Brandy Tomhaive, executive director of the Native American Humane Society, told a Missoula audience that tribal nations need the capacity to run their own animal services and that well-intentioned outside interventions can cause harm if they bypass tribal leadership.

Tomhaive described the Native American Humane Society as “the only national organization dedicated to supporting tribes and their communities and developing their own animal services.” She said the organization was founded 10 years ago, and that she became executive director on Aug. 15 of the prior year. The group’s work, she said, centers on supporting tribal-led decision-making rather than imposing outside fixes.

Tomhaive explained structural funding limits for many tribal governments: because reservations are primarily federal land, tribal governments “don’t have the same capacity as the county or the city next door to impose taxes, which is what funds animal services,” she said. She argued that outside groups that “parachute into communities” to perform spay/neuter or remove animals can undermine tribal sovereignty and create a legacy of dependency.

“None of us can be or should be in too much of a hurry to skip that step,” Tomhaive said, describing the need to obtain explicit tribal permission before working in a community. Later she defined “stealing” as taking an animal from a tribal community without tribal consent — a practice she said persists even though removing Native children to boarding schools is now widely condemned.

Tomhaive listed programs and partnerships the Native American Humane Society is pursuing: a new humane-education curriculum for kindergarten through fifth grade developed “by natives for natives,” pilot implementation in Pomo tribal schools in Northern California, and work to increase access to veterinary care. She named specific partners and sites: the Seneca Nation in Upstate New York; the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota; the Northern Arapaho on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming; Utah Navajo chapters on the Navajo Nation; and Pomo tribes in Northern California.

She also cited workforce gaps and outreach priorities: “less than 1% of all veterinarians are Native Americans,” she said, and the organization is working to introduce veterinary science to children and improve access to care. Tomhaive highlighted operational commitment by naming Serena Steiner, the organization’s director of operations and an enrolled tribal member, who she said has spent extended time living in community while implementing programs.

Tomhaive said the organization uses memoranda of understanding and contracts and will not operate in a tribal community without explicit tribal approval. She said that when tribal families bring animals to outside partners under contract that return the animals for adoption, those arrangements can work when they are driven by tribal permission and continuing community partnership.

Why it matters: Tomhaive framed animal services as inseparable from tribal sovereignty, public health and community priorities, arguing that efforts to help must be tribe-led, culturally informed, and sustained through partnerships rather than episodic interventions.

Speakers

- Brandy Tomhaive — Executive Director, Native American Humane Society (nonprofit)
- Serena Steiner — Director of Operations, Native American Humane Society (nonprofit; enrolled tribal member)
- Dr. Michael Yellowbird — President, Native American Humane Society (nonprofit)
- Commenters/Audience members — (citizen)

Discussion vs. decision

- Discussion points: lack of tribal infrastructure and funding for animal services; risk of outsider interventions that bypass tribal leadership; need for MOUs/contracts; pilot programs (humane-education K–5; veterinary access); partnerships with named tribal nations.
- Directions: organization will work by tribal permission and formal agreements; implement K–5 curriculum pilots and build veterinary pathways.
- Decisions: no formal vote recorded in session.

Authorities

- other: Memorandum of understanding / contractual agreements — referenced as the mechanism Native American Humane Society uses before working in tribal communities (referenced_by: Brandy Tomhaive)
- other: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) — referenced in historical context about fences and services (referenced_by: Dr. Michael Yellowbird)
- policy: federal government’s trust responsibility — referenced by Tomhaive when describing why tribes lack resources (referenced_by: Brandy Tomhaive)

Clarifying details

- category: organization history; detail: Native American Humane Society founded about 10 years ago and received seed funding over time; source_speaker: Brandy Tomhaive
- category: leadership; detail: Tomhaive said she became executive director on Aug. 15 (last summer); source_speaker: Brandy Tomhaive
- category: workforce; detail: less than 1% of veterinarians are Native American; source_speaker: Brandy Tomhaive
- category: program locations; detail: current community partnerships named: Seneca Nation (NY), Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa (ND), Northern Arapaho (Wind River, WY), Utah Navajo chapters (Navajo Nation), Pomo tribes (Northern CA); source_speaker: Brandy Tomhaive
- category: education program; detail: K–5 humane-education curriculum developed by natives for natives and piloted in Pomo tribal schools; source_speaker: Brandy Tomhaive

Proper_names

[{"name":"Native American Humane Society","type":"organization"},{"name":"Brandy Tomhaive","type":"person"},{"name":"Dr. Michael Yellowbird","type":"person"},{"name":"Serena Steiner","type":"person"},{"name":"Seneca Nation","type":"organization"},{"name":"Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa","type":"organization"},{"name":"Northern Arapaho","type":"organization"},{"name":"Navajo Nation","type":"organization"},{"name":"Pomo","type":"organization"},{"name":"Bureau of Indian Affairs","type":"agency"}]

Community_relevance

- geographies: ["Missoula","Fort Berthold Reservation","Turtle Mountain Reservation","Wind River Reservation","Navajo Nation","Northern California (Pomo)"]
- funding_sources: ["federal trust funds (described in discussion but not quantified)"]
- impact_groups: ["tribal families","Native children","veterinary workforce","free-roaming animals"]

Meeting_context

- engagement_level: {"speakers_count":4,"duration_minutes":not_specified,"items_count":1}
- implementation_risk:"medium" (programs depend on tribal permission, MOUs and sustained funding)
- history:[{"date":"not_specified","note":"Tomhaive said the organization was founded ~10 years ago; recent leadership change Aug. 15 (prior year)."}]

searchable_tags

["Native American Humane Society","tribal sovereignty","animal welfare","spay/neuter","humane education","veterinary access"]

provenance

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salience

{"overall":0.72,"overall_justification":"Direct operational and policy implications for tribal animal services and local nonprofit partners; includes named partnerships and program pilots.","impact_scope":"regional","impact_scope_justification":"Programs and partnerships span multiple states and tribal jurisdictions.","attention_level":"high","attention_level_justification":"Impacts tribal sovereignty, public health and cross-jurisdictional animal services.","novelty":0.50,"novelty_justification":"Framing animal services as a sovereign tribal service and warning against unilateral interventions is not new but is emphasized here.","timeliness_urgency":0.55,"timeliness_urgency_justification":"Ongoing program development and need for formal agreements makes timely attention important.","legal_significance":0.40,"legal_significance_justification":"Discussion of contracts/MOUs and tribal permission has legal and sovereignty implications.","budgetary_significance":0.35,"budgetary_significance_justification":"Notes funding constraints tied to tax authority and federal land status but no dollar amounts provided.","public_safety_risk":0.25,"public_safety_risk_justification":"References to higher dog-bite rates among Native children; specific risk levels not quantified.","environmental_impact":0.05,"environmental_impact_justification":"Not a primary environmental story.","affected_population_estimate":0,"affected_population_estimate_justification":"Transcript did not provide numeric estimates.