What You Missed in Indian Country
And What's Coming
It’s been about four months since the last edition of The Native Ledger hit your inbox. If you stuck around, thank you. If you’re new here, welcome.
A quick reintroduction: I’m Teddy, an enrolled citizen of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians living in Denver. I work in community development finance at Native American Bank and chair the Colorado Intertribal Policy Alliance. Most of my waking hours go toward building power and opportunity in Indian Country, on reservations and off.
The Native Ledger started because I kept finding myself in conversations where people, Native and non-Native alike, wanted to understand what was happening in tribal policy and in our communities. The fights that don’t make the front page. There’s no shortage of news that affects Native people. There is a shortage of people writing about it in plain language, with context, and without parachuting in from the outside.
That’s what this newsletter does.
What to expect going forward:
One to two posts a week covering current affairs and breaking news in Indian Country, history that didn’t make it into your textbook, policy fights worth paying attention to, and occasional pieces drawn from my own experiences in tribal communities, policy making, and organizing.
Some weeks will be a long look at a single story. Other weeks might be a handful of shorter items that caught my attention. I’m not interested in covering everything. I’m interested in being useful.
If you know someone who’d get something out of this, send it their way. If there’s a story or topic you think deserves attention, just reply to any edition.
Good to be back.