Trahant Reports is going away. But there is what’s next: I am planning on spending the next year writing about Indigenous economics.Native Voice One - NV1

My weekly commentary as Trahant Reports is coming to an end. And this comes at a remarkable time when more people are receptive to the idea that Native voices must be included in any national conversation. We are the media (as well as its consumers).Native Voice One - NV1

One thing about Charlie LaDuff’s career .. he has often focused on those who do the hard labor. The working stiff.His 9/11 story is the same.Native Voice One - NV1

It’s easy to be impatient with COVID-19. We want this pandemic over. But the only way out is continued vigilance. The virus needs to have fewer places to spread.Native Voice One - NV1

Who is Native?That should be a simple question, right? Not so much. The answers are complicated by history … and generations. So the answers will come tribe by tribe as citizens sit down and debate what's next.Native Voice One - NV1

This is a unique moment for tribal nations. There will be more money flowing into tribal governments and enterprises than ever before in history. So how do we make sure that money is well spent … and how do we measure what success looks like?Native Voice One - NV1

This might be a moment for a new climate conversation. Jade Begay, who just was appointed to a White House advisory council on environmental justice, says a rethinking could “liberate us” from dependency on fossil fuels and create a space for practices that are more harmonious. This column previously aired in April.…

The story we tell about sports, or about life, builds on the stories that have come before. In the days ahead we will know about the trials and successes of the Indigenous athletes in Tokyo. Each of those stories will go back to those that have come before, including Billy Mills.Native Voice One - NV1

Last week was a major gathering for Native people in Las Vegas -- sort of our first post-pandemic experience. It was a major reunion for people who really wanted to be together again. The Reservation Economic Summit or RES 2021 and the National Indian Gaming Association Trade Show and Conference. More than 8,000 people were registered at the two ev…

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians wasn’t interested in a traditional utility right of way. The tribe wanted ownership so a deal was put together to make that happen. And create a new model for economic development.Native Voice One - NV1

Indian Country Today had its 40th anniversary last week. The newspaper has published a lot of history in that time. And one narrative that stands out, the story of founder Tim Giago.Native Voice One - NV1

A new film explores the story of John Peabody Harrington. He was an ethnologist and linguist who spent more than fifty years conducting exhaustive research that preserved some 150 languages (including detailed notes with more than 1 million pages). (Repeat)Native Voice One - NV1

Are the United States and Canada ready to reconcile their national myth with a brutal truth of history? Secretary Deb Haaland’s op-ed in the Washington Post was a first step.Native Voice One - NV1

Cartoonists have the talent to take a complicated idea and boil it down to its essence. The best cartoons make us laugh. And then we think. So it’s disheartening when the Pulitzer Prize board cannot reach a conclusion and give its annual award.Native Voice One - NV1

There is a lot of complexity in criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country. That’s because when federal policy changes … the law often does not. So some laws support tribal sovereignty while others undermine that same idea. And that’s how a common sense decision became a “bare minimum standard” for law enforcement in a tribal nation.…

The return of inflation impacts people in a variety of ways. It’s an old problem, one that really hasn’t surfaced in recent years.Native Voice One - NV1

A memorial day story. American Indians and Alaska Natives have a long history of signing up for military service. Even the Public Health Service is a uniformed civilian branch of the United States. And so many people lost their lives wearing one of those uniforms.Native Voice One - NV1

The latest research confirms what we already know: The impact from sports mascots is harmful to Native people. And, as people learn more, they are compelled to be good neighbors. It only takes one visit to a team with a mascot, watching the fans in all their crazy and offensive celebrations, to understand.…

As tribal governments decide the next steps to limit the spread of COVID-19, one thing is clear. American Indian and Alaska Natives have the highest rates of vaccination in the country, according to the CDC. Already nearly 40 percent of the total population has had at least one dose. That compares to 25 percent of white Americans.…

Summary:Fifty years ago last week the federal government’s experiment with a policy called “termination” was crushed at the ballot box on the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington state. Termination was a policy that was designed to end the United States government’s role in Indian affairs. The vote on May 8 was not close.No…

American Indians and Alaska Natives had a tough time during the pandemic and faced a disproportionate impact. But there is a brightspot: Vaccinations. As Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flangan said: “We know how to do this.”Native Voice One - NV1

This might be a moment for a new climate conversation. Jade Begay, who just was appointed to a White House advisory council on environmental justice, says a rethinking could “liberate us” from dependency on fossil fuels and create a space for practices that are more harmonious.Native Voice One - NV1

The Biden administration announced a plan to spend $$2 billion to supplement third-party billing within the Indian health system. This is a big deal and perhaps a step toward Medicaid reform and changing the way the Indian healthcare system is funded.Native Voice One - NV1

A new film explores the story of John Peabody Harrington. He was an ethnologist and linguist who spent more than fifty years conducting exhaustive research that preserved some 150 languages (including detailed notes with more than 1 million pages).Native Voice One - NV1

A few years ago a Senate report pegged the unmet infrastructure needs in tribal communities at $50 billion. Now the federal government is about to spend a lot of money … but there is still a much longer “to do” list.Native Voice One - NV1

Indian Country Today is on a new path. The 40-year-old newspaper is no longer owned by the National Congress of American Indians. In fact, the Associated Press’s headline was cool. “News outlet Indian Country Today has a new owner: itself.”Native Voice One - NV1

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has made history by taking office. But the thing is … Haaland is not alone. The administration of President Joe Biden has made a number of key appointments across government, including, most recently, Janie Hipp, as the general counsel for the Department of Agriculture.…

As we begin the “what’s next?” after the pandemic, Indian Country Today’s experience moving into a new studio has lessons for all. Innovations? Yes. But first be safe.Native Voice One - NV1

SUMMARYThe latest coronavirus relief package has a couple of more steps before it becomes law. But that path is now clear. This legislation does more to address poverty, especially child poverty, than any law since the 1960s and the Great Society or 1930s and the New Deal.Native Voice One - NV1

Let’s talk about the challenge to spend billions of dollars. The need is clear. The economic activity that supported jobs, social services, and growth all came to a halt last year. Congress responded with an unprecedented investment in Indian Country targeting money for relief.The challenge is to spend money effectively.…

Tribes are expecting a lot more than just window decoration from the Biden administration and Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary. The hope is for a secretary who deeply understands tribal issues and is ready to act accordingly. But first she has to get past the Senate.Native Voice One - NV1

On this Presidents’ Day, let’s take a minute to consider the President of the United States and a complicated history for the people Indigenous to this land and the governments that were here first. And the ongoing government-to-government relations between the White House and tribal capitals.Native Voice One - NV1

It’s often said that elections have consequences. In this case the Georgia Senate race last month could make all the difference if Rep. Deb Haaland is confirmed as the first Native American to be Secretary of the Interior. Republicans will need Democrats to vote against her to prevent her from taking office.…

The distribution of vaccines to Indian Country is working well because tribal governments, unlike their state counterparts, already have a culture of public health. And, more important, the Indian health system is just that, a system.Native Voice One - NV1

The Senate is having a tough time coming up with rules about how the next two years will work with Republicans and Democrats split evenly. And it’s one more reason why it’s time to reconsider that very body.Native Voice One - NV1

This week marks Martin Luther King Day and the beginning of a new presidential administration. A good moment to reflect on legacy.Native Voice One - NV1

We now know how close this whole affair came to an even more lethal day with some of the provocateurs promising to kidnap or kill the vice president, members of Congress, and their staff. It also opened up a political honeymoon for the Biden administration that could result in profound changes that have been held up by divisions.…

Indian Country Today remains in an expansion mode -- and the goal is to change the narrative of the Indigenous world (by reporting on stories that would too often go untold.)Native Voice One - NV1

Our children and grandchildren should remember the stories we tell about 2020. The pandemic, the resilience, and, of course, memories of those we lost.Native Voice One - NV1

There are few jobs as complicated in Washington as running the U.S. Department of Interior. It’s a structured conflict of interest. But Deb Haaland brings something to the post that’s never been seen before, she has experienced the impact of the agency’s policies.Native Voice One - NV1

Representation by Native Americans in government falls short. At the Interior Department, the agency responsible for the relationship between the government of the United States and tribal governments, there have been 53 secretaries. And the math here is easy. Zero from 53 is still zero.Native Voice One - NV1

Idaho’s sockeye salmon have not returned to Pettit Lake in some thirty years. Now after litigation, mitigation and field preparation the iconic fish showed a promising return.Native Voice One - NV1

Congress has a lot on its agenda, including a December 11th deadline to pass a budget. There are loud calls for a new pandemic relief bill, including funds to help distribute vaccines.Native Voice One - NV1

There is a lot of speculation about Rep. Deb Haaland being named Secretary of the Interior. She is Laguna Pueblo and she would make history because a Native American has never served in a presidential cabinet. And she clearly has a shot at history. But that’s only one possibility of many appointments that could benefit Indian Country.…

A COVID-19 vaccine is on the day and that’s the most hopeful news of the year. Vaccines are tricky in Indian Country. We know that influenza continues to kill people and that disease can be prevented with a vaccine. Yet year after year only about 30 percent of us bother to get that shot.Native Voice One - NV1

Now that the election is over, what’s next? In a word: complexity. Challenging issues ranging from slow transition planning to continued questions about governance especially in a country that remains divided.Native Voice One - NV1

Native Americans have unique challenges when it comes to campaign commercials, yet more and more are telling more nuanced stories.Native Voice One - NV1

Both campaigns are reaching out to Indian Country in the final days of the 2020 presidential campaign.Native Voice One - NV1

The state of Navajo has been an idea that surfaces from time to time. And the idea of an Indigenous state has a rich history in the United States as well as around the world.Statehood will not fix the problems facing the Navajo Nation but it would do two things: Add representation in Congress and open up funding.…