Climate change kicked off Day One of the 2023 White House Tribal Nations Summit.
“... we have to protect the ability of tribes and Native people to live in their homelands, to stay in their homelands,” said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland, who is a citizen of Bay Mills Indian Community.
Newland reminded Indigenous leaders that the Department of Interior and the Biden-Harris administration invested $120 million in tribal climate resilience grants. This grant has been going on for 10 years but this year’s funding is more than the previous 10 years combined.
Simply “recognizing climate change” and “recognizing the reality that we do have a problem with climate change” was the big takeaway for Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in Chief Nancy James, who was on the climate change panel. Her nation is located eight miles above the Arctic Circle.
The financial assistance helps many tribal communities, especially Alaska Native communities that are relocating their entire communities. It’s a “big process” to move from one land to another and land is already an issue. The continued support is needed and support that encourages the cultures, values, traditions, and principles of each community.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order at the summit Wednesday to make access to federal funding easier for Indigenous nations and to allow them the flexibility to spend it how they see fit.
James said her nation was given a climate grant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. “They said ‘Okay, tribes. Here’s $5 million. You show me what you can do with it.’ So that’s where we’re at. That’s a good challenge for us … because I really firmly believe that communities and tribes need to be self-determined and not expect free money, and we do get funds, then we need to be accountable to our tribes and to ensure that we are using it to benefit them in their community.”
One climate-related issue that many Alaska Native communities will have to face is food security, James said. “And that's what our elders historically have told us, that you will come to a point where your food security, you're hunting, and you're fishing, in everything we do on land, unless we support it, and take care of it will affect the animals,” she said. “And we see that that's what's happening within our communities.”
An example is a bear walking around now. It should be in the den in October, James said.
“We've been told constantly by our tribe, by our elders, that when we see animals do that, that means that they're hungry, or hunting or fishing and our trapping, you can trap when you have frozen and snow frozen ice, because they fixed their trap line near anything. Can you do that? No.”
Down in northern California, Bishop Paiute Tribal Chairwoman Meryl Picard wants to put their tribe on the map for the water issues they are facing.
“We have a huge history with the Department of Water and Power in (Los Angeles), and all the land is bought up by them. And because of the drought crisis, right, I think this is a human issue that really needs to be brought forward so that we can get assistance in really fighting that battle with such a huge entity like LA,” Picard said, especially being a small tribe.
Besides climate change, the summit also addressed steps to the missing and murdered crisis, plus conservation and habitat protection. The White House issued a related fact sheet from the summit.
It followed Biden’s support for the Haudenosaunee Nationals men’s and women’s lacrosse team to play in the 2028 Olympics under their own flag as a sovereign nation. A challenge they’ve been facing for years and a decision that is up to the International Olympic Committee.
During panel breaks, tribal leaders noticed the different format of the summit.
“I'm excited to see that we're going to actually have some engagements and breakout sessions and we have all these exciting panels and all these wonderful tribal leaders speaking about their experience, so I'm looking forward to the breakout sessions for sure,” said Jamul Indian Village of California Chairwoman Erica M. Pinto.
Last year’s summit was the first one back in-person during the Biden-Harris administration. It was more conference style. Many leaders asked for more time to be allotted to speak with federal officials. The agenda shows breakout sessions happening with different federal agencies on both days in different areas of the Interior building. These nation-to-nation talks are closed to the press.
Pinto was also looking forward to the food. “And the Indigenous food I think this year, that's something new.”
Lunch was made by Indigenous chefs from the North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems and students from Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute: Rob Kinnee, who is Tlingit and the lead chef; Crystal Wapepah, Kickapoo and Sac & Fox Tribes and owns a restaurant in Oakland, California; Joe Robbins, Penobscot; Francisco Algeria, Menominee; and Leah Husby, Menominee.
Day Two of the summit is set to begin today at 9:00 a.m. ET at the Interior again.