Pauly Denetclaw
ICT
The sunset on one presidential administration ushers in the dawn of another. The unpredictable political storm in the nation’s capital begins to slow in anticipation of a new head of state, and a new Congress.
The calm before the storm starts anew.
There were so many gains made for Indigenous nations under President Joe Biden. The first Native American to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior, becoming the first-ever cabinet secretary. The first Native American to become U.S. Treasurer. The appointment of over 80 Indigenous people throughout the federal agencies. These appointments helped to address issues that have plagued Indigenous nations for decades — smoothing the land-into-trust process, historic tax reforms, 400 co-stewardship agreements, and an unprecedented number of tribal consultations. The historic investments of $45 billion directly to Indigenous nations.
In November, Donald Trump became president-elect and will be inaugurated on January 20, 2025. Republicans gained control of the U.S. Senate, and maintained control of the U.S. House — granting the Republicans a governing trifecta.
There is a lot of uncertainty in how Trump’s administration will engage tribal nations during the next four years, leaving Indian Country to wonder what will be gained or lost by January 20, 2029.
The major Trump policies that could impact Indigenous nations are the expansion of energy development, dismantlement of the U.S. Department of Education, and the promotion of “patriotic education” in school curriculum. He plans to nominate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Interior Secretary, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, both departments are important to Indigenous nations. Indigenous people will be appointed by Trump but in nontraditional — not Native American-specific — positions.
“It’s (Trump’s policy) going to lean heavily towards the more energy producing tribes, quite frankly, and I see him allowing them to do more. His whole goal, I think, this administration, is to cut back on the regulatory regime of Washington, and allow the states and the tribes to determine their own destinies, which is what we want to see,” said Michael Stopp, Cherokee, ICT’s regular political contributor.
The peaceful exchange of power begins with all 50 states’ and the District of Columbia certifying their presidential election results by mid-December. Then, members of the electoral college gather at their state’s respective capital to cast their ballots for president and vice-president on Dec. 17.
Next, these ballots are sent to the president of the Senate, who is Vice President Kamala Harris, and the archivist of the United States, Colleen J. Shogan. Finally, the electoral college ballots are counted by both chambers of Congress during a joint session on January 6, 2025, and the results are announced by Harris.
“The vice president just acknowledges the votes. That’s called certification,” said Angelique EagleWoman, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Indigenous law professor at Hamline University.
The process ends with the inauguration of Trump as president and J.D. Vance as vice president. Vance will be the first millennial as vice president.
“Inauguration is the official, formal presentation of the oath of office for the U.S. president, and it is usually done by one of the U.S. Supreme Court justices, usually the Chief Justice, and then the transfer of power occurs, and that person is officially there to uphold the U.S. Constitution for their term in office,” EagleWoman said.
A second Trump administration
On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. Since its creation the department has been enthralled in political controversy, according to a 2015 Politico article. Andrew Johnson in 1867 was the first president to attempt to create an education department. It was unsuccessful and short-lived.
So, Trump’s promise is just the most current iteration. The issue lies in the U.S. Constitution which doesn’t explicitly say that the federal government has any role in education, and the 10th Amendment says that anything not listed in the constitution is given to the states to decide. Republican presidential candidates as far back as the 70s have said that the U.S. Department of Education is unconstitutional and needs to be abolished.
“If we’re going to have programs like this, it’s got to go through the states. We’ve got to get (a Constitutional) amendment to allow that to happen,” Stopp said. “That’s my perspective and my viewpoint. But we have found ways around that, and people just kind of live with it. So that’s why I say it’s unconstitutional. You can’t find in the Constitution anywhere that grants the federal government that type of authority.”
The Bureau of Indian Education is under the U.S. Department of the Interior. The bureau educates a small portion of Indigenous students in the country. The majority, over 90 percent, of Indigenous students are educated in public schools whether in their rural or urban communities, according to Rob Maxim, a researcher at the Brookings Institute.
Any changes to the education department could drastically affect Indigenous students.
“The dismantling, if that were to happen, of the Department of Education, would be… disastrous for Indian Country,” Maxim, Mashpee Wampanoag, said. “Even just funding reductions for education and across the federal government is going to be hugely impactful for Indian Country. We make the case in our piece that Native education is already underfunded, and so further reductions are only going to strain schools serving Native students even more.”
Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 to strengthen and improve educational institutions that serve low-income families according to the act itself. This act drastically expanded the federal government’s roles in education.
The act states that low-income communities weren’t able to sustain adequate education programs, and federal funding needed to be deployed to address this inequity. One in three American Indian and Alaska Native children live in poverty, according to a 2021 National Institute of Health.
The act was updated and became the No Child Left Behind Act under former President George W. Bush. In 2015, it was once again updated and became the Every Student Succeeds Act.
All iterations of the act had two main goals: detail how federal funding would be allocated to public schools, especially for low-income communities, and dictate the educational standards students needed to meet.
The issue for conservatives is that educational standards should be determined by each individual state. Ironically, Trump issued an executive order to create the 1776 Commission under the Department of Education in 2020 to promote “patriotic education,” and the commission’s final report outlined in detail what that history curriculum would look like.
“Rather than learning to hate one’s country or the world for its inevitable wrongs, the well-educated student learns to appreciate and cherish the oases of civilization: solid family structures and local communities; effective, representative, and limited government; the rule of law and the security of civil rights and private property; a love of the natural world and the arts; good character and religious faith,” the report said. “Civics and government classes should rely almost exclusively on primary sources.”
Trump’s vision for education revolves around a single goal: to rid America’s schools of perceived “wokeness ” and “left-wing indoctrination.”
The president-elect wants to forbid classroom lessons on gender identity and structural racism. He wants to abolish diversity and inclusion offices. He wants to keep transgender athletes out of girls’ sports.
Throughout his campaign, the Republican depicted schools as a political battleground to be won back from the left. Now that he’s won the White House, he plans to use federal money as leverage to advance his vision of education across the nation.
Trump’s education plan pledges to cut funding for schools that defy him on a multitude of issues.
On his first day in office, Trump has repeatedly said he will cut money to “any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children.”
This puts the history of Indigenous people in, what is now, the United States in jeopardy.
“There’s actual scholarly studies that show that the vast majority of schools in the United States don’t teach any Native American history after the year 1900,” Maxim said. “What does that mean? It’s a couple of things. Really fundamental aspects of Native existence in the United States today, and in the 20th century don’t get talked about. That includes things like the (federal Indian) boarding schools. Growing up, I knew all about it because I had ancestors that went to them, and most Native people did.”
Whatever the changes that could be made to the education department, it is very clear in the U.S. Constitution that treaties are “the supreme Law of the Land.” There were over 300 treaties signed between tribal nations and the federal government, many of those include provisions about education. Therefore education is a treaty right.
Another goal for the Trump administration that could impact tribal nations positively and negatively is, “drill, baby, drill.” Trump has made it clear that he will support oil and gas development.
“He wants to see this regulatory regime all across the federal government get cut back so that people can make decisions and grow the economy,” Stopp said. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I tend to think it’s a good thing. The state of Oklahoma can do much of its own decision making. The Cherokee Nation can do the same. We don’t need the federal government doing that, getting in the way.”
Oil rich tribal nations could see an increase in production and profits. According to a 2014 report by the Property & Environmental Research Center, Indian reservations have nearly 30 percent of the country’s coal reserves that are located west of the Mississippi River, 50 percent of possible uranium reserves, and 20 percent of the oil and gas reserves that are known. These resources, at the time, were worth nearly $1.5 trillion, or $1.5 million per tribal member.
“There have been various eras of U.S. Indian policy, and, as tribes know, the type of political party doesn’t necessarily reflect what kind of policies will come out,” EagleWoman said. “In the recent past, Republican initiatives have been about self determination, and have been about greater economic development for tribal nations. I know many energy tribes are excited about working with the Trump administration. So it’s hard to forecast exactly what the impact will be.”
On the other side, an increase in oil and gas production puts tribal lands and sacred sites at risk of being developed without appropriate consultation. The extraction and use of fossil fuels does impact the global environment and climate.
“The theme of his (Trump’s) outlook has been ‘drill, baby, drill.’ Totally filling his cabinet and many positions with people who did not believe that climate crisis was, in fact, spurred on and sparked by human activity, human activity for profit, fossil fuel extraction and the denial of the impact of careless for profit development of land and water,” Judith LeBlanc, executive director of Native Organizers Alliance, said. “I think that characterizes his relationship with tribal nations, a lack of consideration for tribal nations, and foremost a priority on policies that, in fact, damages Mother Earth.”
One of the biggest issues for Indigenous people is addressing global climate change, and the protection of sacred sites. Indigenous people and nations have been at the forefront of the movement to protect land and water.
“What policies are we going to fight for, not just advocate, but fight for, and to bring a majority of people to their senses and with us to address climate change,” LeBlanc, Caddo Nation, said.
The United Nations has said in order to secure a liveable future, and avert the worst possible outcomes of climate change, countries across the globe have to work toward net zero emissions. The 2030 goal is to reduce emissions by 45 percent, and be at net zero by 2050. This was a cornerstone of Biden’s policy.
Key cabinet positions
Trump has announced that he will nominate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to Interior Secretary. Burgum is an ultra-wealthy software industry entrepreneur who grew up on his family’s farm in a small North Dakota town. He represents a tame choice compared to other Trump Cabinet picks.
Burgum has a strong history of working with tribes, and engaging in regular consultation with tribal leaders. He signed the state’s version of the Indian Child Welfare Act into law, and has been credited with drastically improving the relationship between the state and tribal governments.
“North Dakota tribes have such a great relationship with Gov. Burgum,” Standing Rock Chairwoman Janet Alkire said in a statement. “We all have such an admiration and respect for the friendship, partnership and collaboration with Gov. Burgum. He always reached out if we had an issue.”
Leaders from the Standing Rock Sioux and Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, both located in North Dakota, were elated at Burgum’s potential nomination. The Interior oversees the management of public lands and the protection of wildlife, national parks and monuments. It also manages the nation-to-nation relationship with the federal government and federally recognized tribal nations. It houses the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education.
“One of the things that we are seeing this time around is the announcement of North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as the proposed next Secretary of the Interior, who does have a lot of experience in collaborative partnerships with the five tribes that have relationships in North Dakota.
Trump chose Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services despite his reputation as one of the most prolific spreaders of unfounded theories about the supposed danger of vaccines. In a 2023 interview with ICT, Kennedy denied that he was an anti-vaxxer.
“The track record for Robert F Kennedy Jr. in health care isn’t very strong for tribal nation leaders to put a lot of faith in,” EagleWoman said. “There are things tribal nation leaders have put forward as reforms that the Indian Health Service should undergo to be more responsive, (and) to have more government efficiency. So there can be ways the incoming administration can support healthcare initiatives that make a difference for tribal nation members.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services oversees Indian Health Service, which provides healthcare services to 2.8 million American Indian and Alaska Native people.
“(Kennedy) is an interesting decision,” Stopp said. “He’s certainly willing to push back against some of the accepted norms in the medical community, and public health sector. I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing. I think it’s okay to shake things up from time to time, but we do have to base our decisions in science.”
Kennedy has a strong record of supporting and engaging tribal leaders and nations when it comes to environmental issues. He comes from a line of politicians who understood and supported tribal sovereignty. In 2016, he stood with activists during the No DAPL protests in North Dakota.
As a presidential candidate, he touted his strong belief in upholding treaty rights.
“Under a Kennedy administration, historic wrongs done to Native Americans will be addressed and made right. The spirit as well as the letter of treaties must be honored as the highest law of the land: documents made between sovereign nations,” his presidential website stated.
Healthcare provided by the federal government for Indigenous nations is a treaty right. The Indian Health Service has been chronically underfunded. Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to shrink the federal government. The possible consequences for Indian Health Service are unknown.
Though Kennedy did tell a group of tribal leaders in 2024, if elected president, that he would triple the budget to support tribes.
Stopp said it’s unlikely that U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Cherokee, will join the Trump administration. It’s possible he will head the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. There will be Native Americans appointed throughout the Trump administration, said Stopp. He is in communication with the transition team about who they could be but declined to share any names.
They will likely not be in stereotypically Native roles like tribal liaisons in various federal agencies and departments or at the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
“I will say that you may see some of the similar characters that we saw from the previous administration coming back,” Stopp said.
Going forward
Indigenous nations have engaged with 46 United States presidents, some of whom, committed what would be considered today, acts of genocide against Native people. The history of this engagement began 235 years ago when George Washington became the first president.
Today, there are 574 federally recognized tribal nations. These nations make up 7.2 million American Indian and Alaska Native people, according to the U.S. Census.
“Tribal nations are very resilient and often offer to collaborate, work closely with every U.S. administration, and I think that won’t be different here with the Trump administration,” EagleWoman said.
Stopp encourages all tribal leaders to, despite their public support of Harris during the election, keep engaging with the Trump administration.
“How many of your tribal members voted for Trump and why?” Stopp said. “I think it’s very important for tribal leaders to understand that, especially when moving forward to work with this administration. It’s going to be difficult, especially those tribal leaders who are publicly in favor of the Harris-Walz ticket, but they still need to engage on behalf of their people with the Trump administration, and I certainly hope they continue to do that.”
There are gains to be made during every administration, LeBlanc said. “Public support I think can grow under those conditions where we’re educating people with policies that will continue after Trump is in the presidency,” LeBlanc said. “We have to think big sky. We have to think not just seven generations ahead, but seven presidential election cycles ahead.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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