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On Monday in Milwaukee, the Forest County of Potawatomi signed a compact with the U.S. Department of Transportation. Compacts are funding agreements that give tribes more autonomy in managing services for their citizens’ needs.

The Potawatomi are the fourth tribe to sign a compact with the transportation department and the first Wisconsin tribe to do so. The four compacts were all done through the Biden-Harris administration. The other three tribes that have signed compacts are the Cherokee Nation, Ohkay Owingeh, and the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.

Tribal Chairman James Crawford said at the Forest County Potawatomi signing ceremony that the compact is more than a legal agreement. “It is a reaffirmation of our inherent right to govern ourselves. It is a recognition of our capacity to manage our own affairs, make decisions for our people, and chart our own course for the future. It is the embodiment of the principle that we as Indigenous peoples are best equipped to understand and meet the needs of our communities.”

Transportation Assistant Secretary Arlando Teller, Navajo, signed the agreement on behalf of the department. He said the compact gives the tribe greater decision making power and authority over its own affairs concerning a modern necessity: a reliable transportation system.

“We step out of our homes and we get on the road, we get on an airplane and we get on the rail, and we sometimes forget those people who see us off or say, ‘have a good day,’ expect us to come home, including the fur babies. And so that expectation of a safe transportation system is really important to us individually,” Teller said.

Crawford said the compact “allows us to design programs and services that are tailored to our specific needs, culturally appropriate and rooted in our values. It moves us away from the one size fits all approach that has often been imposed upon us and places decision-making back in our hands where it belongs.”

In a prepared statement, the Potawatomi said, “The compact gives the tribe significantly greater decision-making power and authority over their own affairs, enabling them to make both critical and quick decisions based on their unique needs and priorities.”

Crawford said the agreement sends “a powerful message to the world that we are not passive recipients of aid or services, but active participants in shaping our destiny. “

In 2022, the Cherokee Nation was the first tribe to sign a transportation compact, which is managed under the department’s Tribal Transportation Self-Governance Program.

In a June 8, 2022 transportation department statement about the Cherokee signing, then Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg said at the time, “The Biden-Harris Administration and our department are firmly committed to honoring tribal sovereignty and codifying tribes’ right to self-determination through agreements like this one.”

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said, “having oversight for the first time to plan, lead and oversee the finance of our own road projects will only mean more and better investments in terms of travel and infrastructure in the Cherokee Nation to the benefit of thousands of citizens.”

The transportation department’s program is modeled after tribal self-governance programs at the departments of Interior and Health and Human Services authorized by the Indian Self Determination and Education Act.

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