Trahant Reports

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt is a member of the Cherokee Nation. And yet, since taking office a year ago he has been busy challenging the very structure of the tribal casino industry.

Nationwide the story is that when states and tribes work together as partners it creates a stronger economy for every citizen. Across the country tribal gaming supports 635,000 jobs paying $33.2 billion in wages and $16 billion in taxes.

Summary: There is really no reason for a presidential candidate to spend much time on tribal issues in Iowa or New Hampshire. The problem is not the candidates; it’s the process itself. What if there were an Indian Country primary? This story originally aired on Feb. 25, 2019.

The Newseum is not an Indigenous institution. Yet it did represent. And that’s a practice that’s too often missing from most museums. But I had better not bury the lede. The Newseum is closing at the end of the year. This is the last call.

The Newseum may come back in another form. And I certainly hope so because a building is just a building. The ideas are what matter: A history that includes all of our stories, a celebration of dissent, and the importance of journalism in a democratic society

SUMMARY

The Trump administration may be giving up on the Paris Agreement, but that does not mean the country can’t change. And the quickest way forward is to rethink our transportation framework.

Last month was the 50th anniversary of the occupation of Alcatraz. Why that anniversary? Well, as one of the leaders smartly declared at the time, “Alcatraz is not an island. It's an idea'”

And so much of what we think of as the norm now, came out of that idea and the occupation.

SUMMARY

The Navajo Nation recently pulled its financial guarantee for the tribe’s coal enterprise, the Navajo Transitional Energy Company, saying the company had purchased three coal mines in Wyoming and Montana without informing the tribe. This comes at a time when it’s “awfully difficult” make money mining coal.

There is a formality to impeachment. It's solemn event. And the outcome? There are a lot of possibilities. There is an interesting range of opinion in the ranks of Indian Country’s representatives in Congress.

We are now a year away from a national election. Last year there were ten Native Americans running for Congress a year out. This year the number is eleven. Presidential election years always manifest an uptick in turnout and 2020 is expected to be no different.

Fawn Sharp is the new 'Indigenous president.' As the leader of the National Congress of American Indians she is expected to put the issue of climate change at the top of the agenda.

The voices of Indigenous people and leaders are more present in discussions about the future of the Arctic than in any other international conversation.