President Barack Obama wins a second term in the White House

Wednesday, November 7, 2012  

President Barack Obama won a second term in the White House after sailing to victory in most of the battleground states on Tuesday.

Although election results were not final for the entire U.S., Obama secured enough votes in the Electoral College to defeat Republican Mitt Romney. The pair faced off in a costly campaign that didn't see any emphasis on Indian issues.

Still, Obama's historic election in 2008 set in motion a new era for Indian Country. Since January 2009, tribes have seen a return to more friendly policies on land-into-trust, self-determination, tribal gaming and the federal trust relationship.

"Over the last four years, we’ve worked hard on the restoration of homelands, to create economic opportunities for Indian Country, on the government-to-government relationship and tribal consultations, and we’ve spearheaded a new effort on public safety in Indian Country, but there’s still a lot of work to do," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in an interview last month.

The momentum is poised to continue with Kevin Washburn as the new leader of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Chickasaw Nation citizen's post is now secure with Obama in the Oval Office.

"I don't come in with a huge agenda," Washburn told tribal leaders at the National Congress of American Indians 69th annual convention last month. "My main agenda is to keep momentum on the strong progress we've had."

With the exception of Washburn, Obama's Indian team has mostly remained stable since 2009. The only high-profile exits came from Larry Echo Hawk, a Pawnee Nation citizen who was Washburn's predecessor, and Kim Teehee, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation who was the first Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs at the White House.

Other top officials include Hilary Tompkins (Navajo), the solicitor at the Interior Department; Yvette Roubideaux (Rosebud Sioux) as director of the Indian Health Service; Tracie Stevens (Tulalip), the chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission; and Lillian Sparks (Oglala Sioux / Rosebud Sioux) as commissioner for the Administration for Native Americans. Obama recently nominated Vincent Logan, a member of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma, as Special Trustee for American Indians, a position that's been vacant since January 2009.

Beyond appointments, Obama in his first year of office pushed for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which included $3.5 billion for Indian Country programs. He also signed public lands bill that included a water rights settlement for the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.

The biggest first-year achievement, though, was the announcement of a $3.4 billion settlement to the Cobell trust fund lawsuit in December 2009. Although it took a year for Congress to authorize it, payments are likely to go out later this year once the U.S. Supreme Court rejects one remaining appeal.

Obama's second year saw another huge gain -- the permanent reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. The bill, which modernizes the IHS, was included in the Affordable Care Act, the controversial law that largely survived scrutiny before the Supreme Court this year.

Also, in 2010, Obama signed into law the Tribal Law and Order Act to help tribes improve law enforcement. The White House ceremony included moving remarks from Lisa Marie Iyotte, a Rosebud Sioux woman who survived a sexual assault and has become an advocate for Indian women.

Later that year, in December, Obama signed the Cobell settlement into law as well as water rights settlements for the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona and five Pueblo tribes in New Mexico.

Starting in 2011, Obama's legislative agenda for Indian affairs came to a halt during the 112th Congress, following an election cycle that saw the rise of the conservative "Tea Party" movement. The House fell into Republican hands and while the Senate remained under Democratic control, the deep divisions have prevented important bills from moving forward.

Key among them is a fix to the Supreme Court's decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. Obama has pushed for a bill to ensure that all tribes, regardless of the date of federal recognition, can follow the land-into-trust process.

A second major item is the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Obama is the first U.S. president to support the recognition of tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians but the provision, as well as the overall VAWA update, remains controversial among Congressional Republicans.

The only survivor of the legislative gridlock of the 112th Congress was the H.R.205, the Helping Expedite and Advance Responsible Tribal Homeownership Act (HEARTH) Act. Obama signed the bill into law in July, making it easier for tribes to use their land for housing and economic development projects.

Policy wise, Obama has lived up to his campaign promise to keep Indian issues at a high level in the White House. Jodi Gillette (Standing Rock Sioux) succeeded Teehee in the Native American advisor post and Charlie Galbraith (Navajo) works in the office that deals with tribal, state and local governments.

Obama also continues to host the annual White House Tribal Nations Conference. Although his time at last year's session was noticeably brief -- he didn't stay for questions and answers with tribal leaders -- the event has helped usher in a new set of consultation policies across federal agencies.

Consultation led Obama's team to rescind a controversial policy that made it nearly impossible for tribes to acquire land away from existing reservations. And the BIA has approved nearly 1,000 land-into-trust applications since January 2009, reversing years of little to no progress during the Bush era.

"We win. America wins. Four more years," Keith Harper, an attorney and member of the Cherokee Nation who has worked on Obama's campaigns, said on Tuesday night.