WASHINGTON – Tribal leaders testified before Congress that government bureaucracy involving the leasing of Indian lands must cease, or increasing numbers of Native American young people will continue to leave their reservations.
“Who are the movers and shakers?” Arvin Trujillo, executive director of the Navajo Nation’s natural resources division, asked lawmakers at an Oct. 21 hearing of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
Trujillo said, to him, the movers and shakers are the parents in young Indian families whom he calls the “soccer moms” and “basketball dads.”
Sadly, too many of these young folks are choosing to leave their traditional homelands, Trujillo said. And he believes federal bureaucracy involving the leasing of lands has everything to do with the problem.
Several tribal leaders have explained similar complications, saying that under current BIA policies, it can take months and even years for some tribal members to secure reservation-based land leases.
By the time that bureaucracy plays out, mortgage rates sometimes rise, making it impossible for many to afford homeownership.
Gov. Everett Chavez of the Pueblo of Santo Domingo in New Mexico testified that two of his daughters have chosen to move to Albuquerque as a result of such issues. He estimated that BIA leasing hold-ups typically last from six months to a couple of years.
Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said the horrors of BIA bureaucracy was one reason he introduced the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership, or HEARTH Act, in May. He said several pueblo leaders had previously brought up the issue with him.
The act is aimed at allowing tribes to enter into certain long-term leases of land without prior express approval from the secretary of the Interior, which is currently required under federal law in many cases.
Several tribes already have their own lease provisions. The legislation would allow tribes that want to exercise greater control over their lands to do so, but it would not require any tribe to do so that doesn’t want to.
To date, the legislation has 25 House co-sponsors, including 13 members of the natural resources committee.
Jerry Gidner, BIA director, testified that the Obama administration supports self-determination and tribal sovereignty, and it wants to help expedite housing leasing. But he said that amendments would be needed to the HEARTH Act in order for Interior to support it.
One area of concern, Gidner said, involves the liability of the federal government in leases approved by a tribe that ends up seeing losses.
Facing questions from the committee, Gidner admitted staff resources are sometimes an issue in processing lease applications in a timely fashion.
“I don’t think we can process them (leases) as fast as we ought to be able to.”
Chairman of the committee, Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., noted that amendment of leasing legislation would not be unusual, as Congress has done it several times in the past. He also noted that past legislation has specifically allowed the Navajo Nation to do its own leasing.
Cheryl Parish, executive director of the Bay Mills Housing Authority in Michigan, believes more people would live on tribal lands if the problems associated with owning a home were eliminated.
According to Census data, Parish said, about half of all Indians live off their reservations now.
Parish said that based on her housing experience several tribes could currently take advantage of the HEARTH Act if it became law. She said the National American Indian Housing Council is working on building the capacity of more tribal governments to do their own leasing.
