Policy Issues

Committees and Subcommittees

Executive Committee

Economic, Finance & Community Development Committee

  • Housing

  • Economic Development

  • Finance Employment

  • Transportation & Infrastructure

  • Telecommunications

Human Resources Committee

  • Health

  • Education

  • Indian Child & Family Welfare

  • Disabilities

  • Elders

International Committee

Land & Natural Resources Committee

  • Energy & Mineral Policy

  • Environmental Protection & Land Use

  • Trust Lands, Natural Resources, Agriculture

Litigation & Governance Committee

  • Tribal Gaming

  • Jurisdiction & Tribal Government

  • Human, Religious & Cultural Concerns

  • Taxation

Resolutions Committee

Rules & Credentials Committee

Veterans Committee

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) advocates on behalf of Tribal Nations and American Indian and Alaska Native individuals and communities on a broad range of policy issues. All of NCAI’s policy advocacy is directed by consensus-based resolutions that are adopted by NCAI’s membership. The development of policy position resolutions is designed to gather significant input from Tribal Nations and Native individuals and the process involves vetting of resolutions by subcommittees and full committees, before adoption is made by the membership as a whole. NCAI’s Policy Advocacy Team consists of both generalists and subject matter experts who conduct advocacy work in the following areas:

  • Appropriations & Budget

  • Cultural Protection

  • Economic Development & Commerce

  • Environmental Sustainability

  • Infrastructure & Community Development

  • International Advocacy

  • Land & Natural Resources

  • Legal & Governance

  • Public Safety & Justice

  • Social Resources

The NCAI Policy Advocacy Team carries out NCAI’s mission by:

  • Monitoring government-to-government consultation sessions, federal agency rulemaking processes, Congressional hearings, and other announcements and meetings impacting Tribal Nations;

  • Developing policy positions and priorities via the NCAI committees process and developing strategies to realize those positions;

  • Advocating with Congressional offices, the White House, and at the federal agency level—including submitting consultation comments, formal rulemaking comments, and providing oral / written testimony—in order to advance NCAI’s policy priorities; and

  • Informing Tribal Nation leaders about federal opportunities for funding, new programming focused on Indian Country, and relevant changes to laws and/or policies so Tribal Nation leaders are better equipped to exercise their sovereignty and protect their communities.

Policy Portfolios

Appropriations & Budget

The relationship between Tribal Nations and the United States government is built upon mutual commitments.

Cultural Protection

Tribal citizens are the lifeblood of our communities. Our traditions and lifeways, exercised everyday, bring vitality and purpose to our Tribal Nations and to our work.

Economic Development & Commerce

While remaining anchored to their cultural values, Tribal Nations demonstrate a tremendous propensity to promote and enhance tribal sovereignty through the pursuit of economic development initiatives and economic sovereignty.

Environmental Sustainability

Protecting and sustaining the natural environment is of paramount importance to Tribal Nations, which are disproportionately affected by climate change.

Infrastructure & Community Development

Proper community development and infrastructure planning has the potential to revitalize and transform the quality of life for tribal citizens across Indian Country.

International Advocacy

NCAI recognizes that the realization of tribal sovereignty requires the full representation and engagement of Indigenous Peoples as equals at all levels of the decision making process.

Lands & Natural Resources

Since time immemorial, the people of Turtle Island have cultivated a relationship with the land, its resources, and its other inhabitants.

Legal & Governance

NCAI’s legal and governance work is centered on defending tribal sovereignty, protecting the inherent rights of Native peoples, and expanding Native peoples’ ability to exercise their own self-determination.

Public Safety & Justice

The ability of any nation to enact, enforce, and interpret its own laws and be governed by them is one of the most recognized powers of any sovereign.

Social Resources

The center of tribal communities are the people that bring vitality to our diverse groups. The health and wellbeing of our tribal communities are imperative in progressing towards an era of greater self-determination and prosperity.

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