Archives for October 2017
Native State of mind
Caption: She taught him. Minnesota Rep. Peggy Flanagan and Congressman Tim Walz team up in Minnesota. Flanagan is running for Lt. Governor and Walz Governor as Democratic Farmer Labor Party candidates. (Campaign photo)
Peggy Flanagan is running for Lt. Governor in Minnesota. She’s on the ticket with Congressman Tim Walz.
This is Trahant Reports
It’s another breakthrough race. As a citizen of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, Flanagan would be the first American Indian woman to serve as a state Lt. Governor and would be the highest ranking Native woman ever in a state constitutional office.
Walz and Flanagan are also offering a different kind of leadership. In the past, a Lt. Governor was largely symbolic, only somewhat active in state affairs. But this is a partnership and that involves more people is all about the future, not the past.
Walz put it this way in his news release:
“Peggy’s vast knowledge and expertise will be something I rely on daily.”
The news release continued: “Walz and Flanagan first met at Camp Wellstone in 2005, where she taught him how to knock on doors during his first Congressional run. They’ve maintained a friendship ever since.”
She taught him. These are the three words that can change what politics means.
The idea of a partnership in governing is recent but growing more common. Bill Clinton and Al Gore changed the nature of the presidency. And a partnership is certainly true in Alaska where Gov. Bill Walker and Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott trade issues and sentences with ease.
There are two groups within Indian Country that are underrepresented by a lot, women and urban residents.
Most Native Americans live in cities and suburbs yet most of the elected representation comes from the reservation or rural communities. We need both. In the Minnesota legislature, and in public life, Flanagan has been that voice for urban Native Americans.
Flanagan represents the challenge — and the opportunity — for political representation by (and for) Native American women. This country has never elected a Native American woman to lead a state, or even as a Lt. Governor. And we still have never elected a Native American woman to Congress, despite some really fantastic candidates.
Then that barrier to fall in this next election: If you look at the number of elected Native American women across the country in legislatures, and in county governments, or in city hall, then you see the possibility of a slow wave, real change unfolding over time.
Flanagan is prepared to govern. She already knows how government works, and, more important, why government matters.
I am Mark Trahant.
Can guns be controlled?
NAC: October 9 – 13
Monday, October 9, 2017 – Indigenous Peoples Day catching on
Los Angeles is the latest city to acknowledge Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day. Salt Lake City will celebrate both in tandem. They join dozens of other locations in recent years that are putting a day on the calendar for Indigenous people. Following pressure from Native American groups, cities and states are also realizing the drawbacks of officially recognizing Christopher Columbus. There is some pushback, including from Italian Americans, who hold up Columbus’ achievements as something that boosts their culture.
Tuesday, October 10, 2017 – Can guns be controlled?
The mass shooting in Las Vegas has citizens in fear and policymakers once again on the defensive. Critics are calling for laws to prevent shootings. Others say restrictions on guns violate the Constitution and do nothing to stop someone from using them inappropriately. For Native Americans and Alaska Natives as a group, guns are more a factor in higher suicide rates than in homicides or mass shooting events. Can any limits on guns make us safer?
Wednesday, October 11, 2017 – Zuni fetishes
Zuni fetishes are carvings that represent animals and hold special ceremonial value. They are carved from a variety of materials including marble, pipestone and travertine. Fetishes have become a thriving part of the Native art market. We’ll talk with a few Zuni carvers about the history and practice of creating fetishes.
Thursday, October 12, 2017 — Climate change in the Southwest
Southern Arizona is seeing higher temperatures for longer periods and more intense storms. Those are among the effects of climate change in a report last summer by the University of Arizona in Tuscon. Another study last summer published in the journal, Science, predicts Mojave County—home to four reservations—would suffer the state’s largest economic loss because of climate change.
Friday, October 13, 2017 – October Music Maker: Indian Agent
Historically, Indian agents were representatives of the U.S. government who interacted with Native Americans. One member of this month’s Music Maker band, Yéil Ya-Tseen aka Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax) says the efforts of these individuals to oppress the Native way of life—like not permitting singing and dancing—is what inspired his group to pick up the name, Indian Agent. They’ve taken on this title to flip it on its head and do just the opposite of some of the early agents. Indian Agent uses layers of ghostly voice rhythms that echo through suave electronic beats on their new album “Meditations in the Key of Red.”
Tax Reform
House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate leaders announce their framework for Tax Reform. (Photo: Speaker.Gov)
The Senate has given up on destroying Medicaid and much of the health care system and it’s now focused on restructuring federal taxes.
This is Trahant Reports.
So how does Indian Country fit into a tax framework? The larger issue of tax reform and its impact on Native Americans is a complicated question, one that starts with the definition of “taxes.” Most so-called middle-income wage earners pay income taxes. But roughly one-third of all wage earners do not pay income taxes — and that would include a lot of tribal citizens, especially those living in tribal nations. There are nearly 150 million tax returns filed every year and 36 million of those end up paying no tax at all. Another 16 million had taxable income but didn’t pay anything because of tax credits, deductions and other adjustments.
Many of Indian Country’s working class especially benefit from one such credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit. This is a successful program that returns real cash to some 7 million families; a paid bonus, of sorts, for working.
I looked at the counties with significant Native American population and there is some fascinating data from the Internal Revenue Service, based on 2015 tax returns.
In Oglala Lakota County, for example, some 2,010 taxpayers out of 3,980 collected an average of $3,020 from the Earned Income Tax Credit. The bulk of that was collected by families earning less than $25,000.
The Earned Income Tax Credit is also critical to many Navajo families. In Apache County, Arizona, that includes a large portion of the Navajo Nation, and some 27,172 people take advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit. And, like Pine Ridge, most earn under $25,000 a year, but the amounts are significantly more, an average return of a little more than $4,000.
There are similar numbers in the Bethel Census Area of Alaska. Nearly 2,400 people claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit and most of the workers earned under $25,000 and averaged a refundable return of $2,738.
My point here is that this one policy that is essential to Indian Country because it benefits so many people who have jobs yet barely earn a living wage.
No matter how you look at the data, Indian Country has a stake in the debate ahead.
I am Mark Trahant.