Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Final okay is stalled in Congress on a bill setting up The Truth and Healing Commission for Indian Boarding School Policies. This week, a tribal leader in Wisconsin asked state legislators for help in getting that measure passed, as Chuck Quirmbach of station WUWM reports. The bipartisan legislation would establish a federal commission to investigate the U.S. government’s role in Indian boarding school systems, an era that began during the 1800s. The measure would also lead to more research into the schools’ effect on Native American communities and help identify pathways to healing from the cultural genocide critics of the schools say they institutions were designed to commit. Late last year, the U.S. Senate passed the measure, but the House of Representatives has yet to do so. During an annual State of Wisconsin Tribes speech to the Wisconsin Legislature, Saint Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin Chairman Thomas Fowler spoke about the topic. He urged the Republican-controlled state body to encourage the GOP-controlled House to act on the bill, calling it critical for Native communities. “The tragedy of boarding schools requires remembrance, so that the spirits of our ancestors are not lost or forgotten. We have a duty to afford them dignity and respect, to address the loss they suffered, oftentimes while being alone.” Fowler says he is not trying to criticize all of today’s non-Indian politicians for what happened in the past. “I recognize that not all the people in the room are responsible for those detrimental past policies. But each of us has an opportunity, and quite frankly, an obligation to ensure history never repeats itself.” (Courtesy PBS Wisconsin / YouTube) The U.S. Catholic Bishops have wanted representation on the boarding schools commission. The bishops say that healing and reconciliation are only possible if all parties are involved. Saint Croix Chairman Fowler also called on the Wisconsin Legislature to support additional state policies expanding Native American education, and legalizing medical marijuana. Newtok was awarded $249,986 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for dismantling and restoring the old village site after severe erosion drove many of the residents to move to a new townsite, Mertarvik. (Courtesy KYUK) Alaska experts on energy, housing, and infrastructure say billions of dollars in limbo from President Donald Trump’s federal funding freezes are affecting local projects like heat pump distribution and building infrastructure to protect against storm surges and tsunamis, as Alaska Desk reporter Alena Naiden from our flagship station KNBA explains. Representatives from Alaska-based organizations held a joint press conference last week. They said more than $5 billion are at risk from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and over $720 million from the Inflation Reduction Act. Those numbers are a moving target, given some programs have been frozen and unfrozen irregularly. Tashina Duttle works at Deerstone Consulting, which supports tribal energy infrastructure projects across Alaska. She says many grants that are now frozen were for projects to prevent shore erosion, and stabilize villages against permafrost melt and flooding. One program through the Bureau of Indian Affairs supports tribally led climate adaptation. It’s allocated $72 million in funding for nearly 40 Alaskan tribal projects, but is now on pause. “Without this funding, villages will be lost to erosion, infrastructure will collapse under worsening climate conditions, communities will have to relocate without a plan, without resources and without dignity.” Duttle adds that the projects also create crucial economic opportunities in rural communities, like construction jobs. Agencies are unsure what projects will be able to move forward, and what spending will be reimbursed.   Get National Native News delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter today.