The position was created after the Legislature eliminated the Indian Affairs Commission in 2011, but the post has been vacant since then in the wake of questions about raised its quarter-Indian blood requirement.
The lack of a liaison between tribal governments and the state has caused some tribal leaders to complain that their requests and input are not being heard, including leading up to the Choctaws and Chickasaws filing suit against Fallin and Oklahoma City over water rights.
The one-quarter blood quantum requirement was removed from the law by legislation passed this session.
Fallin selected Jacque Secondine Hensley, a member of the Kaw Nation from Tulsa, to fill the position.
Hensley serves as an agent for the U.S. Department of Defense investigating contract fraud and is a current member of the National Native American Law Enforcement Association. She formerly served as a special agent with the Bureau of Indian Affairs; an adjunct professor at the Indian Police Academy in Artesia, N.M.; and a former president of the State Child Protection Team in Oklahoma.
