Trahant Reports

Water is life? Not so much in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Legislature, supported by the mining industry, last week voted to weaken water standards for sulfates in areas where wild rice grows.

Wild rice is the essential Ojibwe food.

It’s already time to cast ballots in the 2018 election season -- a cycle with more Native Americans running for Congress or to lead state governments than ever before. The first election tests are in Idaho, South Dakota and New Mexico.

The growing trade war with China is politics all mixed up. It’s an issue that divides many Republicans from President Donald J. Trump. And some of the president’s most strident supporters from coal companies to farmers are not happy with his policy. Make no mistake: The outcome (when it finally occurs) is a dollar-and-cents issue that will impact the daily lives of Native people, tribal governments, and businesses. Why? A tariff is a tax.

Paulette Jordan is one of seven Native American candidates running for statewide office -- and one of two Native women running to a lead a state (something never been done before). She will be the first of those candidates to face voters and will need to win a contested Democratic primary on May 15.

The federal government’s newly enacted budget is a massive “omnibus” act that spends $1.3 trillion and makes some members of Congress pleased and others angry. It’s a document that reflects a broken budget system. And, at the same time, it’s a business as usual document in a presidential administration that has promised structural change. But the bill is also good for Indian Country. Federal Indian programs, some of which had been slated for either elimination or deep cuts, continued on course.

A special election in Pennsylvania is a good sign for Native American candidates running for office. Why? Because this cycle is favoring out-of-power Democrats. It’s hard to peg any constituent group as more out-of-power than those who would represent Indian Country in the Congress of the United States. There are now eleven Native American candidates for the U.S. House and Senate running as Democrats, independents, Greens and Republicans.

There is a new chapter for Indian Country Today. The newspaper and media network has new owners, but an old task, serving readers. The goal is clear: Professional, straight reporting that tells stories about Indigenous people and our nations.

Who should run the Indian Health Service? Not “who” exactly, but what kind of leader? What kind of skills and experience? The answers start with an agency mission has changed dramatically -- yet there is a disconnect and policy makers continue to talk about Indian Health as it used to be.

President Donald J. Trump’s budget this year, like last year, expresses the administration’s desire to cut federal Indian programs, wipe out public broadcasting, end student loan forgiveness, starve Medicaid and Medicare, food stamps, housing programs, and generally, limit just about every federal program that serves poor people. This is a messaging document -- and a clear one at that.

What are the state of 573 tribal nations? Jefferson Keel, president of the National Congress of American Indians, gives his answer at the Newseum in Washington, DC. His conclusion: “As it has been for thousands of years, the state of Indian nations is strong.... and everlasting.”