One day Brian Gunn plans to return to the Washington state Indian reservation where he was raised and run for tribal office. But for the moment Gunn, 38, is hoping he can help Native Americans from the other Washington, where he’s an up-and-coming Native American issues lobbyist on Capitol Hill. A member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Gunn has helped Indian tribes win direct access to homeland security funding for tribal fire departments and ambulance services. The move netted the Colville $800,000.
Last year he helped ensure congressional passage of a law helping the federal government settle four Indian water rights disputes totaling more than $1 billion that will deliver clean drinking water to tribes in Arizona, New Mexico and Montana. He’s also secured funding for the creation of an Indian energy policy and program office in the U.S. Department of Energy and led efforts to reauthorize the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act, which provides the legal grounds for most federal housing assistance on Indian lands.
