Trahant Reports

Trahant Reports is going away. But there is what’s next: I am planning on spending the next year writing about Indigenous economics.

My weekly commentary as Trahant Reports is coming to an end. And this comes at a remarkable time when more people are receptive to the idea that Native voices must be included in any national conversation. We are the media (as well as its consumers).

One thing about Charlie LaDuff’s career .. he has often focused on those who do the hard labor. The working stiff.

His 9/11 story is the same.

It’s easy to be impatient with COVID-19. We want this pandemic over. But the only way out is continued vigilance. The virus needs to have fewer places to spread.

Who is Native?

That should be a simple question, right? Not so much. The answers are complicated by history … and generations. So the answers will come tribe by tribe as citizens sit down and debate what's next.

This is a unique moment for tribal nations. There will be more money flowing into tribal governments and enterprises than ever before in history. So how do we make sure that money is well spent … and how do we measure what success looks like?

This might be a moment for a new climate conversation.

Jade Begay, who just was appointed to a White House advisory council on environmental justice, says a rethinking could “liberate us” from dependency on fossil fuels and create a space for practices that are more harmonious. This column previously aired in April.

The story we tell about sports, or about life, builds on the stories that have come before. In the days ahead we will know about the trials and successes of the Indigenous athletes in Tokyo. Each of those stories will go back to those that have come before, including Billy Mills.

Last week was a major gathering for Native people in Las Vegas -- sort of our first post-pandemic experience. It was a major reunion for people who really wanted to be together again. The Reservation Economic Summit or RES 2021 and the National Indian Gaming Association Trade Show and Conference. More than 8,000 people were registered at the two events. Both conferences decided to go ahead and meet because of the high vaccination rates in Indian Country, nearly 70 percent across the country but some tribal nations are higher than that, even reaching levels required for herd immunity.

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians wasn’t interested in a traditional utility right of way. The tribe wanted ownership so a deal was put together to make that happen. And create a new model for economic development.