Native American Tribes Play Key Role in Drive for U.S. Energy Dominance

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Written by John Egan for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

An estimated 575 Native American tribes sit atop or near about $1.2 trillion in mineral wealth in the U.S., speakers told a Western mining conference last month. The Trump administration's energy dominance agenda will require the federal government to work more collaboratively with tribes, they said.

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Native American Tribes Sit Atop Large Deposits of Minerals

Native American tribes sit atop or adjacent to more than $1 trillion of mineral wealth that is necessary for realizing the Trump administration's energy dominance agenda, speakers told the 2026 Western Mining Summit, held in Denver, Colorado, May 20-22. Profitably extracting those minerals, including copper, coal, oil & gas, and a variety of other critical and rare earth minerals, will require industry and government to work differently with tribes.

According to Industrial Info Resources data, 274 capital mining projects are scheduled to begin construction in the U.S. West Coast and Rocky Mountain regions between January 2025 and December 2028, with a total investment value of more than $76 billion. The states with the greatest amount of scheduled project activity include Arizona, Nevada and Alaska.

Much of the land in some Western states is owned by Native American tribes: In Arizona, about 27% of the state is owned or controlled by tribes, while in Alaska about 10% of the state land is controlled by tribes. Subscribers to the Industrial Info Resources Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can view a list of detailed project reports here.

Tribes want to forge more collaborative relationships with industry and the federal government, reversing a long history of exploitation and other negative interactions. Now, tribes are seeking equity partnership status in mineral development projects on or near their lands.

An estimated 575 Native American tribes control about 65 million acres of U.S. land. Under that land, or located within about 35 miles of it, are an estimated $1.2 trillion worth of mineral wealth, Carlyle Begay, a former member of the Arizona state senate and a infrastructure & critical minerals adviser to the Navajo Nation, told an estimated 300 attendees at the conference, sponsored by the Colorado Mining Association.

This tribal wealth includes:

• Navajo Nation (Northern Arizona and Western New Mexico), under which lie significant reserves of coal and uranium.
• Crow Nation (Powder River Basin, Montana) sits atop an estimated 9 billion tons of coal.
• Three affiliated tribes (North Dakota) have significant reserves of oil & gas in the Bakken Formation in and around their reservation.
• The San Carlos Apache and Tonto Apache tribes in Arizona sit atop one of the largest deposits of copper in North America.
• Lakota Sioux, located in the Black Hills of North Dakota, and various Shoshone and Paiute tribes in Nevada, claim ownership of significant reserves of lithium.

Many, if not most, tribes wish to jointly develop some or all of those resources in a collaborative partnership with the federal government, he said. But for that to happen, industry and government officials need to think and behave differently than they have in the past, speakers agreed.

By the Numbers

• 575: Number of Native American Tribes in the U.S.
• 65 million acres: The amount of land controlled by tribes, under which sits enormous mineral wealth.
• US$1.2 trillion: the estimated value of mineral wealth that sits under or near tribal lands in the U.S.

"Tribes want to be substantially involved in the (minerals) permitting process, not considered some 'check the box' stakeholders whose views typically have been ignored by government and industry," Daniel Cardenas, chairman, president and chief executive of the America Indian Infrastructure Association, told the conference attendees. "Tribes play a unique role in mining permitting."

The U.S. government is legally required to act in the best interests of tribes. Too often, however, that obligation has been ignored.

"Proactively investing in outreach with tribes will pay off over the decades," Cardenas said. For that to happen, he said, the federal government needs to accept tribes as full partners, with equity interest in minerals development. "We need to be at the same table as developers and vendors and the government. Jobs are important to tribes."

Better Relations Start with Listening and Learning

Cardenas' points were echoed by other speakers at the conference.

"Listening and learning is essential to building better, more collaborative, relationships with tribes," said Begay. "Too many companies underestimate the importance of listening."

Another speaker, Rich Luarkie, program director of the North American Mining and Energy Sovereignty (NAMES) Initiative, said, "Often, industry representatives come in and say, 'We have the best solution since sliced bread,' without asking tribes if there are problems."

"Don't underestimate the value of starting with a cup of coffee and hearing what's on tribal leaders' minds," he urged. "It is so important to have the front end of development taken care of."

Speakers recognized that profit-seeking companies may not be particularly comfortable spending time listening and learning, preferring instead to start with legal documents. They cautioned against that.

"It can take years to develop a trusting relationship with tribes," Begay said. "Industry needs to respect our timelines. Companies may think 20, 30 or 40 years into the future, but we think in terms of generations."

Tribes and mines have a century of bad relations they have to unwind, speakers said. But they agreed that the Trump administration, and some companies, are taking more of a collaborative, long-term partnership approach. For example, they said uranium miner Energy Fuel is working to clean up uranium mining wastes that it did not create.

Key Takeaways

• The Trump administration is pursuing a strategic goal of energy dominance.
• Realizing this goal will be difficult if not impossible without collaborating with Native American tribes because tribes sit on top of or near about $1.2 trillion of mineral wealth, speakers told a Western mining conference in May.
• Industry and government can begin by listening and learning about the challenges facing tribes, rather than seeking to negotiate legal agreements right away.
• Tribes want to become equity partners with industry and government in development of mineral resources. They resent being seen as "check the box" stakeholders whose views can be ignored when it is convenient to do so.

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About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, Industrial Info Resources is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 trillion (USD).