Future – An Indigenous person’s perspective

1/17/2024

11:52 am

I have spent the last couple of days sick. A winter cold is never fun. The limited groceries we currently have, combined with the insomnia, have wreaked havoc on my immune system. Not eating or sleeping right. I was expecting to get sick.

As I was sitting here this morning, waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in, drinking my green tea, and waiting for a callback from our state’s SNAP program for temporary food benefits, I spent the time reading through the agenda for our upcoming tribal council meeting.

My tribe has gone into a partnership agreement with a major hockey league team. The agenda that I am reading is the market analysis research they helped prepare for our strategic planning.

This is something that my tribal leaders and council have attempted and failed numerous times over the last 10 years, probably longer than that but that is what I can remember. As I texted my grown children about it, I let them know how much time, money, and effort was wasted because we just did not have the right resources or people to complete it previously.

This is also the same issue that many of our tribal members balk at. They complain and yet at the same time demand changes to our economic development and future. You cannot have it both ways, there has to be give and take. I understand where they are coming from but the days they remember no longer exist but we can continue those beliefs and traditions. I see out there other tribal nations that have done the same, been successful, and rebuilt their culture to make it stronger than ever before.

We are capable of doing the same and we are still the same strong people as always. The stubbornness to change our way of thinking is what is getting in the way. I see these things as not just affecting myself, but my children and the future generations long after I am gone. That is what I see my fellow tribal members forgetting, our future as a nation. We will either still be here in 50 years or we will no longer exist. We have to learn to compromise somewhere.

Our history as a tribal nation was that of fighting to the end. My ancestors followed the leader Blackhawk and were forcibly moved from their original lands in the lower Great Lakes to what is now known as the state of Oklahoma. We have a long history of standing our ground and fighting for what we want.

I as a tribal member remember that history and also have gained this different perspective because of the years in school pursuing a degree focused on business and administration. A part of this learning included sustainability, leadership, entrepreneurship, and law.

The main purpose of having a strategic plan and making partnerships is to continually grow and strengthen our economic opportunities. This also protects our sovereignty rights and treaties.

Yet, we as a nation here in this state once called “Indian Territory” is only one small nation of 39 different tribal nations located here. This state could be considered one giant reservation but even as separate nations we still battle with the local and state leadership over upholding our treaties and sovereignty rights. The crux of all of it is money, power, and greed.

The governor of our state, who is also a tribal member of one the largest tribal nations here, wants to do away with our rights and take over what has already been built. This is despite the already compact agreements in place that provide revenue to this state’s economy.

In an article that I read concerning the negotiation over the compact agreements in the McAlester News-Capital from November 10, 2023, it stated “…there are 555 compacts and interlocal agreements between Oklahoma tribes and various government entities…” These compacts are related to gaming revenue, hunting and fishing licenses, tobacco tax revenue, and motor vehicle registrations. This does not include any donations or funding support that tribal nations provide for their communities such as bridges, roads, schools, tourism, and any other needs.

In an article published December 19, 2023, from the newspaper The Oklahoman, it stated that “Oklahoma’s 2024 budget is projected to be over $13 billion. The economic impact of Oklahoma’s tribes is over $16 billion. The combined operating budgets of the Chickasaw and Cherokee are over $6 billion alone. Tribal governments are the equivalent of multiple Fortune 1,000 companies and economic engines within Oklahoma’s economy.”

That is what these tribal nations produce and provide within their communities and the designated boundaries that we were put into, not willingly but by force hundreds of years ago. It is significant and the local and state leaderships want more. As I stated before, it is always about money, power, and greed.

How does my tribal nation fit into this? As I wrote before we have always stood our ground and we took that chance in 1993 that led us to the Supreme Court of the United States.

In the Oklahoma Tax Commission versus Sac and Fox Nation, it was upheld by the Supreme Court that “Absent explicit congressional direction to the contrary, it must be presumed that a State does not have jurisdiction to tax tribal members who live and work in Indian country, whether the particular territory consists of a formal or informal reservation, allotted lands, or dependent Indian communities.” That is why May 17th is celebrated as my tribal nation’s “Victory Day”.

This decision allowed our tribal nation to impose and collect taxes and fees associated with car tags on tribal members within their authority. We were allowed to create tribal tags and other tribal nations followed suit. It was a particularly important and influential decision that affected not only us in this state but other federally recognized tribes throughout Indian Country, the United States.

As of 2022, the Bureau of Indian Affairs a federal government entity “recognizes 574 American Indian tribes and Alaska Native entities in the U.S.” This does not include the 400 unrecognized tribes in the U.S. that did not meet the federal government’s criteria. To be federally recognized means the U.S. government engages in a government-to-government relationship, has granted tribes their sovereignty through upholding treaties, and allows them to access resources such as federal funds or programs.

One criterion of these requirements is the “…continued existence without gaps as a tribal entity…” per the Bureau of Indian Affairs. “This has been greatly impacted by colonial settlement, Christianization, and other factors that affect the uninterrupted documentation of their presence…” per that same article. This has also been significantly influenced by forced removals of tribal nations from their homelands.

I went off on a tangent and jumped up on that soapbox again. Yet, it does provide context to how I think we should move forward as a tribal nation. We are a small nation of <5000 members but we have the opportunity to grow, economically.

The more self-sufficient and self-sustaining we become through business growth the less government funding we will need in the future. The less restrictions that will be placed on us as it has always been.

I have always found it ironic when I meet new people whether at school or in a workplace who live in this state, once called Indian Territory, and they have no clue that we as tribal nations, still exist.

They are sometimes genuinely surprised when I tell them the same things that I wrote here. There are over 500 other federally recognized tribal nations throughout the United States and Alaska. That 400 tribal nations are also in existence but are not recognized by the federal government.

The last Census that counted us in 2007 stated we make up “…1.5% of the population or 4.5 million…”. In another report conducted in 2005 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs American Indian Population and Labor Force Report it was “…estimated to be 1.9 million who were working…”. This is an issue that most in Indian Country know about, we are undercounted and have been for an exceptionally long time.

The following are the 10 largest Indian tribes per The National Council on Aging article dated January 10, 2023: “Navajo Nation (399,567), Cherokee Nation (292,555), Choctaw Nation (255,677), Chippewa (214,026), Sioux (207,684), Blackfeet (159,394), White Mountain Apache (15,791), Muscogee Nation (108,368), Haudenosaunee Nations (114,568), Blackfeet Nation (17,321)…” That totals 1,785,951 tribal members from 10 tribal nations out of a total of 900 nations both federally and non-federally recognized.

Yes, we are still here and we still exist.

I can only hope that as we, the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, continue moving forward we find that equilibrium of existing in the world today while holding onto and never forgetting who we are as a people. Remembering what our ancestors fought for, what we teach our current generation, and the legacy we will leave behind for future generations.

Thank you so much for stopping by and supporting this blog.

Have a wonderful week ahead and a fabulous weekend!

Stay motivated. Stay positive. Keep moving forward.

Peace, love, happiness, and good vibes, always!

Suzanne