Looking Forward to New Tribal Economic Development Parity

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By Aaron Payment

November 21, 2024

With a new presidential administration incoming, it is time to focus forward and seek new opportunities for Tribal Nations and Indian Country prosperity.

While the treaty and trust obligation is perpetual and should never be abrogated, regardless of the economic prosperity tribes achieve, Tribal Nations are much more than federally funded social services organizations. Tribes are, first and foremost, sovereign nations. In most cases, they supplement federal funding with their own net revenues from economic enterprises and business development.

Many federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native villages operate in a non-partisan and ideologically neutral manner, understanding that the political pendulum invariably shifts. The need for Tribal Nations to represent their people and for national and regional Native organizations to advocate on their behalf, in collaboration with tribal leadership, remains critical.

The ongoing challenge of educating non-Native American citizens and elected representatives at federal, state, and local levels—often referred to as “Indians 101”—is continuous. As a lifelong student of good governance and an elected tribal leader for over 22 years, I have spent more than three decades advocating and educating. My journey began as a fellow in 1992, then as an instructor in the Michigan Political Leadership Program, where I have taught political leaders about Federal Indian Policy, emphasizing treaty and trust obligations, tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction, and the myriad social and economic issues affecting American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities.

AI/AN peoples are both a racial and ethnic classification but, more importantly, a political classification with inherent and legal rights reserved and reaffirmed in treaties and through judicial precedents. Tribal Nations and their citizens are not a political or ideological monolith. Many of the issues that divide American citizens today also exist within Tribal Nations. As flawed as some exit polls from the November 5 election may be, a slight majority (>50%) of Native voters supported the Trump-Vance ticket.

Looking forward, the ideological shift toward a free enterprise focus offers new opportunities. Fourteen national and regional Native organizations, including the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), Indian Gaming Association, Native American Contractors Association, Native CDFI Network, and Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA), have prepared a policy briefing for the incoming Trump administration. The briefing seeks to highlight tribal economic development opportunities and foster collaboration.

This portfolio includes recommendations such as:

• Increasing Indian Country’s access to capital and credit
• Ensuring tax fairness for tribal economic development
• Enhancing marketplace competitiveness for Indian Country businesses
• Supporting Native-owned small business development
• Promoting tribal land and energy development
• Advancing tribal infrastructure and workforce development
• Growing Native food economies
• Fostering international Native commerce

The policy brief also recognizes past bipartisan successes, such as the 2019 Native American Business Incubators Program Act, signed into law by then-President Trump.

It is vital to remember that Tribal Nations are diverse, with varying ideologies driving their leadership. However, a common thread unites them: the treaty and trust obligation for federal funding in health, education, and social welfare. This obligation is perpetual. Tribal Nations ceded over two billion acres of land—not as vanquished enemies but through treaties recognized in the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 3. This enshrines Congress's authority to regulate commerce with Indian Tribes, establishing a relationship between equals rather than subordinates.

The executive branch plays a critical role in interpreting and implementing these responsibilities. Executive Order 13175 (2000), which established government-to-government relations with Tribal Nations, has been upheld by subsequent administrations through presidential memorandums.

It is important to clarify that federal funding derived from treaty and trust obligations is not welfare or reparations in the conventional sense. Rather, it is a pre-paid legal obligation—akin to a mortgage owed by the United States for residing on tribal lands.

Tribes seek permanent, mandatory formula funding that reflects the full extent of what is owed, eliminating the need to compete for insufficient resources. Tribes and their citizens have the greatest need as documented in the US Civil Rights Commission Broken Promises Report with the worst of the worst statistics including poverty, addiction, suicides, low education attainment, disease, and unemployment.

Certainly, a large segment of our society represents the poorest and most in need. The treaty and trust obligation funding, is pre-paid legal tender, and is more like a mortgage owed by the United States for residing on Indian lands. As long as American Immigrant Settlers and their descendants reside here, the mortgage is due. Extending this analogy, while only partial rent payments have so far, tribes seek permanent, full, mandatory (non-discretionary) formula funding that does not pit Tribal nations against each other to compete for pennies on the dollar of what is owed.

As sovereign governments and economies operating within federal, state, and local jurisdictions, tribes deserve parity in opportunity. Consistent with the ethos of downsizing big government, tribes should have greater autonomy to establish their own regulatory frameworks for land permitting and other economic activities. Current processes are burdensome and paternalistic, with federal and state bureaucracies often hindering tribal progress. Empowering tribes to control their regulatory environments would reduce bottlenecks, expedite business development, and attract investors.

The Tribal Economic Development policy brief, prepared by the fourteen Native organizations, is the culmination of years of consultation and advocacy with Tribal Nations. The incoming administration is urged to fully vet this agenda through listening sessions and consultations with Tribal Nations during its first 90 days. The White House Council on Native American Affairs (WHCNAA), which was underutilized during the first Trump administration, should be revitalized. Co-chaired by the Secretary of the Interior and the President’s Domestic Policy Advisor, the WHCNAA can serve as both a sounding board and a project management team to identify solutions for Indian Country business development.

The administration is also encouraged to collaborate with the bipartisan Congressional Native American Caucus, led by Co-Chairs Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), a Chickasaw citizen, and Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS), a Ho-Chunk citizen. Additionally, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), a Cherokee citizen, could play a pivotal role in garnering support in the Senate.

By focusing on these opportunities, the incoming administration can foster economic growth and prosperity for Indian Country while honoring the enduring treaty and trust obligations of the United States.

Dr. Aaron Payment, is a Native News Online contributing correspondent and current an elected Tribal Council Member for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. He has served for over 22 years in elective office including as Tribal Chairperson/CEO and also served for nearly a decades in leadership roles with the National Congress of Americans Indians including as 1 st Vice President. He welcomed input and comments on LinkedIn and via email at [email protected]

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