WASHINGTON — Leaders of four Minnesota Tribal Nations testified in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
Tribal leaders across the nation are testifying to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies as Congress prepares its next budget, which is due on March 14.
Minnesota’s delegation of tribal leaders spoke on similar themes of preserving, if not increasing, funds for Indian education, Indian health and tribal public safety as part of the trust and treaty obligations the U.S. owes tribal nations.
Leech Lake Secretary-Treasurer Lenny Fineday, like many others who testified, spoke to the recent federal grant freezes related to executive orders on diversity and environmental justice.
Fineday testified on the Environmental Justice Block Grant that will move the Leech Lake Division of Resource Management out of the St. Regis Superfund site in Cass Lake.
“While this grant has all the buzzwords that raised flags for the recent executive actions, this grant has nothing to do with diversity, equity or inclusion, and everything to do with the federal responsibility to protect our treaty rights and the health and safety of our employees," Fineday said.
"This grant is critical to helping us overcome a decades-long effort to move a tribal government facility out of a Superfund site.”
Red Lake Nation Chairman Darrell Seki urged the committee to prevent cuts to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and requested more funding for tribal public safety.
"Red Lake is in the midst of an opioid crisis spurred by non-Indian drug dealers, significant shortfalls in BIA funding, and the fact that we cannot arrest and detain non-Indians," Seki said, referring to a 1978 Supreme Court decision that prevented tribal nations from prosecuting non-Indians for most crimes.
"The 1978 Oliphant law has to be overturned. And then the tribes will be able to prosecute and detain non-Indians who are killing our people.”
Mille Lacs Chief Executive Virgil Wind spoke on improving health outcomes for American Indians, with Native American men having an average life expectancy of around 62.
Wind described how the health disparities deeply harm his community, with elders who carry language and traditions dying too soon.
“I am not here simply seeking money. I'm here seeking longer, healthier, better lives for my people," Wind said. "This is not just a budget request, it is a matter of life and death.”
Fond du Lac Chairman Bruce Savage urged Congress to significantly increase funding for the Bureau of Indian Education to improve outcomes for tribal youth.
“More than 90% of our students come from very low-income households, and 97.3% receive free or reduced-price lunch, which is an increase from prior years," Savage wrote in a written statement. Across Minnesota, American Indian students have a 51% high school graduation rate.
"We need more academic support for students; we are finding more students and families in need of support with mental health and basic needs. These needs interfere with the student’s ability to make academic progress."
Congresswoman Betty McCollum, representing Minnesota’s 4th District, thanked the tribal leaders for their testimony and also asked if they should work on a bill to protect the Indian Health Service from sequestration or budget caps. In 2013, Congress exempted health programs for veterans, children and Medicaid from sequestration but not Indian health.
“We thought it protected tribal health only to find out that it doesn’t. I wish it protected tribal education as well too,” McCollum said. “I hope not to be in sequestration.”
“But I'm wondering if some of us should be thinking ahead and getting something on the floor to see if we can pass it ahead of time. in case we find ourselves in that kind of unimaginable position again,” McCollum asked.
"That certainly needs to be done for Indian Country, for IHS," Seki responded. “Because there's always funds needed. When it trickles down to our service unit, all they get is crumbs.”
“We need more healthcare for our people,” Seki added.
"We got to use our healthcare to cover for IHS shortfalls. We need more doctors, nurses, dentists. We’re not funded enough. So you guys need to do the right thing, because of the treaty-trust responsibility.”
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American Indian and Alaskan Native leaders will testify through Feb. 27 during Public Witness Hearing Days for this House subcommittee.
