TSREP Overview, Mission, and Timeline
Overview
35 other states have some type of permanent Tribal State Relations office in place.
Of those 35 offices:
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14 offices exist in a singular department:
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New Mexico, South Dakota, and most recently, Nevada, are the only three states with cabinet-level departments dedicated to Tribal State Relations, respectively upholding government-to-government relationships with 23, 9, and 28 federally recognized Tribal Nations.
Our Mission
Vision:
Change will grow from the inside out with a permanent Tribal State Relations Office to provide leadership and oversight for continual improvement of Tribal-State relations, including the government-to-government relationship with Tribal Nations and strengthening work across state agencies and Native people will no longer be invisible in systems responses.
Purpose:
Create a permanent office by identifying core responsibilities and staffing models, determining whether the work remains in the Governor’s Office or evolves into a commission, a cabinet level agency, or is incorporated within an existing agency, and developing a system that reflects and responds to the true needs and preferences of the Tribal communities throughout the state.
Engagement:
Provide opportunities through diverse partner and stakeholder engagement to garner input as to the best use of a permanent office of Tribal State Relations that can best serve all Native people in the state. In-person and virtual meetings, interviews, and a survey will be implemented with the 11 sovereign Tribal Nations, urban Native leaders, Native organizations, state agencies, including Commissioners and Tribal liaisons, other stakeholders from Native communities, and those most impacted by the current system disparities in Minnesota.
Intended Outcomes:
Articulate what a permanent Tribal State Relations Office could look like in Minnesota. Stakeholder input will direct the placement, infrastructure, vision, purpose, goals, and objectives of the proposed permanent Tribal-State Relations Office.
Protect and enhance self-determination, treaty, and sovereign rights of the Dakota and Anishinaabe Nations in Minnesota. Too often, system responses are created by people for a community rather than with the community. This project is committed to inclusion and equitable representation.
Timeline
Summer 2024:
A survey will be developed and delivered to other Tribal State Relations offices and Tribal Leadership in corresponding states. The survey includes both open-ended questions to gather ideas and preferences about the location, tasks, and responsibilities of a permanent Tribal State Relations Office as well as quantitative questions to determine the performance capabilities of different types of TSR offices.
Fall-Winter 2024:
Meetings will be held with stakeholders across the state of Minnesota to gather input from:
- Tribal Nations;
- Minnesota Indian Affairs Council Executive Director and staff;
- Agency Commissioners and Tribal Liaisons;
- Urban, non-reservation Native communities and other Native stakeholders;
- The Governor’s Office and legislative leaders; and
- Individuals with lived experience.
The TSREP team will also continue outreach to Tribal Nations and Tribal State Relations offices within other states to learn more about their structure, obtain their insights and recommendations from a “What works? What doesn’t?” approach.
Spring 2025
The information will then be synthesized into a report with a recommendation for the permanent location within state government, official name for the office, responsibilities, and a staffing model required to meet identified responsibilities. Once the draft recommendation is developed, it will be shared with the stakeholders listed above to review.
Legislative language will be drafted to reflect the final recommendation for the office and fiscal impact will be determined in anticipation of the 2025 Legislative Session.