Indian leaders are scratching their heads as well. Though many welcome the revival of a Council on Native American Affairs at the "White House," they are wondering why Fish, as the incoming executive director, is being transitioned to an entirely different federal entity, especially following his connection to another controversy in which sensitive tribal data leaked to the media and entered the public domain. In the message, recipients were told to contact Fish at the Bureau of Indian Affairs starting on May 4. Up until this point, he has been reachable at the White House. The White House missive went so far as to inform "Tribal Leaders, Officials and Indian Country Professionals" to email Fish at a bia.gov address. During his role as key player and eager promoter of the Trump administration's coronavirus response efforts, he has been using a more prestigious inbox set up for him at the White House Executive Office of the President. But with tribal leaders working day and night to protect their communities from the coronavirus, which has hit some parts of Indian Country harder than the rest of America, they question whether the White House Council can be effective in the current climate. As the ongoing crisis takes a huge toll on their peoples' lives and well-being, they see their needs in the coming months being drowned out by a high-stakes election in which Donald Trump's future -- and possibly Fish's too -- is in doubt. "I'm glad that the administration is finally reestablishing the council," President Bryan Newland of the Bay Mills Indian Community told Indianz.Com. "It has been frustrating to see it languish so long, and I'm skeptical about how effective it can be during the middle of an election year dominated by a pandemic." Yet while many have been pushing since January 2017 to see the White House Council on Native American Affairs being brought back to life, the issue isn't on top of everyone's agenda at the moment. Tribal leaders are still waiting for their shares of an $8 billion coronavirus relief fund promised to their governments, with the Department of the Treasury still unable to figure out to distribute the much-needed money despite being charged to do so more than a month ago. "The most important thing to Indian Country right now is for the administration to distribute the funds Congress provided to tribal governments to keep our people safe from the coronavirus," said Newland, who previously worked at the BIA.Announcement on White House Council on Native American Affairs from Department of the Interior @USInterior 👇#COVID19 #Coronavirus @ASIndianAffairs https://t.co/SEORdcKYdZ
— indianz.com (@indianz) April 28, 2020
Jonodev Chaudhuri, the chairman of the Indian Law and Policy Group at the Quarles and Brady firm, also voiced concerns. Putting the Council on Native American Affairs under the auspices of one agency diminishes the gains tribal leaders have made in elevating the government-to-government relationship, he said. Through regular events like the annual White House Tribal Nations Conference, which hasn't taken place since Trump entered office more than three years ago, leaders of every federal agency, department, office and bureau committed to upholding the entire government's commitment to Indian Country, which the U.S. Supreme Court has described as moral obligations of the highest responsibility and trust. The latest announcement from Washington muddies the waters. “A powerful cornerstone of prior White House Tribal Nations Conferences before they were placed in moratorium was that Cabinet members and agency heads regularly acknowledged that the federal trust responsibility extends to all agencies and every corner of the federal government," Chaudhuri, who served as chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission during the later part of the Barack Obama presidency and through the early years of the Trump era, told Indianz.Com. "Engagement by the White House was and is critical to this message." "It is very reasonable for tribal nations to be concerned whenever the trust responsibility appears to be relegated only to Interior,” Chaudhuri, who like Fish is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, said of BIA's parent agency.Tribal leaders are celebrating after securing a win against the Trump administration over its handling of a much-needed #CoronavirusReliefFund. But where is the $8 billion promised to their governments? #CARESAct #COVID19 #Coronavirus #8BillionQuestions https://t.co/50OC1hI2T8
— indianz.com (@indianz) April 28, 2020
A. Gay Kingman, the long-serving executive director of the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Association, said she is "very skeptical" about the Trump administration's actions. She too questioned why the White House Council on Native American Affairs -- despite its name -- would not be operated out of the White House. "We’ve long called for it to be at the White House," Kingman, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, told Indianz.Com. "That's where it should be." Kingman pointed to a lengthy list of resolutions in which the Indian nations of Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota have sought to raise their treaty-based commitments to the highest levels of the U.S. government. Their people in the Great Plains account for 10 percent of the enrolled tribal population and their reservations encompass nearly 25 percent of all trust lands, even after their territories were whittled down by questionable federal actions and continued to be impacted by decisions that are disconnected from the trust relationship. But with Fish and the Council on Native American Affairs headed to Interior, Kingman said the initiative will be overshadowed by lingering conflict of interest and ethical issues facing Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney, who is a Trump political appointee at the department. Leaders from the Great Plains were the first to call for her resignation and their concerns helped guide every major Indian Country organization to unite and sign an unprecedented letter seeking her recusal from the $8 billion coronavirus relief fund. "We will be watching very carefully," Kingman told Indianz.Com.An investigation by https://t.co/0yYFAWzrcJ shows the White House was one of the first recipients of sensitive #Coronavirus data on nearly 700 tribes and Native entities. #COVID19 #CoronavirusReliefFund #CoronavirusLeak #CARESAct #CARESActDataBreach https://t.co/bkfpkZmmIa
— indianz.com (@indianz) April 20, 2020
Within the administration, no overt action has been taken against Sweeney, who defended her role in the $8 billion in a statement earlier this month. Interior as a whole has insisted that Congress made the call to include Alaska Native corporations as recipients of the fund even though they are not tribal governments. A federal judge dealt a serious blow to the Trump administration's defense on Monday. The ruling also was a big knock against Alaska's all-Republican delegation to Congress, whose members reacted negatively to the legal development. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), for example, claimed without proof or elaboration that the tribes behind the lawsuit operate “billion dollar casino operations that nobody seems to be paying much attention to." He said the Alaska delegation will "monitor this closely."A startling trend is emerging in #Wyoming. The #Coronavirus is taking a heavy toll on the first Americans with a disproportionate number of infections and #COVID19 deaths. @SenJohnBarrasso @SenatorEnzi @RepLizCheney @NorthernArapaho @GovernorGordon pic.twitter.com/UkPZ5ZsaQR
— indianz.com (@indianz) April 22, 2020
Sweeney, for her part, is welcoming the additional layer of oversight. She too appeared on Native America Calling after the announcement was made on Wednesday morning. “Indian Affairs is proud to support the White House Council on Native American Affairs, which will help the administration be even more responsive to Indian Country and effective in partnering with it," Sweeney said in Interior's news release. In the release, the policy action was described as one made by the White House in "conjunction" with Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. As of late Wednesday afternoon, no posts about the Council on Native American Affairs have appeared on his social media channels or on any of the ones maintained by main Interior. Sweeney's feed is the only one that mentions it. “We are looking forward to partnering with Tyler, whose proven leadership and legacy of bridge building throughout the federal government is meaningful and beneficial for all of us in the administration, Indian Country and Alaska Native communities," Sweeney said in the release.I am #proud to support the @WhiteHouse Council on Native American Affairs. Tyler Fish will be an excellent Executive Director with his proven leadership and legacy of bridge building in Indian Country . #Congratulations Tyler! https://t.co/VLfL4IcsJz
— Assistant Secretary Tara Sweeney (@ASIndianAffairs) April 28, 2020
Members of the Navajo Nation Council expressed their congratulations to White House Senior Policy Advisor and Tribal Liaison Tyler Fish on his appointment to the White House Council on Native American Affairs.
Posted by Indianz.Com on Wednesday, April 29, 2020
![](https://www.indianz.com/News/2019/09/24/tylerfishdoughoelscher.jpg)
Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), vice chairman of Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, is seeking formal inquiry into Trump administration's handling of $8 billion #CoronavirusReliefFund promised to tribal governments. #COVID19 #Coronavirus @SenatorTomUdall https://t.co/HiA83lwOTF
— indianz.com (@indianz) April 29, 2020
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