Tribal Leader Roundtable

The impact from the pandemic has been felt far and wide, and our nation will be in recovery for months if not years to come. In March, we closed our tribal government and Foxwoods Resort Casino for the first time ever since opening over 28 years ago.

Going back to the early 1980s when we tribes in Oklahoma first developed high stakes bingo operations, we learned quickly that generating our own revenues through profits from enterprises empowered our tribe to address our priorities as we determine.

We had additional closures when rioters and looters came through our area. We had to make immediate decisions to close our whole Quil Ceda Village area down and had police barricades everywhere. The word went out and tribal members helped guard the area along with the police...

The biggest challenge has been getting our labor force back on board. It’s been an issue nationwide, and we certainly are experiencing it too...

There have been many challenges in 2021, namely staffing and keeping our community safe; but, there have also been opportunities as it relates to CARES and ARPA funds. Tribal nations have never witnessed such a large investment into Indian Country and it is unlikely that we will ever see this again in our lifetime.

When the current coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and the federal, state, and local governments began to shut down, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe passed a Resolution enacting a public health emergency, creating the Southern Ute Indian Tribe’s Incident Management Team (IMT).

This month we spoke with seven tribal leaders in the Northwest about the greatest risks, challenges and rewards in 2022; how strong...

Our goals and objectives are in large part shaped by the tribe’s values and circumstances, as well as the vision for the future.

COVID-19 has impacted all aspects of the Community – everything from economic activity, community activity, to managing the public health crisis. Overall, there have been 23 deaths and nearly 588 individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.

The pandemic has impacted us immensely. Initially, not knowing the severity of COVID-19 and what came with it, sent the whole world into a different mind thought.