WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden told Native American nations gathered for a summit Wednesday that his administration was working to heal the wrongs of the past as he signed an executive order that seeks to make it easier for Indigenous peoples to access federal funding, and have greater autonomy over how to spend it.
Biden also threw his support behind a request to allow Haudenosaunee Confederacy to compete under its own flag in the 2028 Olympics in lacrosse, a sport they invented.
Historically, federal policies attacked Native people’s rights to self-governance and caused lasting economic damage. Biden said the actions at the summit were “key steps” that would help usher in an new era of tribal sovereignty.
“A new era grounded in dignity and respect that recognizes your fundamental rights to govern and grow on your own terms,” he said.
“It’s hard work to heal the wrongs of the past and change the course, and move forward,” Biden said.
Yurok Tribal Council Member Phillip Williams described Biden’s speech as inspirational.
“It felt like our highest official in the land acknowledges the crimes of the past,” he said. “His contribution to society is to help to heal the tribal nations.”
Biden signed the order as members of his administration and tribal nation leaders stood behind him on stage at the Department of the Interior.
The order in part creates a clearinghouse for Native American and Alaska native tribes to find and access grants and it requests that federal agencies ensure that funding is accessible and equitable. It also gives them more authority over how to spend the money.
That news was welcomed by Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, who said the funding they get from the federal government to help the hundreds of thousands of people on their reservation that extends across Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, can be difficult to spend.
“There’s so much policies and things that are attached to it and requirements that are attached to it that sometimes it’s just overwhelming to try to get it done,” he said.
Tyson Johnston, self governance executive director for the Quinault Indian Nation in northwest Washington state, who is responsible for coordinating the relocation of their villages in the face of dangerous sea level rise, highlighted the importance of this type of autonomy when it comes to climate change.
In July, the Biden administration announced $120 million in grant funding for tribes in the U.S. to boost their resiliency to climate change.