December 23rd, 2022

Since 1990 the United States has commemorated the month of November as National Native American Heritage Month, thirty days to honor the gifts of our ancestors, celebrating the knowledge, traditions, language and culture of our Native American ancestors. However, we can say that the year 2021 was a turning point in the history of the commemoration. For the first time an Indigenous woman, Deb Haaland, is the secretary of the Department of Interiors, the agency responsible for managing and preserving most of the country's federal lands and natural resources. In addition, John Biden, the current president, has shown his support for the environmental and indigenous causes, as well as filling his cabinet with diversity, assigning positions to members of the black, Latino and LGBT communities. In his speech about the celebration, Biden was quite firm and critical of the invasion of the Americas. In one passage he points out: "Western exploitation has started a wave of devastation: violence perpetrated against native communities, displacement and theft of tribal homelands, the introduction and spread of disease, and much more."

With this information, it is easy to notice the concern that not only the United States demonstrate regarding the indigenous and environmental cause, but also other countries in the American continent and the world.

We have reached the year 2022, adding 530 years since the arrival of Europeans on the American continent. This totally violent and arbitrary form of invasion, decimated entire populations, wiped out cultures, causing unimaginable destruction both to the territory and to the peoples who inhabited it. At the time of the invasion, the continent had 55 million natives, whereas in 1600, just 108 years later, the population was reduced to 50 million indigenous people, that is, 90% of the total population, characterizing the largest genocide and ethnocide in the history of mankind. Researchers at Univesity College London concluded that with the murder of so many peoples and the destruction of nature, the earth had lowered its temperature.

Today the main concern of the world is climate change, the preservation and rescue of nature, while people are beginning to open their eyes and listen to the real protectors of Mother Earth, the indigenous peoples. According to National Geographic, indigenous peoples represent only 5% of the world's population, but they are responsible for 80% of the preservation of the environment. These data confirm something that the theoretical school of Amerindian Perspectivism, that indigenous peoples perceive the world through a completely different perspective, where despite having developed a human form and capacity to communicate with other humans, all the components of nature, be they animal, vegetable or mineral, share this same common origin among all beings. This perspective has led Amerindians, over the thousands of years that occupy the American continent, to develop an awareness that they are an integral part of nature, unlike the European who arrived in the Americas in search of gold and riches appropriating the land instead of living in communion with her.

This theoretical school affirms something that, consciously or unconsciously, the inhabitants of the American continent already knew, the indigenous peoples are the true protectors of the forests. 2022 is also the year that the COP27 (27th United Nations Conference on Climate Change 2022) to take place in the city of Cairo, Egypt, with the participation of several indigenous, such as the Paresi, acclaimed for their sustainable agriculture, and Txai Suruí, an indigenous leader of the suruí people. Also Egypt Foreign minister Sameh Shoukry,  UN secretary general António Guterres, COP 27 president Alok Sharma and several others joined the conference. Today, however, we understand that the true leaders of the climate are the indigenous peoples, as they are the ones who really know Nature, not because they have studied it,  but because they have lived in harmony with her for thousands of years and helped in her development.

These are some of the reasons that show the relevance for National Native American Heritage Month in the United States, the world's largest economy. By showing his commitment to the environmental and indigenous cause, and not just that, by assigning a position as important as Secretary of the Department of Interiors to an indigenous woman, Joe Biden, being the first US president to participate in the celebrations in 2021, serves as a window to the world showing that the future cannot be based on exploitation of nature, devastation of forests and violence against native peoples, a policy explicitly defended by Jair Bolsonaro. The United States government paves the way for a reconnection and conciliation with its true founding peoples, as other countries have been doing, with emphasis on Evo Morales' Bolivia, renewing our hopes for days with social justice and respect for our continent's ancestry.

Read President Joe Biden's proclamation of the commemoration below.

A Proclamation on National Native American Heritage Month, 2021

The United States of America was founded on an idea:  that all of us are created equal and deserve equal treatment, equal dignity, and equal opportunity throughout our lives.  Throughout our history — though we have always strived to live up to that idea and have never walked away from it — the fact remains that we have fallen short many times.  Far too often in our founding era and in the centuries since, the promise of our Nation has been denied to Native Americans who have lived on this land since time immemorial.

Despite a painful history marked by unjust Federal policies of assimilation and termination, American Indian and Alaska Native peoples have persevered.  During National Native American Heritage Month, we celebrate the countless contributions of Native peoples past and present, honor the influence they have had on the advancement of our Nation, and recommit ourselves to upholding trust and treaty responsibilities, strengthening Tribal sovereignty, and advancing Tribal self-determination.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated preexisting inequities facing Tribal Nations.  Early in the pandemic, reported cases in the Native American community were over 3 times the rate of white Americans; in some States, Native American lives were lost at a rate 5 times their population share.  Even as they shouldered a disproportionate burden throughout the pandemic, Tribal Nations have been paragons of resilience, determination, and patriotism — implementing key mitigation strategies like testing and prioritizing the vaccination of Tribal communities at high rates in order to save lives.  Through it all, Tribal Nations have effectively utilized the tools of Tribal self-governance to protect and lead their communities, setting a standard for all of our communities to follow.

Our Nation cannot live up to the promise of our founding as long as inequities affecting Native Americans persist.  My Administration is committed to advancing equity and opportunity for all American Indians and Alaska Natives and to helping Tribal Nations overcome the challenges that they have faced from the pandemic, climate change, and a lack of sufficient infrastructure in a way that reflects their unique political relationship.

As a starting point, the American Rescue Plan represented the most significant funding legislation for Indian Country in the history of our Nation — the largest single Federal investment in Native communities ever, with $20 billion in direct funding to help Tribal governments combat and emerge from the COVID-19 crisis.  Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal and my Build Back Better framework, my Administration is pushing for strong Tribal participation to help build our Nation’s clean energy future, deploy clean water and high-speed internet to every home, and invest in Native American families, businesses, jobs, and communities.

In my first week in office, I also signed a Presidential Memorandum committing my Administration to the fulfillment of our Federal trust and treaty responsibilities, to respect Tribal self-governance, and to conduct regular, meaningful, and robust consultations with Tribal Nations on a broad range of policy issues.  Together, we are implementing a whole-of-government approach to empower Tribal Nations in their efforts to achieve political and economic self-sufficiency, advance climate resiliency, and protect their territorial sovereignty.  To further elevate the voices of Native Americans in my Administration, I restarted the White House Council on Native American Affairs earlier this year.  It was among the proudest honors of my life to appoint one of our country’s most remarkable leaders, Deb Haaland of the Pueblo of Laguna, to serve as United States Secretary of the Interior — the first Native American in the history of our Nation to serve in the Cabinet.

During National Native American Heritage Month, we also honor our Native Americans veterans and service members who have courageously served and continue to serve in our Armed Forces — including the brave Native American Code Talkers in World War I and World War II.  For over 200 years, Native Americans have defended our country during every major conflict and continue to serve at a higher rate than any other ethnic group in the Nation.  Because of their selflessness, every generation of Americans receives the precious gift of liberty — and we owe each of them and their families a debt of gratitude for their sacrifice and dedication.

Native American roots are deeply embedded in this land — a homeland loved, nurtured, strengthened, and fought for with honor and conviction.  This month and every month, we honor the precious, strong, and enduring cultures and contributions of all Native Americans and recommit ourselves to fulfilling the full promise of our Nation together.

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 2021 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, and to celebrate November 26, 2021, as Native American Heritage Day.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-sixth.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.