
Cherokee
Glenda Ahhaitty
Cherokee
Karen Allen
Iris Allrunner
Fort Peck Sioux
Corrine Beckwith Garbani
Pechanga
Angie Behrns
Gabrielino
Lincoln B. Billedeaux
Piegan-Blackfeet
Clementine Minnie Bordeaux
Sicangu Oglala Lakota
Richard Bouchard
Violet Brown
Sharon Buckley
Lakota
Michael Burgess
Comanche
Roxanne Burgess
Hupa
Tonantzin Carmelo
Gabrielino
John Castillo
Apache
Dr. Duane Champagne*
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa
Iron Eyes Cody (Espera Oscar de Corti)
Colleen J. Colson
Cherokee
William Connolly
Juanita Connors
Sallie Cuaresma
Muskogee Creek/Cherokee
Vincent D’Averso
Lakota
Rusty Deer
Sarah Deer
Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma
Sandra A. Dooley
Osage/Seneca-Cayuga
Carolyn Echeveria
Gabrielino
Ira Englander
Ramon Enriquez
Tewa – Nambe Pueblo
Tessa Evans-Campbell
Snohomish Tribe
Shirley Jeanette Fiske
Hannah Fixico
Rosebud Sioux Tribe
Joan Freeman
Seminole
Fred William Gabourie
Seneca
Michelle L. Garcia Holiday
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma
Danielle Glenn-Rivera
Osage
Toni Goodin
Walter Hare
Yankton Sioux
Shirley Hendricks
Delores Hinman
Janet Honanie
Hopi
Cecile Johnson
Creek
Suzanne Johnson
Andy Jones
Tohono O’odham
Alfred Juneau
Maxine Judkins
Apache/Cherokee
Patsy A. Kruse
Ronald Leos
Luiseno
A. David Lester
Muscogee Creek
Kevin Lewis
Navajo
Lila Lewis
Kathryn Manness Grandstaff
Huron (Wyandot) Tribe
Chuck Marshall
Muskogee Creek
Eugene Martinez
Choctaw
Robert E. Mele
Seneca
Mitch Mitchell
Comanche
Kimberly Morales Johnson
Gabrielino
Mitch Murdock
Navajo-Laguna
Charles Nacho
Maricopa & Tohono O’odham
Father Paul Ojibway
Fond du Luc Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Edward “Rudy” Ortega, Sr.
Fernandeno Tataviam
Paula Starr
Cheyenne & Arapaho
Yvonne Paradise
Patricia M. Patterson
Kathy Pena
Katherine Pollock
Sister Grace Rabideaux
Chippewa
David Rambeau
Paiute
Carol Ramirez
Gabrielino
Betty Ransom
Lois Red Elk
Fort Peck Sioux
Melvin Anthony Rice
Luiseno
Clifton Roman Nose
Southern Cheyenne
Rev. Emmett D. Sarracino
Laguna-Pueblo
Jack Shakely*
Muscogee Creek
Ian Skorodin
Choctaw
Edward Stewart Sloan
Sanford K. Smith
Ute
Steven Stallings*
Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians
Dr. Lenore Stiffer
Gros Ventre
Robert Sundance
Hunkpapa Sioux
Beverly Sweetwater
Dennis A. Tafoya*
Santa Clara Pueblo
Charles Toledo
Navajo
Tanya Torres
Chiricahua Apache
Timothy J. Turner, Esq.
Luiseno
Karina Walters
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Sherman Timothy Wapato*
Colville Confederated
Rose Clark Weahkee
Navajo
Lucy Wilson
Choctaw
Ben Lucero Wolf
Kiowa
Howard Yackytooanipah “Yackus”
Comanche
Mary York
Chiricahua Apache
*Chairperson
Past Executive Assistants
Tom Sellers, Northern Montana Blackfeet
Glenda Ahhiatty, Cherokee
Ron Andrade, La Jolla Luiseno