This week, producer Emma Needham’s conversation with Chéri Smith and Matt Dannenberg about their work with the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy and the Tribal Energy Evolution Summit.
Producer: Emma Needham
Editors: Victor Palomino
Anchor: Marie Rock
Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
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CORRECTION: Since this interview was recorded, Matt Dannenberg has shifted to the new role of Head of Partnerships at the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy.
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TRANSCRIPT
[Minnesota Native News theme]Marie Rock [ANCHOR]: You’re listening to Minnesota Native News. I’m Marie Rock. This week, we revisit producer Emma Needham’s conversation with Cheri Smith and Matt Dannenberg about their work with the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy and the Tribal Energy Evolution Summit, which will take place again next month.
Cheri Smith: My name is Cheri Smith. I descend through both my mom and my dad from the Mi’kmaq nation of so-called Maine and the Canadian Maritime Provinces. I am founder, president, and CEO of the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy.
Matt Dannenberg: And, uh, Boozhoo, uh, uh, Matt Dannenberg Dijinicaz, Maquan, Dodam, Mashkizibing, and Dunjabah. Uh, Matt Dannenberg, uh, Bear Clan, from Bad River, and I’m, uh, the head of tribal engagement at the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy. You know, the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy, it’s all about making sure we’re setting a table for the tribes in these discussions where tribes have been excluded throughout history. mentioned the transmission grid, energy planning, and ultimately reducing energy costs and burden on our people so they’re not having to choose between putting food on their table and heating their homes.
Cheri Smith: And so we assembled over 60 tribal leaders and federal leaders and, uh, allies from NGOs and our small team at the Alliance, and we hosted the event, which we had about 200 people and 60 tribal leaders. And it started there. The point was to gather tribes on equal plane, as our federal colleagues from FERC and DOE, where Matt was before, Department of Energy, not as stakeholders, but as sovereigns and laying the ground for relationships and accountability and a vision for what a just transition looks like on tribal terms, not on United States federal government terms.
Matt Dannenberg: The federal government has an obligation, a trust responsibility to provide tribes, you know, the resources that, that were owed and tribal governments have that sovereign self-determination to determine their own energy futures. So they can pursue the economic development opportunities and make sure that people in our communities are thriving.
Cheri Smith: So that year kind of helped us have conversations about what did the tribes see as their vision for 10 years from now? And how will we? And how will we know we’ve truly made this transition? What frameworks will help us get there? In the first event, we can gather the tribal leaders together in a room, and it’s just natives in the room, to talk about the impact that electrification of our country has had on them personally and on their families and on their ancestors. And it was really profound to spell out literally on the wall. About how, when electricity came to town, how it impacted them. And most of it was, it was negative. And the second year session was equally impactful, talking about the lack of access and how the lines don’t reach Indian country, the further reaches of those places in our country. And these godforsaken reservations that our ancestors were placed on. And in 2025, that there are still, you know, 14% of native households don’t have electricity yet. These are really profound statistics that we are actively, every single day, working to address. We started at the grassroots level. Now we’re working at the systems change levels.
Matt Dannenberg: And I’d also add, just on the impact front, you know, a big part of what we do is also building allyship. And like I said, there’s a lot of non-Native people in the room, in the industry. So we have curriculum called Pathways to Trust. So building, you know, culturally appropriate, respectful relationships, working with support, tribes.
Cheri Smith: I founded the org on the Mi’k’ama premise of Edhuwep the Monk, which is two-eyed saying. That it’s going to take all of us on Earth to solve the mess that we’re in. And we look forward to a time where as many Native nations who want to be energy independent can be. But it’s going to take all of us to get to that point.
Matt Dannenberg: we have resources on our website.
Cheri Smith: https://tribalcleanenergy.org/ is the URL. And we’re on LinkedIn, we’re on Instagram, we’re on Facebook.
Matt Dannenberg: And for tribes that want to get involved and request assistance at no cost, they can email me, tribes at…
Cheri Smith: …tribalcleanenergy dot org.
Marie Rock: That’s all for this week’s episode. Join us next time for more voices and stories that inform, uplift and shape our communities right here on Minnesota Native News.
Marie Rock: Minnesota Native News is produced by AMPERS, Diverse radio for Minnesota’s communities, made possible by funding from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.
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