BISMARCK, N.D. – Gov. Doug Burgum has appointed State Labor Commissioner Erica Thunder to serve as interim executive director of the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission.

Thunder served as judicial systems administrator for the Indian Affairs Commission from December 2016 until Burgum appointed her as labor commissioner effective June 2019. Prior to joining the commission, Thunder served the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin in 2015-16 as a staff attorney and project facilitator for its Department of Social Services. She also served as a staff attorney in 2014 for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation in western North Dakota, where she is an enrolled member.

Thunder will serve as interim executive director, in addition to her duties as labor commissioner, until the position is filled.