This month we celebrate Indigenous Heritage Month, also known as National Native American Heritage Month.
It was first recognised 31 years ago when former President George Bush first approved a joint resolution to establish “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Over the years, the observance was recognised under different variations of the original name. However, the significance of the month never wavered, according to experts. The month-long event celebrates the rich culture and heritage of this nation’s native people. And many organisations also make an effort to celebrate the month with their employees.
Last year, in 2021, history was made when a record number of Native American candidates won seats in the US House of Representatives and the Senate. More recently, Secretary Deb Haaland made history as the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary after being appointed to lead the US Department of the Interior.
TACKLING INEQUITIES
“During National Native American Heritage Month, we celebrate Indigenous peoples past and present and rededicate ourselves to honoring Tribal sovereignty, promoting Tribal self-determination, and upholding the United States’ solemn trust and treaty responsibilities to Tribal Nations,” stated US President Joe Biden, in a statement from the Whitehouse. “America has not always delivered on its promise of equal dignity and respect for Native Americans. For centuries, broken treaties, dispossession of ancestral lands, and policies of assimilation and termination sought to decimate Native populations and their ways of life.”
But despite this painful history, Indigenous peoples, their governments, and their communities have persevered and flourished. “As teachers and scholars, scientists and doctors, writers and artists, business leaders and elected officials, heroes in uniform, and so much more, they have made immeasurable contributions to our country’s progress,” added Biden.
MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT
As such, he believes the US “must do more to ensure that Native Americans have every opportunity to succeed and that their expertise informs our Federal policy-making”. “That is why my Administration is engaging in meaningful consultation with Tribal leaders, particularly when it comes to treaty rights, reserved rights, management and stewardship of Federal lands, consideration of Indigenous Knowledge, and other policies that affect Native peoples. That is also why I appointed Secretary Deb Haaland to be the first-ever Native American Cabinet Secretary, and why more than 50 Native Americans now serve in significant roles across the executive branch,” added Biden.
To that end, the country is creating new jobs in Native American communities and bolstering infrastructure in Tribal areas. “My Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law secured more than $13 billion exclusively for Native communities to deliver high-speed internet to Tribal lands, build safer roads and bridges, modernize sanitation systems, and provide clean drinking water — all while putting people to work. Through the Inflation Reduction Act, we are lowering the price of health care coverage and capping drug costs for Indigenous families,” said Biden.
PROTECTING NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
He is empowering Tribes to “fight drought, improve fisheries, and transition to clean energy as part of the most significant climate investment this Nation has ever made,” shared Biden. “Those investments include climate adaptation planning and community-led relocation efforts, funding a Tribal Electrification Programme to provide power to unelectrified homes, making Environmental Justice Block Grants available to help alleviate legacy pollution, bolstering conservation programmes across the country, and restoring protections for treasured lands that Indigenous peoples have tirelessly stewarded, such as Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.”
Biden’s administration is also helping Native communities heal from intergenerational trauma caused by past policies. “Last year, the Department of the Interior launched the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative to shed light on the harmful history of forced cultural assimilation at these academic institutions. We are investing in Tribal language revitalization, protecting Tribal voting rights, and working with Tribal partners to tackle the crisis of missing or murdered Indigenous people,” concluded Biden. “As we look ahead, my Administration will continue to write a new and better chapter in the story of our Nation-to-Nation relationships. We will defend Tribal sovereignty, self-government, self-determination, and the homelands of Tribal Nations. We will support Tribal economies, recognizing that Tribal governments provide a vast array of physical infrastructure, social services, and good-paying jobs that benefit their citizens and surrounding communities.”
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