Facebook Twitter Email
APRIL 27, 2001

Its an often noted and often questioned milestone, but the first 100 days a President spends in the White House are viewed as a testament to his legacy.

So how has President George W. Bush and his administration impacted Indian Country? A review.

INAUGURATE THEN INVALIDATE
As soon as Bush took office on January 20, the administration immediately halted all decisions made during the Clinton era which hadn't gone into effect or which hadn't been published in the Federal Register.

The action directly impacted in Indian Country. While regulations for trust reform, eagle gathering for Hopi tribal members, and the final federal recognition of the Chinook Nation of Washington have been approved, a number of others have been held back.

They include land-into-trust regulations tribal leaders had pushed Secretary of Interior Gale Norton to accept. Norton instead delayed them by at least four months and may change them in part or in whole, or revoke them altogether when the time comes.

Also hit are the preliminary decisions to recognize the Nipmuc Nation of Massachusetts and the Duwamish Tribe of Washington. Indian Country has been further affected by the revocation of arsenic in drinking water standards, hard-rock mining regulations, and the delay of a roadless forest plan which one tribe hopes to see cut but which other tribes found beneficial.

Selected Stories:
Gover reverses Chinook decision (1/4)
Duwamish Tribe receives recognition (1/22)
Nipmuc Nation granted recognition (1/22)
Controversial eagle rule ready for comments (1/24)
Controversial forest plan delayed (2/06)
Environment: The GOP strikes back (3/21)
Norton delays land-into-trust regulations (4/16)

STICK TO ONE TOPIC AT A TIME
Bush soon began his term by developing "theme weeks," in which he'd focus one on one of his key priorities by giving speeches, pushing agendas, and meeting with people who shared his cause.

Not surprisingly, the themes saw no Indian Country inclusion. Although Bush pushed funding of Indian schools during his campaign, his education week had no tribal outreach and instead left the task of leaving no Indian child behind to to Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.).

Similarly, his focus on faith-based initiatives was filled with viewpoints of all religious and ideologies except indigenous ones. The plan to give more federal dollars to religious groups has since run into trouble and the administration and its allies are delaying its implementation.

The same goes for his environmental theme week, which came after weeks of what critics called assaults on the environment. Too little, too late, they said and Indian Country was left without a voice again.

Selected Stories:
Faith takes center stage with Bush (1/29)
Bush seeks to eliminate religious 'obstacles' (1/30)
Bush calls up 'armies of compassion' (1/31)
Defense of faith-based plan begins (3/8)
EPA to conduct new arsenic study (4/19)
Babbitt assails Bush's environmental record (4/23)

More: Bush and Indian Country: The First 100 Days