The Trust Responsibility Is a Promise Best Kept

When thinking about or explaining the United States’ trust responsibility to our 575 federally recognized Indian tribes and Alaska Native tribes and villages, I often refer to the fact that I am a lifelong recipient of this duty that the federal government either fulfills or falls short of. As a child, I would spend the summers with my grandparents at the Village of Mesita on the Laguna Pueblo. Back then, my grandma’s house had no running water or electricity. We would take our buckets and walk to the center of the village to fill them and then carefully walk back to the house so as not to spill a drop. Often, I stopped halfway to rest my arms.

In a way, I feel a sense of pride that I know how to live without things that every American expects, and yet I feel frustration that whether a household has clean running water or electricity, some­times, is dependent on who holds the relevant federal public office that is responsible for funding and implementing these fundamental American expectations. For me, most things circle back to politics and that means elections matter.

Over the last nearly 200 years, acts of Congress and court prece­dent have required that the federal government meet the trust responsibility to tribes as a moral, legal, and fiduciary obligation for housing, education, public safety, lands, and resources; and one would think that if the U.S. Supreme Court requires the United States live up to this trust obligation, the feds would take this to heart. Yet so often Indian folks have to argue their case at every government level and tribal governments must invest in represen­tation to press their issues with members of Congress and in the courts.

Most often tribes have current issues to resolve; however, our tumultuous history is yet to be fully recognized, and that is why representation matters so much. The legacy of federal Indian boarding schools, for example, was brought to light during my tenure as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, with a two-part report and a list of recommendations for the federal gov­ernment to remedy past abuses suffered by both survivors and descendants. One recommendation—a formal apology—was given by President Joe Biden on October 25, 2024.

In May of 2025, a class action lawsuit was filed in federal court by the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes of Oklahoma and the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. The lawsuit demands a full accounting of how money, held in trust for tribes, was used to fund the federal Indian boarding school system. After all, the federal government dreamed up this military-style curriculum and spared no expense to eradicate the Indian out of Indians.

For 150 years, federal Indian boarding schools worked to displace Native Americans, remove us from our lands, and indoctrinate us into mainstream American culture—thus stealing our languages and cultures. The federal government, without asking, determined what education meant for Native American children, families, and communities.

At some point in our history, Indian tribes advocated long and hard to forge our own way forward. I would argue that this turn of events was helped along not only by acts of Congress, but also by the American Indian Law Center’s Pre-Law Summer Institute (PLSI), the increase of Indian lawyers PLSI ushered into law schools since 1967, and the founding and expansion of tribal colleges and universities. And this is why Indian education is so important; why culture, tradition, Native language revitalization is all so important; and why we must ensure that the federal government holds to its responsibility of education for our people.

The federal trust responsibility holds true for all tribes, but in 2009, here in New Mexico, our state led the way for upholding state-tribal relationships by passing the State-Tribal Collaboration Act. It is a template that any state in America can follow. As a result, New Mexico and Indian tribes meet annually to collaborate on the future of our state, and tribes have a seat at the table before many decisions on issues of importance are made. Education is such an issue.

The consolidated lawsuit, Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico challenged the state’s failure to provide underrepresented students in public schools, including disabled students, with an education that readies them for college or careers. The judicial decision ruled that students have a right to this level of education and thus New Mexico must comply with state and federal laws regarding the education of such students.

Our sovereign Indian tribes are at the heart of the future of New Mexico, and that future is also dependent on the United States living up to its trust responsibility. Important issues like land into trust, education, public lands and co-stewardship agreements, and accessible healthcare are all threatened if our federal government reneges on its obligations. Under the Biden administration, tribes experienced an unprecedented seat at the table for many issues. Tribal voices remain crucial even in these times of turmoil and budget cuts, pressing ever harder for the future our people deserve.

Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) served as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.