Office of Self-Governance welcomes
Rufina L. Villicana as
OSG Financial Specialist
The Office of Self-Governance (OSG) is pleased to announce that Rufina L. Villicana has joined the OSG team as a Financial Specialist. Ms. Villicana is an enrolled member of the Quechan Indian Nation. She began her career as a Property Officer for the Quechan Tribe that is located in Fort Yuma, California. She has worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the Western Nevada Agency in Carson City as a Supply Technician.
Ms. Villicana attended the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD and continued her education by attending Arizona Western College in Yuma, AZ and Western Nevada Community College in Carson City, NV.
In 2001, Ms. Villicana accepted a position as a Budget Analyst in Boise, ID at the National Interagency Fire Center [NIFC]. She has worked on an interagency basis with our sister Interior agencies - Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife, National Park Service, and the Office of Wildland Fire Coordination and also, with the USDA Forest Service on National Wildland Fire Management budget issues, performance measures for GPRA, Congressional/Departmental inquiries and other related Wildland Fire Management business.
We believe she is an excellent addition to our team. Please take an opportunity to welcome her. Her contact information is:
Rufina L. Villicana,
Financial Specialist, OSG
1951 Constitution Avenue NW, MS 355G
Washington, DC 20240
(202) 208-5073 (Office)
(202) 219-4246 (Fax)
Office of Self Governance welcomes Gordon Smith as OSG Compact Negotiator
The Office of Self Governance (OSG) would like to take this opportunity to publicly welcome Mr. Gordon Smith as Compact Negotiator in the Office of Self Governance, Northwest Field Office in Vancouver, WA. Gordon and his wife, Anna, and their three children are members of the Makah Tribe from Neah Bay, Washington. Gordon has served the Makah Tribe as Council Chairman, Council Member, General Manager, and Self Governance Coordinator. His civic involvement has included service on the Tribal fishing association, sub-panel member of the Pacific Fishery Management Council, local school district board member, and high school varsity boy’s basketball coach. His federal experience includes service as an infantry officer in the US Marine Corps and as BIA Self Governance Specialist at the Makah Agency on the Makah Indian Reservation. Gordon attained his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Washington.
His unique blend of Federal and Tribal perspectives and commitment to Indian issues in Indian Country bodes well for his new position as a OSG Compact Negotiator. Gordon’s primary responsibility will be to negotiate self governance compacts and funding agreements with tribes served by the Northwest Field Office. Gordon may be reached in the Northwest Field Office by telephone at 360-699-1011. His e-mail address is gordon.smith@bia.gov.
Please take an opportunity to welcome him.
