Potawatomi chairman offers praise, thanks
Crawford urges common ground at 20th State of the Tribes address
This year’s State of the Tribes Address by Forest County Potawatomi Chairman James Crawford on Thursday morning was less contentious than in previous years as he mostly thanked legislators in Madison for programs they already passed.
Crawford presented the 20th annual address to a packed room in the state Capitol that included about 100 legislators, members of the executive branch and the state Supreme Court.
One of the moves Crawford praised was the state approving the Tribal Federally Qualified Health Care Centers Reimbursement program.
It allows tribes to receive much quicker Medicaid reimbursement at tribal health centers. Previously, Crawford said tribes have had to wait years for federal reimbursement for services provides at tribal clinics.
And, based on the 2024 rates, tribes will be getting more money back.
“Wisconsin tribes are seeing more than a $60 million increase in their federal Medicare reimbursements,” Crawford said.
Crawford thanked state officials for the Indigenous language road welcome signs that have been unveiled at reservations across Wisconsin in recent years.
He said tribes weren’t previously allowed to have Wisconsin Department of Transportation signs welcoming visitors to the community like other municipalities, such as Ellsworth, which has a sign welcoming visitors to the “cheese curd capital.”
Crawford said these signs provide visitors with a glimpse of the area they’re entering and that it’s important for drivers to know when they’re entering sovereign Indigenous land.
“It does provide tribes with an important reinforcement of our sovereignty and allows us to be treated just like other governments,” he said.
Crawford also expressed thanks to state officials for:
● Expanding and extending the Tribal Elder Food Box Program, using $3 million in tribal gaming revenue from the state budget. The program helps ensure that tribal elders, especially in northern rural reservation areas, have access to fresh, traditional foods, such as bison meat, Lake Superior fish and white corn.
● Helping to bring affordable housing to tribal communities.
● Establishing a pilot program for pharmacy school training in rural communities, including those run by tribes.
● Approving a number of social programs that benefit tribal communities.
● Authoring bills supporting Wisconsin kinship caregivers, which includes providing financial assistance for them.
● Finally, he thanked Wisconsin law enforcement and Department of Justice’s Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Task Force for addressing the disproportionate rate of trafficking of Indigenous women and girls. Crawford said these groups are helping to tackle the problem, but need more help.
While Crawford thanked state officials for the work they’ve done, other tribal leaders who had given the State of the Tribes Address — the address rotates among tribal leaders — in recent years focused more on the work the state needs to do.
Last year, Mole Lake Chairman Robert Van Zile urged legislators to crack down on illegal gambling. He also asked the state to do more to protect the environment, expand education about Indigenous peoples, ban race-based school mascots and allow tribal police a state pension so tribal police departments can retain good officers.
In 2022, Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican President Shannon Holsey also mentioned environmental issues, called for more critical thinking in classrooms and criticized bills that would whitewash Indigenous peoples’ history.
In 2021, Lac du Flambeau President John Johnson Sr. called attention to the financial struggles tribes were facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutting down of casinos. He also urged legislators to focus more on protecting the environment against mining and water contamination from “forever chemicals,” such as PFAS.
In closing this year’s address, Crawford explained that, although tribes in Wisconsin share commonalities, they’re very different, but work to find common ground toward a common goal.
He urged a divided legislature to do the same.
“Republicans, Democrats, I ask that you don’t forget to find the time to set aside your differences and to not be afraid to reach across the aisle and take purposeful time to feast together, to dance together and to sing together,” Crawford said.