Intertribal Life Newspaper -

Maryann Batlle/Cronkite News

Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, left, with Indian Affairs nominee Kevin Washburn, who was joined at his Senate confirmation hearing by his wife, Elizabeth Rodke Washburn, and their sons, Cole and Ford. Washburn’s mother, Shirley Stark, a single mother who now serves on the Chickasaw Elder’s Council, was in the front row for the hearing.