Native OK 4/19 Weekly Newsletter

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland speaks at a Tribal Nations Summit in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 15, 2021. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Biden administration announces $46M in climate funding for Indigenous communities

By Shawna Chen

The Interior Department announced Monday it's investing $46 million to address the impacts of climate change in Indigenous communities.

Why it matters: Researchers have found that the near-total loss of historical lands leaves Indigenous people in the U.S. more vulnerable to climate change. Its disproportionate impact, including reduced access to traditional foods, decreased water quality and exposure to health hazards, severely exacerbates socioeconomic inequities.

Details: The new funding, made available through President Biden's infrastructure package, will be available for efforts that include ...

Initiatives that address and strengthen climate resilience and adaptation
Ocean and coastal management
Community-driven relocation

What she's saying: "As the effects of climate change continue to intensify, Indigenous communities are facing unique climate-related challenges that pose existential threats to Tribal economies, infrastructure, lives and livelihoods," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.

"Coastal communities are facing flooding, erosion, permafrost subsidence, sea level rise, and storm surges, while inland communities are facing worsening drought and extreme heat," she added.
The federal government's investments "will help bolster community resilience, replace aging infrastructure, and provide support needed for climate-related community-driven relocation and adaptation."

The big picture: 40% of federally recognized U.S. tribes live in Alaska Native communities, where the accelerated rate of rising temperatures, melting sea ice and thawing permafrost have taken a toll on critical infrastructure and traditions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Some coastal communities have been forced to relocate to higher ground, while others have had to adjust to habitat degradation and extreme changes in ecosystems.
Indigenous people have led the way in developing pathways for climate resilience, something the Interior acknowledged in its funding announcement.
Many experts emphasize that centering Indigenous climate knowledge and adaptation plans is the key to climate justice.

Interior is accepting proposals from Tribes who wish to receive the funding.

Worth noting: Biden's infrastructure law allocates a total of $466 million to the Bureau of Indian Affairs over five years, including $216 million for climate resilience programs.

Quapaw Nation Secretary-Treasurer Guy Barker (left)and Quapaw Nation Chairman Joseph Tali Byrd

Quapaw Nation Secretary-Treasurer Guy Barker recognized with national leadership award for tribal finance

(SEATTLE) – Quapaw Nation Secretary-Treasurer Guy Barker was named Tribal Executive of the Year at NAFOA’s 40th annual leadership awards conference in Seattle. First established as the Native American Finance Officers Association, NAFOA is the country’s oldest and most respected non-profit dedicated to promoting excellence in financial management and fiscal policy in Indian Country. NAFOA works with more than 130 tribes, and partners with dozens of the country’s largest corporations like DELL, Bank of America, BKD CPAs & Advisors and other national and regional companies.

A significant factor in being named Tribal Executive of the Year was Barker’s work to refinance the Quapaw Nation’s two casino resort properties. Downstream Casino Resort is in Quapaw, Oklahoma, near Joplin, Missouri. Saracen Casino Resort is in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. When it opened in 2019, the Quapaw Nation became Oklahoma’s first Native American tribe to open a gaming facility outside of Oklahoma. The combined savings of refinancing both properties could save the Quapaw Nation nearly half a billion dollars over the next decade. Over time, that savings will directly impact tribal citizens by funding expanded health care, housing, education and other social services.

“NAFOA is honored to present the Executive of the Year Award to Secretary-Treasurer Barker,” said Rico Frias, Executive Director, NAFOA. “His accomplishments strengthening the financial well-being of the Quapaw Nation within his first term in office is an impressive feat and serves as a great example for other young tribal executives.”

Barker was elected to serve as Secretary-Treasurer for the Quapaw Nation in July 2020. By the fall of 2021, he helped the tribe achieve credit rating upgrades by Moodys and S&P Global to secure more favorable financing. By December of 2021, only a year and a half into his first term, he completed the refinancing of both casino resort properties.

“I’d like to thank President Danforth and the entire NAFOA board of directors for this incredible honor. I’m humbled that an organization with NAFOA’s legacy of supporting tribal communities through financial stewardship recognizes our dedication to protect and grow the Quapaw Nation’s assets,” said Quapaw Nation Secretary-Treasurer Guy Barker. “Although I’m honored to accept this award as Executive of the Year, we are blessed with a truly remarkable team of leaders and financial stewards. Over the past two years, our team’s hard work from the gaming floor to the executive offices has been transformational. I’m confident it will pay dividends to our tribal citizens in the form of tribal services for generations. Accepting this award from my peers is an honor, but it remains a privilege to serve the Quapaw people in the years to come.”

Additionally, Barker continues to walk the halls of Congress to negotiate a resolution over the federal government’s mismanagement of tribal assets in the longstanding “Bear Settlement” dispute. Initially filed in 2002, Barker’s grandmother Ardina Moore was an original claimant in Thomas Charles Bear, et al. v. the United States. The lawsuit sought an accounting from the federal government of the tribe’s trust assets from an area that produced $20 billion in ore between 1917 and 1947 for World War I and World War II. The federal government settled the case in 2004. Still, for nearly 20 years, the federal government has yet to compensate Quapaw citizens for mismanaging their assets or for the government’s role in helping create one of the worst environmental disasters in the United States at Tar Creek.

Under the leadership of Chairman Joseph Tali Byrd and Secretary-Treasurer Barker, the Bear Settlement is finally in the form of bill H.R. 4715, sponsored by Congressman MarkWayne Mullin (R-Okla) and is closer than ever to being resolved after nearly two decades of litigation.

“It is an honor to serve with Guy and an even greater privilege to continue the work our grandmother Ardina Moore initiated decades ago with the Bear settlement," said Quapaw Nation Chairman Joseph Tali Byrd. "We will continue to advocate for all Quapaw citizens."

Barker is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and Oklahoma City University School of Law. Both he and Chairman Byrd are the great-great-grandsons of Chief Victor Griffin, the last hereditary Chief of the Quapaw Tribe. Following Griffin’s death, the tribe began electing Chairmen to lead a business committee rather than following a system of hereditary chiefs. Their grandmother Ardina Revard Moore is an elder in both the Quapaw and Osage tribes and was inducted into the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame in 2018. Barker’s mother, Martha Moore Barker, was the first Miss Indian USA in 1985.

NAFOA also honored the accomplishments of several other leaders in Indian Country at the event. Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana Chairman Marshall Pierite received the “Tribal Leader of the Year Award” for 30 years of dedicated service and leadership.

The San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority (SMGHA) was recognized with the “Large Deal of the Year Award” for its $650 million acquisition of the Palms Casino Resort. “Small Deal of the Year Award” went to the Tule River Tribe and the Tule River Gaming Authority for closing a $175 million syndicated bank financing for constructing the new Eagle Mountain Casino.

The Honorary Leadership Award went to Casey Winn Lozar, an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. Mr. Lozar is the vice president and director of the Center for Indian Country Development (CICD) for the Federal Reserve based out of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

In addition to working with tribes and tribal leaders to strengthen fiscal management and improve tribal economies, NAFOA also offers youth programming with the NAFOA Institute Career Basics. It serves 18-26-year-old Native American youths with coursework to strengthen career readiness, personal finance skills and advance understanding of issues impacting tribal economies. Learn more about NAFOA at nafoa.org.

Citizen Potawatomi Nation will host its annual balloon festival in Shawnee, OK, offering family friendly fun to the public.

CPN Announces Fifth Annual Firelake Fireflight Balloon Fest, Aug. 12-13

Guests invited to enjoy hot air balloons, live music and more

SHAWNEE, Okla. (April 14, 2022) — Twenty-five hot air balloons will take flight over Shawnee skies once again at the fifth annual Firelake Fireflight Balloon Fest, scheduled for Friday, Aug. 12 and Saturday, Aug. 13.

The Citizen Potawatomi Nation (CPN) is hosting the free event and invites the public to attend a weekend full of live music, fireworks, a 5K fun run and family friendly activities.

The highly anticipated two-day event will take place at Raymond Peltier Park, located at 1702 S. Gordon Cooper Drive in Shawnee, OK.

A kid zone with a petting zoo, splash pad and inflatables are among the activities planned for the weekend. Live music will be performed Friday and Saturday night and guests will have the opportunity to ride in hot air balloons and enjoy the entertainment from the sky.

A variety of merchandise will be available for sale from regional artists, craftspeople and retailers at a vendor market. The Outdoor Nation Expo—a hunting and fishing show—will take place at the FireLake Arena. The event will host hunting and fishing vendors and activities for those who enjoy the outdoors. Guests can expect archery and fishing activities inside and out.

Registration is open for the 5k run. Limited RV spots are available for purchase. Balloon rides will go on sale July 12.

For more information on the Firelake FireFlight Balloon Fest, visit firelakeballoonfest.com.

Zeke Proctor, Cherokee Outlaw and later U.S. Marshall

150 years ago last week in Cherokee Country

A group of armed men burst into a small schoolhouse where Cherokee Nation citizen Zeke Proctor (1831-1907) was on trial for killing Mary “Polly” Beck Hildebrand. It’s said that Proctor went to the Hildebrand-Beck Mill in Cherokee Nation’s Goingsnake District to confront his brother-in-law, Jim Kesterson, who had abandoned his wife and children to live with Hildebrand. The situation turned violent. The trial itself became a contest of sovereignty between the tribal and federal courts, but Proctor was tried in Cherokee Nation. The armed men who stormed the trial started a gunfight leaving 11 people dead and several injured, including Proctor, who was ultimately found not guilty of murder. #OnThisDayInHistory

Learn more about this event in history at the exhibit “Sovereignty on Trial: The Tragedy at Goingsnake,” on display now at the Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.