Trahant Reports

There is no better way for any legislature -- be it a tribal council, a state assembly, or a Congress -- to telegraph what’s most important to a society than through its tax policy. How a government collects revenue says what constituent groups are seen to matter. The debate in Congress is about values ranging from corporate power to higher education.

This past election was a good one for Native American candidates. From Washington state to Minnesota tribal members won seats on city councils and school boards. And voters in Maine approved the expansion of Medicaid. And across the country even minority party candidates did well winning some twenty offices.

It’s easy to blame President Donald J. Trump for all that is wrong in American politics. But is the problem of Trump or the era itself. A new report by the Pew Research Center shows how politics is changing, and how the divides are deepening.

Politics is a tough business. Most Native American women who run for office cannot dip into their personal wealth to run for office. It's all about raising money five bucks at a time. A good haul is when someone writes a check with more than one zero. #NativeVote18

Peggy Flanagan is running for Lt. Governor in Minnesota. She’s on the ticket with Congressman Tim Walz. 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.

As Congress debates taxes, it’s worth looking at how Indian Country fits into the framework. The Earned Income Tax Credit is essential to Many Native American families because it benefits so many people who have jobs and yet barely earn a living wage.

Journalist Mark Trahant talks about social media, health care narratives, and Indian Country Today in a speech to the National Indian Health Board in Bellevue, Washington, on Sept. 26, 2018. He focuses on three stories about Indian health: Shortages (a story we all know too well); excellence and innovation; and the story we need to tell, what do we want now? Trahant asked: How can we use the forces of social media — so potent at Standing Rock — to change our stories for the better?

TRAHANT REPORTS ELECTION SPECIAL: Native candidates are running for office in Alaska, New Mexico, Utah and Oklahoma. There is a connection between politics and policy. The people we elect are the ones who make decisions about our health care, our education, how much money the government spends and collects, or whether we’re at war or at peace. Imagine being a Native American politician in the Trump era. It is an uphill climb to represent constituents as well as being a public advocate for Native people and community.

The Trump presidency ended last week. Not literally. But in practical terms it will be difficult for the White House to advance any sort of policy agenda. What’s next? Turn to the states for clues. Governors on the right and the left were tossed out after atmospheres with too much chaos.

Senate Republicans failed in their bid to remake federal health programs. And for Indian Country that means there is a new opportunity to insure that more tribal citizens have insurance in order to improve Indian health funding.