By Levi Rickert, Brian Edwards
February 2, 2025
A coalition of tribal leader councils and Native organizations sent a letter Sunday to President Donald Trump, congressional leaders and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum warning against misclassifying tribal programs as diversity or environmental justice initiatives that could face cuts under recent executive orders.
The groups — including organizations representing Native education, health, law, culture and economic development — to ensure tribal funding isn’t paused or negatively impacted as it implements new executive orders. They emphasized that tribes’ relationship with the federal government is based on their status as sovereign political entities, not race.
“Federal tribal programs are not racial or preference programs, and indeed these federal funds and programs are legally mandated under the trust and treaty obligations owed to us,” the organizations wrote in the Feb. 2 letter.
The letter came in response to recent White House policy changes, including executive orders and White House Office of Management and Budget memos that raised concerns about potential impacts on tribal funding.
According to the letter, any disruption to tribal programs would “reverse the progress of the federal-tribal trust relationship over the past 57-year history of the Self-Determination and Self-Governance eras of federal Indian law and policy.”
The organizations noted that tribal communities still lag behind national averages on key indicators of community health. They urged the administration to continue government-to-government consultation with tribes and maintain dedicated tribal offices within federal agencies.
The tribal groups expressed willingness to work with the administration on shared priorities, including reducing federal regulations, streamlining funding mechanisms, strengthening tribal self-determination, and addressing long-standing tax issues that impede tribal economic growth.
“Indian Country is a vital non-discretionary part of the federal government budget,” the letter stated, urging the administration to “work towards historic achievements by fully embracing the sovereign status of Tribal Nations to drive unprecedented economic development and prosperity.”
The organizations also cautioned against implementing changes to the federal workforce that could affect the government’s ability to fulfill its trust and treaty obligations in Indian Country. They emphasized the importance of maintaining expert tribal offices within each federal agency, which were created through bipartisan efforts to improve federal-tribal relations.
The groups invited administration officials to discuss these issues at the upcoming NCAI Executive Council Winter Session in Washington, D.C. from February 10-13.
Signatories included major Native-serving organizations such as the National Congress of American Indians, Native American Rights Fund, Indian Gaming Association, and the Native Indian Health Board. The letter was also signed by nine inter-tribal leadership groups across Indian Country, including the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, Great Plains Tribal Chairmen’s Association, Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes, and United South and Eastern Tribes.
Individual tribes and regional organizations are also taking direct action. Last week, the Coalition of Large Tribes (COLT), representing 21 tribes with large land bases, passed an emergency resolution calling for tribal exemption from the sweeping funding freeze. The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes said they would send a delegation to Washington to advocate for treaty rights protection.
The tribal organizations’ concerns come amid legal challenges to the administration’s funding policies. A federal court in Rhode Island issued a temporary order on Jan, 31 blocking the administration from pausing federal funding in 22 states and Washington, D.C., though questions remain about its impact on tribal nations given their unique sovereign status. The Treasury Department advised federal agencies to comply with the order, which prohibits pausing or blocking funding based on recent executive orders.
