of tribal nations that we have not displayed over the last four years. host: outside of her work as the president of the national congress of american indians, can you tell us about your nation? guest: it is the most beautiful, and i may be a little biased here, the most part of the world. we occupy 31 miles along the pacific ocean and the youthful pacific northwest on the olympic peninsula. we have lakes, rivers, mountains, a rain forest. it is beautiful, gorgeous, and studying -- stunning. back as early as the 1920's, because we were organized, we operate independently. when we passed the constitution and any amendments, we do not need the bureau of indian affairs constitution. we have a long legacy of exercising our independent, inherent powers and authorities. we recognize the united states has a crossed -- has crossed lines, we call them on the breach of trust when widespread logging was permitted across the nation that desecrated our rivers and streams. we have been effective in holding the united states accountable for its treaty. we have people with a very bright vision, not only for our people but citizens having to work with us and join with us

we have with us today the chief executive officer of the national congress of american indians. adrian stevens, the acting board chair of the national american indian housing council, and also the executive director of the seneca national housing authority and a member of the seneca nation. the senior vice president for community development, and the center for indian country development at the minneapolis federal reserve bank. the chief executive officer of the american indian community development corporation in minneapolis, minnesota and also the chair of the board of the commissioners -- excuse me, the chair of the board of the commissioners of the housing and community development agency. greetings to my fellow minnesotans. also, eric shepherd, the executive director of the housing authority and south dakota. eric is also a member of the community. welcome and thank you all of you for your willingness to speak with us today and i look forward to hearing from each of you. before you begin your opening statements, just a few reminders. once you start speaking, there will be a