Nathaniel Brown, a delegate of the Navajo Nation Council, participated in a hearing on the Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act with the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions on March 29th.
Councilman Brown answered many questions on tribal employment and labor law, but Rep. Phil Roe (R- TN) took the opportunity to also pose a question about sovereignty. Rep. Roe began by first defining sovereignty as “the authority of a state to govern itself.” He later asked Councilman Brown on his own thoughts about sovereignty and its importance to the Navajo people. Councilman Brown took Rep. Roe’s definition of sovereignty as self-governance one step further and discussed the importance of self-determination, not just the authority to govern one’s self but also the ability to decide the form it will take, and financial independence.
Without the means to fund essential services on tribal lands and provide employment in communities with few prospects, the full exercise of tribal sovereignty will remain out of reach. In 2014, Justice Sotomayor wrote in a concurring opinion to Michigan v. Bay Mills:
“A key goal of the federal government is to render tribes more self-sufficient and better positioned to fund their own sovereign functions, rather than relying on Federal funding.”
Tribal sovereignty and self-determination becomes fully functional when economic independence is implemented. As reflected in its mission statement, NAFSA recognizes the vital role economic development plays in fortifying the sovereign status of Native nations. The unique positioning of tribes vis-a-vis the federal government and states provides opportunities for Native nations to craft impactful regulatory frameworks to promote tribally owned businesses, like NAFSA member tribal lending entities, and also foster a climate of entrepreneurship in areas desperately lacking basic retail and commercial options. Councilman Brown was correct to commingle economic outcomes with sovereignty. NAFSA joins those who tout economic independence as a powerful tool to fulfilling tribal sovereignty and self-determination.
