Tribal Governance: What It Is and Why It Matters
When learning United States history, among the first peoples you learn about are Indigenous peoples of the northeastern United States. Unless you learn more in higher education or on your own, the tribal peoples of histories within the United States will be minimal and likely in past tense rather than present tense. However, there have been numerous events as of late that have boosted our visibility as alive and active. For example, you hear of politicians mentioning Native Americans as part of the “melting pot” that makes up the U.S. population and recently, cases within the U.S. Supreme Court have been drawing attention to Indian rights and lands from treaties. On a more somber note, Native peoples have entered public discourse due to the disproportionate amount of deaths in our communities from Covid-19.
What most U.S. residents and citizens may not be aware of is that Native Americans are not random and scattered peoples but that tribes are organized through their own governance systems. Tribal governance is a topic that can be foreign to those outside the tribal world. The primary purpose is to educate those who do not know that tribes within the United States govern themselves. Understanding the importance of tribal governance along with tribal sovereignty will give an understanding of how tribes operate on a day-to-day basis. These ideas are not specific to any one tribe, but a multitude of tribes. It is worth noting that the very practice of tribal governance and the concept of tribal sovereignty will vary among all the tribes within the United States. In this article I share my understanding from an Anishinabe (Ojibwe/Chippewa) perspective, which is the framework with which I am most familiar.
I look at tribal governance through three main lenses: government, culture, and sovereignty. Each of these areas overlaps with one another due to the nature of tribal culture and communities. For example, tribal culture impacts governmental decision making, tribal government indicates how sovereignty is used, and tribal sovereignty impacts how we use our cultural heritage and all within the land we are currently on and treaty land. It is imperative to think of government, culture, and sovereignty as a triad with distinct specialties.
The concepts of tribal governance are also personal for many Native people. My great-great-great grandfather, May-mosh-caw-wosh, was one of the signatories of the Treaty of 1854 that founded the Grand Portage reservation, which is where I currently reside. The treaty that founded the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa was the Treaty of 1854, also known as the Treaty of Lapointe. For this treaty, the grand portage tribe and several other tribes agreed to cede a large land area to exchange individual reservations and interrupted rights to hunt, fish, and gather. A treaty to tribal people and the United States Government is the law of the land. The Grand Portage tribe’s case is that they are able to hunt, fish, and gather within the treaty area, which includes the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). In recent years there have been some clarifications to treaty rights such as entering and camping in the BWCA without the need for a permit as most people would need. In recent years there has been discussion on hunting and fishing rights and the decline of animal populations in the area. Maintaining a healthy ecosystem to ensure those rights can be there for a long time to come. These treaty rights are not specific, but the underlying idea is that the federal government’s trust and responsibility ensure that we can continue to use our treaty rights.
Articles within the Treaty of 1854 give insight to the chiefs and headmen at the time. They wanted to set up their families and future generations with provisions to get them on a better path. Our ancestors’ forethought that helped craft the treaty articles is still being thought of today when significant decisions that will affect future generations. An example of these decisions is the overfishing of lake trout in Lake Superior. The commercial fishing of the early to mid-1900’s is having devastating effects on the populations of fish today. If not acted upon, the lake trout could become extinct. Ensuring we can use our fishing rights by protecting Lake Superior’s trout from overfishing is vital as we want our grandchildren to fish like we did growing up.
The Importance of Introductions
Boozhoo nin-dizhinikaaz Vallen Cook, miskwaadesi a doa-dem, gitchi oningaming indoonji-ba. Hello, my name is Vallen Cook. I am of the turtle clan, and I am from the great gathering place also known as Grand Portage. I am an enrolled Tribal member of the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa (Anishinaabe/Ojibwe) in northeastern Minnesota. I am also of Dakota (Sioux) descent from the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe.
The way we introduce ourselves as Indigenous peoples is an important part of remembering the relations of our ancestral heritage and homelands. Doing this in our language is an important symbol on how we communicate to the world and are a part of the world. I have lived and worked within the Grand Portage Reservation the majority of my life and currently work as an air quality specialist for the tribe. I earned my master’s in Tribal Administration and Governance (MTAG) from the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD), and I have been working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assist with effectively tribal consultations in Washington DC, Chicago, and Durham, North Carolina. Today, I serve as the Tribal Air monitoring support center (TAMS) vice-chair, which acts as a conduit for technical air needs such as monitoring and training within Indian Country, and I am also the liaison between TAMS and the National Tribal Air Association (NTAA). The NTAA deals directly with policy issues, including commenting on new air environmental rules with the EPA.
Understanding tribal governance and teaching others about it has been an interest of mine for several years. Knowing that there are many individuals in various United States government agencies who do not know what tribal governance and why it is important. Of the many trainings I have taken part in and spoken at, the concept of tribal governance is consistently the most difficult, primarily because non-Indigenous people never really think of tribes within the United States as nations. Yet, the United States federal government has been engaging in tribal governance for generations, including going back to that treaty that my ancestor signed. Despite the gaps in popular knowledge, which may be attributed to the way that U.S. history is constructed, I am hopeful because the questions that I get regarding tribes always lead to discussions on how non-Indigenous peoples can help foster support critical relationships between the federal government and tribal nations.
Government-Culture-Sovereignty
The hallmark of tribal identity in my view is the government-culture-sovereignty triad. The government as a body within the tribe steers the direction of the tribe. Tribes within the United States are, “distinct political, economic, and cultural entities.” This designation provides some challenges, but it also offers an opportunity for tribal governments to meet as nations essentially and theoretically on the same level as the United States government. This ability to meet government-to-government is a right based on what is known as trust responsibility. The origin of trust is based on dissenting cases from the U.S. Supreme Court and the Department of the Interior via a secretary’s order. These government-to-government relations are a large part of most tribal nation relations with the United States federal government. When dealing with treaty, environmental, and land rights, meeting on the same level as the United States government is an imperative, but the history of tribes and the United States on these issues is and has always been problematic. There are parts of the United States government that read the treaties differently than Tribes do, and these conflicting perspectives can cause problems.
Tribal governments are also significant not only because of their nation status in dealing with the U.S. but also because they administrate businesses within their reservation boundaries. Tribes are distinct economically, which provides innumerable challenges, and thus, tribes need to supplement health care costs and education costs. Tribes cannot depend on the United States economy as it doesn’t directly benefit tribes. So, in the way that the United States has a trust responsibility to tribes, the tribes themselves are directly responsible to their membership and communities. But this can be tricky. Most tribal government officials elected can be related to their constituents. Overseeing the tribe’s businesses to ensure proper management and profitability can often be difficult enough when you are not related but even more so when you are dealing with immediate and extended family members.
Tribal priorities are based are on the tribe’s needs, specifically the tribal members’ needs and the fiscal, environmental, educational, and cultural aspects of the tribe. A combination of all these factors determines the direction of growth and development for any given tribe. This idea is much easier in theory than practice. The reality is that not everyone will be happy with every decision made by the tribal government. Yet at their core, the biggest challenge for many tribal governments is to assert tribal sovereignty through cultural integration and cultural and linguistic revitalization.
Culture
Ojibwe scholar Anton Truer writes, “cultural loss was not accompanied by loss of language.” However, loss of language can be tied to boarding schools early work in Canada and the United States. I was taught from a young age that once you lose your Native language, your culture suffers. Losing your Native language and the connection of losing your culture is not wholly accurate; there other factors you need to consider such as lack of instruction of cultural traditions. Your language can be spoken, but traditions within your culture are not be practiced due to the lack of knowledge.
Knowing your tribe’s specific language helps shape your world view and gives you a better understanding of how your ancestors viewed the world. For example, most tribes have language-based protocols for people to introduce themselves. For Ojibwe, introductions start with (given or spirit) name, then clan association, and finally where they are from. The simplicity of the introduction grounds the person and allows for their culture to shine through everyday life. A part of the cultural talking point is the stylistic differences between western and tribal cultures, and the main difference is education’s inclusivity as part of everyday life rather than a set time frame. Understanding the different ways that students learn is not always recognized or approached effectively in western education, which has historically served an assimilative purpose for Indigenous children in the U.S.
The teaching styles of tribal cultures vary from tribe to tribe as each is different. From the experiences of having grown up within Ojibwe culture, there is an emphasis on hands-on learning. When we were taught how to hang bags on maple trees to harvest sap, we were shown how to do the process and then we were asked to do it. The experiences of learning how to harvest maple syrup are examples of how understanding and gaining appreciation for love of the land and resources afforded to one’s tribe are invaluable.
Traditions that tribes practice bring a unique viewpoint on how they approach meetings. The act of smudging, covering one’s head with smoke from sage, for instance, in Ojibwe culture, is done before a meeting to cleanse one’s thoughts and feelings before engaging with the subject matter. Before and after a meeting, the prayer is a grounding and remembrance of ancestors before them and a blessing of safe travel afterward. These traditions are completed before a pow wow or large gathering to bless the time together and remember the history of the said tribe and the land they are on. Though traditions are not as common as they have been historically, technological advancement and the disconnect between generations have made some much more challenging than others. Technology in itself is not what causes the disconnect it is the usage and the embracing or rejecting of technology that can cause a disconnect. These traditions ground the thoughts of the tribal people in attendance and allow for a better dialogue as they are thinking of their people’s future. The importance of traditions and ceremonies among tribes is even more important today due to the history of tribes within the United States and worldwide.
Educating young people remains critical and increasingly so since the Self-Determination era started, and this era was the push for tribes to have more autonomy for their people and responsibility for the administration of programs set forth by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Having educated tribal people perform the duties within the different parts of tribal governments has been a big goal of many tribes. A real-world statistic of tribal people being under-educated in comparison to their ethnic peers is the office I currently work in; of 18 people, there are only five enrolled tribal members. Of those five, only two have higher degrees needed for their positions. Keep in mind that this is an office on a reservation, and the numbers will be higher due to the population being much higher. When looking at the percentage of people that work for a tribal, state or federal government for the United States, as of 2010 it’s roughly 23% that work for any kind of government.
Sovereignty
The ideal world for any tribal person would be to incorporate values they learned from their families and tribal communities in all situations. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world, and each person is unique. The values we hope our tribal councils uphold are things like being thankful for what we have been given, respecting the land we are on, and remembrance of our ancestors before us. When I go to vote for our tribal council, the person I usually select has a similar value system that I do. At least in my tribe, the person whom gets the most votes, wins that seat. Exercising tribal sovereignty is this simple, and voting for tribal council is just an example of that.
What is the future of tribal peoples?
Tribal and federal governments moving forward will have to brainstorm to create sustainable ideals to protect treaty rights and tribal sovereignty. Karen Diver, former Chairwoman of the Fond Du Lac tribe in Minnesota, also a former special assistant of tribal affairs to the President under the Obama administration, states that any elected official that differs their constituency by race is failing those citizens. Though tribal members are citizens to their tribes, they are also citizens of the United States. Remembering the past as a guide for moving forward is important, and part of that is acknowledging that the United States government systems were not built for tribal people, and assuming that these systems work for tribal peoples without asking them is asinine. We need to adapt and continue to be resilient like our elders before us.
When we think about the future, we cannot forget about the seventh generation. The seventh generation is a concept that refers to any decision that is made today should have a positive outcome for seven generations down the line. Thinking seven generations ahead is very challenging, and that is the point. Taking time to think about decisions instead of being impulsive is an excellent trait that tribal people have collectively. Tribal leadership should bring decisions to the communities, so they can input to better the tribe. We want our culture, land, and rights to be here for those in the future so that they may have a good life and continue our traditions. Other issues are too complicated to go into in this article such as the problematic blood quantum issues, which in its design, ensures extinction and causes conflict among tribal people. The blood quantum issue is super complicated, and there is no robust and elegant solution.
Ensuring that our traditional lands and the ecosystems within those lands are well cared for so that the habitat can continue to flourish is central. Tribes are at the forefront of conservancy for the treaty lands; it is worth noting that, like many issues discussed in this article, this varies from tribe to tribe. The land is an essential part of becoming a federally recognized tribe within the United States and providing evidence that one’s tribe has a cultural history within that specific area. The rights within those lands provided by treaties are fundamental. Treaties reinforce our rights as caretakers of the land that the creator left in our care. The substantive act of hunting, fishing, and gathering is culturally important; if this process is lost, then tribes lose a part of their identity. The advocacy of clean water, air, and lands are essential to keep healthy tribal members and people affected downstream. Keeping treaty areas clean directly affects those within specific air and watersheds; the areas where the air and water go after being in a particular area can be significant.
The effects of the past have a direct impact on the present and future. It is essential to learn from the lessons of history and not repeat them. A sad example for the United States government is American Indian boarding schools. In these schools, the staff would commit many atrocities against young tribal people and, as a direct effect, have left many families fractured and hurt to this day. In these boarding schools’ tribal children would be told only speak English, when they did not know the language, if they spoke their tribal language they would be beaten. Looking to the future with past events in mind and the importance of significant decisions’ inclusivity on a national level is imperative. We have seen the effects of decisions made for tribal people without direct communication with tribal nations; it is very rarely positive.
What is the ordinary citizen’s responsibility moving forward?
Tribal history can be quite discouraging; nonetheless, tears do nothing for tribal people. Being an advocate for tribal rights is significant for tribal nations. The caveat within this is, do not appropriate our culture, we get enough of that as is. Striving towards becoming plurinational should be at the forefront of all goals, ensuring that governments meet at the government level. Having a conversation with tribal nations is not that difficult and allowing them to express their opinion is the least one could do. Being informed about tribal issues in your area is a start. If you do not know about particular cultural aspects and do not want to be offensive, ask a tribal member you know or reach out. If any of the issues discussed within this article piqued your interest, research more about them from tribal scholars, or better yet, reach out to tribal members and get their opinions.
Conclusion
Tribal governance is complicated as it incorporates many different aspects of government, culture, and sovereignty. There are many different governance viewpoints as there are tribes, and no shoe ever fits the same foot perfectly. However, in my view, the most salient ideas about Tribal governance cut across different communities. Tribal people are resistant and resilient peoples and quick learners. Moreover, our lives are holistic, and this is indicative in how we think, live, and learn. Giba Wabamin Minwa — See You Later.
