Louie Pitt

Louie Pitt

Job Title

Director of Governmental Affairs

As the Director of Governmental Affairs, Louie Pitt, Jr. is responsible for maintaining relationships with off-reservation governmental entities regarding the Tribe, its interests, and ensuring open communications.

Government Affairs is tasked with maintaining relations with our off-reservation neighbors about who we are, what our interests and values include, and maintaining open communications. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon is referred to as a distinct political entity, with inherent sovereignty and rights on and the off-reservation. Being The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs before there was a United States of America or a State of Oregon makes this a more unique area of communication which also creates on-going challenges and opportunities for us to educate our neighbors. The tremendous breadth and depth of our tribal ways of life will be carried on into the future, “Ewa-cha-nai” or that the way it was yesterday, that is the way it is today and that will be the way tomorrow.

Louie Pitt, Jr. was born at the Warm Springs hospital spending early years living in the Hollywood neighborhood (one and two room houses, no running water, and outhouses). He later lived in Madras and graduated from Madras High School. He worked various jobs on the reservation, the first of which was at the Community Center, then Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and eventually transferring to the fish habitat restoration department for Natural Resources. His last position at Natural Resources was Assistant Policy and Planner. Louie accepted a promotion to Director of Government Affairs and Planning, overseeing Planning, Vital Statistics, Records Management and later moved on to Public Relations (KWSO radio and Spilyay Tymoo newspaper). Louie is quoted:  “The key part of Governmental Affairs is connecting our respective ways of life and our values to the modern, contemporary world we live in. We are Wasco, Warm Springs and Paiute people first.”

His tribal service has been spent as a member on Timber, Recreation, Land Use/Planning committees and also serving as a Tribal Appellate Judge.  State service was spent with Governor Kitzhaber’s transition team, Legislative Commission on Indian Services, Lower Deschutes Management Plan Committee, Columbia River Gorge Commissioner, and serving three Governors and an Advisory Committee on Civil Rights to State of Oregon Labor Commission.

His parents were proud of their tribal heritage and lived through the boarding school and termination era. They witnessed the transition from a more traditional form of government to today’s Tribal Council and demonstrated the importance of tribal culture, values and ways of life passed on from our Elders.  Many tribal families learned lessons of life beyond survival to maintain the tribal values that got us here and will use into the future.