Honoring the Legacy of Resilience and Healing

A special shoutout to the Biden-Harris Administration for their historic investments and transformative actions for Tribal Nations. Under their leadership, Native communities have seen unprecedented support.??????

The Biden-Harris Administration has taken a historic step in acknowledging and addressing one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history: the forced assimilation of Indigenous children through federal Indian boarding schools. On October 25, 2024, President Joe Biden became the first president in a decade to visit Indian Country, where he delivered a formal apology to Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Native Alaskan communities for these policies.??This apology is part of a broader effort led by Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve in a U.S. Cabinet, through the Federal Boarding School Initiative. This initiative seeks to uncover the truth about federal Indian boarding schools, identify burial sites, and document the experiences of survivors and their descendants. The Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, the first of its kind, serves as a painful symbol of this legacy.??Founded in 1879, Carlisle aimed to "Kill the Indian and Save the Man," forcibly removing Indigenous children from their families, banning their languages and traditions, and subjecting them to a system designed to erase their identities. Crowded conditions led to illness and death, and the loss of family ties left scars that reverberated through generations.??

But this history is not just about loss. It is also about resilience. Indigenous communities have held on to their cultures, languages, and traditions despite systemic efforts to erase them. Today, through initiatives like the Federal Boarding School Initiative, the voices of survivors and descendants are being amplified, and their stories are shaping a path toward healing.??

President Biden’s apology is accompanied by action. Under the Biden-Harris Administration:??

• $32 billion from the American Rescue Plan has been directed to Tribal Nations, representing the largest federal investment in Native communities in history.??
• $13 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is being used to build roads, bridges, clean water systems, and high-speed internet in Tribal communities.??
• First Lady Jill Biden has championed Native youth mental health, Native language revitalization, and access to cancer screening and care.??

Secretary Haaland describes this as a time of transformational change.” From providing electricity to the Hopi Reservation in Arizona to restoring transportation infrastructure for the Mescalero Apache Nation in New Mexico, the administration’s investments are creating opportunities and addressing long-standing inequities.??

For Tribal leaders and communities, this new era represents hope—a chance to heal wounds, rebuild cultural ties, and protect sacred lands. As we reflect on this history and the work still to be done, let us honor the resilience of Indigenous communities and commit to learning from the past to create a more just and equitable future.??

Reposted from Heather Cox Richardson, follow her here:????

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