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Year end issues in Indian Country

December 31, 2018 By Bob Petersen

The year we just passed, 2018, was full of interesting issues in Indian Country.

This is Trahant Reports.

The year ended with a government shutdown. The president and the Congress are divided about how much money to spend on a wall, or border security, and how to talk to each other as partners.

The road ahead makes this situation even more complex because for two years President Donald J. Trump has headed a one-party government. That’s done. Now, as we begin this year, Democrats will control the House of Representatives and exert a lot more influence about how policy is shaped.

Twenty-eighteen was a historic year in so many ways. People in New Mexico and Kansas elected the first two Native American women to Congress. And that means there are now four tribal citizens in the Congress, two Democrats and two Republicans.

This year was often called the year of the woman — or even the year of the Native American. Indeed, a lot of progress was made in terms of election.

But there are other ways to look at that landscape.

It was the first time that two Native American women were on the same ballot representing different parties. In Minnesota Lt. Gov.-elect Peggy Flanagan will now be the highest ranking political leader in any state. She is a member of the White Earth Nation.

It’s also the first time a Native millennial — Sharice Davids, who is Ho Chunk — has been elected to Congress. She will make the conversation in Washington richer just because of her view of the world, one that is different from the generations that have served before.

And women are still not equal when it comes to running the political machinery. The Senate has 23 women out of a hundred — 23 percent — and 87 women serve in the House or 20 percent. A long way to go when you consider that females are more than half of our population.

But at least in Congress, unlike the country itself, women are paid the same salary for their work as legislators.

This year had other setbacks. A federal judge struck down the Indian Child Welfare Act as unconstitutional. The law was designed to stop the separation of American Indian and Alaska Native children from their families and tribes. A district court ruling does not change the law, but it sets the issue on a path that will eventually lead to the Supreme Court.

So what’s ahead? The key thing here is to see if the Democrats and the president find a way to govern, to work together. That’s happened before. When Bill Clinton was president he worked with a Republican House to pay down debt and that remains the only time in recent history when the federal budget was balanced.

So cooperation is possible. We shall see if that happens in 2019. Happy New Year. I am Mark Trahant.

U.S. Climate Change report says Indigenous communities will face disproportionate impacts

November 26, 2018 By Bob Petersen

A new climate report released last week by the Trump administration predicts significant — and expensive — impacts on the planet as a result of climate change. The threats from weather-related catastrophes are already clear: Stronger and moreover frequent hurricanes, deadly heat waves, and more intense destructive wildfires.

And that includes a threat to “Indigenous peoples’ livelihoods and economies, including agriculture, hunting and gathering, fishing, forestry, energy, recreation, and tourism enterprises.”

This is Trahant Reports.

What’s at most at risk is the traditional subsistence economy. Climate change threatens these delicately balanced subsistence networks by, for example, changing the patterns of seasonal timing and availability of culturally important species in traditional hunting, gathering, and fishing areas.”

That’s from Chapter 15 of the federal assessment labeled: “Tribes and Indigenous Peoples.”

One of the case studies focuses on the Yukon Delta in Alaska.

“The Arctic and sub regions are warming faster than anywhere else on Earth. In recent years, residents of the Yukon Delta have noticed unusual conditions. They’ve seen warmer winters with less snow and more unpredictable weather. Ice on the rivers and sea is thinner than in the past, and break-up of ice happens earlier in the year. With reduced snow cover and ice that can’t support the weight of people traveling over it, hunters are restricted to smaller areas, and they can have difficulty harvesting the game upon which they depend,” the case study reports.

The report asks questions that neither Congress nor the Trump administration has answered. Namely: “Especially among young residents, people wonder, ‘Where will we get the resources we need in the future? Will we need to build roads or change some of our traditions to continue thriving?’”

Where, indeed.

Governments only have two choices when it comes to dealing with climate change. First, spend lots of money trying to slow climate change by reducing fossil fuels and other impacts on the environment. Or, two, spend lots of money adapting to a changing environment. Scratch that: The only issue is how much of our resources will be spent on mitigation (door number one) and how much will be spent on adaptation. Both will be expensive — and tribes will be spending significant sums with or without help from the federal government.

President Donald J. Trump’s White House continues to downplay climate threats. In a statement Friday, spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said the report began in the Obama administration and that it relies too heavily on the worst-case-scenarios.

The National Climate Assessment is required by law.

While the report is clear about the harsh assessment of the impact of climate change, it also says that Indigenous knowledge is essential because of an understanding of complex natural relationships.

I am Mark Trahant.

Medicaid

November 19, 2018 By Bob Petersen

Valerie Davidson is Alaska’s Lt. Governor and the principal architect of the state’s Medicaid expansion.

The Indian Health system was on the ballot across the country last week (even if the words were not explicit.) A few wins. And Alaska is at risk for a big loss.

This is Trahant Reports.

Voters in three states added new money that will go directly to clinics and basic health services through Medicaid expansion. One of the most important provisions of the Affordable Care Act was to allow states to expand Medicaid making it easier for citizens to quality for basic health insurance. Medicaid is a third-party insurance fund that directly benefits Indian health clinics and hospitals.

But in other states there were costly setbacks. Montana rejected a funding mechanism for Medicaid expansion sending it back to the legislature for further debate.

And the election of Mike Dunleavy as the new governor in Alaska means changes ahead for Medicaid in that state. (And Republicans, who never did favor Medicaid expansion, now control both houses in the state legislature.)

Medicaid has become a significant funding stream for the Indian health system, it’s particularly important for the non-profit and tribally-operated clinics and hospitals because by law that money remains at the local unit. And, unlike federal appropriations for the U.S. Indian Health Service, the amount of money grows as more patients become eligible for services. What’s more: The federal government reimburses states 100 percent for treatment at Indian health clinics or tribal facilities.

This is how it works: The Indian Health system — the federal Indian Health Service and the facilities operated by tribes and non-profit organizations — gets funding directly from Congress through appropriations. That appropriation is currently $5.5 billion but Medicaid is a partnership with state governments, and thus, must be approved by each state.

Nebraska is one of the states that voted for expansion.

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska recently assumed operational control of the Indian Health Service hospital and renamed it the 12 Clans Unity Hospital. Medicaid expansion could add revenue streams to this facility because more patients would qualify for the insurance. One specific benefit is that Medicaid claims are processed on a regular basis to help facilities cover operational costs, including infrastructure.

Medicaid expansion could also benefit urban clinics in Lincoln and Omaha (as well as a clinic in Salt Lake City). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation one urban Indian health program in Arizona reported that its uninsured rate fell from 85 percent before the Affordable Care Act to just under 10 percent after.

Alaska’s election could result in the biggest changes to Medicaid and the Alaska Native medical system. Nearly 40 percent of Medicaid clients are Alaska Natives and one in five Alaskans is now covered by Medicaid. Last month at the Alaska Federation of Native convention, Lt. Gov. Valerie Nurr’araaluk Davidson, Yup’ik, said Medicaid expansion has benefited every community in the state. As director of the state’s health agency, Davidson was the architect of the state’s Medicaid expansion.

I am Mark Trahant.

Read Full Story

Commercials

November 5, 2018 By Bob Petersen

So often we think about Native candidates in the context of winning and losing. But elections are much more than that because Native politicians changing the way people think about Native Americans. Stereotypes are shattered every time a campaign commercial is produced and aired on television or distributed online.

This is Trahant Reports.

Earlier this year one of the most powerful commercials was for a candidate who lost, Tatewin Means.

Imagine the voting citizens in South Dakota consuming a new kind of Native American image, a smart, professional Native woman, speaking Lakota.

This is a story that will help people reimagine the world because they see a professional Native woman who is clearly qualified for the state’s top legal job. In fact, you could argue she’s more qualified because of life experiences and challenges that another South Dakotan could never have even imagined. Mind. Blown.

Paulette Jordan has also changed the image of a Native American woman in Idaho.

Much of her story is told by national media. She has also had fun with her messages. Her most recent video stirs the ideal of what Idaho is …

In New Mexico, Deb Haaland’s TV commercial is way personal. She tells a story.

“I don’t look like most people in Congress. My life is different too. I pushed through college. And law school as a single mom,” she says. Then: “I am 30 years sober.”

That’s not a message often heard in political advertising. But Haaland said she wanted to be transparent with voters. She said it’s an important message in a state that has one of the highest DWI rates in the country.

Most political ads are about a candidate’s smarts. A resume. Or powerful connections. Haaland’s ads are human.

Campaign ads are always important to candidates. They tell voters about the person, why they are running, and a bit about their values. But this year’s commercials do something else: They tell the voters, that is citizens, that Native Americans are still here. And that Native American candidates bring something new to the larger national discourse.

Win or lose these images are now in the public discourse.

I am Mark Trahant.

Early Voting

October 30, 2018 By Bob Petersen

Angela Willeford works with Arizona’s Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community to get out the Native vote.

The 2018 midterm election has already moved beyond slogans and planning. Now it’s all about getting out the vote.

This is Trahant Reports.

Angela Willeford works with the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community in Arizona. She’s gearing up for a voter turnout drive that includes a phone bank with a list of registered voters. When the call comes in “don’t forget to vote” the voice on the other end of the line is often a friend or relative. “It’s good to hear from someone you know,” she said.

Willeford spoke at a National Congress of American Indians workshop on Native Vote. She said early phone calls are important because they can identify problems with registration when there is still time to fix it. For example in Arizona a voter’s ID, tribal or state, must exactly match the voter registration roll.

The community also publishes a voter guide and educates tribal citizens about the importance of showing up.

We need you to vote is a consistent message from the tribe. And it’s a reminder that it wasn’t that long ago that tribal citizens were not allowed to vote in Arizona. Before 1965 tribal members were blocked from voting under state law.

Across the country we already know a few things about the 2018 midterm election: Turnout will be higher than normal and a lot of people are voting early.

Early voting has become popular with 37 states offering some form of ballot access before Election Day.

“Usage of early voting has recently surged among traditionally underrepresented voters,” reports Demos. “The 2008 election marked a dramatic increase in early in-person voting among African American and Latino voters. And in Florida, where approximately 50 percent of ballots were cast early in 2012, African-American usage of early in-person voting has exceeded White usage in four of the five most recent federal elections. Research suggests that turnout increases are maximized when early voting is combined with Same Day Registration.”

That best practice often fails to include Indian Country. According to the Native Vote project, “compared to other voters, many Native people have less access to early voting and voter registration.”

Some 8 million people have already voted — more than in previous election cycles at this point.

The United States has a lower voting participation rate than other countries. In presidential elections only about 60 percent of those who register, vote. In midterm elections, like this one, it’s only about 40 percent.

The interesting thing here for Indian Country. A low turnout election cycle can mean more influence for groups that do come out and vote. The Native vote really could decide an election — and has in the past.

I am Mark Trahant

What the Heck, Alaska?

October 22, 2018 By Bob Petersen

What the heck, Alaska? Think about one week’s worth of news ….

This is Trahant Reports.

Alaska’s Lt. Governor Byron Mallott, Tlingit, resigned, citing “inappropriate comments” and was replaced by Valerie Davidson, Yupik.
Then Davidson spoke to the Alaska Federation of Natives convention. Her talk was thoughtful, warm, and left many delegates wanting her as the next governor. But lieutenant governor works. For now.
On Friday, Independent Gov. Bill Walker, Davidson’s de facto running mate, asked to address the convention. There he announced he was suspending his campaign for governor and tossing his support to Democrat Mark Begich. The math of a three-way race was impossible, guaranteeing the Republican candidate, Mike Dunleavy, an easy path to victory. “Alaskans deserve a choice other than Mike Dunleavy,” he said.
Walker’s announcement was historic. A politician sacrificing ambition for the greater good. He said that Alaska has a lot to lose, especially Medicaid expansion. The convention gasped. Many cried. And delegates made their way to the stage to honor the governor and his legacy with song, with jewelry, and with words.

So what now? There are only a couple of weeks for Alaska voters have to forget what’s on the ballot and choose between two very different sets of visions.

“That’s what this campaign is going to be about: What’s Alaska going to look like in the future?” Dunleavy said in a debate at the AFN convention. He talked about working in rural Alaska and understanding the issues facing Native communities. He said he met his wife, Rose, in such a community and saw the need for jobs. Then he talked about mining, energy, and other development that is his Alaska future. This would mean more development even in areas that put traditional food gathering at risk. He also promises less government (and a larger payout from the state’s permanent fund to residents.)

Former Sen. Mark Begich is on the other side of just about every issue. He supports Medicaid expansion.

Medicaid has been extremely important to Alaska Natives (and the two people who ought to get a lot of credit for making it so is Gov. Walker and his now Lt. Gov. Davidson). This one federal program has insured some 44,000 Alaskans, many of them Alaska Natives, and created a sustainable revenue stream for the Indian health system. It’s telling that when Dunleavy talked about Medicaid to AFN he mentioned insurance and efficiency and other parts of the system that have no bearing on the Indian health system. He did not talk about a funding reversal would do — and how that would be a cost borne by Native people and communities.

Will Walker’s sacrifice make a difference in this election? Is it too late? Open questions. There are probably nine ways for Dunlevy to win and only one for Begich. And Dunleavy made this prediction: “There is only 18 days left, so don’t be surprised if there’s more surprises along the way.”

I am Mark Trahant.

Native Women

September 4, 2018 By Bob Petersen

This is Trahant Reports.

Two years ago Denise Juneau was making history. She was running for Montana’s only seat in Congress. It was a hundred years since Jeannette Rankin had won that same seat, the first woman ever elected to the Congress. So a century later Juneau, Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara, would be the ideal first Native woman to serve. She was following her plan perfectly, raising $3 million, crisscrossing that huge state, and mobilizing voters.

Still, she lost.

Juneau is now Superintendent of Schools for the city of Seattle. She said she didn’t feel bad about losing because “we did everything we were supposed to. We just lost.”

Then she turned philosophical.

She said every time another Native woman steps up to run for any office, whether that be the state legislature, the city council, the. Congress, it paves the way. There’s sort of a pipeline, which is really awesome right now, that there’s never been a path for Native women to just really step up. “I believe right now, we’re in a time and space where we see that happening,” Juneau said. “There will be a first at some point.”

That “first at some point” is coming fast. There are now more Native women running for office than men, 51 candidates out of 99 running for offices across the nation. More Native women than men are running for every office from state legislature to governor.

The only exception: Congress. There are three Native women running and five Native men for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

How does that compare to the rest of the country? Well, n ationally it’s a record year for women seeking office: There are currently 251 women seeking one of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 26 more women seeking one of 35 Senate seats.

Last week I even added a new name to my tally, Yvette Herrell, who running for the second congressional district in New Mexico as a Republican. The Cherokee Nation let me know that Herrell is a citizen. So New Mexico could send two, not one, Native American women to the Congress.

Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo, is the Democratic nominee in the state’s first congressional district. Sharice Davids, Ho Chunk, is a candidate in Kansas.

Beyond Congress, there are two Native women running for governors, Paulette Jordan, Coeur d’Alene, In Idaho and Andria Tupola, Native Hawaiian, in Hawaii. And there are four Native women running for lieutenant governor, Debra Call, De’nina, in Alaska; Anastasia Pittman, Seminole, in Oklahoma, and in Minnesota, two candidates, Peggy Flanagan, White Earth, on the Democratic side, and Donna Bergstrom, Red Lake, as the Republican nominee.

Yes … Native American women are making history this election. Next week we will dig into some numbers.

I am Mark Trahant.

The Native Vote

July 24, 2018 By Bob Petersen

There are a record number of Native American candidates running this year. That’s good, right? But it also begs the question: What would it take to improve voter turnout in Indian Country?

This is Trahant Reports.

There are more than a hundred days until the next election and there remain many questions about the structure and integrity of elections.

This is important because America is governed by those who vote. And those who can easily vote.

Take Nye County, Nevada. If a voter from Duckwater Shoshone Tribe wants to cast a ballot on election day they need to drive to Tonapah. That’s 137 miles and more than 2 hours each way. And that’s when the weather is good.

Nevada’s solution is a vote by mail plan something that many tribal citizens either find impractical or do not trust the process itself. Two years ago Nevada tribes sued the state and two more polling sites were added, but no new polling locations in Nye County because it was considered too expensive.

James Tucker with the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) said state laws gives county officials discretion to not provide in person voting opportunities if there are not enough registered voters. And that is a really perverse process because we have instances in which there are plenty of people who are eligible to to vote like in the Duck Valley Reservation in northern Nevada. He said there are upwards of about 800 to 900 people eligible to vote, but at the time 2016, only about 175 were actually registered. Because there was no in-person voting location, it makes it even less likely that people are going to want to register to vote.

Tucker spoke at the Native American Journalists Association conference in Miami last week. NARF and the Native American Voting Rights Coalition had held field hearings across the country collecting data and stories about obstacles to voting.

It’s a particular challenge to improve the structure of elections when several states are making it more difficult. North Dakota continues to press (after losing several legal challenges) for restrictions in a state that once prided itself on easy access to voting. As Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota, said recently at a Senate hearing, “Why should we have to sue every year in North Dakota to get voting rights for Native people?”

Then, there is the problem of people not voting anyway. The United States has long been unusual for its low turnout in elections. More than 100 million potential voters do not vote. And Indian Country is at the short end of that measure, too. According to the Native Vote project only 66 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives are eligible to vote, compared to 74 percent of eligible non-Hispanic Whites. That means 34 percent of the total Native population over 18 are not registered.

And it’s that potential of a million voters that could upend the system, especially in states with a significant Native American population.

I am Mark Trahant.

Alaska now has a three-way race for governor, Lt. Governor

June 4, 2018 By Bob Petersen

Alaska politics got a lot more complicated Friday. And the Democrats, Republicans, and independents are all looking for the Native vote.
This is Trahant Reports.

Former Alaska Sen. Mark Begich jumped into the race for the governor of Alaska Friday. That means there will be a three-way contest this fall with a Democrat and a Republican, challenging Independent Gov. Bill Walker.

Begich picked as his running mate Debra Call, Dena’ina, a member of the Knik Tribal Council. She is the seventh Native American to run for the office of lieutenant governor and will compete with Alaska’s current office holder, Byron Mallott. Mallott, Tlingit, is also a Democrat. Alaska now has three Native candidates running for Lt. Gov., including Edgar Blatchford, a professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Begich’s entry into the race will make a complicated November. A three-way race means it’s unlikely that any candidate will receive support from a majority of the state’s voters. Four years ago, Mallott was the Democratic Party’s nominee for governor but he stepped down from that call in order to run with Walker on a fusion ticket. The Walker-Mallott ticket then narrowly defeated the incumbent governor Sean Parnell by a little more than 2 percentage points.

A court ruled earlier this year that Walker could seek the Democratic nomination as an independent, but Begich’s entry into the campaign puts and end to that idea. Walker and Mallott will go straight to the November ballots as independents, provided that they get enough signatures from voters to qualify. Walker told the Associated Press that he has no interest in a destructive primary.

Walker told the Anchorage Daily News that independent voters are the majority. Four years ago he said he was the little-known candidate who defeated the incumbent. “Now I’m sitting here as an incumbent,” Walker said. “We climbed that mountain before, and I’m comfortable with where we are.”

Mark Begich served in the U.S. Senate until he was defeated by Sen. Dan Sullivan in 2014. He has also been the mayor of Anchorage and is the son of the late U.S. Rep. Nick Begich Sr., who disappeared during a campaign flight in 1972.

Debra Call has been an Alaska Native leader in many capacities. She has been president of the Knik Tribal Council, with a membership in the Matanuska-Susitna area of over 4,000. She was also president and CEO of the Calista Heritage Foundation and is the former vice president of operations/HR at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Call has an MBA from Washington State University.

Edgar Blatchford also filed for the office on Friday — so there are now three Democrats running for that office. (Mallott, even though he is running on an independent ticket, remains a Democrat.)

This is an extraordinary year for Native Americans and the office of Lt. Governor. Minnesota, like Alaska, has three candidates. And another candidate in Oklahoma brings the number to seven.

What an extraordinary year. I am Mark Trahant.

Billy Frank Jr.: Arrested for Justice

May 29, 2018 By Bob Petersen

It’s time for Billy Frank Jr. to have a place in the U.S. Capitol.

This is Trahant Reports.

I can still hear his voice: “I was not a policy guy. I was a getting arrested guy.” And he got arrested a lot during the 1970s, pressing for his treaty right to fish for salmon. A right that was eventually upheld by the Supreme Court.

Now, of course, the late Billy Frank Jr., is an American hero and to be clear, what I mean by that, he’s not just an American Indian hero. Or even a Nisqually or Northwest legend. His story is important to entire country. No, it’s essential.

Every Frank arrest had purpose. He was making visible injustice and standing firm on the very word of the United States; the principle that treaties meant what they said. But the federal and state governments did not see at that way at the time. So they tossed him in jail. Again. And again. And again.

A couple of decades later Frank convinced the entire establishment of the Pacific Northwest that he was, indeed right. The same governors and federal officials who were once responsible for Frank’s arrests were praising (and appointing) him. The world had changed and the Northwest was better for it.

Peter Hardin Jackson wrote on Facebook: “Sixty-five years ago the Marcus Whitman statue in D.C.’s National Statuary Hall was unveiled and is still something to behold. It’s also emblematic of a very different era, which doesn’t merit ballyhooing. An overdue corrective would be to replace Whitman with Billy Frank, Jr., who dedicated his life to political reconciliation, tribal treaty rights, and the environment.”

Jackson pointed out that this could be done quickly. “All that’s required is a non-fiscal note act of the state legislature, and the launch of a private fundraising campaign. He said: “What say you, dear people?”

The idea of a Frank statue is exciting. (I’d like to think Washington is unique because it could send two statutes to the hall, yes to Frank and also to Lucy Covington, Colville, who led the fight against termination.)

There are seven Native American heroes now in the Statuary Hall, the most recent addition was Po’pay, representing New Mexico in 2005. The hall also features notable “anti-heroes” in Indian Country including Andrew Jackson from Tennessee.

As Peter Jackson wrote, so there is no choice “but to draft legislation for the 2019 session. As Billy Frank, Jr. said, ‘I don’t believe in magic. I believe in the sun and the stars, the water, the tides, the floods, the owls, the hawks flying, the river running, the wind talking. They’re measurements. They tell us how healthy things are. How healthy we are.’”

I am Mark Trahant.