Political party Democratic Education Dartmouth College Role Politician | Name Bill Yellowtail Alma mater Dartmouth College Party Democratic Party | |
Born January 8, 1948 (age 76)
Wyola, Montana, U.S. ( 1948-01-08 ) Spouse(s) Margarette Carlson-Yellowtail | ||
William P. Yellowtail (born January 8, 1948) is former Montana State Senator from the Crow Indian Reservation in Wyola, and is a member of the federally recognized Apsaalooke tribe.
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Education
Yellowtail grew up on his family's cattle ranch on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. He is a 1971 graduate of Dartmouth College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Environmental Studies after a brief period of absence from the college.
Early political career
Yellowtail served on the Montana Senate from 1985 to 1993, representing Big Horn, Rosebud and Powder River counties and was a Regional Administrator of Region VIII of the Environmental Protection Agency from 1994 to 1996, when he stepped down.
Later in 1996, he ran an unsuccessful campaign against Republican Rick Hill for Montana's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat. He was defeated in a controversial campaign notorious for mudslinging efforts by himself and Hill.
He returned to the EPA shortly thereafter to his former post, but suffered further scandal for allegedly unknowingly violating the Hatch Act in 2000.
Business career
Yellowtail is now an employee with Off the Beaten Path in Bozeman, Montana, and has served on the boards of directors for the Burton K. Wheeler Center for Public Policy in Montana, the National Audubon Society, and the Humanities Montana organization.
He serves on the advisory committee for the One Montana nonprofit organization. As a prominent Crow Indian, he recently served as the MSU Emeritus Katz Chair in Native American Studies and advocated for tribal relations with the EPA during his tenure as its Region VIII Administrator.