OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Native Americans watched the shuttered government on Friday and braced for damage to health care, education, infrastructure and other services funded by Washington under treaties struck more than a century ago.
Tribal nations with casinos, oil and gas leases and other independent revenue sources said they expect to sustain operations for several months. Tribes more dependent on government money were already furloughing workers.
Many tribal leaders said they feared that the Trump administration would use the shutdown to lay off federal workers responsible for ensuring that trust and treaty responsibilities are honored. The U.S. agreed many decades ago to protect the security, health and education of tribal citizens in return for ceding their lands.
Shuttered muse