Pres. Biden announces initiatives for Native communities
President hopes to heal a “dark chapter” in American history
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - President Joe Biden continues his outreach to the Native American community.
For the fourth and final Tribal Nations Summit of the Biden Administration, President Biden announcing the establishment of the Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Assistant Interior Secretary Bryan Newland said, “It is a way for the United States government to have a place, that allows us to acknowledge and reflect on that and makes it a part of our nation’s fabric as part of our history. It also builds on, the administration’s work to, be accountable for the operation of these boarding schools and their legacy in Indian Country.”
According to Assistant Interior Secretary Bryan Newland, the new national monument will tell the story of the oppressive Indian boarding school system that the federal government operated or supported across the country for more than 150 years.
“And, the boarding school initiative was a way for us as a federal government and as a nation, to be accountable for our own actions. There are a lot of other policy initiatives that the president has led, for Indian country, including a record $45 billion investment in Indian Country. That money has already been, sent out to communities and put to work in communities.
President Biden also announced what he called a historic, 10-year strategy to preserve and revitalize Native languages.
“It was wrong,” President Biden said to the group, meeting at the Interior Department Monday. “We don’t erase history. We acknowledge it, we learn from it and remember it so it is never committed again.”
That effort meant to address the federal government’s historic role in the loss of Native languages across all 50 states.
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