Quinault leader speaks to U.S. Senate panel

Published 12:01 am Friday, July 27, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Quinault Nation President Fawn Sharp told a Senate committee about tribal priorities during a hearing Wednesday morning.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, chairman of the U.S. Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee, as well as other panel members, discussed key education, economic and energy issues with several tribal leaders from across the country in the nation’s capital, said Steve Robinson of SR Productions of Olympia, public relations contractor with the tribe.

Robinson added that he was not aware of any other North Olympic Peninsula leaders talking with the committee.

The tribal leaders’ invitation to speak said: “While there are many problems facing American Indian, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian communities, we would like to focus this meeting on how to improve educational opportunities, proposals to spur energy development, and economic development on Indian lands.”

Other vital issues

Sharp, who is also president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, agreed that those priorities are key focal points but emphasized that there are other important issues as well, Robinson said.

“I was happy to oblige the senators,” Sharp said.

“These issues, indeed, are priorities, but these three issues in particular cover a lot of ground, and there are, of course, other priorities that must be considered.

“On a local level at Quinault, these three topics directly respond to our tribe’s strategic plan for 2012 and 2013.”

Sharp promoted the Intergovernmental Tax Modernization Compacts with tribal governments to attract new business into Native communities and begin implementing the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

She also proposed support for Quinault initiatives to support elders, oral history, outdoor education, higher success rates in higher education, a community resource center for education and career development, advancement of the application of traditional knowledge, employment and training, and local education options.

Regarding energy, Sharp asked for support of integrated tribal data and research capability and related tribal enterprises, as well as funds to support energy development programs and “new energy” centers.