Native Voice One

Native American Radio Network

Washington

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Tears. Joy. Amazement. These are words that are rarely associated with the act of governing. Yet last week they flooded social media coming from Indigenous communities who rarely see power as “ours.” 
One measure of the week: Hundreds of thousands of people watched Interior Secretary Deb Haaland put her moccasins on before taking the oath of office.
This is Trahant Reports.
Last week Vice President Kamala Harris ceremonially gave the oath of office to Haaland. Then she said: “Congratulations, Madam Secretary. History is being made, yet again.” Haaland is a citizen of Laguna Pueblo.
Madam Secretary has an extraordinary portfolio, managing millions of acres of public lands (far more than any governor). She has direct oversight or significant responsibility for some 60,000 federal employees, U.S. territories around the world, fish and game, geological survey, water management and, of course, the federal government’s relations with tribes.
This history would be amazing all by itself. But the thing is … Haaland is not alone. The administration of President Joe Biden has made a number of key appointments, including, most recently, Janie Hipp, as the general counsel for the Department of Agriculture. 
Hipp is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. Much of the Department of Agriculture is focused on the industry of food; not food itself. Hipp will bring her experience rethinking how important food, good food, is to society and consumers. I expect her to be at the forefront of reform.
Another reformer is Jamie Pinkham. He’s Nez Perce. His new job is a mouthful. He has been appointed principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for civil works. He will have a lot to say about the operation of the Army Corps of Engineers.
The role of the Army Corps cannot be understated for tribal nations. This is the agency that grants permits for pipelines to cross rivers. It works on reclamation and dam projects. And this is where Pinkham’s expertise is so significant … he is an expert on salmon. This is the ideal job to try to use the levers of government to restore a healthy salmon environment.
And I should mention that all of these jobs will give Indigenous communities a voice in a way that has not happened ever before. 
President Biden has said that climate change is an existential threat. So the government should react in order to make decisions based on that danger. These appointments are clear steps in that direction. 
As Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan tweeted last week: “I can’t stop crying, happy tears.”
I am Mark Trahant.

Historic Haaland Confirmation Hearing

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Confirmation hearings for Rep. Deb Haaland begin this week in the U.S. Senate.
This is Trahant Reports. 
She’s the first Native American to ever go through a confirmation hearing for a cabinet post — and if confirmed by the Senate she will be the first ever tribal citizen to run a major agency, the Interior Department.
And there is a lot of history unfolding. 
Rep. Haaland stood with the water protectors at Standing Rock. She has stood with those opposed to oil and gas development in her own home state in New Mexico and she was once a government witness in a hearing about sacred lands on the U.S. border.  At that event she told the Trump administration and the U.S. Border Patrol:   “I don’t know how you can sleep at night.”
Haaland is a citizen of Laguna Pueblo.  She is 60 years old and her job would be extraordinary. The Interior Department has a remarkable mission, managing the relationship with tribal governments, administering mineral rights, national parks, wildlife and endangered species, and approving oil and gas drilling and mining.
And that is the issue that is bringing out the opposition. Republicans generally favor oil and gas development on federal lands. The Biden administration has said climate change — not energy independence — will be its touchstone.
A lot of eyes will be watching Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia. He’s chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a long time supporter of the oil and gas industry. After a vote earlier this month, he reaffirmed that support. He said: “My position on the oil and gas industry has not changed. I have always been and will always be an outspoken advocate for an all-of-the-above energy policy that includes fracking and responsible energy infrastructure development, like the Keystone XL pipeline.” 
One early opponent is Montana Sen. Steve Daines. He has said Haaland’s positions are radical, citing the Green New Deal and her opposition to fracking. 
He recently tweeted that Rep. Haaland’s nomination is “extremely alarming. Rep. Haaland has called for the elimination of oil, natural gas AND coal. America can not afford this radical transition away from reliable energy.”
Daines has said he will use procedural powers to slow or block her nomination.
 Still, if Chairman Manchin, and all of the Democrats vote together, Haaland will be confirmed. 
The Haaland nomination is also a key indicator about the role of tribal nations in the Biden administration. And tribes have high hopes. There are so many issues that have never received full attention from the federal government, ranging from the co-management of public lands and wildlife to the actual return of lands taken illegally. 
Tribes will be expecting a lot more than just window decoration; pushing for a secretary who understands tribal issues and is ready to act accordingly. 
But first she has to get past the Senate.
I am Mark Trahant.

Deloria: Custer Died For Your Sins (Reprise)

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Fifty years ago an unknown writer published an “Indian manifesto.” The book was “Custer Died For Your Sins” by Vine Deloria Jr.

This is Trahant Reports.

Custer Died For Your Sins was a manifesto, a best-seller, and a banned book (a trifecta).

So much literature back then went something like this: Once there was a great chief — say, Chief Joseph — who led his people past danger and outmaneuvered a powerful U.S. Army. But instead of a climactic victory, Chief Joseph almost reached Canada. Almost.

The Nez Perce people almost won. And the American Indian leader was almost great.

Boil it down, story after story, and the condensed version of Native history was reduced to an “almost” narrative.

American Indians were included in America’s master narrative only in the context of failure.

But Custer Died for Your Sins took that old, flat American Indian history and crumpled it until the dimensions were recognizable and honest.

“Most books about Indians cover some abstract and esoteric topic of the last century,” Deloria wrote. “Contemporary books are predominately by whites trying to solve the ‘Indian problem.’ Between the two extremes lives a dynamic people in a social structure of their own to be freed from cultural expression.”

And he freed a lot of cultural expression.

That included the radical idea that “one of the best ways to understand a people is to know what makes them laugh. Laughter encompasses the limits of the soul. In humor, life is redefined and accepted.”

Here was a book about American thought, policy, and history that devoted an entire chapter to humor, words that should have destroyed the stereotype of the wooden Indian.

Custer Died For Your Sins was a manifesto — it demanded the right of American Indians to control their image in rich detail. And “manifesto” was precisely the right word — a declaration of principles, policies, and intentions in a political context.

But the book had a dual manifesto: To American Indian readers it was a call to arms, a plea to recognize the essence of tribal philosophy, political systems, and religion.

As Deloria wrote, “There is more to the story than that. Indian people today have a chance to re-create a type of society for themselves, which can defy, mystify, and educate the rest of American society. Yet they mill around like so many cattle, not bringing to the surface the greatness that is in them.”

Looking back over 50 years it’s clear that the most significant contribution of the book was that idea American Indians controlling our narrative, owning our story.

Then it’s not just our story. At a conference last week Haskell Indian Nations University professor Daniel Wildcat said the day will come when Vine Deloria Jr is remembered as one of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers.

I am Mark Trahant.

Deloria: Custer Died For Your Sins (Reprise)

By

Fifty years ago an unknown writer published an “Indian manifesto.” The book was “Custer Died For Your Sins” by Vine Deloria Jr.

This is Trahant Reports.

Custer Died For Your Sins was a manifesto, a best-seller, and a banned book (a trifecta).

So much literature back then went something like this: Once there was a great chief — say, Chief Joseph — who led his people past danger and outmaneuvered a powerful U.S. Army. But instead of a climactic victory, Chief Joseph almost reached Canada. Almost.

The Nez Perce people almost won. And the American Indian leader was almost great.

Boil it down, story after story, and the condensed version of Native history was reduced to an “almost” narrative.

American Indians were included in America’s master narrative only in the context of failure.

But Custer Died for Your Sins took that old, flat American Indian history and crumpled it until the dimensions were recognizable and honest.

“Most books about Indians cover some abstract and esoteric topic of the last century,” Deloria wrote. “Contemporary books are predominately by whites trying to solve the ‘Indian problem.’ Between the two extremes lives a dynamic people in a social structure of their own to be freed from cultural expression.”

And he freed a lot of cultural expression.

That included the radical idea that “one of the best ways to understand a people is to know what makes them laugh. Laughter encompasses the limits of the soul. In humor, life is redefined and accepted.”

Here was a book about American thought, policy, and history that devoted an entire chapter to humor, words that should have destroyed the stereotype of the wooden Indian.

Custer Died For Your Sins was a manifesto — it demanded the right of American Indians to control their image in rich detail. And “manifesto” was precisely the right word — a declaration of principles, policies, and intentions in a political context.

But the book had a dual manifesto: To American Indian readers it was a call to arms, a plea to recognize the essence of tribal philosophy, political systems, and religion.

As Deloria wrote, “There is more to the story than that. Indian people today have a chance to re-create a type of society for themselves, which can defy, mystify, and educate the rest of American society. Yet they mill around like so many cattle, not bringing to the surface the greatness that is in them.”

Looking back over 50 years it’s clear that the most significant contribution of the book was that idea American Indians controlling our narrative, owning our story.

Then it’s not just our story. At a conference last week Haskell Indian Nations University professor Daniel Wildcat said the day will come when Vine Deloria Jr is remembered as one of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers.

I am Mark Trahant.

Sharp President

By

The National Congress of American Indians has a new president, Fawn Sharp.

This is Trahant Reports.

Fawn Sharp, the president of the Quinault Nation, was elected last week as NCAI’s ’s 23rd president. She is only the third woman to lead the intertribal congress. She succeeds Jefferson Keel who did not run for re-election.

Sharp was surrounded by friends and family after the election results were announced. She earned nearly 62 percent of the vote in a field of four candidates. The other candidates were Shaun Chapoose from Ute Indian Tribe, Chairman Harold Frazier from Cheyenne River Sioux, and Chairman Marshall Pierite from the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana.

Sharp has called this office the Indigenous president because it’s a platform that can reach out across the country.

She said the task at hand is to bring people together.

‘This is not just a debate for the National Congress of American Indians president. This isn’t just a debate for the president, the Indigenous president of the United States because we have been here for thousands of years, they have been here for 400.”

One issue that is sure to be front and center, climate change.  At the recent Indian Country Today debate she said this:

“At Quinault we have 200 and just over 200,000 acres, 31 miles of pristine coastline. We’re having to relocate to villages to higher ground. The glaciers that feed the mighty Quinaults are disappearing. We had millions of Sockeye salmon run through our rivers in the 1950s and sixties last year we only had 3000. This is very real to us. I’ve stood on the shores and I’ve had to declare multiple States of emergencies as I’ve seen our coastline littered with dead marine life. This is very real. This is the greatest existential threat facing our generation and probably the next generation.”

As president of the congress, Sharp will be called upon in a variety of ways, ranging from representation before the Trump administration to the Congress. She will be the voice that’s heard by companies and foundations.

Tina Marie Osceola, Seminole from Florida, said she has watched Sharp in action as a member of NCAI. She sees a dedicated Native woman who’s ready to take this country, Indian country, to where we need to be in the dialogue. “We’ve been so irrelevant for this past administration and I think that with her voice and her vision, that we’ll finally be able to reclaim our relevance on the global stage,” Osceola said.

The new Indigenous president assumed office last week.

 

I am Mark Trahant

Trahant Reports: Harjo (Encore)

By

Suzan Harjo has been at the center of just about every major issue involving Indian Country for decades. Last week the National Museum of American Indians honored her with a symposium to explore those contributions.

This is Trahant Reports.

Harjo was a reporter for Pacifica’s WBAI covering the Trail of Broken Treaties and the takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1972. She described crossing the police line, radio equipment in hand, as a war zone moment. At one point Russell Means picked up a megaphone and said “it was a good day to die.” He was ready to blow-up the building. Other leaders had a different take, shouting down Means. Oren Lyons spoke and said this was not a war and not even a battle.

The story ended on a peaceful note. The people left the BIA building and went home.

Since then Harjo has practiced journalism, crafting laws, policy work, including a stint as the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, and she has been an uncompromising advocate for religious freedom and the protection of sacred spaces. She’s also one of the primary architects of litigation against the Washington football franchise that would have forced the team to change its name. She’s also one of the founders of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Suzan Harjo remains an active journalist. One piece she wrote for Indian Country Today is telling.

“There’s a widespread notion that ‘tribal sovereignty’ and ‘Indian treaties’ are legal, historical, practical and correct terms,” Harjo wrote in her lede. “Actually, sovereignty is sovereignty, and treaties are treaties, nation to nation is between and among sovereigns; the use of “tribal” or “Indian” or any modifier is both misleading and belittling.”

She framed the history of the country — not Indian Country, mind you, but the United States — in a compact narrative illuminating the historical authority of treaties.

And when I say compact, I am talking about 8,000 words. Imagine reading 8,000 words on a cell phone.

But here’s the thing. Because we are a digital news organization we get data about every story. We know what has been read and what has been ignored. And we know that readers spent 8 minutes and 12 seconds on: “If you don’t know history.”

It was the best read story of the week. And the month. And one of the top stories of the year. All told more than 100,000 people read Harjo’s historical essay.

So much of the world has changed since Suzan Harjo began writing, especially the technology, but what has not … is her passion for informing Native people about our world, our history, and how we fit into a larger global narrative.

I am Mark Trahant.

Trahant Reports: Harjo

By

Suzan Harjo has been at the center of just about every major issue involving Indian Country for decades. Last week the National Museum of American Indians honored her with a symposium to explore those contributions.

This is Trahant Reports.

Harjo was a reporter for Pacifica’s WBAI covering the Trail of Broken Treaties and the takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1972. She described crossing the police line, radio equipment in hand, as a war zone moment. At one point Russell Means picked up a megaphone and said “it was a good day to die.” He was ready to blow-up the building. Other leaders had a different take, shouting down Means. Oren Lyons spoke and said this was not a war and not even a battle.

The story ended on a peaceful note. The people left the BIA building and went home.

Since then Harjo has practiced journalism, crafting laws, policy work, including a stint as the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, and she has been an uncompromising advocate for religious freedom and the protection of sacred spaces. She’s also one of the primary architects of litigation against the Washington football franchise that would have forced the team to change its name. She’s also one of the founders of the National Museum of the American Indian.

Suzan Harjo remains an active journalist. One piece she wrote for Indian Country Today is telling.

“There’s a widespread notion that ‘tribal sovereignty’ and ‘Indian treaties’ are legal, historical, practical and correct terms,” Harjo wrote in her lede. “Actually, sovereignty is sovereignty, and treaties are treaties, nation to nation is between and among sovereigns; the use of “tribal” or “Indian” or any modifier is both misleading and belittling.”

She framed the history of the country — not Indian Country, mind you, but the United States — in a compact narrative illuminating the historical authority of treaties.

And when I say compact, I am talking about 8,000 words. Imagine reading 8,000 words on a cell phone.

But here’s the thing. Because we are a digital news organization we get data about every story. We know what has been read and what has been ignored. And we know that readers spent 8 minutes and 12 seconds on: “If you don’t know history.”

It was the best read story of the week. And the month. And one of the top stories of the year. All told more than 100,000 people read Harjo’s historical essay.

So much of the world has changed since Suzan Harjo began writing, especially the technology, but what has not … is her passion for informing Native people about our world, our history, and how we fit into a larger global narrative.

I am Mark Trahant.

Deloria: Custer Died For Your Sins

By

Fifty years ago an unknown writer published an “Indian manifesto.” The book was “Custer Died For Your Sins” by Vine Deloria Jr.

This is Trahant Reports.

Custer Died For Your Sins was a manifesto, a best-seller, and a banned book (a trifecta).

So much literature back then went something like this: Once there was a great chief — say, Chief Joseph — who led his people past danger and outmaneuvered a powerful U.S. Army. But instead of a climactic victory, Chief Joseph almost reached Canada. Almost.

The Nez Perce people almost won. And the American Indian leader was almost great.

Boil it down, story after story, and the condensed version of Native history was reduced to an “almost” narrative.

American Indians were included in America’s master narrative only in the context of failure.

But Custer Died for Your Sins took that old, flat American Indian history and crumpled it until the dimensions were recognizable and honest.

“Most books about Indians cover some abstract and esoteric topic of the last century,” Deloria wrote. “Contemporary books are predominately by whites trying to solve the ‘Indian problem.’ Between the two extremes lives a dynamic people in a social structure of their own to be freed from cultural expression.”

And he freed a lot of cultural expression.

That included the radical idea that “one of the best ways to understand a people is to know what makes them laugh. Laughter encompasses the limits of the soul. In humor, life is redefined and accepted.”

Here was a book about American thought, policy, and history that devoted an entire chapter to humor, words that should have destroyed the stereotype of the wooden Indian.

Custer Died For Your Sins was a manifesto — it demanded the right of American Indians to control their image in rich detail. And “manifesto” was precisely the right word — a declaration of principles, policies, and intentions in a political context.

But the book had a dual manifesto: To American Indian readers it was a call to arms, a plea to recognize the essence of tribal philosophy, political systems, and religion.

As Deloria wrote, “There is more to the story than that. Indian people today have a chance to re-create a type of society for themselves, which can defy, mystify, and educate the rest of American society. Yet they mill around like so many cattle, not bringing to the surface the greatness that is in them.”

Looking back over 50 years it’s clear that the most significant contribution of the book was that idea American Indians controlling our narrative, owning our story.

Then it’s not just our story. At a conference last week Haskell Indian Nations University professor Daniel Wildcat said the day will come when Vine Deloria Jr is remembered as one of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers.

I am Mark Trahant.

McCain Legacy

By

Photo: John McCain at the U.S. Capitol. (credit JohnMcCain.com)

Arizona Senator John McCain died Saturday. He was 81. McCain leaves behind a rich and complicated legacy.

This is Trahant Reports.

McCain served with two of Arizona’s most well-known legislators, Sen. Barry Goldwater and Rep. Morris Udall. All three ran for president in their day.

Udall, a Democrat, was a close friend of McCain. He was eager to keep him informed about federal Indian policy and to work with him across the aisle. He often would ask McCain, then in the House of Representatives, to attend press conferences or meetings with tribes. The result was the two Arizonans were often allies on tribal issues and developed a personal relationship.

McCain and Udall were authors of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Back then tribal casinos and bingos were about a $100 million enterprise. Today it collects billions. Tens of billions. Of course not every tribe, nor even every tribal member, has benefited from the success of gaming. But without question the industry has changed the face of Indian Country.

McCain was always close with Native American veterans groups. He said: “From the Revolution through Desert Storm, Native Americans have served, suffered and died for the cause of American freedom … Native American Veterans bow to no one in depth of his patriotism and love of country.”

A statement by the National Congress of American Indians called the senator a “tireless champion.” McCain dedicated many years to Indian Country. Serving as longtime member and former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, he met frequently with tribal leaders on the Hill, in their community, and at our gatherings. In his last speech at NCAI Senator McCain said, “We must listen more to you, and get out of the way of tribal authority.”

Of course McCain was not perfect. He called himself “an imperfect servant.” And many objected to his part in transferring Apache sacred land to a mining company. A YouTube video of a polite controntation in Window Rock when viral when the senator asked a young man to leave.

McCain also advocated for tribal provisions in the Violence Against Women Act. He said: “Domestic violence is a national problem and not one that is unique to Indian Country. Yet, due to the unique status of Indian tribes, there are obstacles faced by Indian tribal police, federal investigators, tribal and federal prosecutors and courts that impede their ability to respond to domestic violence in Indian Country. This bill is intended to remove these obstacles at levels and to enhance the ability of each agency to respond to acts of domestic violence.”

Sovereignty is the answer, again and again. In his final speech at the National Congress of American Indians, McCain found his older theme. He said: ”We must listen more to you, and get out of the way of tribal authority.”

John McCain, the maverick.

I am Mark Trahant.

For more information look at Indian Country Today and Mark Trahant’s analysis of the McCain legacy.

Davids wins Kansas primary

By

Unprecedented. Amazing. And long overdue. Another Native woman is her party’s nominee for Congress.

This is Trahant Reports.

Sharice Davids won the Kansas primary with hard work, focus on what was important, and avoiding the distractions from outside influences. That sound like a practice that would work in Congress too. (You know … instead of grandstanding on legislation that has no chance of ever actually becoming law.)

Davids, Ho Chunk, was an unlikely candidate. She started late, just about four months ago, running against a candidate who had been working for a year on that race.

But in politics timing is everything. And those four months were exactly the right time.

This year is one where women across the country are coming together as candidates and as voters in an unprecedented way.

Native women, too. There are now two Native women, Davids and Deb. Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, as their party nominees for the November election. And Amanda Douglas in Oklahoma has a primary at the end of this month. So there could be three.

This is unprecedented. And so long past time. There have been some 12,000 people (mostly men) elected to Congress since 1789. So It’s time for new voices.

On Saturday Andria Tupola, a Native Hawaiian, won the Republican nomination for governor of Hawaii. So there are now two Native women campaigning to lead states as party nominees. (The other is Paulette Jordan, Coeur d’Alene, in Idaho.)

It’s not just Indian Country that is ready to listen to new voices. More women than ever are running for and winning primary elections. As the Brookings Institution pointed out: “If enough of these women get elected in 2018 to tip control of the House to the Democrats, we could see significant changes to the congressional agenda.”

You think?

And it’s not just the candidates. There is another trend at work, a growing gender gap of voters. This trend is what helped Davids win the primary. In states across the country the gender gap is widening to more than 20 points. The thing is it’s not just the gender gap, it’s the turnout. Women are showing up to the polls in greater numbers, too. And that’s defining the 2018 election.

This is the untold story of this election, that the country, thanks to women voters, is finally stepping up to the diversity that is already here.

The late Wilma Mankiller used to say that no government can function with only half its people. “Where are your women?” she said Cherokee leaders once asked the Americans.

There is a new answer to that very question.

For her part, Davids says she is humbled by the party nomination and she is looking forward to the November election. And she plans to win by staying focused on the issues … and outworking her opponent.

 

I am Mark Trahant.

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