Government shutdown affecting Native Tribes

It is now day 20 of the partial government shutdown. Thousands of native tribes across the country are feeling its impacts. Especially, here in Fort Hall.

The Shoshone Bannock Tribes are decreasing hours of all employees and suspending more services every day. As we close out the third week of the partial government shutdown, tribal members are beginning to worry.

Randy’L He-Dow Teton, Public Affairs Manager for Shoshone Bannock Tribes says, “We certainly hope that this doesn’t extend to the end of this month, but it’s just a waiting game.”

When tribes negotiated treaties with the U.S. decades ago, they secured government funding for things like health care and education in exchange for land. Now, with the partial shutdown, the tribes are scrambling for funds to keep those services.

“We are decreasing hours with all of our employees. We are shutting down the government tomorrow starting at 12 noon.”

They are currently limiting their essential departments without fully closing them. This includes the Indian Health Services.

“The important thing is that they’re open and they providing services this week, possibly next week. But we are actually working with the local director at IHS to on whether how they’re going to scale back on their hours.”

However, we are told that some of the staff members are working without pay; while other tribal workers are also worried that they won’t be called into work.

Chasen Whitehorse Coby, a community van driver, says, “They told me that, ‘well if things are still going with the trump doing the shutdown and what not, that I ain’t got no work on Monday.”

For Chasen, who delivers food and drives many of the elder tribe members, he’s hoping the shutdown will be short-lived. After two weeks, he too will be cut from his job.

“It makes me feel bad, I just barely got this job. I like working here, but at the end of the two weeks, I thought today was going to be a sad day, but I got another two weeks.”

The Tribes have a contingency plan, but it’s not something that is meant to be sustainable for an extended period of time.

“I think that’s the most important, that we urge people to maintain and have a strict budget right now because we’re just kind of, all of us, even myself in getting cut back. Those are the scary things.”