U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took time at the Tribal nation's summit in Washington this week to announce key actions it is taking to support native peoples.
Those action's included DOT's part in new Tribal consultation polities, a new best-practices report for Tribal treaty and reserved rights and an electric vehicle initiative for Tribal nations, according to a statement issued by the White House. Buttigieg's comments came during the White House Tribal Nations Summit Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
"At the White House Tribal Nations Summit, we announced key actions the department is taking to support Tribal communities - now with increased federal resources through the president's leadership on infrastructure," Buttigieg said in a Nov. 30 Twitter post.
The White House statement mentioned funding and resources are being made available to native peoples, including $32 billion in the American Rescue Plan. There's also $13 billion earmarked in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to assist with the community-driven relocation of Alaska Native Villages due to climate change and $700 million in the Inflation Reduction Act for unused capital by tribal communities. Part one of the latter is intended to identify and summarize all loan and financing programs available to native peoples.
The electric vehicle initiative for Tribal nations is intended to ensure those communities will have a place in the electric vehicle future while Buy Indian Act implementation aims to award 75% of contract dollars from the bureaus of Indian Affairs, Indian Education and Trust Funds Administration, according to the statement. About 10% of those contract dollars is earmarked for native-owned businesses.
The White House Council on Native American Affairs and the Biden administration will consult with Tribal Nations on the draft and finalized plan in 2023 for a 10-year national plan on native language revitalization, according to the White House statement. That effort aims to create national awareness of the importance of native languages and also address the U.S. government's role in erasing those languages, while affirming the need for federal resources and support for native language revitalization.
