Secretary Zinke headed to National Congress of American Indians in June

Thursday, May 25, 2017

The nation's largest inter-tribal organization is getting ready to welcome the new leader of the Department of the Interior.

Secretary Ryan Zinke will address the mid-year conference of the National Congress of American Indians. The speech next month marks his first appearance before the group since joining the Trump administration.

“It is a great honor to accept the invitation to speak at NCAI’s Mid Year Conference,” Zinke said in a press release on Thursday. “This will give tribal leaders and I an opportunity to discuss ways to empower the front lines of tribal communities. I am a supporter of building a stronger government-to-government relationship that will reaffirm tribal sovereignty, self-determination and self-governance in Indian Country.”

The Mohegan Tribe is hosting the mid-year conference from June 12-June 15. The event takes place at the Mohegan Sun gaming facility on the reservation in Connecticut.

“We are looking forward to hosting Secretary Zinke during NCAI Mid Year,” said NCAI President Brian Cladoosby. “This year’s theme ‘Sovereign Infrastructure: Building our Communities through our Values’ is an important conversation we will continue to build upon with the Department of the Interior and the administration in the years to come.”

Nearly every Interior secretary in recent history has spoken to NCAI, although some more willingly than others. At one point during the Bush administration, the department imposed an unofficial boycott and refused to attend the group's events due to friction between tribes and top political officials.

Zinke has been eager to portray himself as pro-sovereignty though a speech at the National Tribal Energy Summit earlier this month raised eyebrows. He said tribes would be willing to take their lands out of trust -- an "off-ramp" is how he described it -- if doing so would enable them to exercise more control.

The Trump administration quickly followed up with a letter -- sent to NCAI -- to "set the record straight" on Zinke's views.

"As a former member of Congress and now head of the department, the Secretary supports tribal self-determination, self-governance, and sovereignty, and believes the federal government should meet its trust responsibilities," the letter stated.