Our country has done wrong to its indigenous people, time and time again. And Presidents who should have done more to help them have fallen down on the job. Not Joe Biden.
What has he done? Well, most recently:
President Biden Signs Historic Executive Order to Launch a New Era of Tribal Self-Determination
In December, Biden signed a ground-breaking executive order, “Reforming Federal Funding and Support for Tribal Nations to Better Embrace Our Trust Responsibilities and Promote the Next Era of Tribal Self Determination,” as part of the White House Tribal Nations Summit. The White House explains:
This executive order demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s respect for Tribal sovereignty and commitment to ushering in the next era of Tribal self-determination by ensuring that Tribal Nations have greater autonomy over how they invest federal funding.
Why do we need this?
Historically, federal policies of past eras were attacks on Native people’s basic rights to self-governance and caused lasting damage to Tribal communities, economies, and governments. . . . Today, Tribal Nations still face many barriers to fully exercise their inherent sovereignty, especially in federal funding programs. Far too many of the federal funding and support programs that Tribes rely on are difficult to access, have overly burdensome federal reporting requirements, have unnecessary limitations, or impose requirements on Tribes that drain Tribal resources and undermine their ability to make their own decisions about where and how to meet the needs of their communities.
What did Biden do?
The Executive Order affirms that Tribal self-governance is about the fundamental right of a people to determine their own destiny and to prosper and flourish on their own terms. It also affirms that Tribal governments must be treated as permanent, equal, and vital parts of America’s overlapping system of government.
To fulfill this promise, the Executive Order:
- Requires federal agencies to take action to ensure federal funding for Tribes is accessible, flexible, and equitable.
- Creates a one-stop shop for federal funding available to Tribes. The Tribal Access to Capital Clearinghouse will be launched at the Tribal Nations Summit to provide a one-stop-shop for Tribes and Native businesses to find federal funding.
- Better embraces our trust responsibilities by assessing unmet federal obligations to support Tribal Nations.
According to AP, Yurok Tribal Council Member Phillip Williams found Biden’s speech discussing these new efforts “inspirational.”
It felt like our highest official in the land acknowledges the crimes of the past. His contribution to society is to help to heal the tribal nations.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren welcomed the added autonomy tribes would gain in using the funding they get from the federal government. The funds are vital to help the hundreds of thousands of people on the far-flung Navajo reservation, but the red tape can make them difficult to spend, he said.
This is the THIRD executive order Joe Biden has signed to build a more robust nation-to-nation relationship between the tribal and federal governments, including by strengthening consultation with the tribal nations.
In addition, he has made historic investments in Indian Country through several pieces of landmark legislation. The White House listed these in particular:
- $32 billion in the American Rescue Plan, the largest direct federal investment in Tribal Nations in history.
- $13 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build high-speed internet, roads, bridges, public transit, clean water, and improve sanitation in Tribal communities.
- $700 million in the Inflation Reduction Act, to invest in Native communities for climate resilience and adaptation programs, drought mitigation, home electrification, and clean energy development.
- Sending billions of federal contract dollars—and significant percentages of their overall procurement dollars—to Native-owned or -controlled businesses through the Buy Indian Act, a law that has been re-invigorated under the Biden-Harris Administration. [In FY 2023, over $4 billion was awarded this way.]
- Securing the first ever advance appropriations for the Indian Health Service (IHS), which was the only major federal healthcare system that was funded through discretionary appropriations and therefore more likely to be cut every year. These advance appropriations bring much needed stability to IHS and ensure that IHS hospitals can stay open to provide lifesaving care in the event of a lapse in government appropriations.
President Biden also announced his support for allowing the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to play under its own flag in the 2028 Olympics. The confederacy, comprising the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora Nations, would compete in lacrosse, a sport they invented. According to AP, their lacrosse organization is one of the best in the world.
Is there still more work to be done? 100%! Lots more work. But Biden did more than many people guessed could be done. He deserves a lot of credit. AND he deserves to be re-elected.
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