Grand Ronde member becomes top federal official over Indigenous issues

Bryan Mercier is the first member of a Northwest tribe in decades to supervise the federal government’s primary agency for Indigenous issues.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced this month that Mercier, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, will be acting director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He’ll become the permanent director after the current director, Darryl LeCounte, officially retires later this year.

Mercier has spent the last 20 years in public service — much of that in federal agencies, including the Forest Service, Department of Treasury, the Bonneville Power Administration and most recently, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where he was the regional director for the Northwest.

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