{"id":29122,"date":"2022-10-26T16:07:53","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T20:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=29122"},"modified":"2022-10-26T16:12:38","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T20:12:38","slug":"politifact-republican-candidate-tells-tall-tale-about-tribal-governments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/10\/26\/politifact-republican-candidate-tells-tall-tale-about-tribal-governments\/","title":{"rendered":"PolitiFact: Republican candidate tells tall tale about tribal governments"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PbyZx1py9QQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Arizona PBS: \r\n<a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/PbyZx1py9QQ>Arizona Horizon election debates 2022: Corporation Commission candidates<\/a> [Nick Myers comments start at about <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/PbyZx1py9QQ?t=2310>38:30<\/a>]\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Fact-check: No, assistance to U.S. tribal nations isn\u2019t foreign aid<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Wednesday, October 26, 2022<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Chad Bradley<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source\"> PolitiFact<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"source-links\"><a href=https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/>PolitiFact.com<\/a><\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"card\">\r\n  <div class=\"card-body\">\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT<\/div>\r\n&#8226;\r\nRepublican Arizona Corporation Commission <a href=\"https:\/\/nickmyers.us\">candidate Nick Myers<\/a> said financial assistance given to tribal nations would be foreign aid.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8226;\r\nFederally recognized tribal nations are sovereign \u201cdomestic dependent nations\u201d within the United States and are not considered foreign governments.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n&#8226;\r\nFederal support in tribal areas mainly comes from the Interior Department. None comes from the State Department.<\/div><\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nRenewable energy and the transition away from fossil fuels is a key issue for the Arizona Corporation Commission. In a <a href=https:\/\/azpbs.org\/horizon\/2022\/09\/candidates-for-corporation-commission-debate\/>recent debate, Republican candidate Nick Myers said<\/a> that neither the state or utility rate-payers should compensate the Navajo Nation for the closing of a large coal-fired power plant near Page, Arizona.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s not the job of the rate-payers in Arizona to get into foreign aid,\u201d Myers said in the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/PbyZx1py9QQ\">September 12 debate on Arizona PBS<\/a>. \u201cIf you\u2019re talking about tribal lands, foreign aid comes under the federal government.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nFederal aid to tribal governments is not foreign aid.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/08\/11\/cronkite-news-hearing-tackles-legacy-of-coal-mining-on-tribal-lands\/navajo-hiring-3\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-14848\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" data-attachment-id=\"14848\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/08\/11\/cronkite-news-hearing-tackles-legacy-of-coal-mining-on-tribal-lands\/navajo-hiring-3\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/11\/KayentaMine.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2000,1333\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;22&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Peabody Energy&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 5D Mark II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;A bulldozer crawls over a pile of coal at Peabody&#039;s Kayenta mine on the Navajo Nation in this 2012 photo.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1338378722&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;35&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.016666666666667&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Navajo Hiring&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Kayenta Mine\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Kayenta Mine&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;A bulldozer crawls over a pile of coal at now-closed Kayenta mine on the Navajo Nation in this 2012 photo. Witnesses at a congressional hearing largely agreed that coal-dependent economies need to diversify, but they could not agree on how best to do it. Photo courtesy Peabody Energy&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/11\/KayentaMine-1024x682.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/11\/KayentaMine.jpg\" alt=\"Kayenta Mine\" class=\"size-full wp-image-14848\" \/><\/a> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">A bulldozer crawls over a pile of coal at now-closed Kayenta mine on the Navajo Nation in 2012.  Photo courtesy Peabody Energy<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Tribal nations are sovereign, not foreign<\/div>\r\n\r\nAlthough the Navajo Nation has \u201cnation\u201d in its name, it\u2019s not considered a foreign government. The Supreme Court rulings of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/enrd\/timeline-event\/federal-trust-doctrine-first-described-supreme-court\">Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832)<\/a> defined tribal nations as \u201cdomestic dependent nations.\u201d That applies to the 574 federally-recognized Native American tribes in the United States.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe land of the Navajo Nation was originally inhabited by the indigenous Navajo. The American government took it away, and established the current reservation boundaries.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThrough congressional acts such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bia.gov\/regional-offices\/great-plains\/self-determination\">Indian Self-Determination and Education Act of 1975<\/a>, federally recognized tribes are able to exercise greater sovereignty in their governmental affairs. The federal government provides some support for education, health and social services.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe budgets of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/BUDGET-2023-APP\/pdf\/BUDGET-2023-APP-1-16.pdf\">State Department<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/BUDGET-2023-APP\/pdf\/BUDGET-2023-APP-1-13.pdf\">Interior Department<\/a> for 2023 show the Interior Department has a dedicated Indian Affairs section. The State Department budget has no programs for tribal nations.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nMyers told PolitiFact that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncai.org\/about-tribes\">National Congress of American Indians<\/a>, an organization aimed at ensuring the rights of tribes, \u201cseems to be proud of being independent, federally recognized nations.\u201d He added that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/about-us-office-of-foreign-assistance\/\">State Department says<\/a> \u201cthey are responsible for making U.S. payments to international organizations.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nNeither fact makes tribal groups eligible for foreign aid.\r\n<p><\/p><div class=\"mt-1 mb-1\"><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8411603009680747\" data-ad-slot=\"6394965691\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/div><p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Coal plant closures impact tribal communities<\/div>\r\n\r\nIn November 2019, the coal-fired power plant known as the Navajo Generating Station near Page, Arizona, and the Kayenta mine that provided the coal for the plant permanently closed. The closure impacted the surrounding community and the Navajo Nation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/local\/arizona\/2022\/07\/12\/navajo-generating-station-closure-hurt-communities-residents-say\/10027935002\/\">costing hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in lost revenue<\/a>.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe Arizona Corporation Commission held several meetings where residents from the Navajo Nation and neighboring Hopi Nation called for assistance to help transition to renewable energy and for economic recovery. No decision has been made, and the new members of the Arizona Corporation Commission are expected to face this issue in the future as other coal-fired power plants near the Navajo Nation are expected to close.\r\n<p><\/p><div class=row><div class=col-8>\r\n <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/10\/26\/politifact-republican-candidate-tells-tall-tale-about-tribal-governments\/nickmyerspantsonfirepolitifact\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-29134\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"667\" height=\"596\" data-attachment-id=\"29134\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/10\/26\/politifact-republican-candidate-tells-tall-tale-about-tribal-governments\/nickmyerspantsonfirepolitifact\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/26\/NickMyersPantsOnFirePolitifact.png\" data-orig-size=\"667,596\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Nick Myers &amp;#8211; Pants On Fire &amp;#8211; Politifact\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Nick Myers &amp;#8211; Pants On Fire &amp;#8211; Politifact&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Image courtesy Politifact&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/26\/NickMyersPantsOnFirePolitifact.png\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/26\/NickMyersPantsOnFirePolitifact.png\" alt=\"Nick Myers - Pants On Fire - Politifact\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29134\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\"> Image courtesy Politifact<\/figcaption><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Our Ruling<\/div>\r\n\r\nMyers said that financial assistance given to tribal nations falls under \u201cforeign aid\u201d which \u201ccomes under the federal government.\u201d\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nThe U.S. Supreme Court and the federal laws define 574 federally recognized tribal nations as \u201cdomestic dependent nations.\u201d Federal money for tribal governments mainly flows through the U.S. Interior Department and is not classified as foreign aid.\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<strong>We rate this claim Pants on Fire.<\/strong>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">OUR SOURCES<\/div>\r\n Arizona PBS, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PbyZx1py9QQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Corporation Commission debate<\/a>, Sept. 12, 2022<br \/>\r\nNational Conference of State Legislatures, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/legislators-staff\/legislators\/quad-caucus\/an-issue-of-sovereignty.aspx#:~:text=Tribal%20sovereignty%20refers%20to%20the,to%20regulate%20their%20internal%20affairs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">An Issue of Sovereignty<\/a>, Jan. 2013<br \/>\r\nArizona Republic, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/news\/local\/arizona\/2022\/07\/12\/navajo-generating-station-closure-hurt-communities-residents-say\/10027935002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Navajo residents seek \u2018just and equitable\u2019 help after closure of power plant, coal mine<\/a>, July 12, 2022<br \/>\r\nGovInfo, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/app\/collection\/budget\/2023\/BUDGET-2023-BUD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Budget of the United States Government<\/a>, accessed Sept. 29, 2022<br \/>\r\nGovInfo, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/BUDGET-2023-APP\/pdf\/BUDGET-2023-APP-1-13.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of the Interior budget FY 2023<\/a>, accessed Sept. 29, 2022<br \/>\r\nGovInfo, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/BUDGET-2023-APP\/pdf\/BUDGET-2023-APP-1-16.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Department of State and Other International Programs FY 2023 budget<\/a>, accessed Sept. 29, 2022<br \/>\r\nUnited States Department of Justice, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/enrd\/timeline-event\/federal-trust-doctrine-first-described-supreme-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Federal Trust Doctrine first described by Supreme Court<\/a>, accessed May 14, 2015<br \/>\r\nNational Congress of American Indians, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncai.org\/about-ncai\/mission-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mission and history<\/a>, accessed Sept. 29, 2022<br \/>\r\nEmail exchange, Nick Myers, Republican candidate, Arizona Corporation Commission, Oct. 4, 2022<br \/>\r\nEmail exchange, Melissa Schwartz, communications director, U.S. Department of the Interior, Sept. 29, 2022<br \/>\r\nEmail exchange, Department of State Press Office, Sept. 27, 2022\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<HR><EM>\r\nFact-checking journalism is the <a href=https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2018\/feb\/12\/principles-truth-o-meter-politifacts-methodology-i\/>heart of PolitiFact<\/a>. PolitiFact&#8217;s core principles are independence, transparency, fairness, thorough reporting and clear writing.  PolitiFact&#8217;s is a partner with Cronkite News, which published the article here under a  <a href=https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/>Creative Commons license<\/a>. \r\n<\/em><HR>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Republican Arizona Corporation Commission candidate Nick Myers claims financial assistance to tribal nations is &#8220;foreign aid.&#8221; PolitiFact checks the facts.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29132,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,11,20,13,1,14],"tags":[2567,42,117,118,56,121,284,454,24,7,3535,3534,85,220,1059,84],"class_list":["post-29122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-environment","category-indian-trust","category-law","category-national","category-politics","tag-2567","tag-arizona","tag-bia","tag-doi","tag-elections","tag-employment","tag-energy","tag-grants","tag-navajo","tag-ncai","tag-nick-myers","tag-politifact","tag-republicans","tag-sovereignty","tag-state","tag-supreme-court","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/26\/NickMyers-scaled.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-7zI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}