Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, 1963, University of South Dakota

Law Degree, Juris Doctor, 1965, University of South Dakota

1965 - 1967 - Regional Civil Rights Coordinator in the Kansas City Regional Office of the Office of Economic Opportunity.

1967 - 1970 - Congressional Relations Specialist and, subsequently, Director of the Congressional Relations Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  Responsible for assisting the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and other BIA officials in contacts with members of Congress and congressional committees on Indian legislation and Indian issues; coordinating such contacts with Departmental and other Federal offices; drafting Administration legislative proposals and comments on Indian legislation; and coordinating responses to congressional correspondence.  Served for nine months as a Federal Congressional Fellow in the offices of Senator George S. McGovern (D.-S.D.) and Congressman Al Ullman (D.-OR) under a program of the American Political Science Association.

1970 – 1973 - Elected Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) with service for two months.  Resigned and established a private consulting firm, ultimately serving as a Legislative Consultant to NCAI.  In that capacity, assisted the Executive Director of NCAI in representing the positions and interests of the member tribes of NCAI before members of Congress and congressional committees.

1973 - 1990 - Counsel on Indian Affairs to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.  Served as Indian Affairs Counsel to the Subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the Committee in the 93rd (1973-74) and the 94th (1975-76) Congress under Congressman Lloyd Meeds (D.-WA), Chairman of the Subcommittee.  In 1977, employed by Congressman Morris K. Udall (D.-AZ), Chairman of the Full Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, to serve as Counsel on Indian Affairs.

During this tenure with the Committee, played a prominent role in every major piece of Indian legislation to come before the Committee, including the Indian Self-Determination Act, Indian Policy Review Commission Act, Indian Health Care Improvement Act, American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Indian Child Welfare Act, Indian Mineral Development Act, Indian Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.  In addition, was actively involved in other legislation and issues before the Congress affecting Indian tribes, including appropriation acts and bills in the jurisdiction of other substantive committees.

1990 – 2003 - From 1990 to 1992, partner in the firm of Ducheneaux, Gerard, and Associates, Inc., a Washington consulting firm specializing in the representation of Indian tribes and organizations before the Congress and congressional offices and committees, and with Federal agencies and officials.  Acquired sole ownership of the firm in October 1992.  In April 1993, Peter S. Taylor became a partner in the firm, renamed Ducheneaux, Taylor and Associates, Inc. Ducheneaux, Taylor and Associates, Inc. was a majority Indian-owned consulting firm specializing in the areas of legislative lobbying and government relations.

2003 – Present - Retired.  Provide part-time consulting services and conduct other miscellaneous business activities as D&R Consulting.

W. Richard West Jr., former Director, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution

W. Richard West Jr., a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and a Peace Chief of the Southern Cheyenne, is founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. West has devoted his professional life and much of his personal life to working with American Indians on cultural, educational, legal and governmental issues.

Before becoming director of the National Museum of the American Indian, West was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, and, subsequently, in the Indian-owned Albuquerque law firm of Gover, Stetson, Williams & West, P.C. He served as general counsel and special counsel to numerous tribes and organizations. In that capacity, he represented clients before federal, state and tribal courts, various executive departments of the federal government and Congress.

Affiliations and Memberships
West's current board affiliations and memberships include: Stanford University (2002-present); National Parks and Conservation Association (2002-present); Ford Foundation (1999-present); National Support Committee of the Native American Rights Fund (1990-present) and American Indian Resources Institute (1973-present).

He served as chair of the American Association of Museums, the nation's only national membership organization representing all types of museums and museum professionals, from 1998-2000. From 1992-1995 and 1997-1998, he served as member-at-large of the association's board of directors and in 1995-1996 as vice chair of the board of directors. West currently is vice chair of the American Association of Museums/International Council of Museums, which represents the interests of American institutions in the international museum community.

As director of the National Museum of the American Indian, West was responsible for guiding the successful opening of the three facilities that comprise the National Museum of the American Indian. He oversaw the creation and completion of the George Gustav Heye
Center, a museum exhibition facility, which opened in New York City on Oct. 30, 1994. He supervised the overall planning of the museum's Cultural Resources Center, which houses its
vast 800,000-object collection, and is located in Suitland, Md. West's philosophy and vision for the museum have been critical in guiding the architectural and program planning of the Mall museum, which opened on the National Mall in Washington on Sept. 21.

West also devoted considerable time and energy to the museum's fund-raising efforts. As part of the legislation establishing the National Museum of the American Indian, it was mandated by Congress that one-third of the construction costs of the Mall museum be raised from non-federal sources. To date, the museum has raised more than $100 million in non-federal funds for construction and the opening of the museum. West continues to oversee the fund-raising campaign of the museum, which also provides for an endowment and ongoing educational and outreach programs.

Personal
West, who grew up in Muskogee, Okla., was born in San Bernardino, Calif., on Jan. 6, 1943, the son of American Indian master artist, the late Walter Richard West Sr., and Maribelle McCrea West. He earned a bachelor of arts degree (major in American history) magna cum laude in 1965 and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Redlands in California. He also received a master's degree in American history from Harvard University in 1968. West graduated from the Stanford University School of Law with a doctor of jurisprudence degree in 1971, where he also was the recipient of the Hilmer Oehlmann Jr. Prize for excellence in legal writing and served as an editor and note editor of the Stanford Law Review.

West is married to the former Mary Beth Braden, who is a professor of political science at the National Defense University, Industrial College of the Armed Forces. They have two adult children, Amy and Ben.

Established in 1989, through an Act of Congress, the National Museum of the American Indian is an institution of living cultures dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history and arts of the Native peoples of the Western Hemisphere. The museum includes the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall, the George Gustav Heye Center, a permanent exhibition and education facility in New York City, and the Cultural Resources Center, a research and collections facility in Suitland, Md.

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