Forty-seven years waiting for a home. How many political cycles is enough?

Guest Opinion. Recently, a Native Hawaiian woman told me she had been waiting 47 years for a home in her homelands.

I have thought about that conversation ever since. Think about how many elected officials, political appointees and campaign promises have come and gone during those years. For Washington, that time spans administrations. For her, it spans much of a lifetime.

This November brings both Native American Heritage Month and another national election — a reminder that we measure our history in generations while Washington measures its future two or four years at a time. 

Native American Heritage Month recognizes American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities. While our histories and relationships with the federal government are distinct, we share a determination to strengthen our communities and create opportunities for future generations.

Political leadership changes. Our communities remain. 

I often describe the political circumstances we face as a moment in time. That does not diminish their consequences. A delayed funding award can postpone a business opening. An uncertain federal commitment can put a home beyond reach. Decisions made during one administration can affect Native families long after its officials leave office.

But history teaches us to look beyond the people temporarily holding office. 

Native nations governed themselves and sustained economies long before the United States existed. Federal policies subsequently dispossessed our people, disrupted those economies and sought to erase our political identities. During the termination era, the government even pursued policies intended to end its relationships with tribes.

Native people organized, advocated and pushed for a different future. The movement toward self-determination, reflected in the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, helped expand tribal control over programs serving our communities.

That progress required Native leadership and sustained advocacy. Carrying it forward requires the same.

Today, Native community development financial institutions are helping communities exercise greater control over their economic futures. These Native-led lenders help entrepreneurs start businesses, families prepare for homeownership and borrowers build financial stability. They combine capital with knowledge of the people, cultures and places they serve.

This November also marks 25 years since Treasury released its Native American Lending Study, which examined barriers to capital in Native communities and helped lead to the CDFI Fund’s Native Initiatives.

We have spent those years building institutions capable of addressing those barriers. The work continues.

At the Native CDFI Network, we help emerging Native lenders build sound governance, lending practices and financial systems, while helping established lenders strengthen their operations. That work requires sustained partnerships with tribal governments, banks, philanthropy and federal agencies.

Building those institutions takes years. Funding uncertainty makes the work harder and slows their ability to serve borrowers.

Yet too much time goes toward defending established programs, pursuing delayed funding and explaining again why Native communities need financial institutions that understand them. Every transition brings new officials to educate. We will keep showing up, sharing evidence and working respectfully with whoever holds office.

Our communities cannot afford for their economic futures to depend on whether the person across the table already understands Indian Country.

The federal government’s trust and treaty responsibilities do not expire with an election. They are enduring obligations that should guide federal decisions regardless of who holds office.

Last November, the White House acknowledged Native American Heritage Month with a presidential message rather than the traditional proclamation. It celebrated Native contributions but did not mention tribal sovereignty, treaty obligations or the federal trust responsibility.

Those commitments deserve attention throughout the year. They shape whether Native communities have dependable partners as they build.

Congress and federal agencies should ensure that appropriated funding reaches Native CDFIs on time and give the Native American CDFI Assistance Program a permanent statutory foundation. Banks and philanthropic institutions should make sustained investments in Native-led lenders. Tribal leaders and Native CDFIs must continue documenting results and bringing community priorities directly to decision-makers.

I remain optimistic because I see people doing this work every day. They understand that building a lending institution, developing housing or helping a family establish financial security requires patience, discipline and trust.

But resilience should never be mistaken for an obligation to wait indefinitely. The woman who spoke with me has already spent much of her lifetime waiting for a home.

Political leaders will come and go. Native communities will remain. Our responsibility is to ensure that the institutions, investments and commitments needed to strengthen those communities endure as well.

This Native American Heritage Month, we honor the generations who brought us here by keeping our commitments to those living today — and those still to come.

Forty-seven years is long enough.

Pete Upton, an enrolled member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, is CEO of the Native CDFI Network, a national organization that advocates for Native community development financial institutions and strengthens their capacity to expand access to capital across Indian Country.