Presidential Document2024-25808
National Native American Heritage Month, 2024
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 5, 2024
Signed
October 31, 2024
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 214 (Tuesday, November 5, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 214 (Tuesday, November 5, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 87777-87779]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25808]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 214 / Tuesday, November 5, 2024 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 87777]]
Proclamation 10853 of October 31, 2024
National Native American Heritage Month, 2024
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
During National Native American Heritage Month, we
honor the history, rich cultures, and vast
contributions of Native peoples. We celebrate the
hundreds of Tribal Nations that are ushering in a new
era in our Nation-to-Nation relationships. And we
recommit to respecting Tribal sovereignty and self-
determination and working in partnership with Tribal
Nations to bring new prosperity and security to Native
peoples.
Indigenous peoples' history in the United States is
defined by strength, survival, and a deep commitment to
and pride in their heritage, right to self-governance,
and ways of life. Native peoples have built and
sustained powerful Tribal Nations, and the knowledge
they developed still benefits us today. However, our
Nation's failed policies of the past subjected
generations of Native peoples to cruelty, violence, and
intimidation. The forced removal of Native peoples from
their homes and ancestral homelands; attempts to
assimilate entire generations; and stripping of
Indigenous peoples of their identities, cultures, and
traditions are some of the darkest chapters of our
Nation's history. The trauma and turmoil fundamentally
altered their communities. As the first President to
visit Indian Country in 10 years, I delivered a
national apology for the unspeakable harms caused to
Native peoples at Federal Indian Boarding Schools.
Indigenous peoples have persisted and survived--a
testament to their resilience and resolve. Today,
Native communities are leading the way forward and
continuing to strengthen the fabric of the United
States. They have long served in the United States
military and currently serve in the highest levels of
government--including the Secretary of the Interior,
Deb Haaland, America's first Native American Cabinet
secretary. In every field and sector, Native peoples
are pushing for progress and contributing to our shared
prosperity.
Since I came into office, the Federal Government has
made record investments in Tribal Nations. Federal
contracts with Native American-owned companies
increased by over $8 billion from 2020 to 2023. My
American Rescue Plan made the largest direct Federal
investment in Tribal Nations ever, helping vaccinate
Tribal communities during the COVID-19 pandemic and
keeping the economy going. My Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law made the single biggest investment in Tribal roads,
bridges, water, high-speed internet, electricity,
irrigation, environmental cleanup, and so much more. My
Inflation Reduction Act made the biggest investment in
fighting climate change ever--including funding to help
Tribal communities lead in the just transition to clean
energy and ease the impact of droughts, wildfires, and
rising sea levels, which threaten Native lives and
precious homelands.
My Administration is also working to ensure that Native
communities are safe and secure and have the resources
they need to thrive. I signed an Executive Order that
improves the Federal response to the epidemic of
missing and murdered Indigenous peoples. When we
reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act in 2022, we
included historic provisions to reaffirm Tribal
sovereignty and expand Tribal jurisdiction in cases
where outside perpetrators harm members of their
Nation. And for the first time ever,
[[Page 87778]]
my Administration also secured advance funding for the
Indian Health Service so hospitals can plan ahead,
order supplies, and hire doctors. We have provided
historic funding to Tribal communities to help fight
the behavioral health crisis and taken significant
steps to improve maternal health for Native American
women, who are twice as likely to die from pregnancy-
related complications as white women.
I have always believed that we must know the good, the
bad, and the truth of who we are as a Nation--we must
acknowledge our history so that we can begin to
remember and heal. That is why I became the first
President to issue a formal apology for the Federal
Indian Boarding School era, one of the most horrific
chapters in our Nation's history. For 150 years, the
Federal Government mandated the removal of Native
children from their families and Tribes--and as a
result, generations of Native children had their
childhoods stolen and whole Tribal cultures were
erased. I am proud to formally end the silence
surrounding this shameful era and I remain proud that
my Administration defended the Indian Child Welfare Act
in court, ensuring that our Nation respects Tribal
sovereignty and protects Native children by helping
Native families stay together and grow up with their
languages and cultures. And we are working to support
Native American families and communities as they heal
from the Federal Indian Boarding School era through the
Department of the Interior's Road to Healing initiative
and by supporting Native language preservation and
public safety initiatives.
My Administration has also worked with Tribal Nations
to preserve, protect, and steward important ancestral
Tribal lands and waters. Through more than 200 co-
stewardship and co-management agreements signed under
my leadership, we are working side by side with Tribes
to make decisions about how to manage the lands that
are most precious to them. And to date, I have
protected and conserved more than 45 million acres of
our Nation's lands and waters. That includes the
Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, vast
offshore waters off California's coast and the first
sanctuary to be proposed by Indigenous communities. I
have also established, expanded, and restored 11
national monuments, many containing sites considered
sacred to Tribal Nations--from Bears Ears National
Monument, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument,
and Avi Kwa Ame National Monument to Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah
Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon
National Monument, Berryessa Snow Mountain National
Monument, and others.
During National Native American Heritage Month, we
honor the heritage and contributions of Native peoples,
and we work tirelessly to build a future grounded in
dignity, respect, and partnership. We remain committed
to working with Native communities to write a new and
better chapter in American history for Tribal Nations--
one that honors the solemn promise the United States
made to Tribal Nations, fulfills our Federal trust and
treaty obligations, and works together to rebuild
Tribal economies and institutions.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2024
as National Native American Heritage Month. I urge all
Americans, as well as their elected representatives at
the Federal, State, and local levels, to observe this
month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and
activities. Also, I urge all Americans to celebrate
November 29, 2024, as Native American Heritage Day.
[[Page 87779]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2024-25808
Filed 11-4-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 5, 2024.
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