Reaction from Native Farm Bill Coalition Co-Chairs
February 28, 2024
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Equity Commission – an independent body
with 41 commission and subcommittee members charged with evaluating USDA
programs and services and developing recommendations on how USDA can reduce
barriers – released its Final Report (Report) with 66 recommendations to further
advance and embed equity into policies, practices and processes at the agency.
Kari Jo Lawrence, CEO of the Intertribal Agriculture Council and Co-Chair of the Native
Farm Bill Coalition, served on the Equity Commission’s agriculture subcommittee. She
and fellow Native Farm Bill Coalition Co-Chair Cole Miller, Chairman of the Shakopee
Mdewakanton Sioux Community, shared the following reactions to the Report.
“The Commission’s Report advances important proposals to help fulfill the Biden
Administration’s commitment to make USDA’s work more equitable, including several
recommendations which will benefit Tribal governments and Native producers,
including, but not limited to:
● Elevating the Office of Tribal Relations
● Ensuring equitable language and culturally competent access to USDA services
● Lowering the threshold for Tribal agricultural and food businesses to access the
USDA’s supplier and procurement programs
● Increasing funding for the Federally Recognized Tribal Extension Program
(FRTEP) that is formula-based rather than competitive
● Expanding Cooperative Extension Service programming to marginalized
communities
● Increasing financial support for 1994 Tribal Land Grant Colleges and Universities
(TCUs)
● Removing eligibility restrictions on receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) benefits and food from the Food Distribution Program on
Indian Reservations in the same month
● Prioritizing Rural Development funding and programming for rural economically
distressed communities and historically underserved communities, including
Federally Recognized Tribes
● Opening new forms of credit for producers by removing restriction to the
intermediary relending program (IRP) that prevent IRP’s low interest loans from
benefitting agricultural producers
● Ensuring representation on County Committees reflects the populations of the
counties each respective committee serves
“As Congress begins to negotiate the next Farm Bill, the NFBC will continue to advocate
for the necessary authorities to ensure USDA has the tools and resources it needs to
implement the recommendations that will improve USDA’s reach and presence in Indian
Country, and other critical priorities that were highlighted in the USDA’s Equity Action
Plan 2022 (2022 Plan) and its Equity Action Plan 2023 Update (2023 Update) but are
missing from the Commission’s Report. These priorities include improving access to
USDA programs for Native farmers and ranchers, establishing an office of self-
governance and authorizing Tribes to exercise their 638 self-governance authority.
“Nevertheless, we are concerned that the Commission’s Report doesn’t adequately
address a major source of inequities in Indian Country: lack of awareness of the
importance and uniqueness of Tribal sovereignty and the federal government’s treaty
obligations to Tribes. The Report largely ignores the fact that Tribal governments are
sovereign, federally recognized governments, and often makes the mistake of
mentioning Indigenous people as an underserved group without reference to Tribes or
the status of Tribal trust lands that impact program accessibility. There are a number of
recommendations that do not specifically mention Tribes, even though they could
benefit from the provisions. The terms BIPOC and Indigenous do not have a foundation
in federal Indian law, and therefore do not have the same meaning as Tribes, which are
sovereign governments with jurisdiction over Tribal lands – jurisdiction to the exclusion
of states and counties that surround Tribal lands. The failure to explicitly mention Tribes
minimizes an important reality in Indian Country’s relationship with the federal
government and makes it easier for the USDA to continue to be dismissive of Indian
Country’s concerns in the future. Indeed, couching Indian Country’s priorities as
“Indigenous” seeks to make the 574 federally recognized Tribes, as well as Native
Hawaiians, fit into a pre-defined, monolithic box, rather than acknowledging that Tribes
and Tribal people have the right to define how they engage in agriculture and with the
USDA.
“The Report’s omission of Tribal trust land and jurisdictional issues undermines the
comprehensive nature of the Commission's work, as these issues are often at the core
of the barriers Indian Country encounters at USDA – barriers that are different than
those faced by non-Native disadvantaged communities and require unique solutions.
“It is a major disappointment that the Commission did not hold a Tribal consultation in
the development of this Report, which could have helped identify some of the Report’s
shortcomings. The Commission was formed to address racial equity, but its Report and
recommendations are not as comprehensive as they could have been.
“We are also deeply concerned to see USDA – separate from the Commission’s Report –
take a step back from its equity commitments outlined in its 2022 Plan in its recently
published 2023 Update. Specifically, USDA’s 2023 Update omits stabilizing an office of
self-governance, something Indian Country has been calling on USDA to establish since
the FDPIR and Tribal Forest Protection pilots were established in the 2018 Farm Bill.
While the 2023 Update notes that “[a] dedicated Office of Tribal Relations Tribal
Empowerment Team will increase awareness about … opportunities that promote tribal
self-determination principles” this is not a substitution for self-determination in
practice, and without nuance, may confuse what true self-determination is.
“Because Native people have experienced firsthand the difficulties of getting USDA
senior leadership and staff to administer the agency’s programs in an equitable way
toward Indian Country in the past, we look forward to seeing a new commitment from
USDA leadership to implementing these recommendations and expanding access to
USDA programs for Tribes, Native producers and other disadvantaged communities. It is
our hope that the USDA will lean on the newly seated Tribal Advisory Committee, as
well as engage in Tribal Consultations to supplement the Commission’s Report and
inform the Department’s future Equity Plans pertaining to Indian Country.”
Cole Miller Kari Jo Lawrence
Chairman Chief Executive Officer
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Intertribal Agriculture Council