FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, October 23, 2026
Rapid CIty, SD – The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) was introduced in the Senate on September 30 and is set for a November 9 Senate vote. Authors of BAAJA are positioning the legislation as a way to streamline infrastructure projects. One of the most problematic components of the legislation are changes to Section 106 review process under the National Historic Preservation Act that undermines tribal sovereignty and consultation. In response, NDN Collective released the following statement:
“Sidelining the public and forgoing tribal consultation will not save time or money – it’s a surefire way to generate costly lawsuits and further delay projects, and failing to detect issues early on will undoubtedly lead to more expensive problems later,” said Wizipan Garriot, president of NDN Collective. “Most egregious is a provision that allows the federal government to assume control over a Tribal Historic Preservation Office and speak on behalf of the tribe to other federal officials. Imagine a federal employee officially representing a tribe to another federal employee about sacred sites and ceremonies of the tribe. In addition to attacking basic tenets of tribal sovereignty, this act will create needless expansion of the federal bureaucracy and increase costs for taxpayers.”
“Highways, bridges, ports, power plants, and clean energy projects have been built in the United States while following Section 106 for nearly sixty years – the attempt to change it now is a blatant power grab by the federal government,” said Davis Price, Senior Domestic Policy Strategist at NDN Collective. “Section 106 is one of the few places where the general public can still influence federal decisions affecting their communities, and provides essential protections of indigenous sovereignty – it must be protected, and The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act must be pulled immediately.”
This week, NDN Collective launched a sign-on letter to Congress, urging members to oppose the permitting reform bill and to meet with frontline Indigenous communities and Tribal leaders. The organization joins a long list of Indigenous-led organizations vocally opposing BAAJA.
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NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.
