This week, the Department of the Interior hosted the White House Tribal Nations Summit, the first in-person convening since 2016. Over two days, the Summit provided an opportunity for Biden-Harris administration and Tribal leaders from federally recognized Tribes to meaningfully engage about ways the federal government can invest in and strengthen Native communities, as well as ensure that progress in Indian Country endures for years to come.
Since taking office, the Interior Department has prioritized strengthening nation-to-nation relationships, honoring trust and treaty obligations with federally recognized Tribes, and advancing Tribal sovereignty and self-determination. Through the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden-Harris administration is making historic investments in Tribal communities to ensure they have the support and resources they need to thrive.
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The Biden-Harris administration announced the launch of a new Voluntary Community-Driven Relocation program, led by the Department of the Interior, to assist Tribal communities severely impacted by climate-related environmental threats. Through investments from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, the Department is committing $115 million for 11 severely impacted Tribes to advance relocation efforts and adaptation planning. Additional support for relocation will be provided by the Federal Emergency Management Administration and the Denali Commission.
The New York Times: U. S. to Pay Millions to Move Tribes Threatened by Climate Change
The Biden administration will give three Native tribes $75 million to move away from coastal areas or rivers, one of the nation’s largest efforts to date to relocate communities that are facing an urgent threat from climate change. The three communities — two in Alaska, and one in Washington State — will each get $25 million to move their key buildings onto higher ground and away from rising waters, with the expectation that homes will follow. The federal government will give eight more tribes $5 million each to plan for relocation.
USA Today: Native villages fleeing climate change effects get millions in aid from Biden administration
Two Native villages in Alaska and a native village in Washington state will receive $25 million each in federal assistance to help relocate to higher ground in the face of climate change-driven erosion and flooding concerns. President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced the funding for Newtok and Napakiak, both on the Bering Sea coast in Alaska, and the Quinault Indian Nation on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Biden spoke at the start of a two-day tribal summit in Washington, D.C.
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a series of actions to support Tribally led conservation, education and economic development through a new Office of Strategic Partnerships. The Department also announced a new joint project between the Bureau of Indian Education and Trust for Public Land to create culturally informed outdoor educational spaces, the renewal of “The National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education,” and new partnerships with community organizations to catalyze economic opportunities across Indian Country.
Native News Online: Interior Department Announces New Support for Tribal Sovereignty
Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced new actions to support tribal sovereignty owed to education and economic development work between the Office of Strategic Partnerships and Indian Country. The Office of Strategic Partnerships will assist with building partnerships, leveraging resources, and promoting innovative solutions for Indian Country, according to a press release from the Department of the Interior. Through the office, the Department will help manage a diverse set of collaborative efforts with philanthropic and non-profit organizations, including a new partnership between the Bureau of Indian Education and the Trust for Public Land’s Community Schoolyards Project to create culturally informed outdoor educational spaces.
Idaho Capital Sun: Department of Interior announces new education center on Coeur d’Alene Reservation
U.S. Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland on Wednesday announced the creation of a new Office of Strategic Partnerships that will team up to launch new outdoor education centers in Tribal communities, including the Coeur d’Alene Reservation. According to a press release issued by the department, the new Office of Strategic Partnerships will work with the Bureau of Indian Education and the Trust for Public Lands to create nine community school yards in 2023. The schools will be outdoor multipurpose centers where physical activity, education, Native languages and cultural heritage can be combined. One of the nine community schools will be the new Coeur d’Alene Tribal School in De Smet, Idaho, Department of Interior officials said.
The Departments of the Interior and Commerce and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to advance electromagnetic spectrum access opportunities and the deployment of broadband and other wireless services on Tribal lands. Additionally, Interior is establishing a new Office of Indigenous Communications and Technology (OICT) to assist Tribal Nations and Tribal entities in managing and developing new technological and wireless services on Tribal lands to advance true self-determination over digital resources.
State Scoop: Native tribes get new federal office for tech, more broadband funding
President Joe Biden announced plans Wednesday to create an Office of Indigenous Communications and Technology in the Department of the Interior. The new office will provide technical support and assist Native American tribes in managing, developing and maintaining their broadband and communications infrastructure, according to a White House briefing. The office also aims to facilitate partnerships between tribes and the tech industry and provide support for technology initiatives on tribal lands. The new office was announced during the 2022 White House Tribal Nations Summit, which introduced several actions to increase tribal input and consultation in policymaking.
VOA News: Biden Administration Highlights New Initiatives for Tribal Nations
U.S. President Joe Biden drew enthusiastic applause from tribal leaders attending day one of a two-day White House Tribal Nations Summit in Washington, where Biden announced new policies for improving tribal consultation across federal agencies. “Consultation has to be a two-way, nation-to-nation exchange,” he said. “Federal agencies should strive to reach consensus among the tribes, and there should be adequate time for ample communication.”
The Departments of the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce outlined a series of new steps the agencies are taking to increase and strengthen Tribal participation in the management and stewardship of federal lands and waters.
E&E News: Tribal summit takeaways include pledges of more teamwork
The Interior Department and other federal agencies made a number of commitments, including to work more with Native American tribes on co-stewardship. The Biden administration’s two-day White House Tribal Nations Summit that concluded late Thursday afternoon produced topical reports, fresh commitments, new policy guidance and some self-administered pats on the back. Attended by over 300 tribal leaders and addressed by the president, vice president and myriad Cabinet secretaries, the first in-person summit of its kind since the Obama administration filled the Sidney R. Yates Auditorium in the Interior Department’s main headquarters building.
Record-Eagle: ICWA, treaty rights among tribal summit issues
More than 300 leaders of sovereign nations gathered for The White House Tribal Nations Summit in Washington, D.C. The two-day, nation-to-nation summit brought together tribal leaders and federal government officials — including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, citizen of the Pueblo Laguna — to discuss issues important to the progress of tribes. Leaders from each federally recognized tribe were invited to attend, including several Anishinaabek leaders from Michigan. First-time attendee and acting Chairman of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians Austin Lowes said the discussions are a great opportunity to build better government-to-government relationships.
The Departments of the Interior and Agriculture announced that the agencies are implementing new regulatory and policy recommendations designed to protect Tribal interests and resources from the impacts of mining, increase Tribal engagement in mining proposals, and promote well-designed mining activity that accounts for climate change and current standards and technologies.
Politico Pro: Biden administration gives Native American tribes more say in new mining
The Biden administration announced on Thursday new policies meant to give Native American tribes more say in evaluating mining proposals as the U.S. moves to boost the domestic supply chain for critical minerals needed to fuel the green transition. The departments of Interior and Agriculture will oversee processes that will give tribal governments the ability to track and engage in mining exploration plans earlier and let them “confidentially specify geographic areas of interest” and be notified of mining plans for those areas.
Bureau of Indian Affairs, FBI Sign Agreement to Improve Law Enforcement in Indian Country
The Bureau of Indian Affairs and FBI announced an agreement to establish guidelines to provide for the effective and efficient administration of criminal investigations in Indian Country. This is the first update since the early 1990s to a memorandum of understanding between the agencies.
The Hill: FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs announce updated cooperation guidelines
The Justice Department on Thursday announced the first update in three decades to the guidelines that govern relations with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). The new agreement will establish cooperation and information-sharing guidelines for the FBI and the BIA’s Office of Justice Services. The FBI will take an “initial primary role” in investigating any shootings by BIA or tribal police as well as in-custody deaths. The BIA will conduct its own separate internal investigations for any such incidents. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the update at the 2022 White House Tribal Nations Summit during a panel featuring Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Native American cabinet secretary, who has made addressing tribal issues a major part of her tenure.
Montana Right Now: BIA, FBI come to agreement updating criminal investigation guidelines in Indian Country
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the FBI came to an agreement Thursday to revamp guidelines improving criminal investigation management on Tribal land. A release from the BIA said this is the first time since the 1990s they have updated these guidelines. The agreement requires the BIA and the FBI to work together to investigate and communicate information. Further, it will set up written guidelines to define jurisdiction and delegate positions and responsibilities among BIA, FBI and Tribal law enforcement agencies, according to BIA’s release.