WASHINGTON – Recently, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs began a series of hearings on the goals and priorities set for the new Congress by Indian country as the legislative agenda is prepared.
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) was asked to testify at the initial hearing because “they are the oldest and largest national Indian organization” and represent more than 200 tribal nations, the committee leadership said.
While some voiced concerns at the outset with the scope of the hearings and the level of inclusion by all interested parties, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, vice chairman, assured tribes that all concerns and views would be considered and other witnesses and organizations would be asked to testify at later hearings.
“I wish to underscore that this hearing is the first in a series of hearings, because one of the tribal nations has registered an objection to this hearing on the grounds that they are not members of the National Congress,” Inouye said. “I want to make clear that the committee will be soliciting the views and concerns of all the federally recognized tribes, Alaska Native communities and Native Hawaiian organizations.”
NCAI President Susan Masten outlined a set of priorities which echoed many major issues commonly faced by tribes – preservation of tribal sovereignty, proper federal funding of American Indian programs, recovery of tribal land through land-to-trust, economic development, health care, Indian education, welfare reform, state taxation, trust funds, law enforcement, transportation, government-to-government consultation, and the Census.
“For the purposes of today’s hearing, we have narrowed our focus to 14 issues, a relatively large number, but even then we will omit many important ones,” the chairwomen for the Yurok Tribe in California said. “We chose these issues because they are the most fundamental for the purposes of protecting tribal self-determination and serving the health and welfare of Indian people, and because they are the issues that our member tribes most frequently bring to our attention.”
With the recent release of the president’s budget, the delay in release of regulations on land-to-trust, the need for health care and housing reauthorization, and the continuing problems with trust reform, much of this year’s agenda for the committee would seem to speak for itself.
However, tribes and organizations like the NCAI also are pushing for lesser publicized issues like welfare reform, viewed by many as an issue faced only by state governments.
NCAI reported that 78 tribal grantees administer the Native Employment Works program under welfare reform law, and 86 tribes administered $5 million in welfare-to-work grants. That law is up for reauthorization by the end of the year and many tribes seek improved language
Testimony included support for Native Hawaiian sovereignty and self-determination, an issue perceived as controversial by some, but clearly supported by many tribes. Native Hawaiians have been working for years to receive rights similar to those retained by American Indian tribes and Alaska Native communities.
“It is important to formally recognize the sovereignty of Native Hawaiian people because of the historical wrongdoings and deprivations that the Native people faced at the hands of the United States when their government was taken from them,” Masten said.
