Indian Affairs head to quit next month

WASHINGTON - Carl J. Artman is leaving his post as assistant secretary for Indian Affairs next month, the Interior Department says.

Artman, a member of the Oneida tribe of Wisconsin, was confirmed to the post by the Senate in March of last year. Before that, he served as the Interior Department's associate solicitor for Indian Affairs.

Artman told Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in a letter that the work done in Indian Affairs will leave "an infrastructure upon which American Indian and Alaska Natives can build to secure their governmental, cultural and economic futures."