Tribal Nations Summit

CHIEF EXECUTIVE BENJAMIN ON LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION

Building on the 2021 Summit and the progress made to strengthen the Nation-to-Nation relationships and invest record levels of resources in tribal communities, the Biden Administration hosted its first in-person White House Tribal Nations Summit in Washington, D.C. Over the course of two days, the Summit hosted a robust and meaningful engagement with tribal leaders on the most critical issues facing Indian Country. Throughout the Summit, several 45-minute roundtable discussions were held using a question-and-answer format that most often included two tribal leaders and two federal officials. The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe's nationally recognized work in language revitalization was front-and center during the two-day summit.

One of the Biden Administration's 2023 priorities is to finalize a 10-Year National Plan on Native Language Revitalization, in part due to an overwhelming body of national research proving that tribal communities with successful language and culture revitalization programs also experience a reduction in issues like unemployment, addiction, and violence. The draft plan was shared at the Summit. Due to the Band's groundbreaking work in the field of language revitalization, Chief Executive Melanie Benjamin was invited to serve with three other speakers on the Language Revitalization Panel, which Included President Hoskin of the Cherokee Nation, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, and U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

Chief Executive Benjamin was asked to speak about the importance and urgency of language preservation, revitalization of the Ojibwe language, and the efforts the Mille Lacs Band has initiated to date. She stressed the Ojibwe teachings, values, and ceremonies must be done in the Ojibwe language to be able to understand and fully comprehend the meanings of each. Chief Executive Benjamin highlighted some of the efforts the Band has accomplished, including: First-language speakers, master apprentice speakers, and apprentices providing cultural teachings and language lessons; language tables, immersion language classes, and language lessons beginning in Head Start and Early Education; the first series of monolingual Ojibwe books; and the Rosetta Stone project.

Secretaries Haaland and Cardona announced that the Biden Administration will consult with Tribal Nations on the draft and finalize the plan in 2023. This plan will be built upon four pillars: (1) Awareness — creating national awareness on the importance of Native languages, the current crises of Native language loss, and the urgency for immediate action; (2) Recognition/Affirmation — establishing a formal policy recognizing the role that the United States government played in erasing Native languages and affirming the need for federal resources and support for Native language revitalization; (3) Integration — integrating Native language revitalization in mainstream society, including in federal policies, and outlining the need to create Native language revitalization ecosystems; and (4) Support — identifying funding, including federal and philanthropic sources for Native language revitalization. Over 300 tribal leaders from across the United States attended the Summit, and Chief Executive Benjamin was one of a few who were invited to a meet-and-greet with President Biden.

The Summit also featured new Administration announcements and efforts to implement key policy initiatives that Chief Executive Benjamin and other tribal leaders have been requesting for many years. Among those were a new best-practices report requiring all departments to integrate tribal treaty and reserved rights into agency decision-making processes, a new access to capital initiative with the goal of increasing awareness, access, and utilization of financing opportunities for Tribal Nations, implementation of uniform standards all federal departments must follow when consulting with Tribal Nations, and agreements requiring more federal agency support for tribal co-management and co-stewardship of federal lands and waters.

Chief Executive Benjamin called President Biden's Summit "one of the most productive and far-reaching" that she has ever attended since President Clinton held the first ever Summit for Tribal Nations in 1994. "The changes and new initiatives that President Biden committed to during this Summit were game-changers for improving how the federal government consults with Indian tribes, because it expands the degree to which we actually influence federal decision-making." Over two days, the Summit provided an opportunity for the 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.

The Biden-Harris Administration stated they are deeply committed to honoring its trust and treaty responsibilities to federally recognized tribes, and this Summit provided an opportunity for tribal leaders to engage directly with officials in the highest levels of the Administration.

Day one of the Summit can be viewed on YouTube at 2022 White House Tribal Nations Summit - Day 1 - YouTube