CALL TO ACTION: Tribal Nations Unite to Save Our Tribal Sovereignty

Guest Opinion.  As I write this Call to Action, I am traveling to Washington, DC, to join the National Congress of American Indians Executive Winter Session to protect our tribal sovereignty. At Tribal Chairman Austin Lowes’ request, I am attending to help strategize a plan to safeguard our existence. I appreciate Chairman Lowes recognizing my strengths and asking for my help.

The First Two Weeks!

The first two weeks of the second Trump administration have presented serious challenges and threats to our existence. The administration’s legal push to overturn a century-and-a-half precedent of birthright citizenship questioned our sovereignty and citizenship. This move, I believe, was a deliberate message to Tribal Nations. As Indigenous people, we hold a unique perspective on the immigration battle.

Consider the hypocrisy—descendants of immigrants who came to Turtle Island without papers now turning their backs on others simply because of their skin color. The administration’s legal filing questioned Native citizenship despite the 1924 Snyder Act (commonly known as the Indian Citizenship Act) and constitutional recognition of our rights. We didn’t cede nearly two billion acres of land for nothing—our ancestors fought for legal protections enshrined in treaties and the U.S. Constitution.

What’s Different This Time?

Two key differences stand out. In 2017, Trump lacked the understanding of the government to dismantle it effectively. Now, with Project 2025, he knows exactly which levers to pull. While he denies direct involvement, his administration is implementing it. Previously, Congress shielded us from devastating attacks on Tribal Nations—this time, I’m not confident they will.

Trump persistently opposed exemptions for American Indians and Alaska Natives from the Affordable Care Act work requirement, despite the federal government’s treaty obligations to provide health, education, and social welfare. His administration claimed such exemptions were race-based, similar to today’s DEI arguments. While lawsuits blocked those efforts last time, his current retribution agenda suggests he is not done.

Previously, Congress ensured our funding was shielded from Trump’s proposed draconian cuts, including a 35% reduction to Indian Child Welfare, elimination of Johnson O’Malley Indian Education and Recreation funding, and the abolition of the Affordable Care Act, which permanently reauthorized Indian Health Services. Will bipartisan support be enough this time? With billionaires threatening to primary any disloyal Republicans, I am fearful. Recall the budget brinkmanship and near-government shutdown in December.

The influence of big business and the super-rich in government cannot be ignored. The Citizens United ruling allows corporations to funnel enormous sums into elections, swaying policy at our expense. No one elected Elon Musk, yet his $350 million contribution to Trump’s campaign makes him a de facto power broker. Check out the cover of Time Magazine.

Not Welfare, Not Reparation – We Pre-paid for It!

As the late Cathy Abramson, a Tribal Councilwoman from my Tribe, used to say, “We pre-paid for everything we get.” Our federal funding is not reparations or welfare but a contractual obligation from treaties. Though we are both an ethnic and racial class, we are first and foremost sovereign nations.

Our treaty and trust obligations are not tied to DEIA. The Supreme Court case Morton v. Mancari affirms our status as a political classification, not a racial minority. Any cuts based on DEIA should exclude our funding. Fortunately, Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum and Senate Indian Affairs Chair Lisa Murkowski have stated our funding should be exempt from such cuts.

Inter-Tribal Unity - 574 Tribal Nations Strong!

We must unite—at home and among Tribal Nations—to protect our sovereignty. There are 574 Tribal Nations with nearly nine million enrolled citizens. We can and must take action.

Contact your Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and your two U.S. Senators. Share these points:

• Our funding is NOT welfare, reparations, or DEIA—it was prepaid with the blood, sweat, and tears of our ancestors and nearly 2 billion acres of ceded land.
• Either honor the treaties or return our land.
• We must protect our sovereignty for future generations. Partisan politics are foreign to our traditional governments. We didn’t create the federal deficit, and our funds should not be cut to balance the budget.
• A government is only as good as its word. What little we receive was promised and prepaid. We will hold the federal government accountable.

Honoring Health, Education, and Social Welfare

Project 2025 proposes changes to Indian education, including Educational Choice for Tribal Grant Schools, fully funded by the Bureau of Indian Education. Our people, with a direct right to education per treaty obligations, should not have the worst outcomes. If the Department of Education is dismantled and new funding does not materialize, we face more broken promises.

If the Affordable Care Act is repealed, Indian Health Services must be fully funded at a minimum of $50 billion, as recommended by the IHS Tribal Leader Budget Formulation Work Group. Another $50 billion is needed for Indian Health Service Portability, ensuring healthcare access as a treaty right, similar to veterans’ healthcare.

Tribal services—including Head Start, general assistance, LIHEAP, housing, emergency needs, FDPIR (Commods) and SNAP, and Title VI Indian Elder Meals—should be provided without means testing. Despite the 2018 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ Broken Promises Report highlighting our needs, income eligibility was never part of treaty negotiations and should not be now.

Finally, all Indian Country funding must be moved to the mandatory side of the federal budget and fully funded. We did not create the federal deficit. The proportionally small amount allocated to Tribal Nations will not make or break the federal budget. It is time the federal government honors its promises in full.

With Great Respect to Tribal Leaders,  

Aaron A. Payment, (BiiWaagajiig) 

CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFCIALS TODAY

US House of Representatives 

www.house.gov/representatives/find-your representative 

US Senators (2)  

www.senate.gov/senators/senators contact.htm?lang=en

Dr. Aaron Payment has served in elective office between Tribal Council, as Vice Chair and Chairperson/ CEO for over 22 years. He currently sits on Tribal Council.  He served for nearly 10 years as a NCAI Executive Committee Member as Regional VP, Secretary (2X) and as 1st Vice President (2X). He has served on  numerous Tribal Advisories, and offered his assistance to other Tribal nations to protect our sovereignty and the funding that derives from the Treaty and  Trust obligation. A high school drop out, Dr. Payment took his GED and earned a bachelor’s, three master’s and a doctorate degree.  

More Stories Like This