Wizipan Little Elk Garriott

PRESIDENT

Wizipan (Wee-zee-pan) Little Elk Garriott (he/him) is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota. Since 2021, he has served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior. In this role, he served as the first assistant and principal advisor to the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs, in the development and interpretation of policies affecting Indian Affairs bureaus, offices, and programs. Prior to his appointment in the U.S. Department of the Interior, Mr. Garriott served as chief executive officer from 2012 to 2021 of the Rosebud Economic Development Corporation, an ecosystem of Tribal organizations serving the Rosebud Indian Reservation. In this capacity, Mr. Garriott led and started businesses and community-based programs, including a Native language immersion school and 1,500-head buffalo herd.

Mr. Garriott was born and raised on the Rosebud Indian Reservation where he attended St. Francis Indian School, a Bureau of Indian Affairs (now Bureau of Indian Education) facility. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from Yale University. Mr. Garriott received his Juris Doctor degree in 2008 from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College.