The Best Job in the Business

It often seems as though I have the best reporting job in the newspaper business.

The communities I cover exist within a complex political system unique to the Americas. It includes communities that embrace belief systems which reflect boundless spiritual beauty. And while many of these communities battle with some of the country’s most significant poverty-related social ills, others have risen into a world of economic prosperity.

Welcome to Native America, where there’s no end to good stories.

Despite being a buffalo cornucopia of news, most newspapers don’t make time to include these communities as part of a regular news beat. For those wanting to begin, I can suggest a jump-start for one-stop story shopping.

Start by attending the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) conference. The group holds its annual conventions all over the United States. More than 2,000 people attended this year’s event last month in Tulsa, Okla., home to one of the country’s largest urban American Indian populations.

The NCAI is the country’s oldest and largest Native advocacy organization. It represents 250 member tribes throughout the continental United States and Alaska.

Next year’s event is scheduled for Oct. 1-6 in Sacramento, Calif. A newspaper could easily send more than one reporter to an NCAI conference, because a single reporter can’t cover it all. The conference attracts top-notch sources, drawing together grassroots and tribal leaders, as well as federal legislators and senior government officials.

What’s more, the panel presentations reflect the most pressing issues affecting Native America.

Here are just a few highlights from the Tulsa conference:

• Diane Stuart, director of the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, gave an update on the latest legislative activity concerning safety for Native women, who experience some of the country’s highest rates of violence. One in three will be raped in their lifetime. Seventy-five percent of the perpetrators are non-Native. Additionally, domestic violence and sexual assault coalition directors from across Indian Country attended the conference. They mapped out efforts to better protect Native women.

• Jim Cason, associate deputy secretary for Indian affairs, provided an Interior Department update on the state of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It included its trust reform efforts. He also spent about a day meeting one-on-one with individuals who had concerns about the department.

• This year also marked an NCAI election year. Gov. Joe Garcia of the Ohkay Owingeh of New Mexico, formerly known as the San Juan Pueblo, was elected to a two-year term as the organization’s president. He will replace Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation chairman Tex Hall, who held the position for the past four years and met the organization’s maximum term limits.

• Pat Arnould, executive director of Louisiana’s Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs, spoke of triumphs in assisting fellow tribes devastated by hurricanes. Arnould lamented the way daily press failed to cover tribes stricken by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She could only cite a few examples of news coverage, one at a local newspaper. That story found its way into print because Hina Alam, an enterprising young reporter from The Lufkin Daily News, asked an editor if she could do it. 

• In addition to national perspectives, the NCAI conference offers an inside look at concerns relative to the organization’s 12 regional areas: Alaska, Eastern Oklahoma, Great Plains, Midwest, Northwest, Northeast, Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Southeast, Southern Plains, Southwest and Western. Each region schedules daily caucus meetings.  

• NCAI also does a spectacular job of sponsoring a youth leadership agenda, which includes panel presentations about issues reflecting young people’s concerns.

• The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development schedules a daylong presentation of its Honoring Nations program, a tribute to the best tribal governance stories. Fourteen programs were honored this year. After program administrators presented their work, seven received a $10,000 cash prize during an awards banquet.

These are just a few of the topics discussed at the conference. Other topics covered included:

• economic development


• tribal self-determination


• education


• sacred sites


• the environment


• healthcare


• taxation


• telecommunications


• jurisdiction


• veterans


• housing


• elders


• philanthropy


• voting rights


• gambling updates

The conference also included an exhibit hall, filled with 156 booths. Each represented someone making a difference, or promoting an idea, relative to Indian Country. The North American Indigenous Games (which will be played in Denver in 2006), United National Indian Tribal Youth Inc., and the National Indian Business Association were among the booths that have upcoming and ongoing newsworthy events to explore. 

Given the national scope and rich reporting ground, one would expect the conference to be overrun with reporters. But that’s usually not the case.

I may have the best job in the newspaper business. But there’s always room for company.