Palecek and his confidants subsequently met with tribal leaders serving on the United Tribes of North Dakota Board of Directors and State Lawmakers on a legislative planning committee, conducting what turned out to be a negotiation between the two groups of leaders. According to Palecek, Tribal leaders were interested but made it clear they would “have to be invited” to speak; “they were not going to ask to do it.” To the lawmakers it was persuasive that the speech would be on a government-to-government basis by an elected tribal leader and not by activists or unelected individuals.

The result was an invitation by lawmakers for the tribes to present the first tribal address during the 1985 Legislative Session. United Tribes helped plan the inaugural event and published a booklet that included the written text of the speech titled “The State of the Relationship: A Tribal Perspective.” Russell Hawkins, Chairman of Sisseton/Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, presented the first address.

At the time, there was no precedent for the event. David Gipp said it marked the first time federally recognized tribes had accepted an invitation “to officially speak before a legislative branch of government in the 20th Century.” At the outset, and for a number of years, the address was delivered separately to assemblies in the State House of Representatives and State Senate. Lawmakers of both chambers have since gathered in the House Chamber to hear the speech in a Joint Session of the Legislature.

Responsibility for presenting the speech rotates among the five tribes located in whole, or in part, in North Dakota: Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara Nation, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Spirit Lake Nation, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. The elected Tribal chairpersons have used the occasion to express what matters most to Tribes and Tribal People.

A Tribal-State Relationship address has been presented to every Legislative Assembly since 1985 with one exception. In 2017, lawmakers canceled the speech citing capitol building security concerns. These were related to protests in Bismarck and Mandan over construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on unceded lands of the Standing Rock Reservation, over the objections of the tribe. The State of the Judiciary speech was also canceled that year.

The Tribal-State Relationship speech was restored in 2019. The North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission coordinates the event, which has included associated briefings on Tribal issues, cultural exchanges, performances, and a meal. The opportunity for a formal level of communication between the Tribes and the State remains part of North Dakota’s legislative process.