Two weeks have passed since presidential candidate Kamala Harris, the current vice president, selected Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. In the lead-up to the election, elected tribal leaders across Minnesota expressed their support for Walz as their vice presidential candidate in a letter to the Harris campaign.

Leaders from all 11 tribal nations in the state signed the letter of support, citing Walz’s commitment to tribal-state relations.

Lower Sioux Indian Community President Robert Larsen signed the letter. He says the biggest change in tribal-state relations in recent years has been access to decision-makers.

“When it comes to certain things, you can rise to the top of the agency,” Larsen said.

Governors since Jesse Ventura have issued executive orders affirming government-to-government relationships. In 2019, Walz issued an order directing all state agencies to consult with tribes.

COVID-19 posed a major test to tribal-state relations during the Walz administration. At the beginning of the pandemic, tribal leaders agreed to have daily phone calls with each other to discuss their emergency response efforts.

“The governor and the state heard about it … and they started having these calls, and since then we’ve had a weekly call. Originally it was from the governor’s office. Now it’s the state call, with different commissioners on each week,” Larsen said.

During the pandemic, tribal leaders took action in accordance with their own laws. They decided whether to close schools and businesses or to impose curfews themselves. Tribal leaders also began drafting laws requiring the state to consult with them on matters affecting tribal nations.

“We pushed this in the legislature … the state was busy fighting COVID,” Larsen said. “And lo and behold, we did it. The governor signed it.”

The 2021 law takes up the spirit of Walz’s executive order and requires agencies to appoint tribal-state liaisons and requires state agency employees to attend training.

Sam Strong, secretary of the Red Lake Nation, signed the letter in support of Walz. Strong says Walz’s selection of White Earth Nation citizen Peggy Flanagan as lieutenant governor has had a major impact on tribal-state relations.

“The most important partnership he ever had was with the lieutenant governor, who was a voice for the tribal nations and a voice for the state. Because she not only represents the tribal nations, but she is also a citizen of the tribal nations,” Strong said.

The connection between Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan dates back to Flanagan’s work coaching Walz for his first run for Congress. Flanagan worked as a candidate trainer at Camp Wellstone – a program of Wellstone Action, an organization founded by the late Senator Paul Wellstone.

Important laws, important appointments

Tribal leaders say Walz has earned their support by passing legislation that benefits Native Americans, including returning 200,000 acres of land to the Upper Sioux Community, a law to remove mascots from Minnesota schools, an education bill called “Indigenous Education for All” and other legislation to better protect murdered or missing Native American children and people.

In the letter, Walz also praises the “historic number of Native Americans appointed to key positions.”

This summer, Walz breathed new life into the state’s racetrack commission by appointing two former tribal leaders to its ranks. Last year, Walz appointed the former tribal chairman of the Prairie Island Sioux Community to the commission tasked with redesigning the state flag.

In 2022, Walz appointed attorney Tadd Johnson to the Minnesota University Council, the first Native American to serve on the council since it was founded over a century and a half ago.

“Moments of disagreement and differences”

The letter of support for Walz also pointed to “moments of disagreement and differences.”

The letter says nothing about tribal resistance to the reconstruction of Enbridge’s Line 3.

Enbridge operates six pipelines that transport millions of barrels of Canadian oil through the northern part of the state. The pipeline network crosses waterways full of wild rice, a food and cultural staple of Ojibwe life.

White Earth Nation Chairman Michael Fairbanks opposed the pipeline.

“We did what we could with our legal department and exhausted everything we could to stop this project through northern Minnesota,” Fairbanks said.

The pipeline runs directly north of the White Earth Nation’s land.

“I think more could have been done to stop the construction of this pipeline,” Fairbanks said.

According to previous reporting by MPR News, Walz insisted it was not his job to suspend Line 3 permits.

Larsen says Walz was a good partner despite the differences.

“The tribes can be as great or even greater an ally than they were an adversary, and I think the government has heard that, understood that and worked with us,” he said.

Last year, Walz became the first governor in state history to visit all 11 tribal nations.