Federal Indian programs have been added to the “high-risk” category by the Government Accountability Office. That designation could not come at a worse time because there are already so many pressures to cut the budget. And that’s exactly the wrong way to serve Indian Country.
This is Trahant Reports.
The GAO zeroes in on federal programs that it says are vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, and, the need for transformation to address economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges. The Bureau of Indian Education, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Health Service made that list for the first time.
GAO says the BIA is slow to approve energy projects. Congress can’t wait to make the approval process faster than filling your car with a tank of gas. But that will have unintended consequences for the very notion of trust land, tribal control of energy projects, and the challenges of global warming.
Next the GAO says the Bureau of Indian Education needs to better manage. Only problem: Hiring for BIE schools is easier said than done. There is another problem at play: Conservative think-tanks have these as “failing schools” and would replace them with a whacky scheme to create Education Savings Accounts.
The third high-risk agency identified by the GAO is the Indian Health Service. It says to help ensure that Indian people receive quality health care the IHS should improve quality and make better hires. Absolutely. Of course the IHS is trying to improve quality and make better hires. The problem is mostly funding.
Another GAO recommendation about IHS might be the most tone deaf. It says, “we recommend that IHS realign current resources and personnel to increase capacity to deal with enrollment in Medicaid and the exchanges and prepare for increased billing to these payers.”
Congress is going in exactly the opposite direction. The serious questions, the one that Congress ought to be answering, are how much will it cost IHS when Medicaid is turned into a block grant? And, if there are to be block grants, will states even fund a federal health care delivery system?
The GAO report makes a big deal about IHS developing a fair method for how it spends money on purchased and referral care.
What the report should have said is that Congress is to blame. The problem is not the architecture; it’s the funding. No federal agency. No state agency. No private medical system spends less than the Indian health system on a patient. The real problem is that it’s impossible to defy gravity.
I am Mark Trahant.
Trahant Reports – Standing Rock pipeline actions & reactions
The Trump administration has been in office for less than a month — and already the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline is once again proceeding. Company officials say oil will be flowing by June.
This is Trahant Reports.
There is a flurry of activity around the Dakota Access Pipeline. The project has cost more than $3.8 billion to transfer oil from North Dakota to markets in Illinois and beyond.
Yet every action to build the pipeline is met with many more reactions to stop it.
The fight about this pipeline — and the broader issues it represents — is far from over.
Of course some days it does not seem that way. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved the final easement for the pipeline to cross under the Missouri River and complete the project.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said if the construction is successful “the tribe will seek to shut the pipeline operations down.” IT has also called for a march in Washington, DC, on March 10th.
Then President Trump lives in a world where none of this is a big deal. “I don’t even think it was controversial,” he said. “I haven’t had one call.”
Of course the White House wasn’t taking calls.
So the Center for Investigative Reporting and its Reveal News has created a phone number to solicit voice mails from the public about what they would tell the president. (It’s 510-545-2640). This is your opportunity to sound off.
Another challenge is a financial one. Many individuals, tribes, cities, and companies are pulling their money out of the banks that finance the Dakota Access Pipeline.
But that’s really just the beginning. Rebecca Adamson, founder of First Peoples Worldwide, points out to investors how much capital they are losing by investing in companies that operate without the consent from the community involved. She pegs this as a real cost, somewhere between $20 million to $30 million a week.
Just look at how much money has been wasted on law enforcement at Standing Rock and you get a sense about how big a number that could be. Clearly it’s better to partner with tribal communities.
I also have a big idea.
So we know the project will take some 60 days to complete. And about three weeks to actually transfer oil from North Dakota to the end of the pipeline.
What if on that day, the day the oil reaches markets, there is a Day Without Oil? One day. It will take a massive organizational effort. But why not? What if every ally of Standing Rock, every community that has its own Standing Rock, everyone who is concerned about water, just takes a day off from oil? Either walk every where that day — or just stay home. Do what it takes to remind the companies, and the government itself, who’s really in charge of the economy.
I am Mark Trahant.
Trahant Reports – Native journalist arrest puts the First Amendment on trial
A Native American journalist is arrested while covering Standing Rock.
This is Trahant Reports.
There is an idea in law enforcement called the “thin blue line.” It basically means that police work together. A call goes out from Morton County and, right or wrong, law enforcement from around the country provides back up.
You would think journalism would be like that, too.
When one journalist is threatened, we all are. We cannot do our jobs when we worry about being injured or worse. And when a journalist is arrested? Well, everyone who claims the First Amendment as a framework should object loudly.
Last Wednesday Jenni Monet was arrested near Cannonball, North Dakota. She was interviewing water protectors who were setting up a new camp near the Dakota Access Pipeline route on treaty lands of the Great Sioux Nation. Law enforcement from Morton County surrounded the camp and captured everyone within the circle. A press release from the sheriff’s Department puts it this way: “Approximately 76 members of a rogue group of protestors were arrested.” Most were charged with criminal trespassing and inciting a riot.
As was Jenni Monet.
She is facing serious charges and the judicial process will go forward. The truth will come out.
But this story is about the failure of journalism institutions.
The Native press and the institutions that carry her work had Monet’s back. That includes Indian Country Media Network, Yes! Magazine, and the Center for Investigative Reporting. The Lost Angeles Times has now weighed in with its own story written by Sandy Tolan who’s done some great reporting from Standing Rock.
But in North Dakota you would not know this arrest happened. The press is silent.
After her release from jail, Monet wrote for Indian Country Media Network, “When Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman was charged with the same allegations I now face—criminal trespassing and rioting—her message to the world embraced the First Amendment. ‘There’s a reason why journalism is explicitly protected by the U.S. Constitution,’ she said before a crowd gathered in front of the Morton County courthouse. “Because we’re supposed to be the check and balance on power.”
The funny thing is that journalism institutions were not quick to embrace Goodman either. I have talked to many journalists who see her as an “other” because she practices a different kind of journalism than they do.
Monet’s brand of journalism is rooted in facts and good reporting. She talks to everyone on all sides of the story, including the Morton County Sheriff and North Dakota’s new governor. She also has street cred … and knows how to tell a story.
So if we ever need journalism institutions to rally, it’s now. It’s not Jenni Monet who will be on trial. It’s the First Amendment. Journalism is not a crime. I am Mark Trahant.
Trahant Reports – Thinking different in the Trump Era
How does Indian Country survive the Donald Trump era? The new administration is only a few days old and already the chaos of the times have upset business as usual. And possibly the very structure of federal-Indian law.
This is Trahant Reports.
Don’t count out the bureaucracy. I first started covering federal Indian policy during the late 1970s. I was in DC and was interviewing someone about a reform project at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a plan that I thought made a lot of sense. But my source smiled and responded, “I have seen them come. I have seen them go.” There are ways to tie up initiatives — even good ones — through the process of government.
President Donald J. Trump’s memoranda might fit into this category. Usually an executive order or a memorandum has a legal framework as part of the document, including citing the statutory authority for the presidential action. On Dakota Access and Keystone that reference has been replaced by the logic of “because I said so.”
We shall see.
Tribes should work closer with cities, states, private companies, and any global government that’s open to help. The federal government is going to be close to useless for the next four years (unless the Trump infrastructure program happens, and includes Indian Country, but there is no evidence of that yet.) The modern city state, think a Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis or a Phoenix, are the real engines of growth in this country. What’s the best way for tribes to become partners?
Indian Country’s greatest advantage right now is our young people, more than 40 percent of our total population (compared to about a third for country as a whole.) We have numbers working in our favor and we should look for more ways to leverage that advantage.
Don’t count out Republican versus Republican. Right now Republicans in Congress are giving President Trump the benefit of the doubt. But as decisions get harder, the act of governing gets more complex.
There is already evidence of this in the debate about repealing the Affordable Care Act. The idea of getting rid of Obamacare was a unifying force. But there is no consensus about a replacement law. Republican governors fear that their state budgets will collapse if Medicaid becomes a block grant with less money. And many Republicans in Congress cling to the idea that health care should be left up to families and government should not be involved or fund it. And finally Republicans who want to win the next election know that stripping heath insurance from millions of people is not a winning hand.
There are many ways for tribes to survive the Trump era. Only … it’s time to think differently. I am Mark Trahant.
Trahant Reports – Affordable Care Act Repeal
Congress has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Kinda, sorta. Because it’s actually way more complicated than a straight repeal of the law.
This is Trahant Reports.
The House and Senate passed budget resolutions that instruct four committees in Congress to strip funding from the budget.
Yet the details of that repeal — including what it actually means for the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, a chapter of the law — remain unclear.
And to make matters even more complicated President-elect Donald Trump told The Washington Post Sunday that he wants to replace the Affordable Care Act with insurance for all. What ever that means. Hard to imagine that Republicans in the House will go along. Trump told the Post that Medicaid cuts are not a part of his plan.
Interactive version of this graphic is here: https://infograph.venngage.com/p/205333/funding-indianhealth
So far the actually legislative proposals go the opposite direction and target tens of billions of dollars that states now get for Medicaid expansion. It’s likely that any replacement will be some kind of block grant program that sends a set amount to states instead of funding every eligible person.
There is a long way to go before the repeal becomes law (and an even longer path ahead for any replacement).
First: There is something Indian Country can do, right now. There is still time to sign up for Medicaid, Medicaid expansion, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and insurance found on the exchanges. This is money that will benefit the Indian health system for at least a year and as long as four years. This act of defiance will not only bring money to a local clinic or hospital, but it will pressure state lawmakers to find a solution for the people who already have Medicaid.
The Affordable Care Act in Indian Country has been a steady success. The law did not result in immediate full funding for Indian health. (In fact: I think the Indian Health Service could have done a lot more to sell the insurance programs to individuals.) Nonetheless Medicaid collections in the Indian Health Service budget have increased by more than 50 percent since the law was enacted. There are still far too many patients in the Indian health system who are uninsured. (Yes, I know, a treaty right, but one that’s not fully-funded.) The fact is patients who carry health insurance, including Medicaid, have more options in terms of care, especially when patients need treatment or specialists outside of the Indian health system.
This Sunday was another deadline for people to sign up for insurance through the exchanges. But American Indians and Alaska Natives are exempt from that deadline.There are plans that cost nothing. And signing up now is an act of defiance.
Remember there will be a transition once Congress comes up with a replacement. Adding more people to the rolls of insurance now is one way to demand that Congress come up with an alternative and not just destroy what’s in place.
I am Mark Trahant.
Trahant Reports – Native Legislatures
State legislatures are convening around the country this month and Native Americans are in key leadership positions in at least seven states. That’s impressive — and critical right now because of the types of conversations that will be going back and forth between Washington, D.C., and state capitals about Medicaid, health care and energy policy.
Trahant Reports – Four challenges for the new administration
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What should Indian Country be watching for in a Donald Trump administration? Let’s explore four policy challenges. This is Trahant Reports.
Trahant Reports – A million lines of code.
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No child grows up hearing — or asking — for numbers. Instead the four words, “tell me a story,” are the ones deeply embedded into our human software. And that will never change. But the power of numbers, the importance of data, is growing exponentially and becoming essential to how we understand larger narratives.
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Then the use of data is not new. Statistics, counts, numbers, all have always been a part of how we tell stories. Buffalo hide paintings are great examples from another century. Pictographs recorded people, buffalo, soldiers, villages, and meteor storms. The data was recorded. Then we did the same things with ledgers, books, computer tapes, and a couple of decades ago floppy discs, CDs, and thumb drives. Today we carry more data capacity in our phone than we ever had in our offices and homes. And what’s on that recording? IBM once estimated that the content of all of human history totaled some 5 exabytes (or five billion gigabytes of information). Now we produce that many videos, pictures, and words every couple of days.
We need more useful numbers — and this is one of Indian country’s great challenges in an era of both austerity and transparency. In 1900 the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget was $8.2 million. It took nearly 80 years before that funding level topped a billion dollars. Then the first $2 billion was in 2001. Last year $ 2.6 billion. And the Obama administration’s current request is for $2.924 billion.
But we are story people. We don’t do data. Yet our world, the world of Native youth, is defined by data. That’s where we gather: On Facebook, Google or Twitter. Even on remote reservations or in Alaska villages this is the digital Native generation. They have grown up collecting more data on their phones — music, Facebook posts, video and photographs — than any other generation in history. They grow up connected to other Native youth across the country making deep digital friendships with dozens, even hundreds of other Native American youth. That’s new. It’s exponential.
I also think about the digital opportunity ahead for young people who live in a remote community. You can live anywhere in the world and produce videos for YouTube. Or write computer code. In 1971 a Unix computer had a couple hundred thousand lines of code. Today the software for a modern car has more than 90 million lines of code. That’s a lot of jobs for young people who have the right skills. And why not Generation Indigenous?
What’s missing is a commitment by leaders — Congress, tribal governments, foundations — to make sure all the tools are there for Native youth to actually create using this new world. A million lines of code? No problem. It’s just another story we need to tell. I am Mark Trahant reporting.
Trahant Reports – Tom Cole
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Early on I decided to focus my Native Vote project on American Indians and Alaska Natives running for office. Instead of a broader look at the election and its impact on Indian Country. That’s made it easier for me to ignore so much of the nonsense that’s surfaced in this presidential election. This is Trahant Reports.
Oklahoma’s Tom Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Tribe, is one such voice. It’s not that I, or even we, always agree with him. I sure don’t. I see the world from a different perspective. He is a conservative Republican and represents his constituents’ view of the world.
However when the issues involve tribes, and especially, tribal sovereignty, Cole has been one of the most important members in the history of Congress.
What makes Cole so important? He can argue the case within the Republican caucus, and, even better, with the House Republican leadership. He is a measured, reasoned voice, not just for Indian Country, but for his idea of what a conservative party should be. And that means being inclusive.
Cole has history of being the consistent inside-the-party voice calling for more money for the Indian Health system. “We have a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who recognize the Indian country has been historically underfunded,” he told Indian Country Today Media Network in 2012.
And, most important, he was the architect of building a coalition in the House of Representatives to enact the Violence Against Women Act. He told WNYC radio that bill was “a very, very difficult issue because there were divisions within his own conference that prevented (then Speaker John Boehner) from getting to 218.” Cole found enough Republicans and Democrats to pass the measure into law.
Cole once again makes the case for tribal governments in the Winter edition of Oklahoma Humanities.
“A tribe is a living, breathing entity that exists organically. Its purpose is to improve the lives and preserve the identities of its members. If a tribe fails at this, it eventually ceases to exist. Tribes are recognized as sovereign entities in the U.S. Constitution. That means that membership in a tribe gives one a political identity as well as a cultural heritage,” he writes. “It is an extraordinary time in which we live— for Indian Country and the broader culture of our nation—a time of tribal renaissance and self-determination. In Oklahoma, tribal governments are helping drive the economy, creating tens of thousands of jobs, and generating hundreds of millions of dollars for the state government. There is amazing vitality in Native American culture and a great deal of interest and respect for Native Americans that is uncharacteristic of our history. Without question, I believe tribal sovereignty must be defended; but more than that, it often needs to be explained. As I remind my fellow lawmakers in Congress, the same oath we take to uphold the Constitution is an oath to defend tribal sovereignty.”
Powerful words.
I am Mark Trahant.
Trump’s Interior pick favors dams over salmon
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Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice to head the Department of the Interior. If confirmed by the Senate, she would managed federal lands, including those that produce energy, as well as national parks. She would oversee the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
This is Trahant Reports.
McMorris Rodgers has all the necessary qualifications: Pro oil and gas development? Check. Skeptical about federal land ownership in the West? Check. And, if you need one more check mark, there is this, her record in the House does not reflect her being a particularly close ally of tribes.
The Violence Against Women Act is one example. In 2013, McMorris Rogers met with Deborah Parker, then vice chairman of the Tulalip Tribes, where they explored language that would get Republican support and open tribal jurisdiction on domestic violence. But when Rep. Tom Cole’s alternative bill surfaced that did just that, McMorris Rodgers voted no. Slate magazine said he dismissed tribal concerns as “a side issue” and voted the party line against the Violence Against Women Act.
The most problematic issue for Northwest tribes might be salmon.
She describes herself as “a champion of our dams and the power they produce.” She recently told Washington Ag Network: “There are some who believe the Snake River dams are not allowing for adequate salmon recovery. However, thanks to collaboration between states, tribes, federal agencies, and private property owners, our salmon are returning at record levels.
But will salmon recovery continue without removing dams on the Snake River? A federal judge in May rejected the government’s recovery plan and set the government had to calculate at least the potential of removing dams.
An irrigation group responded by calling for the government to give up on salmon and declare the species extinct (using an odd provision in the Endangered Species Act that assembles a committee, “the God squad,” to make a determination that nothing more can be done to save salmon). Darryll Olsen, representing The Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association, said in the Tri-City Herald, that “the association is hoping for a fair and equitable ruling that would end a cycle of repeated litigation, and escalating and more expensive plans for what is already the most extensive fish protection and enhancement program in the world.” The debate pits salmon recovery against the four Snake River dams that make it possible to barge agricultural products from Lewiston, Idaho, to Oregon ports.
As a Tri-City Herald headline put it: “People passionate about saving Snake River dams.” But then the newspaper didn’t talk to tribes who are just as passionate about saving salmon.
And, even if the Snake River salmon are declared extinct, there will be more litigation ahead, including the assertion of tribal treaty rights.
But the Snake River dams will have the best advocate, the Secretary of Interior.
I am Mark Trahant
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