>> she will join in a minute via zoom. she serves as president of the congress of the largest tribal government in the united states. let me give you the phone numbers. phone lines split up as usual. democrats (202)-748-8000, republicans

(202)-748-8001, independents (202)-748-8002, and a special line for native americans (202)-748-8003. about nativeg american issues and you can start calling in now. fond sharp.d by advice going the into a lame-duck congress? >> we need to recognize that nobody is immune from this pandemic. we are all deeply impacted. this is likely going to exceed public resources that congress might have available. we need to be global partners in terms of public health care recovery plan. we cannot solve this in

isolation but come to the table. not just every nation, but all the trave tribal nations. >> are they all represented in the congress of american indians? tell us about that group. >> the national congress of american indians is the oldest and largest organization in congress of tribal nations. we represent every region in the united states and every tribal nation. >> tell us about your tribal nation. >> thank you for asking. our nation is located on the coast of washington state on the olympic peninsula. 31 miles along the pacific. acres, trees,0 mountains, rivers, lakes, streams, beautiful coastline, it is absolutely gorgeous.

>> we know coronavirus has disproportionately impacted minority communities. impact?talk about the what you have seen, the health impacts over the past eight and a half months? >> i think it is important to point out that the disproportionate impact of our health care system in the united tribalwas impacting nations long before covid. covid only exposed our vulnerabilities. our nation like every tribe suffer a health care system that is woefully inadequate. there was a report to congress the detailed not one federal agency to tribal nations on every sector.

health care, law enforcement, education, so these positions we made usas only vulnerable. we have done our best and given the vulnerable situation tribes have found ourselves in before covid has only strengthened our resolve and come out even stronger. following the world health organization's strategy. they delivered a strategy in february and march that we followed. it was a strict containment strategy. not seeing anything in the united states we thought, let's go to those who are experts. experts in dealing with global pandemics whether it is h1n1, ebola, and they produced an emergency response plan for covid following a strict containment strategy. our nation broadly tested our citizens.

resort in ocean shores as an isolation quarantine center that was ultimately used by the local county. we are the largest employer in the county so we creatively, with very little resources, were able to model a response that was following best practices, emerging science, as we all should. we remained covid free until august. at that time we had an outbreak of eight positive cases and it was in a mill not tribally owned. it was owned by nontribal citizens. we strictly contained those that tested positive and those worthy, knock on wood, only cases at the quileute nation. we have had to quarantine folks who have come into contact, but that is the situation. we are deeply impacted and looking forward to when congress resumes. host: for your tribe or any

tribe in this country, when state governments issue mandates, do you have to follow those mandates on tribal land? what is the relationship? guest: yes, and that is another critically important question. thank you for asking that. we do not. the governor of the state of washington issued a statement that made it very clear with regards to the response on tribal reservations it was the tribal nation that will lead in the tribal nation will adopt regulation standards, protocols, and so that is a clear line in washington. we also have the authority under nationfford act in our was aggressively lobbying to include a provision in the stafford act the allowed tribal nations to declare their own states of emergency independent of the state. after hurricane sandy there were

some amendment to the stafford act and we were successful in assuring tribal nations were able to independently declare state of emergency, which we did as soon as we met that threshold. host: fawn sharp is our guest. president of the national congress of american indians joining us until the end of the program today at 10:00 a.m.. phone lines are split by party. democrats, republicans, independents, and a special effort native americans at (202)-748-8003. we will start on that line. duke is in chester, pennsylvania. you are on with fawn sharp. fawn.: hello, john and everybody should look up covid.ron alpha 2b for sinceily has been here

1680 and we are american indians originally from delaware. we have been impacted by the dawes act and this is not our first all-around with a pandemic. a lot of my family has been affected by tb 100 years ago. just taking that into consideration and also, you know, the rise of black american indians. isant to know if fawn providing space or a platform for black american indians off reservation who have been affected by the dawes act as we consider this moment of thanksgiving or genocide day or we call it corn day. thank you for taking my call. host: on the dawes act first and then to the question. guest: yes, absolutely. with regard to the dawes act, that absolutely devastated tribal land, broke up our reservations, and was designed

to depossess us of sacred homeland. we are deeply impacted. yes, we are absolutely creating that space. in my mind, it is necessary. when we consider the disproportionate impacts of a minority community in this country it comes down to a basic question of equality. this country was built on a foundation of equality. it was envisioned that every person that lived within these lands would live equally. we know from the moment our treaties were signed we did not achieve that equality. we still struggle to achieve that equality. when you consider for centuries centuriesht -- four of our fight to have a seat at the table, that goes back many generations. we have to engage in exercise the truth that goes back to that

first chapter. then there is another chapter with regards to black americans and slavery. generation,fter while there has not been a reconciliation, we have had generation after generation of trauma that, until we draw a line in the sand to say no longer are we going to treat people disproportionately, only then can we begin to have a healing in this country. absolutely we have to create a space for all who have been disenfranchised, all who face inequities, all who are unequal in the eyes of another law, but man. host: mary is next of somerset, ohio on the line for native americans. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for having me on. state that my mother, who is half cherokee and half choctaw, in texas was chairman of the largest precinct

in texas. democratic party and she served for several terms. she was a real fighter. she brought a lot of attention to the needs of people who are disenfranchised. she was very instrumental in the civil rights movement and i am very proud of the work she has done. she has since written several thes on the choctaw people, mastery of basket weaving, and the history of our family who escaped the dawes act by running, basically, into the swamps and hiding out. but there have been women native american ancestors that has been and i hope fighting we will continue to see what we can do.

host: fawn sharp. guest: thank you. i would love to read some of your mom's writings. i find my leadership is inspired by so many other native women leaders and women leaders in general that have inspired and guided my life. , is then killer principal chief of the cherokee nation, and was a role model early in my presidency. i am only the ninth president at the nation since the turn of the last century. i served with the president bush, president obama, president trump and a president-elect biden. and i'm the 23rd president of the national congress and third woman president, second woman president at the nation, but we find all across indian country aunts, grandma's, sisters that provide us with

traumas insight, wisdom, compassion for our people. side ofat matriarchal our leadership that is really inspired multigenerational he. thank you for sharing that story. i would love to read some of her books. friday is national native americans heritage day. what advice do you have about those who want to no more about the hundreds of tribes around this country? guest: if somebody is really interested in knowing who we are as the first americans in this country, i would really take the time to understand the spiritual dimension of our people and our citizenry. not is a common thread that matter where you go in indian country, you can hear the power of our songs, of that drumbeat,

and that represents a heartbeat that was here at the beginning of time and will be here at the end of time. we have seeded millions of acres theland by treaty -- ced saint carlos apache are fighting to protect their homelands from copper drilling. have been giving to a national corporation. there fighting in this very moment -- they are fighting to protect where their ancestors leapt to their death. that is at risk. on the southern border there is heavy equipment threatening to demolish a sacred site. to separate mexico and the united states within their

territory. these are tribal nations that are on the frontline, defending that which is sacred against unilateral action not only without their consent, but over their objections. these are very spiritual things. when you consider a people that are arguably in the most powerful country in the world, we survive generation after generation. how was that possible? it is possible because of a spiritual strength and resilience tribal nations -- how is it a newly found country just a few centuries can emerge to be the largest and most powerful country in the world? that is because of the space. is a very sacred place. when people consider tribal nations and native people there are always stereotypes. how we liveerstand

and what matters to us in the most significant and central part of our being, it is that common fighting spirit, that resilience. i often say what we have experienced, with multigenerational strength, wisdom, it is an unbroken chain to that which began and that which is sacred in this great country that we know as the united states. host: he originally asked you to join us to talk about the record number of native americans elected to congress in 2020. i should note that record number is just six out of 535 members of congress. do you think american indians are having their voices heard in the u.s. congress? guest: at this point, yes. i believe we have our voice heard. while our numbers are relatively small, those who have emerged and are elected to congress are mighty voices. they are uncompromising voices.

they are making sure every bit of public policy that is relevant and deeply impacts tribal nations, that we have a voice at that table. i cannot tell you how much we appreciate the leadership of those who are in congress. they are partnering with us on so many significant issues. i mentioned the broken promises report. we have a commitment from haalandcongressman deb along with elizabeth warren to develop concrete recommendations on the broken promises report. those are things that, having someone in congress, has stepped up our advocacy and voice inside the homes of congress. minneapolis, a republican. caller: thank you for letting me get in on this one. good morning to you. moved toto say i minnesota 35 years ago. i got a chance to meet a lot of

native american people. at the time i did not know native american people existed. , there legd out which culture, and through language now -- their and culture, and through being on the -- in north dakota for the oil line that the news media did not touch it except in spurts. she committed her show for almost one month. i wanted to let you know that we are aware the native american people deserve what they're supposed to get in this country. they have been neglected too long. thank you. guest: thank you so much for mentioning both of his ability as well as the fight at the

dakota access pipeline. that is an issue and i can connect that to the point i made earlier about our spiritual strength and resolve. of 2016, i was able to dispatch some of our youth to standing rock. in the aftermath of that i dispatch some of our elders to paddle a canoe and it was met with drummers along the cannibal cannonball river. in common withgs the ones in the planes, it was so incredibly powerful -- plaine= ♪ [speaking foreign language] plains it was so powerful. we had connection with those on the ground it standing rock and

i remember thinking that now is the time. i called upon our counsel to go to standing rock and we have a national holiday. it is december 5 and it is our seventh president. we honor him as a sovereignty fighter. that is the day we are going to go to standing rock and we are going to camp. i physically camped the first week of december at standing rock and when we arrived there was this outpouring of celebration. that was the day president obama's administration, the army corps, suspended the army corps permit until there was further review and analysis. december 5, we offered songs in prayer and support to standing rock. that was such a significant victory. i had no idea when we left that would happen. it happened on the day we celebrated our sovereignty and

all of that came together and it was such a moment in time. that was an effort led by our ignited ale and it global movement to elevate race and ally with tribal nations to protect the sacred homeland in the united states. thank you for mentioning that. host: for folks who do not know much about the quinault nation, you wore your. headpiece on this program. headpiece on this program. there's a similar one behind you. can you tell us about it? guest: this particular one was gifted to me on the first morning of my first tribal journey. started whenys time began, but for over a century our canoes were not on

the waters in washington. them in thet find ocean. at quinault elder had a vision of our canoes coming back and being out on the waters. he wanted to see 100 canoes. his name is emmett oliver. he lived to be 100 and saw 100 canoes eventually. from my experience the morning i launched off the shores of the nation this was gifted to me. i remember being 15 minutes into the paddle and you are in a dugout canoe, and old cedar tree. it is a handcarved canoe. we are facing large wells in the ocean and i remember thinking, i'm not good to make it outside the coast. i was physically tired. our skipper began to sing some quinault songs and i felt this

resurgence of strength. mentally and physically i resigned, but spiritually i came alive. the ocean came alive and we would sing a whale song, we would see a whale. we sang in eagle song, and we would be joined by the eagles off the coast. that is when i talk about the spiritual dimension. this cedar hat was my gift from one of our elders on the morning of my very first tribal journey. school kid by high who is trained under an elder. this cedar hat behind me was a thent gift after i won presidency. that is my speaker's hat for formal events. hat formy ceremonial strength, clarity, and a connection with my ancestors. i thought it would be appropriate for this interview. host: thank you for sharing. cindy is next out of clinton,

wisconsin, an independent. caller: good morning. a grandmother and that weredmother navajo and very active when you mentioned to standing rock. they were doing artwork with kids during the time. [indiscernible] this is media to a degree, but us and broken hearts. the cnn exit poll for the latino, black, 6%.native as something else

november, whenn it is thanksgiving tomorrow, that our people, native people, be given a name in the media and other places? host: thanks for the call. fawn sharp. guest: thank you. else was shared widely across indian country. the irony was not unnoticed in our community. the irony of being invisible during a month where we should be visible. we should be celebrated. we are not only not celebrated, but even registering, at all, in this type of reports. we have got a long way to go. say, in those moments, we come together. when we have that common

challenge we all recognize, everybody across indian country. it was widely discussed here in washington state. we have a plan to address that point that we all felt. we all felt it nationally and it does not matter if you were in the southwest, northeast, northwest, all across indian country that did not go unnoticed. it was felt deeply and we are committed to make sure that does not happen again. host: a column of the washington post recently timed to recognize the forgotten americans that help elect joe biden. indigenous and native american voters played a key role invited's narrow margins in swing states. what are you expecting from the biden administration? guest: we are expecting -- first of all, i would love to see a native in the cabinet. and a lot of announcements are coming out about cabinet level officials. person having a native

at those high-level positions, -- the a native voice united states has a relationship with us. we should have a seat at the table. were places, there started under the obama administration. biden said he would continue the annual meeting. we look forward to an annual discussion where we can address every issue. i firmly expect the biden administration will not be front and center to tell us what he is going to do but will take the time to listen and understand our vision for our future and enlist every resource within every federal agency to ally and with us. it is an incredible first start on day one.

host: stella is next out of oregon on the line for native people. good morning. caller: hello. i did not know if you could help me with my question, but in oregon we have two indian clinics. , oregon. salem they will not recognize other confederate tribes. i am from northern california and i do not know if you know anything about how they are separated for all indians? card with a number on it. i have the number. what do not understand everyone is stereotyping the earians and that halloween, w your costume.

like your hat is from your tribe, but my tribe is different. native tongue is all different. we cannot speak to each other some of us because it is all different. host: fawn sharp. guest: with regard to your first point on the health care system and the disparate treatment, we have to implement regulations from the indian health service and the indian health service is very clear about who and when and where we can serve our native population. i am working with a quinault citizen who lives in the seattle area. had to go through emergency surgery and they are denied any sort of funding to help with that emergency surgery. because he was out of the service and now we are has thatng what tribe service area. it is an application of federal

regulation that tried to treat as equally, but we are all unequal. we are struggling to provide for our citizens whether they live on or off the reservation. that is all an attribute of a federal health care system that has all these different regulations. being inadequate and underfunded. host: jack is in california on the line for democrats. caller: good morning. i want to echo what the previous caller said in the caller before that. nowve lived here 50 years in the area to the mountains. when i first moved here there were lots and lots of indian people that i had never met. i became good friends with everyone of them. i was welcome into their

families and i learned so much from them. sadly, 50 years later all of the elders are gone. unclebob, uncle frazier, edwards, and they were passing down things to the younger people. now all of those people that are 45 are in their 60's. they are dying left and right from diabetes and other diseases. whole families and it is terrible. problemrnment had no making the promises they did way back when. have to do it right. there is more and more american

indians being voted into congress and the senate and the to openut we need more up people's eyes. they ought to have an american indian be in charge of the environment. host: fawn sharp. bitt: yes, i can feel every of what you are saying with regards to our elders dying off. every time we lose an elder it is so much we have lost. look --e things we are working hard to ensure our young people are learning. lose another not generation. on the health care point, no matter where you go, if you were to ask the question, do you have a family member that would go to a local clinic and were told you have a cold, drink fluids, go home? it progresses to the point that

have to go off the reservation to get help and by that point it could be too late. i had a good friend of mine i grew up with in grade school ended up with double pneumonia and passed away at 48 years old. that is common. i remember asking tribal leaders -- everyone one of us raised our hand when asked to have that story. inadequatelywe underfunded, we do not have a comprehensive health care system. we have a limited budget we are able to hire doctors and a pharmacist. but if you practice medicine off the reservation, there is oversight for malpractice and all these other things that regulate the medical industry. we do not have that in indian country. we do not have comprehensive health care. we are dying in large numbers.

that is what i meant to the beginning. all those things are pre-covid and covid has only exposed that vulnerability to a significant degree. for that question. host: the caller was talking about opening people's eyes. there is a monument in washington, d.c. and the trust open people's eyes to the role of native american veterans. can you talk about? yes, absolutely. we are showing our viewers some video from the management. it opened on the 11th of this month. just two weeks ago. moment -- this was one thing we celebrated. it.lan for they served even before we were

u.s. citizens. in 1924, they became u.s. citizens and we had our veterans in listing to serve this country before we were acknowledged and recognized as citizens. we have a long tradition and legacy that are deeply connected to these lands. we are represented more than any other ethnic population and we have women warriors who step up. honored tohappy and share with the world the work our warriors are doing. this was a very exciting time. i cannot wait to see it in person. host: just a couple of minutes left. sharp taking your calls

ahead of native american heritage day. that falls on friday, the day after thanksgiving. larry is on the line for native americans out of gallup, new mexico. [speaking indigenous language] i'm a tribal member of the navajo in western new mexico. talker.father is a code i have been part of the moveme n the 70's. we went on the trail of broken trees in washington, d.c. the standing rock issues are solidarity with families in that country. with ouras we work indigenous murdered women and people missing around navajo

land. today i think the transition of -- some of the grassroots people would like see new administration on document discovery. that talks about what we are today. i just want to mention to you thank you for being the leader of your tribe and the national congress of american indians. navajo is not part of that, but many times you will sue prided tribal resolutions. tribalsupported resolutions. [speaking indigenous language]

sufferedu disproportionately and navajo and you have been in our thoughts and prayers, not only during this dark time, that as we face the winter. the whole nation is going to continue to be in our thoughts and prayers. thank you for mentioning the grassroots efforts. in such a important key to our advancement and progress. early in my presidency i was watching a documentary when tribal leaders took over in washington, d.c. they said the only time we get direct -- that we get any results unfunny is directly glad action. whooked over to my mom served under our president would as a child and told her, that is what we are fighting for today. it is only through direct political action that we can get any real resolve. i was in washington, d.c. during 9/11.

i was two blocks with the white with membersvent of congress on the sovereignty protection initiative. i remember when the senator from hawaii announced to the audience that the towers had been hit. washington, d.c. turned into this instant wars down. all the access points were blocked, there was a military presence, helicopters, i was scheduled to fly in on that day and fly out on the 11th. i was stranded. i cell phone was not working, i could not get home, and i point, i wenthat to the congress and i was appointed -- i was the nation's attorney -- to come up with a fundraising and educational campaign for the sovereignty protection initiative. myt year the creator put on heart to run a marathon. i had never run a marathon in my life. i started in january and this was september and i think it was 18 miles.

i came up with the idea of the sovereignty run. we left quinault on the one-year anniversary of 9/11 and our goal was to arrive at the steps of the u.s. supreme court on october 4, opening day. we successfully did that. we were joined by tribal nations all across the united states. there was a navajo elder that joined me for a warrior sweat in montana and offered some prayers and blessings at that point. that was an event will be elevated and raised the awareness. when tribal nations came together for that sovereignty run, we had one little blip and it was a tagline on the bottom of cnn's screen. i think we actually had to pay significant resources to have that blip. every tribal nation was running for a cause for our 70, for recognition, and there was nothing published about that.

we convened a rally on the front steps of the united states supreme court and we were able to advance the sovereignty protection initiative. thank you for recognizing our grassroots warriors because it is not the tribal leaders. it is the brain trust, power, and heart that exists within every tribal nation. when we come together and we unleash that and we bring light and leadership good things happen. thank you for mentioning that. host: thank you for joining us this morning on c-span to talk about all these issues. fawn sharp is president of the national congress of american cai.org, and president of the quinault indian nation. we will see you down the road. guest: thank you. host: scott mccartney is known for his middle c column. he is been on the airline for nearly two decades. joins us via zoom this day before thanksgiving.

mr. mccarthy, despite public health warnings and efforts to get people to stay home, air travel has hit an eight month high. has the amount of people willing to travel surprised you? >> not really. i think for a lot of people there have been really mixed signals about travel. you have the airline industry pushing hard on the notion that travel is safe. and, ine dangers to it some ways, the cdc give a definitive warning about thanksgiving travel. it came late in the game. we have seen a bit of a falloff in the number of people screened by tsa. yesterday down to 37% of what it was comparable to last year. over the weekend it was 45% of last year's totals. you know, there are a lot of people traveling.

people really want to go. they want to be with their and ies or take a break think, you know, they've not gotten a clear signal of what is seca what is not. host: for folks who might be getting on an airplane today or tomorrow, what should they expect the airport? guest: they should expect crowds. i think some people are surprised at the crowds because they spent so much attention on how few people are traveling. but on a typical tuesday before thanksgiving there are 2.5 million people traveling. yesterday it was below one million people, but that is still more people than you usually see. you should expect to have to wear your mask in the airport as well as the airplane. you're probably not going to be subjected to temperature

screenings. some people wonder why that is not happening. you will go through the normal tsa checks and boarding will be different. a lot of airlines are doing smaller boarding groups, more boarding back to front, but some are doing the normal procedures. airplane airflow is the key. you should expect to wear your mask all the time. i think there are certain parts of the journey to really pay attention to. i worry about people being on the jet bridge in a crowd where there is no ventilation. i worry about people bunching up when they arrive at their destination and there is a scrum to get out the airplane as quickly as possible.