Tribal leaders get Joe Biden’s attention

WASHINGTON — The halls of the Department of the Interior were abuzz with conversations and laughter before the beginning of the 10th annual White House Tribal Nations Summit, and the first in-person one since 2016 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In the Yates Auditorium, five flag bearers wearing jingle dresses were walking slowly back from the stage in an attempt to keep their dresses from making too much noise as a panel discussion was ongoing. It did little to keep the sound of the metal military tags, in replace of jingle cones, from echoing in the room. 

The group smiled and laughed. One even mouthing that their dresses were loud and ended with a smile.   

“Nothing says we have arrived like 300 tribal leaders on the steps of the Interior,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, said during her opening remarks. 

The summit was started by President Barack Obama in 2008 as an effort to increase nation-to-nation engagement with Indigenous leaders from the 574 federally recognized tribes. This year’s summit boasts some 300 tribal leaders from across the country and is two days. Federal policy makers, members of the president’s cabinet and tribal leaders will discuss everything from mental health to Native language preservation and economic development.

President Donald Trump didn’t host a similar type summit in his four years.

(Related: Joe Biden pledges new commitments, respect for tribal nations)

Robert VanZile, chairman of the Sokaogon Community in Wisconsin, asked a pointed question to the Biden appointees during the question and answer section of the economic development panel. He wanted to know why there were panels instead of facilitating conversations between tribal leaders and federal officials.

“I got up at two o’clock in the morning. I got on a plane at 6 a.m. in Green Bay, flew all the way over here. And here we get to sit in a conference room and having people talk to me,” VanZile told ICT. “I don’t like people talking at me. I want to talk to them. Government-to-government, nation-to-nation, conversations are a two-way street. It’s not a one way where, ‘We will tell you what we know.’ And you got to shut up and listen. I don’t like that.”

The focus for VanZile is public safety. He would like to see his tribe grow its tribal police force, establish a fire department and a search and rescue. 

“All of these things, they cost money and that’s why we’re here,” he said. 

Another item that costs money is expanding their clinic as their community’s population has grown. 

“We were wanting to talk to Deb Haaland, and Bryan Newland, we want to upgrade our clinic,” he said. 

Newland, Bay Mills Indian Community, is the Interior’s assistant secretary for Indian Affairs. 

In her first year of leadership, Janet Bill, chairperson for the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians in central California, came to the summit to network and connect with other Indigenous leaders to learn more about how others have handled issues like the pandemic. This was Bill’s first time at the summit. 

“Every single tribal leader that I’ve spoke to today has been like, ‘Oh, this is your first year’ and is willing to give me advice, willing to help me navigate this political arena that I’ve stepped into,” Bill said. “My goal is really to be meeting with other tribal leaders, and of course, representing my tribe in the best way.”

It was also Durrell Cooper III’s first time at the summit, though he’s been an elected leader for his tribe since 2016. He has served as chairman for two terms. 

“I’m glad that I did come out here. The experience so far has been amazing,” Cooper, Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, said. “Listening to all the bureaucracy going on and also the tribal leaders around the nation, you get to share similar stories, especially coming through COVID-19. The different things that they’ve been through, what they’ve done with their money, what they did with their programs, and all that.”

Cooper’s nation received $14 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan. The Biden administration, through the American Rescue Plan and the BiPartisan Infrastructure Bill, has provided unprecedented investments in Indigenous communities. A total of $45 billion has gone to tribes in less than two years. This is equivalent to 15 years of the Interior’s annual budget. 

“On a good note, it helped us provide direct impact aid assistance to our tribal members. It helped us give some tribal laptops out to college students,” he said. “Also the ability to recuperate the $10 million in lost tribal revenue. We actually have been able to even open up a tribal business. We have an old convenience store, so we’re gonna open that up.”

While funding has been very helpful for the tribe, Cooper is concerned about the preservation of language and culture for this nation. There are only four fluent speakers left in the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. 

“The smaller tribes, we don’t have the resources to set up and establish a language program,” he said. “We’re limited on our resources. A lot of us to smaller tribes don’t have the casino revenue, and all that stuff.”

While Cooper’s tribe has one small casino, it doesn’t make enough revenue to provide the tribe with much funding. This leaves needed programs like culture and language preservation unfunded. On top of that smaller tribes, like his with some 2,000 citizens, often don’t meet federal grant requirements that could potentially provide this funding. 

“Like the Apache Tribe, our audits are kind of outdated. So we’re always getting blasted by the grant department. That’s one criteria but how can that be a criteria when the language is culture, and it’s in a crisis?” he questioned. 

The Biden administration and the Interior made several new announcements at the summit.

The White House announcements can be read here and the Interior’s are here.  

The summit will continue Thursday.