Native American tribes report federal funding delays
Some Native American tribes are having difficulties accessing funds for essential services following delays surrounding a temporary White House freeze on thousands of federal programs pending the new administration’s review.
Public Law 93-638, the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, is the vehicle through which tribes contract with the federal government to manage most health and education programs that were operated by the government before 1975.
While funds for 638 contracts are now unfrozen, some tribes reported having problems accessing the funding online.
"Tribal nations have candidly shared with me that at first, [online] funding portals were frozen. Even after they opened, funding requests went unanswered for days and weeks,” Sault Ste. Marie tribal council member Aaron Payment told VOA.
The former first vice president of the National Congress of American Indians said tribes remain uncertain about the stability of funding for community health, education and nutrition.
"As it is, we are far underfunded despite our having prepaid for every penny with the nearly 2 billion acres of land that made this country great," Payment said.
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press after after signing an executive order alongside U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and his wife, Kathryn Burgum, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Jan. 31, 2025.
Federal cuts force layoffs at Native American colleges
The Board of Regents of Haskell Indian Nations University is asking Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to waive staff reductions that would cut nearly 40 employees across teaching, IT and administrative departments.
“Haskell is an important part of the federal government’s commitment to enhancing the quality of life for Indian people,” the board’s letter reads in part.
Haskell in Kansas and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) in New Mexico are both facing challenges in the new administration’s budget cuts, with Southwestern Indian Polytechnic losing 20 employees.
Those reductions leave 80 staff for 200 students at the New Mexico school and 125 staff for nearly 900 students at Haskell.
"It's affecting Native American students because at the end of the day, it's our generation of students who are going to be contributing to tomorrow's society," SIPI staff member Luke Gibson (Navajo) told Alburquerque's KOB TV. "If we don't invest in Native American education today, how will be useful to our own communities when we want to?"
While the Indian Health Service saw some layoffs temporarily reversed, there has been no similar relief for those universities. Haskell administrators told students that efforts are underway to maintain operations despite lower staffing.
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Supporters celebrate Leonard Peltier’s homecoming
Native American activist Leonard Peltier returned to the Turtle Mountain Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota, Tuesday after 49 years in federal prison.
U.S. President Joe Biden commuted Peltier’s sentence last month in one of the last acts of his presidency.
“He is now 80 years old, suffers from severe health ailments, and has spent the majority of his life (nearly half a century) in prison,” Biden said in a January 20 statement. “This commutation will enable Mr. Peltier to spend his remaining days in home confinement but will not pardon him for his underlying crimes.”
Leonard Peltier, center, is surrounded by Turtle Mountain tribal council representatives during a welcome event on Feb. 19, 2025, at the Sky Dancer Casino Resort near Belcourt, North Dakota, on the Turtle Mountain Reservation.
Peltier, who is Anishinaabe and Dakota, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of two federal agents during a 1975 standoff on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was given two consecutive life sentences.
Peltier supporters say he was framed. Federal law enforcement remains convinced of his guilt, with then-FBI Director Christopher Wray urging Biden “in the strongest terms possible” against granting Peltier clemency.
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This 2010 photo shows the Senate chamber inside the state capitol in Pierre, South Dakota.
South Dakota Senate says no to mandatory Native studies in public schools
South Dakota lawmakers have rejected a bill that would have required the state’s public schools to teach Native American content known as “Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings.”
“Oceti Sakowin” translates as “People of Seven Council Fires,” an alliance of seven nations that were once known as the Great Sioux Nation.
The curriculum was developed over 10 years as a framework for cultural exchange in South Dakota, where Dakota, Lakota and Nakota tribes are spread out among nine reservations.
Currently, teaching Native American history is optional in South Dakota, with educators reporting that more than half of the state’s teachers already include it in their lesson plans.
Governor Larry Rhoden this week signed a bill requiring all certified teachers to take a course in South Dakota Native American studies.
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