11 minutes
Sovereignty is a legal relationship, not a cultural category Why Tribal Nations belong in a different category than community partners, what the relationship rests on, and the four ideas state staff most often blend together.
What you’ll be able to do Explain in a work conversation why a Tribal Nation is a government rather than a cultural community, and name what the state's relationship with Tribal governments rests on. Compare the responses to this question and explain your choice: What is the accurate correction to make before this plan goes any further? Document a next step for Sovereignty is a legal relationship, not a cultural category: Open the stakeholder or engagement section of one live project document and check whether a Tribal government appears there at all, and in what category. Governments, not a line on a stakeholder list Tribal Nations are sovereign governments. That sentence is not a courtesy and it is not a cultural observation. It describes a legal and political relationship between the United States, the state of Minnesota and each Tribal government, built from the Constitution of the United States, treaties, statutes, case law and agreements between governments.
Minnesota is home to eleven federally recognized Tribal Nations, each with its own elected officials. Minnesota law says the state acknowledges and supports their unique status and their right to existence, self-governance and self-determination, and it directs state agencies to accord Tribal governments the same respect accorded to other governments. The Department of Human Services is one of the agencies that law names.
For a state employee the practical effect is a change in category, not a change in tone. A Tribal Nation is not an advocacy organization, a cultural community, a service population or an audience for a communications plan. It is a government with its own laws, its own programs and its own authority over what happens on its own lands. When a DHS project reaches that authority, the right move is not a warmer invitation. It is to reach the DHS offices that lead government-to-government work before the shape of the project is set.
This module is about state-employee responsibilities: noticing when a Tribal government has a stake in what you are doing, and getting that question to the right DHS office early enough to matter. It does not speak for any Tribal Nation, does not describe any Nation's culture, beliefs or internal affairs, and does not stand in for formal consultation or for the state's Tribal-state relations training.
Four ideas that get blended together Sovereignty Culture The people a program serves Outreach
A Tribal Nation governs itself. It makes and enforces its own laws, runs its own programs, and decides what happens on its lands. The state's relationship with that government is government to government, and at DHS it is led by the Office of Indian Policy and the offices that handle tribal relations and consultation.
Culture, language and practice belong to each Nation and to its members. This program does not describe them, and neither should your project documents. If cultural learning is part of your own development, take it from the Nations and from the offices that offer it, not from a summary written by a state work group.
Native American Minnesotans are members of the public and are owed the same accurate, timely, accessible service as anyone else. Minnesota law is explicit that nothing about the consultation duty reduces the state's duties to individual Minnesotans, including those of Native American descent. Serving a person well is not consultation, and consultation is not a substitute for serving a person well.
Outreach is what an agency does to reach the general public: notices, meetings, plain-language materials, comment periods. A Tribal government may take part in a public process, and that participation never replaces consultation. Sending a Nation the same survey link you sent to everyone is communication, not government-to-government work.
Fix the category before you plan anything else What you can change You control how your own project documents classify a Tribal Nation: as a government, or as one more line in a stakeholder table.
What to watch for Do not solve a misclassification by adding warmer language to the same list. The list itself is the problem, because it drives timing, invitations and who is asked what.
Your next step Before your next planning meeting, read the engagement section of one live project document and say out loud which category it puts a Tribal government in.
Which kind of work is this? A proposed DSD policy change would apply to services delivered on Tribal lands.
Choose a category Government-to-government work, led by the responsible DHS office Staff learning, through approved training Service to an individual Minnesotan General public communication A new reporting requirement would apply to programs a Tribal Nation operates.
Choose a category Government-to-government work, led by the responsible DHS office Staff learning, through approved training Service to an individual Minnesotan General public communication A grant program is being redesigned and one funding route runs to Tribal governments.
Choose a category Government-to-government work, led by the responsible DHS office Staff learning, through approved training Service to an individual Minnesotan General public communication A person who is an enrolled member of a Tribal Nation applies for a waiver and needs the same accurate, timely eligibility decision as anyone else.
Choose a category Government-to-government work, led by the responsible DHS office Staff learning, through approved training Service to an individual Minnesotan General public communication You want to complete the state's Tribal-state relations training before your next project begins.
Choose a category Government-to-government work, led by the responsible DHS office Staff learning, through approved training Service to an individual Minnesotan General public communication A program is drafting a plain-language notice for every household in a county.
Choose a category Government-to-government work, led by the responsible DHS office Staff learning, through approved training Service to an individual Minnesotan General public communication Check matches Reset Foundations to keep in reach What is a Tribal Nation, for work purposes?
A sovereign government with its own laws, programs, lands and elected officials. Not a cultural community, not an advocacy group, not a service population, not an audience.
What does the relationship rest on?
The Constitution of the United States, treaties, statutes, case law and agreements between governments. Legal and political, not discretionary and not a matter of goodwill.
How many Tribal Nations are in Minnesota?
Eleven federally recognized Nations, each with its own elected government. They are separate governments and do not speak for one another.
Who leads this work at DHS?
The Office of Indian Policy and the DHS offices that handle tribal relations and consultation. Staff notice and route; those offices lead.
Can a colleague speak for a Nation?
No. No employee, work group or advisory body speaks for a Tribal government. A Nation speaks through its own government.
A private reflection, for you alone and never collected: how might my role, my authority and my assumptions be shaping the category I have put a Tribal Nation in, and what would change in this project if I had that category right from the start?
Carry this forward Minnesota is home to eleven federally recognized Tribal Nations with their own elected governments. State law directs agencies to accord Tribal governments the same respect accorded to other governments, and it names the Department of Human Services among those agencies.
The relationship rests on the Constitution of the United States, treaties, statutes, case law and agreements between governments. It is legal and political, not a matter of culture, demographics or outreach preference.
Four ideas get blended together: sovereignty, culture, the Native American Minnesotans a program serves, and general public outreach. Only the first is government-to-government work, and at DHS it is led by the Office of Indian Policy and the offices that handle tribal relations and consultation.
This module does not speak for any Tribal Nation and does not describe any Nation's culture, beliefs or internal affairs. Those belong to the Nations themselves.
A scenario about how a policy team classifies Tribal Nations in a stakeholder plan, a sorting exercise that separates four kinds of work, and a knowledge check on what the relationship rests on.
Open the stakeholder or engagement section of one live project document and check whether a Tribal government appears there at all, and in what category.
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Course overview Next lesson Participation and course completion in this program do not count toward DHS-required training credits unless management, a director, or DHS leadership expressly approves an exception.
