Tribal Nations Summit Edition - This Week at Interior December 8, 2023

(Music)

This Week at Interior

(Sound of Native drumming, singing)

The Department of the Interior hosted the third White House Tribal Nations Summit of the Biden-Harris administration this week. The annual gathering provides an opportunity for administration and Tribal leaders to discuss ways to strengthen nation-to-nation relationships and ensure that progress for Indian Country continues for years to come. President Biden addressed the summit, then signed an Executive Order reforming how the government supports Tribal Nations by making it easier to access federal funding opportunities to help grow their economies and provide their citizens with vital services

It's hard work to heal the wrongs of the past and change the course and move forward. But the actions we're taking today are key steps into that new era of Tribal sovereignty and self-determination -- a new era grounded in dignity and respect that recognizes your fundamental rights to govern and grow on your own terms. That's what this summit is all about.

In our work to build a better and brighter future President Biden and I are also committed to bridging the deep disparities that still hold so many Native communities back, including disparities in education, economic opportunity and health care. One of the ways we are doing this is through our investment in high-speed internet. Because as we all know in the 21st century, high-speed internet is not a luxury, it's a necessity.

It is undeniable that federal policies set out to break Indigenous peoples, to destroy our cultures, our lifeways and our inherent connection to the land. I think it is also undeniable that those policies failed. They failed to break us and now we're bringing every resource to bear to restore what they set out to destroy.

At the Tribal Nations Summit, Secretary Haaland announced that the National Park Service will collaborate with Tribes across the nation on a new theme study focusing on the Indian Reorganization Period. A theme study provides a national historic context for specific topics in American history or prehistory, as well as evaluation guidance and a list of properties for study as possible future National Historic Landmarks. It's all part of Interior's effort to ensure that Native American history is recognized as American history.

Secretary Haaland also announced new steps to strengthen nation-to-nation relationships. The Department released its second annual report on Tribal co-stewardship of lands and waters, highlighting the nearly 200 agreements that Interior and other agencies have made with Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations and consortiums this year alone. The Department has made strides to incorporate Indigenous Knowledge into our work, formalizing it as a pillar of our work through a new Departmental chapter.

As part of the President’s executive order, the Department and White House Council on Native American Affairs launched an online clearinghouse to serve as a repository for all federal funding opportunities available to Tribal Nations and Native businesses in order to improve access to capital across Indian Country. The Biden-Harris administration has made historic amounts of funding available to Indigenous communities through President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda.

Department leaders also announced a final rule to revise regulations that implement the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, or NAGPRA. These regulations provide systematic processes for returning Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants, Tribes, and Native Hawaiian Organizations. The updated regulations will streamline implementation and strengthen the role of Indigenous communities in the repatriation process.

Interior this week also announced the conclusion of the Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations, a decade-long effort to consolidate and return land to Tribal ownership. Over the course of the program, nearly 3 million acres in 15 states were consolidated and restored to Tribal trust ownership and $1.69 billion was paid to more than 123,000 interested individuals.

And our social media Picture of the Week -- The Tribal Nations Summit would not have been a success without the work of Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland and the incredible team in his office within Indian Affairs. Together with Indigenous leaders from across the Department, we're all committed to fulfilling Interior's commitment to honor our trust and treaty responsibilities and bolster our nation-to-nation relationships.

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That's This Week at Interior.

(Music fades)