No, assistance to US tribal nations isn’t foreign aid
Facts And Fact Checking,Federal State And Tribal Powers,Native Americans
Renewable energy and the transition away from fossil fuels is a key issue for the Arizona Corporation Commission. In a recent debate, Republican candidate Nick Myers said that neither the state or utility rate-payers should compensate the Navajo Nation for the closing of a large coal-fired power plant near Page, Arizona.
"It’s not the job of the rate-payers in Arizona to get into foreign aid," Myers said in the Sept. 12 debate on Arizona PBS. "If you’re talking about tribal lands, foreign aid comes under the federal government."
Federal aid to tribal governments is not foreign aid.
Although the Navajo Nation has "nation" in its name, it’s not considered a foreign government. The Supreme Court rulings of Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832) defined tribal nations as "domestic dependent nations." That applies to the 574 federally-recognized Native American tribes in the United States.
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