Oklahoma tribal nation leaders are wondering how federal cuts will continue to impact their citizens, as confusion persists about massive federal cuts.
The fifth in-person consultation meeting between federally recognized tribes and the Department of the Interior took place in Oklahoma on Tuesday. Tribal leaders and members expressed disappointment and uncertainty.
Representatives from multiple tribal nations, including the Shawnee, Choctaw, Iowa, Muscogee and Osage tribes, attended the consultation. However, some, like Shawnee Chief Ben Barnes, expressed frustration over a lack of clarity.
"Meaningful consultation will mean they have some thoughts and ideas to propose to tribal nations. I am not sure that we can even offer an official comment or consult at this time, given the nature of, or I should say, the lack of any substance that we see here today," Barnes said. "I'm glad that they're here. I'm glad that they came to Indian Country, but I had hoped for more answers."
In April, the Trump administration sent a letter to federally recognized tribes, asking for input on restructuring the Bureau of Indian Affairs in accordance with the Department of Government Efficiency.
The Department of the Interior then scheduled one virtual and six hybrid meetings across the country over the span of four weeks. Meetings are closed to the public to "protect any confidential information."
Muscogee Principal Chief David Hill said this wasn't enough time to coordinate the tribes' input.
"They come over here and visit with us, check the box and go back. We all have issues, concerns, especially about the budget," Hill said. "(It's) not enough time at all, just two months to put it all together … they're having it here, but they're time limited, but you have 30-plus tribes."
Trump's proposed fiscal-year-ending 2026 budget includes cutting $1 billion from tribal programs. The budget would cut more than $700 million from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and more than $230 million from tribal housing programs.
Loni Grinnell-Greninger, tribal vice chair for the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe in Washington, said the meeting discussed budget cuts to human services, which would negatively impact tribes that rely on the federal government.
"If you take away half of our funding just in human services alone, you're going to be basically creating a domino effect. You're going to create devastation on reservations. People are going to lose jobs. They're going to lose housing security. They're going to lose food security, could lose employment security, education security," Grinnell-Greninger said. "All of those things are going to go right out the window, because some tribes may not have the capacity to make up for all of those dollars that it takes."
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Council Chairman Jake Keyes said cutting infrastructure may limit the ability for tribes to work quickly with the BIA on important issues. He said the federal government must also consider tribes as sovereign entities.
"When it comes to tribes and dealing with tribes, it's not a DEI issue. Tribes are sovereign nations. We have a government-to-government relationship with the federal government, the state governments, with each other among tribes. There's certain trust responsibilities, trust and treaty responsibilities that the government has with tribes," Keyes said. "The hope is that they realize … they have to fulfill those obligations, and using the guise of DEI does not free them of that responsibility."
Federal workers present declined to comment.
The final in-person consultation session is scheduled for Thursday in Washington, D.C.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
