The President-elect’s transition team has been getting involved with various Native American tribes and their leaders. Meetings were held to discuss multiple topics including the ongoing pipeline issue in Dakota.
Politico reports, “Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), the chairman of Trump’s Native American Coalition, organized a meeting in Washington on Wednesday with American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Leaders.
Several members of the Trump transition team attended the meeting, according to a person present. Among them: Doug Domenech, a former George W. Bush Interior Department official who is focused on Interior for the transition; Eric Ueland, a long-time congressional staffer who is a leading transition policy aide; and Ado Machida, a top domestic policy aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, another top transition policy staffer. Rep. Tom Cole, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, also attended.
People who attended the meeting said it included nearly 200 people (those who couldn’t fit watched from an overflow room), including tribal leaders, lobbyists and consultants. Topics ranged from preserving Native American sovereignty, energy development, protecting water rights and the ongoing fight over the Dakota Access pipeline, which has faced fierce resistance from tribal nations. Each tribal leader was given time to outline their policy concerns and recommendations.”
