Fears about making voting harder, plans to settle water rights and two bands of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah going into the medical cannabis business were all on the minds of seven of Utah’s eight sovereign tribes when they addressed Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, state lawmakers and the cabinet of the Utah Division of Indian Affairs on Wednesday.
“The Indigenous communities of Utah are a special place here. I’m very grateful to work for a governor and lieutenant governor that recognize that strong, healthy native communities make strong healthy states,” said Dustin Jansen, executive director for the Utah Division of Indian Affairs.
American Indian Caucus Day is organized by the Utah Division of Indian Affairs to hear updates from Utah’s tribes during the Legislature. The day is usually observed with cultural events at the Utah State Capitol but, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the caucus was held virtually this year.
In her opening remarks to the tribes, Henderson said she supports the sovereignty of each of the tribes.
“We really want to be good partners in all areas where we can and where we should, for the greater good of Utahns,” Henderson said.
Making it harder to vote
One major topic was voting rights. Both Henderson and the tribes agreed on the need to protect voting for Native Americans in the state. Henderson told leaders that she would speak against HB371, sponsored by Rep. Phil Lyman.
HB371 was defeated in committee on Wednesday night and would have rolled back the state’s mail-in voting system, making it much harder for rural Native Americans to vote. Native Americans hold a narrow majority in San Juan County, which is in Lyman’s district.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and his executive staffer, Davis Filred, who also works with the Navajo Utah Commission and nonprofit Utah Diné Bikéyah, said that HB371 would undermine the voices of Navajo (Diné) people in the county.
Resolving water rights
Nez said that he appreciates the state and congressional support of the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement Act, which he says will provide important infrastructure for thousands of Diné people who continue to need basic utility and water services.
Separately on Wednesday, Sen. Mitt Romney tweeted that he was able to secure funding for the settlement through the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act, which he says will provide water to about 40% of the Navajo people in San Juan County.
Tamra Bordchadt-Slayton, band chairperson for the Indian Peaks Band of Paiute Indians, told the caucus that her band would adjudicate its water claims in southern Utah.
Rupert Steele, chairman for the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute, also thanked the state for helping the tribe create a federal water team with Utah and Nevada to settle the tribe’s water rights.
“We’ve been in this drought for a while and it’s affected the grazing areas for elk and cattle population on the rez,” Steele said, citing the impacts of climate change on his people and their lands.
Medical cannabis and tribal regalia
The Kanosh Band as well as the Shivwits Band of Paiute Indians told the panel they received approval from the Department of Agriculture to start their hemp production for medical cannabis.
Corrina Bow, chairwoman for the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, said that she is waiting for Gov. Spencer Cox to sign HB30, which would allow Indigenous students to wear their cultural regalia during high school graduations.
Nez said the Navajo Nation will continue its strict public health orders with its mask mandates into the foreseeable future, even while nearby states like Utah relax theirs.
The Northwest Band of the Shoshone Nation also notified Utah leaders of its intention to sue the state of Idaho for not honoring its treaty to hunt and fish in that state and will need the support of Utah to help the tribe reinforce its sovereignty in its ancestral lands.
Tribal leaders also called on the governor for the passage of SB28, which would restructure the government to better protect Indigenous children in the state’s welfare system.