EVELETH, Minn. — When Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order in 2019 that required all state agencies to add a tribal liaison to their staffs, executives at Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board initially expected to see little change within the organization.
However, the process proved to be a learning experience for the business and community development agency that serves communities throughout Northeast Minnesota.
“When this all started and I saw the executive order, I thought, ‘This won’t be a big change for Iron Range Resources because we’ve always had a great relationship with these tribal governments.’ But I’m learning that I didn’t know much about the tribal governments and the history,” IRRRB Commissioner Mark Phillips told Tribal Business News.
After the executive order requiring all state agencies to create policies to ensure tribal governments are included in the decision-making process, some groups responded by shifting existing staff into the role of tribal liaison. IRRRB, which reinvests funds generated from mining operations’ taconite production taxes back into the communities, initially had its general counsel act as tribal liaison, but eventually realized the agency needed to rethink the position.
“We struggled with thinking about how we were going to do the tribal liaison function,” Phillips said. “We spent some time talking to the other tribal liaisons, and some of the other commissioners seeing what worked well for them and what they’re thinking. Then we decided to post for it.”
As of Dec. 9, that role now officially belongs to Billie Isham. Isham brings 22 years of experience working for the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa tribal government, 19 of which she spent as the education department director. She also has experience working with the rest of the 11 tribes throughout Minnesota, and has been on the Tribal Nations Education Committee for the past 15 years.
Isham cites her experience as a member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa as good preparation for the position.
“I grew up on the reservation so I’m familiar with the sensitivities and the cultural awareness,” Isham told Tribal Business News. “I’m able to bring that experience and educate the staff when they interact with reservations to bridge that gap, so when they do interact they’re more able to make a connection with them.”
Isham will be working with each of the four tribes that fall within IRRR’s service area: the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa tribal nations. Her main role is ensuring that all tribes are informed of the services offered to them and to keep the communication open between the IRRRB and each tribe.
“By keeping Commissioner Phillips informed of the impacts that the agency has on the tribal governments, as well as staying informed by attending the meetings with the different tribal governments and knowing what the individual tribal leaders are saying about how the agency is impacting them, I’m going to be able to better develop and support effective communication and information sharing between the governments and the agency,” Isham said.
IRRRB has an 80-year history consulting with local city governments and nonprofits. While the surrounding tribal governments have always been eligible to apply for the same services, they have historically not taken advantage of these programs as much as their neighbors. Phillips has hopes that with Isham working as tribal liaison, the organization will find increased opportunities to work together with the tribes, and allow for more effective follow-up as well.
“We’re not reaching out saying, ‘We didn’t get your application last week. Can we help you?’” Phillips said. “Now she should be able to keep that dialogue going when something dies.”
In the time since Walz’s executive order passed, IRRRB has already seen an increase in communication with tribal governments. For instance, after the former tribal liaison consulted with each of the four tribes, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reached out for assistance to improve the quality of the drinking water and septic systems in the city of Brookston, about 25 miles west of Duluth.
“They got some federal money for that, and they put a lot of their own resources in,” Phillips said, crediting IRRRB’s outreach for making the tribe aware of the services it could offer. “It was a good match because we have a public infrastructure program that does clean water, so we helped them finance their water tower."
Isham also has opportunities to get involved in some ongoing projects in the agency’s service area. For example, IRRRB has teamed up with the Blandin Foundation to bring broadband internet to communities without internet access, which includes tribal land.
“Some of our communities, like our tribal governments, are property poor,” Phillips stated. “They don’t have a lot of ability to generate local income from property taxes or fees or whatever it is. But they still have the same needs for broadband for their people.”
According to Phillips, while the broadband project has been ongoing, the pandemic “put an asterisk on it as to how important it is.” The Bois Forte band of Chippewa has already taken action to make sure their members and surrounding communities gain access to broadband coverage.
“Bois Forte is the poster child for what we tried to do,” Phillips said. “They started out by saying we want broadband. They started out with a really good planning process, using this Blandon/IRRRB partnership. Once they (determined) what they really wanted to do, they made the applications, and now we’re working into the construction phase of that.”
With Isham on board, IRRRB staffers are looking ahead to collaborate on other similar projects with the tribes that fall within its territory.
Phillips and Isham already have some ideas for potential future projects as well, particularly with Bois Forte.
“They own the radio station in Ely, for example, and they own a convenience store where I gas my car up every morning,” Phillips said. “As they move into expanding some of their business interests, I think that would be a good opportunity for partnerships.”