"We're changing the way that we manage things, we're changing the way that we design our curriculum and our programs. And we want to have a more responsive, I want to say, better exchange of ideas between the people out in the field and the people in management."

This month will see the opening of an environmentally friendly school facility in Prewitt New Mexico. The school will be the first of its kind in the state. Martin says the theme "learning today to become leaders tomorrow" reaches all the way to Washington D.C.

"The Bureau of Indian Affairs is run by Indians. Even here in Washington, most of the people that we have working in our hallway are American Indian."

Martin will be looking at the curriculum of tribally controlled colleges and universities, traditionally geared toward vocational subjects, to see if any additional subjects may help prepare young Indians for positions in the bureau and community. Ron Tull, Interior Department Radio News Service.