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- By Chez Oxendine
- Real Estate
The secretaries of the Interior and Housing and Urban Development rolled out a joint task force to convert “underused” federal lands into rural and tribal housing, but shared few details about how tribal consultation will factor in — raising questions about sovereignty among Native housing experts.
The initiative, announced last Monday via a Facebook video and op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, aims to transfer federal lands to states or localities, with a focus on “overlooked rural and tribal communities.” A copy of the agreement was not made available. Previous administrations, including those of Presidents Biden and Obama, attempted similar initiatives to convert vacant federal properties into affordable housing developments.
Properly structured, the effort could ease barriers for tribal housing, experts told Tribal Business News. But that’s only if Indian Country has a meaningful voice in the process, said Dave Castillo, CEO of Tempe, Ariz.-based Native Community Capital.
“We have a whole history of self-determination legislation,” Castillo said. “If this is consistent with that and it expands tribal sovereignty, that's fantastic. But the federal government doesn’t have a good track record with that.”
Other Native housing experts expressed similar concerns: that the federal government must work with tribes to advance tribal sovereignty and self-determination, rather than impose solutions. A lack of available details prior to and after the announcement is worrying, said Chrystel Cornelius, CEO of Longmont, Colo.-based Oweesta Corporation, the largest Native CDFI intermediary in the country.
“The announcement of the joint task force on utilizing federal land for housing has left many without much detailed information,” Cornelius said. “This lack of clarity is concerning, particularly for tribal lands and communities that could be directly impacted by these developments.”
An Interior spokesperson said the task force was in its early days and had not yet identified which parts of the federal government’s 650 million acres would be considered for off-loading. In response to questions from Tribal Business News, the spokesperson wrote: “In line with Interior’s trust responsibilities and the unique status of tribal lands, any potential impact would include thorough consultation with the respective tribal governments to ensure alignment with tribal sovereignty and interests.”
The spokesperson said that state and local governments could be recipients for federal lands under the initiative. It remains unclear whether tribes would be eligible beneficiaries for federal lands under the task force’s purview.
A longtime federal employee, speaking on background, questioned the feasibility of state or local governments developing housing on reservations, citing the complexities of jurisdiction and financing.
“What makes me very uncomfortable is that they’re only talking about land, and they’re talking about quote-unquote underutilized land, and they’re also talking about leasing that land to states and local governments, and I’m thinking how the heck do you give tribal lands to state or local governments to develop?” the employee said. “I'm just boggled by how that would work.”
Rudy Soto, executive director of the National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC), noted that federal land transfers alone wouldn’t address the challenges faced by Native families in urban centers who struggle with housing affordability.
“Many of our Native families reside in urban centers — there’s just such a high number of Native people and tribal communities off-reservation because of those challenges,” Soto said. “When it comes to needing to go to school or work, there’s a lot of commuters and folks just living far away from their homelands, and they struggle in the cities to afford housing.”
If federal lands are used for housing development, Soto stressed the importance of tribal involvement at every step. If properly structured, Soto said, it could soothe existing challenges with land leasing processes.
“Finding the right contractors, dealing with weather challenges, distance issues...all of these are significant challenges, and they're exponentially multiplied on tribal lands,” Soto said. “So for us having these two agencies work closer and better together to reduce duplicative or redundant bureaucratic processes — that's long overdue.”
Elizabeth Glynn, CEO of Kansas City, Mo.-based housing development firm Travois, emphasized that consultation is essential to making the task force effective. She said tribal leaders are best positioned to understand their citizens' needs.
"Every action HUD and DOI make that concerns housing on tribal lands should be through the consultation process respecting tribal sovereignty and the responsibilities inherent in the government-to-government relationship," Glynn told Tribal Business News.
Oweesta’s Cornelius reiterated the importance of tribal consultation, particularly concerning land deals that affect reservations or tribal interests. She expressed hope that the initiative would not result in the loss of national forests and natural areas.
She also raised concerns about the administration’s cuts to essential federal programs, such as the closure of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian Health Service (IHS) offices, and reductions in funding for Native CDFIs and self-determination programs.
“While the goal of increasing affordable housing is laudable, it must not undermine tribal sovereignty or environmental stewardship,” Cornelius said. “The government must address these concerns with careful consideration, ensuring that tribal voices are integral to the decision-making process regarding their lands and futures.”
